Panel recommends limits for new Napa wineries

An advisory panel seeking to limit winery expansion within Napa County agreed on Monday to a few proposals in its quest to better rein in traffic and congestion coming from the industry.

The Napa County Agricultural Protection Advisory Committee finished its monthslong work with a series of recommendations to county planning officials that would apply only to new winery permits. The politically powerful Napa Valley Vintners group was opposed to any new curbs on existing or amended permits.

The most notable recommendation was proposed by Yountville Mayor John Dunbar. It would restrict new wineries to using no more than 20 percent of their property, excluding vineyards, for winery production, hospitality and residential purposes, said David Morrison, director of Planning, Building and Environmental Services.

The panel also agreed that new wineries would not be able to store or truck out wastewater, with exceptions for temporary or emergency cases, Morrison said. Most wineries have their own wastewater systems, with only a couple dozen relying on trucks, he said.

The panel also is recommending that certain wine caves and outdoor visitor areas be included in the definition of hospitality areas - current rules say wineries cannot exceed 25 percent of their land for hospitality purposes - and that certain small wineries go through permitting by a zoning administrator rather than the full Planning Commission. It also approved an item encouraging the county to work more closely with cities in compiling statistics such as grape sourcing and production.

The 17-member panel, with members including winery executives, environmentalists and city officials, needed a supermajority of 12 votes for the adoption of any recommendation.

About half of the permit applications in front of the Planning Commission in recent years have been from new wineries, while the other half were from existing wineries seeking to amend their permits. As of March, Napa County had 467 wineries listed in its database.

The Planning Commission will hear about the panel’s recommendations and deliberations during a Sept. 2 meeting.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.