Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good morning. I will call to order the Wednesday, July 29th, 2026 special meeting of the zoning administrator. The first item on the agenda is agenda review, which I will tackle. There's one item on today's agenda that is item 2A, the harvest stomp 2026 at Opus 1 Winery temporary event category 4, application number P2600169. I will officially open the public hearing and hand it off to Mr. Dota.

Thank you. And good morning, Mr. Parker and Ms. McMahon. Joseph Dota with the Planning, Building, and Environmental Services here in Napa County, here to present item 2A. The item before you is a request for category four temporary event license filed by Arwen Gallencamp on behalf of Napa Valley Grape Growers on June 22nd, 2026. So I'll go over some of the event details. Harvest Stomp 2026 is proposed to be held at Opus One Winery at 7900 St. Helena Highway on August 22nd, 2026 for a maximum of 550 people. Event parking will be conducted on site. The event will take place from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. The event will be open to the public and is limited by the number of tickets sold and this is the first time this event is taking place in this location and thus therefore must be approved by the zoning administrator pursuant to Napa County Code Chapter 536. For the event location, evaluating this proposal to ensure compliance with the temporary event manual minimum standards table, this application was distributed for review and comment to PBES departments. And furthermore, this application was distributed to applicable county departments, including fire, public works, sheriff's office, EMS, and outside agencies like California Highway Patrol. This proposal was reviewed and approved by Napa County Sheriff on June 22nd, California Highway Patrol on June 23rd, and Napa County Emergency Medical Services, or EMS, on June 26th. For the proposed site plan, this event is supposed to be held on one parcel located at 2900 St. Helena Highway. The parcel located at 7848 St. Helena Highway, the one towards the west or the lower one, will not feature event activities and its drive will be used for site access. Parking for this event will be accommodated on site for all vendors, staff, and guests. Guests will utilize a walking path to access the main event area. with golf carts acting as shuttles for those with accessibility needs. Vendor trucks will access the site via the Northern Access Road off Highway 29. Staff, guests, and rideshare will use the main entrance off of Highway 29 and exit south to Oakville Cross Road. As shown on General Site Plan, the event venue features bathrooms with dedicated ADA-compliant stalls, a 576-square-foot dance floor, a 288-square-foot stage, ample guest seating with dedicated ADA seating, and an assortment of other event festivities throughout. The event is anticipated to be held on polled vineyard land. Going into further details, the festivities will include a reception with food and wine, auction, and live band performance. This is the 19th annual outdoor harvest celebration and fundraiser supporting Napa Valley's farming community hosted by the Napa Valley Grape Growers. The applicant has already applied for necessary building permits at this time, and they are anticipated to be issued prior to the event. Inspections are expected to occur prior to the event as well. So, with all of this said, therefore, at this time, staff has determined that the applicant will adequately address and demonstrate full compliance with the minimum standards table and the temporary event manual before the event. In addition, this public hearing has been noticed to property owners within 1,000 feet of the event-slash-access parcel and other interested parties, as well as circulated in the Napa Lake Register on July 16th. This all being said, staff recommend finding the project ministerially exempt from California Environmental Quality Act and approve of the requested permit subject to compliance with County Code Chapter 5.36 and all applicable minimal standards in the temporary events manual prior to the event. This includes presentation. Staff and the applicant are available for questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dota. At this time, I'm going to move to public comment. I'm also going to note that unlike conditional use permits or other discretionary permits, temporary event permits are ministerial and shall be approved and issued if the minimum standards contained in the minimum standards table of the temporary events manual are met. Since this permit is ministerial, the purpose of this hearing is for the zoning administrator to evaluate and consider evidence regarding whether the applicant has demonstrated that the minimum standards have been met or are likely to have been met prior to this event. As such, public comment should be limited to whether the minimum standards have or have not been met or will likely be met before the event permit. At this time I will open public comment showing nobody in the room. I will check to see if there's anybody online.

We don't have any public comment.

Thank you. I will close public comment. Thank you, Mr. Dota, for your presentation and your thorough staff report. At this point, I don't have any questions, so I'm going to move that I'm going to find that the project is ministerially exempt from CEQA, and second, I will approve the temporary event category for license P2600169. At this point, I will adjourn the meeting. Thank you.