Vineyard 48 Owners Slapped With $160K In Fines: Town

CUTCHOGUE, NY — A year after Vineyard 48 in Cutchogue closed down permanently, owners have been slapped with $160,000 in fines, town officials said Monday.

The news came after years of frustrated residents crying out about quality of life concerns they said the establishment brought to the bucolic North Fork, including alleged sex acts in the bushes and alcohol overdoses.

A release from town officials said on Sept. 21, Southold Town secured 32 convictions against Rose’s Vineyard and John Paul Winery, Inc., owners and operators of Vineyard 48.

"The establishment was a source of several complaints — lewd behavior, fights and overcrowding were just some of the reported disturbances," a release from Southold Town said. "The manner in which the facility was run led to serious disruptions in the community and the erosion of the quality of life for homeowners in the vicinity. Ultimately, the Southold Town Police Department, the New York State Liquor Authority, Southold Town code enforcement and other agencies were forced to take action, which resulted in the winery surrendering its liquor license in the fall of 2017. The business remains closed."

During its operation in the summer of 2017, Southold Town issued numerous violations to the owners due to lack of compliance with the Southold Town code, the release said.

A bench trial on all charges was held on Sept. 17, and on Sept. 21, Southold Town Justice Brian Hughes found the defendants guilty on 32 charges, town officials said.

On Oct. 19, the owners were fined the maximum penalty on each charge — $5,000 — for a total of $160,000.

"We are pleased that the judge held the owners accountable for their flagrant disregard of the law and the complete disrespect that they had for this community. They abused the people of Southold and now they have to pay the price. The people and agencies involved who made sure justice would prevail, have my deep appreciation," said Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell.

Assistant Town Attorney Damon Hagan, lead prosecutor for the town, added: “Today, the court held Vineyard 48 accountable for its actions. We are happy to provide this victory for the people of Southold."

Southold Town Attorney Bill Duffy said the town pursued the maximum fines "because the operators repeatedly thumbed their noses at our community and the court agreed."

In an email to Patch, Russell said that the fines are appropriate. "The owners' own arrogance is what led to their closing and led to fines that, in some measure, reimburse the taxpayers for the costs they bore in resources to address this blight on the community."

Peter Sullivan, attorney for the owners, did not immediately return requests for comment.

Vineyard 48 closed permanently last year after being shut down earlier in Oct. 2017 by the New York State Liquor Authority, Russell said at the time.

"The owners of Vineyard 48 have canceled their license. There is no need to proceed to an administrative hearing. The winery is now closed. Period," Russell said.

"An unfair and incorrectly informed position was taken by the town due to consistently aggressive complainants and it became financially irrational to continue if the truth would not matter," said Peter Sullivan, attorney for Vineyard 48, said last October.

Sulllivan spoke out previously against the SLA's decision: "The SLA fails to include facts in their order but puts claims in their press release; they claim there were 400 drunken patrons. We have complete video and photographs of the entire area and events and everything that was said is completely untrue — and we can prove it," he said.

In addition, he had vowed that at an expedited hearing, which was postponed, "We will prove the allegations by the SLA in their press release are not true," Sullivan said.

He went on to say that "four of the six claims to support an emergency order are somewhat silly. For example, they claim many years ago we changed the hours of operation. That may or may not be true but it certainly is not the basis for an emergency order."

Also, Sullivan said an "alleged huge brawl" between 15 or 20 at the winery actually involved a "drunk girl that punched a guy who cut the line. The boy went into the bathroom, cleaned up his cut lip, and his mother said, 'We're leaving'. That drunk girl and two friends went out in the parking lot and accosted him, pushing and shoving the boy."

Sullivan asked if it compared "with what happens in bars in New York, with drive-by shootings and drugs."

Vineyard 48 shut down

The suspension earlier in Oct., 2017 was ordered by members of the SLA, Chairman Vincent Bradley and Commissioner Greeley Ford at a special meeting of the full board. It was effective immediately; no alcohol was to be sold or consumed on the premises, the SLA said.

Neighbor Susan Tyler reacted to the news last year: "Obviously I'm thrilled. I don't begrudge anyone trying to run a business and earn a living, so I hate to to see anyone's source of livelihood fail. I don't want to see them shut down for good, necessarily. If they had respect for the rules, respect for their neighbors and the community, it would be different. People who have no clue keep saying, 'It brings business out here'. Umm, not really. At other wineries, people come out, they go to a few wineries, they have dinner, maybe walk around Greenport, so they potentially spend a little money 'out here'. Vineyard 48 people come out on party buses, drink on the way out, get the rest of the way loaded there, get back on the buses, have to pull over to vomit, then go back home. They aren't spending money 'out here'. Except there. And that's not the kind of business we want."

According to the SLA, based on a referral from the Southold Police Department, officers responded Sept. 30, 2017 to 911 calls from residents surrounding the licensed premises.

Police first responded to a call from a neighbor complaining of two patrons engaging in sexual acts in view of their backyard bordering Vineyard 48. Officers discovered two highly intoxicated trespassers that were escorted off the property, the SLA said.

While investigating the premises, police observed an extremely intoxicated male patron who caused a disturbance in the rear of the establishment as well as an intoxicated woman who was unable to stand on her own, the SLA said.

Southold Police were called again later that day to respond to "an altercation involving an estimated 400 disorderly, heavily intoxicated patrons who were pushing, shoving and screaming at one another," the SLA said.

A fight ensued involving 15 to 20 patrons requiring the response of six SPD officers, who ordered the winery closed for the afternoon due to the overwhelming size of the crowd, the SLA said.

"According to the SPD, the long bathroom lines, some 30 people deep, led to patrons wandering off the premises to urinate and defecate on the properties of neighboring residents," the SLA said.

According to the SLA, "the disturbing incidents of September 30 are only the most recent in a long line of resident complaints and police encounters at Vineyard 48. According to the SPD, officers responded to 10 incidents at the premises from May 28, 2017 to September 30, 2017."

Two incidents involved alcohol overdoses where patrons were rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment, four involved intoxicated patrons causing disturbances in the community and three involved buses and limos making dangerous illegal U-turns near the vineyard, the SLA said.

Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said in 2017 that the decision came after "repeated calls there, especially over the past month. We have been there twice for alcohol overdoses and several other occasions with overly-intoxicated patrons. This culminated this past weekend when we were called there four times for disturbances on Saturday with the last call being a fight between numerous intoxicated patrons which took six police officers to break up and sort out. Security did not have control of the 400-plus in attendance and the patrol supervisor shut the establishment down by 5. pm. We have been working with SLA officials to address these conditions with referrals and eventually a suspension of the liquor license."

On June 5, 2016, Southold Police responded to an alcohol overdose on the premises. A patron was found vomiting and immediately transported to the hospital for medical treatment, the SLA said.

On Oct. 15, 2016, Southold Police responded to another alcohol overdose that required immediate treatment at a local hospital. While responding to that call, police observed and broke up two separate physical altercations. One involved an assault by a highly intoxicated underage woman on another female. An unrelated fight that erupted between patrons shorty thereafter required police and management to intervene, the SLA said.

In addition to the altercations, police observed numerous highly intoxicated patrons drinking Sangria out of gallon buckets. There were an estimated 500 patrons on the licensed grounds, the police said.
Southold Police reports detailed an additional 11 incidents between May 14, 2016 and Oct. 30, 2016, including three incidents for alcohol overdoses, four responses to fights between patrons and two for intoxicated patrons harassing neighboring residents, the SLA said in a release.

"Vineyard 48 has amassed a disturbing record of repeatedly serving patrons far beyond the point of extreme intoxication, straining police resources and wreaking havoc on their neighbors and the surrounding community," said Counsel to the Authority Christopher R. Riano. "The time has come for this licensee to follow the laws of New York State, and I commend the SLA for taking emergency action, as Vineyard 48 has demonstrated again and again they have zero respect for the law, and no care for their neighbors, the police or for the safety of their patrons."

Following extensive litigation about prior patterns of serious illegal conduct by the licensee starting in 2013, the SLA Board imposed a $10,000 fine and a 21-day suspension in 2016, the SLA added.

According to the SLA, the State Administrative Procedure Act authorizes a state agency to summarily suspend a license when the agency finds that public health, safety, or welfare requires emergency action.

When the SLA summarily suspends a license, it also serves a notice of pleading alleging one or more disciplinary violations; in invoking a summary suspension, the SLA has deemed the violation to be sufficiently serious upon initial review to warrant an immediate suspension, the SLA said.

"The place was a menace"

Russell also spoke out about the SLA's decision last year.

"The place was a menace. Disrespectful, inconsiderate, a blight on the community," he said. "It is a shame that it takes this long for other agencies to act. I hope and pray that they are not able to ever open again. Perhaps a new owner will come along and actually try to be a winery and produce a drinkable wine. That way, they wouldn't have to rely on classless customers who drink whatever they're drinking out of pitchers. Good riddance."

"It's been a long road," Duffy said in 2017. "We wish we could have had action sooner, but we've been on top of it and diligent and we finally got results."

At a 2017 Southold Town board meeting, Cutchogue resident Bill Shipman pleaded for help with issues he believes have been sparked by Vineyard 48, a winery he says continues to pose health and safety concerns and shatter the bucolic quality of life for the surrounding community.

Bill and Beth Shipman have for years appeared before with the town board regarding traffic concerns, quality of life issues stemming from loud noise, obscenities being shouted over a loudspeaker at the winery and reported sex acts in the bushes — all stemming from a raucous crowd at Vineyard 48, he said.

Shipman listed recent offenses, including a drunk woman who reportedly was walking on Route 48 and a number of alcohol poisoning incidents of he said police have reported at the business.

Shipman then read a list of wineries and local pubs, none of which he said have seen the number of alcohol overdoses that have reportedly occurred at Vineyard 48: six last year and two in then-recent weeks.

"Why is this happening there?" Shipman asked.

"Irresponsible and grossly negligent" management, Russell said. The supervisor said the town hired special counsel to address ongoing litigation and asked them to look into speeding up the process. "We are frustrated with the pace of the legal process and asked special counsel to do all he can to expedite it," Russell said.

In 2016, the Shipmans said they were heartsick over a ruling by the New York State Liquor Authority they said was a "slap on the wrist".

Patch file photo.