Date: Fri 13-Sep-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

McLaughlin-Vineyard-legal

Full Text:

Town Moves Toward A Legal Showdown With McLaughlin Vineyards

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

The case of the winemakers vs the lawmakers appears to be drawing near.

The Board of Selectmen met with Town Attorney Dave Grogins in private Monday

night to discuss the possibility of taking McLaughlin Vineyards to court.

The local winery held a series of summer concerts with wine tasting this past

summer, which, according to town zoning regulations, was illegal. In 1995,

McLaughlin Vineyards was ordered to discontinue charging a fee for the

concerts, so this time around, its general manager, Morgen McLaughlin decided

to charge a parking fee, instead. No way, said the town.

"I interpreted it as I could still have concerts, but no wine tasting or

admission charge," she explained.

Late last month, after the concert season was over, town Zoning Enforcement

Officer William Nicholson issued a cease-and-desist order to end the wine

tasting, jazz concerts and other activiites. It also ordered the vineyard to

discontinue conducting commercial events for which, admission and/or parking

fees are charged and to stop using the premises for wedding events.

"Currently, she is operating outside zoning regulations and the issue needs to

be addressed," said First Selectman Bob Cascella Tuesday. "Obviously, we can't

have someone operating outside the regulations."

Throughout the summer, the town was told by the Ms McLaughlin that she was

planning to comply with the regulations and come in for a permit, but the P&Z

decided a month ago that that wasn't going to happen and requested funds from

the town to take McLaughlin Vineyards to court.

The issue runs much deeper than a couple of concert series, however. For

years, the vineyard has been battling the P&Z over the right to be able to run

the business as not just a farm, but as a tourist center with retail sales. As

Ms McLaughlin explained, McLaughlin Vineyards is not yet a profitable business

based solely on its production of wines.

Finally, in 1993, after a long process, the town's Zoning Commission amended

its zoning laws, allowing the vineyard, located in an R-2 (residential) zone

to conduct wine tastings and sell its products on-site. But there was a catch.

In its decision, the commission also required the vineyard to apply for a

special exception.

Ms McLaughlin quickly found out that a special exception entailed an extensive

land survey, along with several other engineering and environmental studies,

which, in her case, would have to be done at a cost of more than $100,000 for

her 160-acre piece of land. However, on the advice of her attorney, she

decided to go ahead with the work. When she went to the zoning commission,

though, members told her she had an accessibility problem and would need to

build a new driveway.

"I said `fine, I'll build a new driveway.' That's what I've been doing for the

past year," she explained. "In the zoners' eyes, you have to deal with A

before you can get to B."

For a while, according to Mr Cascella, the town allowed the operation to

continue because it thought she was going to apply for a special exception.

The town got tire of waiting, however. The first selectman pointed out that

since McLaughlin Vineyard is operating without a permit, the town is open to

litigation if someone gets hurt on the site.

"What Morgen is trying to do is a great idea. It's a beautiful piece of

property, but she's got to operate within the regulations," Mr Cascella said.

"We try to work with everyone, but then you reach a point when they're not

cooperating with us, so we can't cooperate with them."

But, Ms McLaughlin believes that even if she does do her part in getting the

special exception, zoners will remain opposed to wine tasting and concerts,

since the regulations do not include those activities as part of a wine

operation. She also contends that no other vineyard in the state has ever been

required to seek a special exception.

The issue has not been easy for Ms McLaughlin who runs the business under

auspices of her parents and several other family members. She's just looking

to keep the business afloat.

"They want me to do nothing, but if I had never done anything since I got

here, we wouldn't be here," she explained.

The Board of Selectmen is expected to continue discussions with Mr Grogins on

a McLaughlin Vineyard lawsuit in the coming weeks.