The PD reports below that after meeting with Efren, Joe Wagner is going to pursue a full analysis that may include an EIR for his proposed Dairyman winery, rather than hoping for a quick approval via the permit process. Efren's involvement could be seen as supportive of the project or against it. I'll hope it was against it. In any case, a full analysis was warranted if it were not to be dismissed out of hand.
Apparently Joe is willing to compromise ("make a plan to fix it"). So I considered what if it were scaled back so that he just used the grapes that are grown on the property (that are currently trucked out to another winery) and imported just that many grapes (can anybody calculate how many cases could be made from that? I'm guessing that would mean scaling back his proposal by at least 90%) into a new much smaller winery (so there would be a net zero change in the amount of grapes entering or leaving the property), and the tasting room and event hosting were equally vastly scaled back. I still got that the traffic danger (left turns on 12 - possibly involving alcohol) and the trail crossing impact were still unacceptable.
Water is a different story. No one is talking about planting grapes on what is now natural or fallow land. The same amount of grapes are going to be grown. This is just a question of where they would be processed. So seemingly it is going to be a net zero of water usage, though which water table/aquifer it would come from may vary.
Barry
Large winery proposal on Highway 12 to undergo full environmental review
A Napa County winemaker whose plans for a large-scale winery and distillery on Highway 12 between Sebastopol and Santa Rosa have sparked significant dispute since they were unveiled earlier this year has decided to subject the project to a full environmental impact report in hopes of addressing the public’s many questions and concerns.
Joe Wagner, a member of the Caymus Vineyards winemaking family, said it’s been clear for weeks that the breadth of opposition to his Dairyman project demanded greater effort on his part to demonstrate its potential for improving the site’s appearance and productivity without substantial environmental harm.
He said he confirmed his decision to engage in a full-scale independent environmental review for the project after meeting last week with 5th District Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, who agreed it was the right approach.
“Obviously, it’s expensive and lengthy,” Wagner said Friday, “but it is something that allows the community the opportunity to join in and chime in and become part of the process.”
But it’s not clear additional study will assuage Wagner’s critics, some of whom are holding a community gathering Saturday in Jenner to discuss the larger winery backlash that organizer Shepherd Bliss said has coalesced around the Dairyman plan and other recent winery proposals.
“It is a stoppable project,” said Bliss, a Sebastopol farmer and longtime activist, “and we will stop it.”
{snip}
“Just looking at the scope of the project and also the community’s concerns, it’s better to go full bore and show everybody the good, the bad and the ugly, and make a plan to fix it if there’s something that needs to be addressed,” Wagner said.
{snip}
Wagner contacted Carrillo, who met with him last week and reinforced the need for a full review of the project, both because of its scope and the political realities.
Carrillo said it was clear full environmental review “was absolutely necessary,” but said Wagner needed no real persuading.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Carrillo said.
Continues here (mostly a rehash the history of the project)