County Planning Commission to mull winery events

The Sonoma County Planning Commission on Thursday, Feb. 17, will consider a draft ordinance that reduces the impacts of winery events in agricultural areas.

The draft ordinance would apply to new and modified use permit applications for winery visitor-serving uses in agricultural zoning districts outside of the Coastal Zone, according to Permit Sonoma, the county permitting agency that drafted the ordinance.

“The wine industry and tourism play an important role in Sonoma County’s culture and economy, however, an overconcentration of winery events can negatively impact surrounding communities,” Permit Sonoma officials said in an announcement of the meeting. “Permit Sonoma is working to balance these interests with new regulations for winery events.”

The ordinance has been in development since last June, when the Planning Commission hosted a public hearing on the draft ordinance and directed staff to return with a new table that compares the draft ordinance with existing Citizen Advisory Council/Commission guidelines for winery uses in other local jurisdictions.

The draft ordinance, comparison table and public comments previously submitted to Permit Sonoma are available at sonomacounty.ca.gov/WineryEvents.

The Planning Commission public hearing will be conducted via video conference on Feb. 17 at 1:50 p.m. No in-person commenting will be held. Members of the public may watch and participate in the hearing through Zoom or by phone. Written comments may be submitted by Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. via email at PRMD-WineryEvents@sonoma-county.org

For more information, email to PRMD-WineryEvents@sonoma-county.org or call 707-565-1900, ext. 5.