Another Wine Tasting Room in Yountville

This is interesting to me on a few levels. The Council did not just hear a Use Permit for a tasting room; they had to amend a current Use Permit that only allowed a retail space to allow for the new wine tasting room. As we are all aware by now, a Use Permit runs with the land, so the Council forever changed the business parameters of this space. Vice Mayor Kerri Dorman commented that she saw this as “…diversity of what makes our economic base work.” Where is the diversity? A women’s clothing shop will occupy 38% of the space instead of the required 25% retail as per the Town ordinance for tasting rooms. A stretch of justification only further stretched by calling this new business local serving. Then the discussion for parking, as explained by the Planning Department, was brushed aside by a member of the Town’s very own Parking Ad Hoc Committee, Councilmember Knight, stating “that off-street parking might be a requirement.” Might be? There should be no confusion. We have 14 tasting rooms in Town; the Town understands how the businesses operate, many are required to be on the Employee Parking Management Plan (as will be this new tasting room), and even require payroll updates. There is no “might be.” The Council perfectly set up the applicant to come back and ask for forgiveness instead of setting the exact guidelines of the EPMP. Many of the businesses that have been forced to vacate V Marketplace have found success in downtown Napa. Unfortunately, the Council could not see outside the box, allow a moment, and allow for some real diversity in Yountville retail.