Oakville Grocery owner’s proposed winery on Westside Road faces likely rejection from Sonoma County zoning board

Plans for a new winery on Westside Road, set in motion more than three years ago by the owner of the Oakville Grocery stores, will likely be denied next month by Sonoma County zoning officials amid fierce opposition from neighbors concerned about traffic safety and other impacts to the popular grape-growing area southwest of Healdsburg.

At the end of a lengthy public hearing Thursday, the county’s Board of Zoning Adjustments unanimously agreed to ask staff members - who had recommended approval of the project - to return July 6 with a formal proposal that will allow the board to reject the winery proposed by businessman Leslie Rudd. The zoning board’s decision can still be appealed to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, and Rudd’s representative indicated that move would be likely if the project is ultimately denied.

Zoning board members were receptive to some of the specific critiques raised by neighbors, including whether the stretch of road leading to the proposed winery could safely support the traffic created by the new business. But the board also highlighted broader concerns about the sheer number of wineries located in close proximity to one another.

With 29 approved wineries, Westside Road is already among the most concentrated winemaking areas in the county, along with Dry Creek Valley and Sonoma Valley. Neighborhood frustration about the spread of wineries in those areas - and the special events that often come with them - has been mounting in recent years, a debate that will likely return to the Board of Supervisors this fall.

“It’s tough to have somebody come forward with a project and have to spend so much money and so much time to get it to this point,” said zoning board member Pam Davis. “It sounds like a really great project, and if there weren’t 29 wineries on that stretch of road already, I think it would be a really good fit. ... But I just don’t feel like it’s a good location.”

Rudd, who owns the Oakville Grocery stores in Healdsburg and Oakville as well as wineries in Napa County, and his team applied to build the winery at 4603 Westside Road in 2014. But even after commissioning multiple studies about traffic and groundwater and reaching out to the community, his proposal has been unable to put neighbors’ concerns to rest.

Chief among the issues raised by critics are two turns in the road near the driveway that would lead into the winery, especially the curve just north of the site. Residents say that turn is too sharp and too close to the driveway to provide motorists with sufficiently safe sight lines, and they say county planners erred when they allowed the project to use less strict visibility requirements for cars turning onto Westside Road.

“Why are we turning a known set of very challenging curves into a treacherous stretch of road?” Judith Olney, who lives about one and a half miles up the road from the winery site, asked during Thursday’s hearing. “The additional real estate value ... will not make a meaningful change to their portfolio, their finances, nor will it make any change at all to Mr. Rudd’s family’s quality of life. However, the lives of the family and friends of any person either killed or maimed on this high-risk stretch of road will be shattered forever.”

John Dobrovich, Rudd’s vice president of real estate, said winery proponents had agreed to a “number of compromises and accommodations” over the past three years, including additional groundwater analysis. The project also agreed to move the site’s existing driveway ?20 feet south, though critics have questioned whether that would be sufficient.

Dobrovich acknowledged the winery was proposed for a “sensitive area” with other wineries located very close to the planned location.

“Sonoma County does not have a definition or threshold to evaluate concentration. What I can tell you is that we meet all the zoning standards and requirements,” Dobrovich said. “I think staff is recommending approval of this because it’s a good and reasonable project. It fits the property.”

As envisioned by its proponents the new Westside Road winery would produce 10,000 cases annually - modest compared to some of its neighbors, Dobrovich said - and host 37 special gatherings. The total includes 13 industrywide event days, 12 promotional events for the winery and another dozen winemaker meals. Staff recommended lowering the amount of events allowed each year by five, a condition the project team was willing to accept, Dobrovich said.

Board member Komron Shahhosseini said the proposed winery would be a “fantastic project” - if it were located somewhere else. He called the project “a victim of the success of the area.”

“You have these two curves that are a big issue. You have a number of these wineries that are within a short distance,” Shahhosseini said. “All in all, the cumulative aspects are a little too great for this particular site to make me comfortable.”

While critics voiced additional concerns, including the project’s impact on groundwater and the way the county allowed property to be divided to make room for the winery, the road-related concerns appeared to stick the most.

“Generally, I thought that the project was a good project. For me, it’s a public safety issue,” said board member Willie Lamberson, who represents the district that includes the winery site. “You can mitigate the water. You can mitigate the noise. You can mitigate the buildings. You just can’t mitigate the turn.”

After the hearing, Dobrovich said he was disappointed in the direction advocated by the zoning board. He said he needs to consult with the ownership but that an appeal to supervisors was likely if the zoning board follows through on its intent to deny the project in July.

You can reach Staff Writer J.D. Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com.