Squash That Vine: Sour Grapes in NoVA Wine Country

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Let’s play a wine version of the game of Life: Spin the white wheel, move your car full of pink and blue plastic pegs the appropriate number of spaces and let out a Homer Simpson “Woo Hoo!”

The space says, “Congratulations! You’ve just inherited property in the hills of Virginia! Proceed to Virginia Wine Country and collect $1,000,000 to plant vines, purchase fermentation tanks and a grape crusher.”

But spin the wheel again and that whirring disc may cause you to stop on a space that says this: “Pay $200,000 to the bank. Your neighbors have complained about noise and your winery only operates during limited hours now” (cue wah, wah, wah sound effect).

If you think the above scenario is ridiculously oversimplified, the dramatic, roller-coaster turns of a board game are not far from the political situation Virginia winemakers have been wrangling with for the last 10 years. This past fall, however, things began to get particularly hairy for some farm wineries in Northern Virginia due to clashes with local governments over zoning laws.

The number of wineries in the Commonwealth has increased at a steady clip over the last decade, and currently there are 154 wineries in the state of Virginia.  In 2007, Virginia was one of the top 10 states to experience significant growth in wineries and added 20 to its roster that year, according to Wine and Vines Magazine. And this steady growth has certainly added fuel to the zoning debate fire as rural communities increasingly become home to agricultural enterprises that depend on evening activities to boost revenue.

Both Fairfax County and Fauquier County have experienced clashes with local zoning authorities that have intensified over the last few months. While Fairfax County celebrated the advent of its first winery, Paradise Springs, this year, the county did not exactly roll out the welcome mat for Kirk Wiles and his mother Jane Kincheloe, the owners of the property. Concerns from neighbors and county zoning officials about traffic and noise originally barred the winery from opening due to county zoning codes.

Hop over two counties to Fauquier, and the same political battle rages.  While the Virginia ABC played a vital part in the Paradise Springs’ victory (as well as Del. David Albo’s (R-Fairfax) bill limiting local regulation of farm wineries) by invoking laws that fall under the state umbrella regulating wineries, these same laws have remained untested and ultimately impotent in Fauquier County.  Some in the wine industry believe Fauquier County officials are taking advantage of unprecedented, unchallenged legislative authority.

Specifically, winemakers in Fauquier County have expressed anxiety over an ordinance in the legislative hopper that has the potential to significantly curtail revenue from many farm wineries by limiting the wineries’ hours of operation.

“Counties are trying to test their limits” and “overstepping their regulatory authority,”says Matt Conrad of the Virginia Wine Council. “They are putting structures in place that are not in place anywhere else,” he says.

Repeated calls from Northern Virginia Magazine over the last two months to Peter Schwartz’ office at the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors, the sponsor of the legislation, were left unanswered.

Fauquier Zoning Administrator Kim Johnson is satisfied that there are legislative tools in place for wineries to continue holding after-hours events such as fundraisers and wine dinners and that there is no reason for wineries to not continue conducting business as usual. “We’re actually loosening our ordinance,” claims Johnson. Currently wineries must apply for a special event or special exception permit to hold events.“We have to change it [the current legislation] because we have to allow some events by-right and we have to amend the current law.”

“We’ve arrived at a really sad point,” says Brian Roeder of Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, located in Fauquier County. Vineyards are the only ag business in the state that is growing” and that the zoning ordinance will, “undermine the desire to invest in the county.” Indeed, many winemakers in the county think that ordinance could potentially choke economic growth of both existing and future wineries in the county. In Roeder’s opinion, the most egregious part of this ordinance is telling wineries what their business hours are.

Despite assurances from the Zoning Commission about the ability to hold events under the proposed legislation, Barrel Oak Winery has already curtailed some its evening activities because of the spectre of this ordinance passing. Some of these events included opening their space for local organizations to hold fundraisers. Annually he estimates Barrel Oak Winery helps organizations generate about $20, 000 in fundraising dollars. Further the winery has not renewed a contract with a local food cart because having the food cart on premises constitutes having an event for which he would need to get a special permit. Roeder quickly adds that any other private citizen could elect to have this food cart on his or her property and no special permit would be required from the county.

“Many wineries will go out of business because of this legislation and many wineries will go out of business fighting this leglislation,” cautions Roeder.

Three Fox Vineyards also located in Fauquier County is concerned about the legislation as well, not because of the effect it will have on their operating hours, but because of what the passage of this legislation could mean for colleagues within the county and beyond. “My concern is the county needs to follow state law in several areas and that this may be a model for what happens elsewhere,” says John Todhunter, owner and operator of the vineyard.

Even as the ordinance continues to evolve, the lobbying arm of the wine industry claims that there is no legal basis for the local regulation of farm wineries under Virginia state law. The Zoning Commission, however, views the language of the law differently and points to the county’s legal right to regulate wineries because of the substantial impact to the health, safety and welfare of the public.

“Is there potential for substantial impact? Absolutely,” says Zoning Administrator Johnson. “That’s really what the ordinance is trying to do. If they [the wineries] don’t hit that level of impact, then they are allowed by-right” to host events.

At this point the Zoning Commission has made its recommendations to the Board of Supervisors and the board will begin to hear from its constituents regarding the ordinance. A public hearing regarding the ordinance is scheduled in the Warren Green Building Meeting Room at 10 Hotel Street in Warrenton tonight at 7 p.m. Proprietors of area wineries have been invited to attend. The debate over the zoning ordinance will likely go on for many months longer than this evening however.

“I am certain that the wineries will prevail because the code of Virginia is clear,” states Matt Conrad.

Should the legislation pendulum swing in the opposite direction some winemakers in Fauquier County may face exhaustive legal battles to prove their point. Says Conrad,“Until legislative action is brought by one of the over-regulated wineries, there’s no enforcement mechanism.”

–Amy Loeffler

Tags: Amy Loeffler, Barrel Oak Winery, Fauquier County, Gut Check, Matt Conrad, Three Fox Vineyards, wine