Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Ready? Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I will officially call to order the Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026 Zoning Administrator Meeting. First item on the agenda is the agenda review, which I can handle. We have one item on today's agenda. That is the On Trail Vineyards Microwinery Use Permit P2500139, which will be presented by Planner Wendy Atkins. Ms. Atkins, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Wait just one moment. All right. Thank you. On the agenda today, we will be discussing the project proposal, reviewing the micro winery thresholds, discussing project issues, summarizing the correspondence, and presenting staff's recommendations. The proposal for a 5,000 gallon micro winery is located at 3252 Silverado Trail, south of its intersection with Soda Canyon Road. It has a general plan designation of agricultural resource watershed and open space district. The general plan designation is agricultural watershed. Existing development on the site consists of 8.3 acres of vineyards, two residences, a 1,951 square foot agricultural barn, and a 529 square foot farm labor office, three wells, and a pump house. As a refresher, the micro winery thresholds define a micro winery as a new winery or an existing micro winery. that modifies its use permit, both of which meet all the requirements of county code applicable to a winery, as well as the following specific restrictions. Ferments at least 201 gallons of wine and has a production capacity of no more than 5,000 gallons, complies with the 75% rule, and has a maximum of 5,000 square feet of total enclosed space. generates no more than 20 average daily trips, no marketing events, retail sales for the agricultural watershed area may be conducted on site but are limited to the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. No subsequent application for an increase in production will be considered within two years after the approval. And micro wineries are only permitted in the agricultural preserve in agricultural watershed zones. This request is for a 5,000 gallon a year micro winery on an existing 13.33 acre parcel. And the project will be constructed up to three phases. The first phase will include converting the existing 1,951 square foot barn to production space. and converting the existing 529 square foot farm labor office to wine tasting and accessory use. Wine production would consist of fermentation only in barrels and bottles. Visitation shall not exceed 10 visitors per day and 70 visitors per week. No marketing events are proposed. The winery proposes to have one full-time and one part-time employee. Phase two would include converting the existing 1,951-square-foot barn to a non-winery use and constructing a new 4,103-square-foot winery building. Phase three will include the construction of a 730-square-foot covered crush pad and installation of either a production wastewater system or Holden Hall wastewater system. And phases two and three may occur at any time after completion of phase one. Visitation hours are Monday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Production hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The accessory to production ratio is 39.3. The total square foot of enclosed winery area at the conclusion of phase Phase three will be 5,000 square feet. And the total outdoor hospitality space is just under 1,500 square feet. So there are 14 existing wineries within one mile of the proposed project. Because the nearest residence is located approximately 276 feet from the proposed production building, a noise study was prepared. The noise study reviewed the proposed project's potential impacts to noise resources and determined that all aspects of the project design meet the requirements of the noise ordinance. The staff report provided additional analysis to demonstrate that Project Noise will comply with the noise ordinance. Part of this analysis addressed the crush pad. which is approximately 450 square feet from the nearest residence. The existing wood fence and existing vegetation will result in a sound level between 31 and 41 dBA, which will not exceed the daytime or nighttime allowances in the noise ordinance. Therefore, staff is recommending the removal of condition of approval number 6.15E. The winery setback from Silverado Trail legally constructed structures existing prior to the enactment of the WDO may be exempt from setback provisions of subsection A of the section if it is found that the use of this exemption will result in a more environmentally beneficial placement of the winery. The winery may not encompass or expand beyond the legally established footprint of the structure as it existed on the date of the ordinance. An expansion of such structure beyond the footprint that legally existed on the date shall comply with the setback provisions. The existing legal nonconforming 1,951 square foot barn was constructed in 1906. It's located 498 feet from the center line of Silverado Trail. The barn is proposed to be converted to production space for the winery. By using the existing barn as production space, no vineyards will require removal during phase one, and less carbon will be expelled by minimizing construction. Using the barn as a winery adds operational efficiency and supports the long-term sustainability of a small-scale wine production. Legally constructed structure. Okay. I talked about that already. All right. Moving on. Water availability analysis was completed for the property or the project. The tier one demonstrated that the project would result in a net decrease in groundwater use of 0.88 acre feet per year. At tier two and tier three were not required due to the proposed decrease in groundwater use for the existing well. As part of the conditions of approval of this project, well meters will be installed and pumping logs will be maintained in order to verify the water use restriction. Groundwater use on the property will also be capped. A wastewater feasibility report was prepared for the property or the project. The project site already has suitable domestic wastewater treatment systems capable of treating domestic wastewater needs of the proposed winery. Phase one and two of the winery will not need onsite process wastewater treatment. However, in phase three of the project, the process wastewater generated by the winery will have the option of utilizing a hold and haul type system or installing an onsite process wastewater system. that meets the requirements of the statewide water discharge requirements program. Should an on-site process wastewater system be installed, the existing vineyard is substantially larger than the area required for the compliant land application of treated process wastewater, and it's feasible to treat and dispose of the domestic and production wastewater associated with the proposed winery in accordance with county and state requirements. As of the date of the staff report, two public comment letters from the same commenter were received opposing the project, and two letters were received in support of the project. On July 17th, staff received formal comments from the State of California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and they raised concerns that the project has the potential to impact Swanson's hawk. a California Endangered Species Act and Native Plant Production Act listed as a threatened species. Specifically, CDFW concluded that a mitigated negative declaration is appropriate for the project. And on July 21st, a comment letter was received by Water Audit. Because the letter from CDFW required a mitigated negative declaration that requires an additional 30 days for public review. The zoning staff is recommending that the zoning administrator open the public hearing on this item, hear public comments, and direct staff to prepare a mitigated negative declaration addressing CDFW's comments and recommendations. Update the recommended conditions of approval. based on CDF's comments and staff's recommendation, and continue the item to a date certain at a regular zoning administrator meeting on September 23rd. And that concludes staff's report. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Atkins. At this time, I would like to give the applicant an opportunity to speak or present if you'd like, not required. I don't know if anything was ‑‑ no? Great. Great. Thank you. So at this time, I would like to open the public hearing for public comment, and I will start with those on the line. Do we have anybody on the line?

We have no callers.

No. Do we want to give it a second to see?

None.

Great. At this time I will take any public comment in the room. showing no public comment either on the line or in the room. I will close public comment. Thank you for your presentation, Ms. Atkins. I did have a couple of questions that I just wanted to walk through if possible. You said water, the WA shows a decrease in water by .88 acre feet and we are going to meter, monitor and report that's all wells on the property? Correct. And is water going to be capped at all phases of the project?

Yes. Great.

On you incorporated it into your presentation but I was going to ask you about the noise levels but since you noted the covered that all noise is going to be below the threshold, I'm glad to see the recommendation to remove condition 6.15E. And then my last question, just for edification of the public, can you please explain why I saw that on one of the comment letters it noted that CDFW's letter was omitted from the agenda and not incorporated into the recommended conditions of approval. Can you speak to why that wasn't why the letter wasn't attached and why it wasn't reflective in your recommended conditions?

Sure. So thank you, Mr. Parker. The agenda was posted on July 15th at approximately 3 p.m., and the letter from CDFW wasn't received until July 17th at 11.50 a.m.

Which was Monday.

Which was Friday. So the letter was received after the agenda was posted. So subsequently, all the comments that were received were including a staff memo was posted to the agenda last night.

Well, thank you for that clarification. So at this point, those were all the questions I wanted to cover. But I will go ahead and take staff's recommendation to continue this item to a date certain of September 23rd at 9 a.m. And that concludes today's hearing. Thank you.