County planners OK controversial Yountville Hill winery project

A controversial winery project near Yountville won narrow approval from county planners on July 2 after a contentious hearing and some public wavering by a key planning commission member.

The hearing on the 100,000-gallon winery project proposed to be built on Yountville Hill unfolded much like a heavyweight boxing match opponents trading arguments with the developers, but neither side scoring a decisive knockout.

That initially left the commissioners split at the end of a marathon five-hour meeting before an overflow crowd, with Commissioners Matt Pope and Terry Scott saying they opposed the project because its production was too great and its marketing plan too aggressive for a 10.9-acre parcel off Highway 29 and south of Yount Mill Road.

Commissioners Bob Fiddaman and Mike Basayne said they were in favor, and Commissioner Heather Phillips recused herself due to a conflict of interest, leaving a 2-2 deadlock and spelling defeat for the winery. Before the commission could vote formally, however, Eric Sklar, developer of the proposed Yountville Hill Winery, asked for a two-week delay to possibly revise the project and win over votes.

After a brief recess to discuss the delay, the commissioners returned and Pope said he would change his vote. By a 3-1 margin, with Scott opposed, the commission voted to approve the projects use permit to the stunned silence of the roughly 50 people left in attendance, almost all of them opposing the winery.

Pope prefaced his initial comments opposing Yountville Hill by saying he was deeply torn about the project, believing some of the vintners who wrote letters opposing it were saying I got mine, now too bad for you. He also believed that by making it difficult and prohibitively expensive for winery developers, the county was narrowing the pool of new winery owners to large corporations with the deep pockets to navigate the process.

Still, he said he was swayed by the arguments that Yountville Hill could be a precedent-setting decision for Napa Valley, in essence allowing developers to pursue large-production projects that need lots of tasting room customers, nestled into narrow parcels in the hillsides.

Pope said comments from commission Chairman Bob Fiddaman ultimately changed his mind, as Fiddaman argued that the commissioners were bound by the countys existing interpretations of the laws and, therefore, had to approve the winery.

This was the most ambivalent Ive ever been, Pope said shortly before changing his vote. I am in support of this project, and that is my decision.

Tod Mostero, who had helped organize neighborhood opposition to Yountville Hill, said he was disappointed in the decision, and opponents were strongly considering appealing to the Napa County Board of Supervisors. Lester Hardy, an attorney working with Sklar on the project, said he expects one to be filed.

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County planners OK controversial Yountville Hill winery project