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Despite pleas from the audience to delay its decision, a splitBuellton City Council has approved a resolution in support of twoindustry groups positions as Santa Barbara County begins toupdate its winery ordinance. The council voted 3-2 Thursday to send the resolution to countyofficials in support of the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association and the Santa Rita Hills Wine Growers Alliance. Mayor Holly Sierra and councilmen Ed Andrisek and Leo Elovitz votedin favor, with council members Judith Dale and Dave Kingdissenting. The ordinance is a county issue, King said, and the city shouldkeep out of it. It s none of our business, he said, and Dale agreed. The same resolution will be on the Solvang City Council s agendaMonday night. Besides backing a place for the wine industry at the discussiontable, the council is asking the county to consider excluding as a winery event or special event any occasions sponsored byand for the primary benefit of religious, civic, educational,health care and humanitarian organizations, other charities ortax-exempt nonprofit organizations. At the moment, the ordinance allows wineries to hold a certainnumber of special events but restricts how many people can attend,depending on the type of permit the winery holds. The county is reviewing a section of the winery ordinance thatcould make charity events count against the limited number of special events a winery could host each year. Opponents of multiple events, often nearby residents, complainabout the noise, traffic and night-time light that they create.They argue that the events are a commercial use of agriculturalproperty. The city has received a letter from county CEO Chandra Wallarassuring Sierra that both groups and city representatives will havethe chance to participate in a series of public meetings before anychanges are made to the county s winery ordinance. The Board of Supervisors will ultimately decide on the proposedrevisions. On April 26, Buellton council members unanimously directed staff toprepare a draft resolution after hearing testimony from severalrepresentatives of the area s nonprofit groups and vintners. Wine industry support is vital to their fundraising, according tothose from community groups who addressed the council. In contrast to the speakers that night encouraging council membersto move forward with the resolution, speakers this week asked thecouncil to table their vote. Mark Oliver, president of the Santa Ynez Valley Alliance, told thecouncil it would be premature to send a resolution to the countybefore any public hearings and analysis of the proposed changes. Bob Field, past chairman of the Valley Plan Advisory Committee anda frequent critic of winery special events, recommended no actionon the item because there has been no public debate on the issue;what the council heard at its previous meeting was one-sided, he said. There is no rush here, he added. The wine industry is already at the table, he said, and the councilcould come in later with a resolution. Donald Gallagher of Santa Ynez, a spokesman for a new Valley groupcalled Preservation of Agricultural Lands, said there are manyconcerns over noise and traffic related to winery events. He askedthe council to take no action until all sides have been heard. Former 3rd District Supervisor Gail Marshall, who worked on thecounty s ordinance when she was in office, said the revisionprocess will be transparent and include all stakeholders. Addressing the council for the second consecutive meeting, StevePepe of Clos Pepe Vineyards said no one, including the speakersasking for a delay, had disputed whether wineries should have aplace at the table. The quarrel is over the second part of theresolution about events. Vintners Association Executive Director Jim Fiolek, who alsospoke at the earlier meeting, echoed Pepe s comments and addedthat the definition of a charitable organization should be definedin the ordinance. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Cold Rolled Steel Coil , Alu Zinc Steel Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Hot Dipped Galvanized Steel Coil today!
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