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Staff Report:
In late
2007, Zoning staff began working on clarifying and changing
the regulations in the Zoning Ordinance related to
activities allowed at Farm Wineries. The changes were
intended to bring the County’s regulations into compliance
with amended provisions in the Code of Virginia pertaining
to Farm Wineries (Attachment 1) and to provide a clearer
understanding of the regulations to wineries and winery
neighbors. The County now has sixteen Farm Wineries
licensed by the state (Attachment 2). In December 2007,
Zoning staff met with representatives of many of these
wineries to begin a discussion about revised regulations.
Since that time, the wineries have worked together to draft
proposed revised regulations, and more recently, Supervisor
Schwartz has worked with representatives of the wineries on
refining Zoning Ordinance provisions related to Farm
Wineries.
The draft
proposed text amendment included in this initiation reflects
this collaboration between Supervisor Schwartz and the
wineries. The draft is consistent with the limits of the
Commonwealth’s enabling authority relative to the regulation
of Farm Wineries, and, in fact, seeks to give wineries
greater flexibility than is required under the Virginia Code
in recognition of the significant potential benefit to the
County of a thriving farm winery industry. Limits and
requirements are proposed to protect the public health and
safety.
Zoning staff
and Supervisor Schwartz have invited winery owners to a
meeting on November 20, 2008 to further discuss the proposed
regulations. We anticipate continued input from wineries as
well as from neighbors and other interested parties as the
proposal moves through the Planning Commission and Board of
Supervisors’ public hearing process.
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