Board of Supervisors Face Delicate Balancing Act of Competing Interest.
After too many years of work and debate, the El Dorado County
Winery Ordinance inches closer to fruition. With the rural and entrepreneurial nature of El Dorado County, it would seem that creating a good Winery Ordinance would be a simple thing to do, but this is not the case.
The two opposing interest become clear in just a few minutes of public testimony. On one hand, you have a vineyard/winery industry and on the other you have residents that predate the winery’s operation.
Winery owners want as much economic certainty in operating a business that is by its very nature, risky. They want to mitigate that risk by low cost permits that are quick and easy to get. The last thing they want is any resident within miles being able to stop their operation at any time and causing the loss of thousands of hours of hard work and many thousands of dollars of investment.
Residents want to be able to enjoy a rural lifestyle without thousands of cars and revelers driving by every day. They want to have absolute veto power to new winery operations that include large “events.”
