On August 7, 2018, a community petition signed by over 1,145 voters was delivered to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. The petition requested a moratorium on the approval of new and expanded winery permit applications until after the County has implemented a new Winery Event Ordinance (the need for which was acknowledged by a unanimous Board vote back in October 2016).
The petition was presented by representatives of the following organizations and individuals who all spoke in support of immediate Board action on this important issue.
- Preserve Rural Sonoma County
- Community Alliance with Family Farmers
- Farmers’ Guild
- Rural Alliance (formerly Western Sonoma County Rural Alliance)
- Sonoma County Conservation Action
- Sierra Club Sonoma Group
- Greenbelt Alliance
- Ernie Carpenter (former Supervisor), and
- Wine & Water Watch
Watch the short (20 minute) video below. Don’t miss the contentious exchange between former Supervisor Ernie Carpenter and current Board Chair James Gore (beginning at 11:40).
“What are we to do? We feel disenfranchised. You have a whole group of citizens out here who are saying to you: We vote, we are property owners, we live in Sonoma County, we depend upon you”. You have agreed that you do not have the guidelines in place for what we are calling these Event Centers. We are not talking about vineyards or wineries, [but] Event Centers. You build a palace, you bring a thousand people in a day, it’s creating all kinds of problems. You’ve agreed. We know you had a fire. Everyone in Sonoma County knows you had a fire… but you can’t stop your other business. These are issues in our community.”
– Ernie Carpenter, former Supervisor
Video source: 20 minutes excerpted from the 8/7 Board Meeting (unedited)