Fauquier County winery ordinance delayed yet again

Marshall District Supervisor Peter Schwartz all but guaranteed that he and his board colleagues would adopt a new winery ordinance last Thursday.

During the last four years, the matter had been “talked about and talked about and talked about,” Schwartz, a major player in drafting the proposal said in a Sept. 2 interview.

“I think it’s a reasonably good balance of the competing interests, with prudent protections for the public as well as adjacent and nearby property owners,” he said.

It might be imperfect and require some tweaking, Schwartz had said.

He was fine with that, saying he still wanted to give it a try.

But Wednesday, the day before Schwartz expected to vote for the measure, he and Supervisor Holder Trumbo [Scott District] decided it should be postponed.

Last Thursday, the board delayed action on the five-page document for up to 180 days. What caused Schwartz to change his mind in five days leading up to the board’s Sept. 8 meeting?

The day before the meeting Schwartz said and he Trumbo “sat down with the last round of input that folks had given us,” which he characterized largely as procedural concerns from all quarters, including winery owners, winery neighbors and others concerned about land-use regulations.

“I wouldn’t say any of those [recommended] changes” the board received in the last few days and weeks “were earthshaking,” Schwartz said Monday.

But was enough for him to call for a “cooling-down” period, as he put it.

In his view, the remaining top concerns deal with enforcement and the way in which complaints would be filed against and conveyed to wineries.

Other concerns address the revocation of extended regular business hours to wineries cited for violations, Schwartz said.

Otherwise, “generally speaking, I’m comfortable with” the proposal as it stands, he said.

Still, during the next several months, “I expect to be in open-minded dialogue” with wineries and neighbors about the proposal that could lead to substantive changes, Schwartz said. “If they’re good ideas, I’m certainly not going to reject them because they’re new.”

The delay also will allow wineries to complete harvesting grapes without the distractions of more meetings about revisions to the proposed ordinance, he said.

Schwartz said County Attorney Kevin Burke told him no public hearings would be needed to make the envisioned changes.

The delay surprised and disappointed some who closely tracked the issue and participated in the county’s review process, which began the fall of 2007.

Brian Roeder, owner of Barrel Oak Winery near Delaplane, said he fully expected the board to approve the ordinance last Thursday.

On Aug. 27, Barrel Oak hosted a fundraiser to support the planned hospice near Sumerduck.

Schwartz attended the event, during which the Marshall District supervisor told him the ordinance “absolutely is going to pass” at the September board meeting, Roeder said. “The votes were there to pass it.”

Last week, Schwartz contacted Roeder before the board meeting and explained why the proposed ordinance would be postponed.

“This creates uncertainty for a pretty important industry” in Fauquier, Roeder said. “It was acceptable to us because, while we didn’t think it was the best solution, it was a solution we thought we could live with.”

He attributes the delay to intense lobbying by those who believe the proposal would either over regulate or give too much flexibility to wineries.

And Roeder also believes “there was a lot of misinformation spread at the last minute about what the ordinance would do.”

Kitty Smith, a former Fauquier field office for the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), spoke to Schwartz, Trumbo, PEC President Chris Miller and others about the proposal.

Her concerns deal with enforcement of the ordinance and whether it could be successfully defended in court.

“It’s complex in the sense that it’s not exactly clear what the wineries are allowed to do” regarding the number and kind of events or when they may take place, Smith said.

Julie Broaddus served on a Citizens for Fauquier County (CFFC) winery ordinance task force.

The task force supported the current version of the proposal, but with reservations and recommendations that included enforcement, food service, and regular business hours.

“The majority [of the seven-member task force] believed it was better to go forward and get something in place and do revisions as they became necessary,” Broaddus said.

Schwartz wants a winery ordinance adopted by year’s end.

“I’m really not sure” if it will take the board six months to approve one, Trumbo said. “I hope not.”

Fauquier began work on its winery ordinance in 2007 to bring it into compliance with a new state law, which extended that limited local governments’ power to regulate winery events.