By Jason Emerson

Editor

Owera Vineyards was approved recently to increase the size of its outdoor patio and to extend its hours of operations for special events from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays. These approvals by the Cazenovia Town Planning Board were given despite a coordinated effort by the winery’s East Lake Road neighbors to defeat the proposal based on Owera’s past issues with excessive noise, lighting and traffic coming from its on-site events.

Owera Vineyards owner Peter Muserlian applied for the changes to his operation in April and it was discussed at the planning board’s May 5 meeting.

According to planning board records and the minutes of the May 5 meeting, the application included the addition of an inlay brick patio adjacent to Owera’s tasting room and production facility that would increase the winery’s outdoor seating from its current 55-seat capacity to up to 100 total seats.

The plan would reduce the current parking area in front of the tasting room from 12 to four parking spaces, and the patio extension would be built over the parking area. It would be surrounded with shrubbery and a wall along one side.

The application stated that there would be no amplified music out of the patio and any outdoor music that would occur would be acoustic only.

The proposal was sent to the Madison County Planning Department for review, and that body found the proposal would have no adverse impact.

The town planning board also found that the patio extension would “enhance the site and provide for more outdoor seating and enjoyment of the premises for wine tasting and associated activities,” and would not have a likelihood of a detrimental impact on noise or traffic to the neighborhood, according to planning board records.

The board unanimously approved the proposal to extend the patio for the production/tasting building to accommodate an additional 25 patrons.

The proposal to extend the winery’s allowable Wednesday and Thursday event hours from 5 to 9 p.m. in the seasonal event tent would be for corporate events only — not for weddings or receptions — and would be for no more than 125 guests, although the tent holds 275 people, according to the application. Events would end and all guests would leave the Owera premises by 9 p.m., and all employees would be gone by 10 p.m., according to the application.

Muserlian said he sought the extended event hours because he was unaware that the corporate market could be tapped from 5 to 9 p.m., but Owera had received numerous requests for small corporate events on the lawn and in the tent during these hours. His current operating approval, however, does not allow the winery to accommodate those requests. He said the winery has received no complaints about noise in two-and-a-half years, and an additional eight hours of business would have a “great impact” on the success of his business.

The town planning board determined that the operating hours extension, like the patio proposal, would have no adverse impact on the neighborhood.

Many of Owera’s East Lake Road neighbors — who spent two years battling the winery and engaging the town over the winery’s previously excessive noise, lights and traffic — sent letters to the planning board and attended the June 2 planning board meeting to encourage the board to reject the application. Neighbors stated that Owera’s history of neighborhood complaints and non-compliance with its operating approvals made the winery untrustworthy to abide by town laws and to give more operational freedom.

Neighbors argued that the extended event hours on weekdays would inhibit their enjoyment of home and property, and would disturb their children trying to sleep on school nights. Neighbors also argued that approving the request was tantamount to allowing Owera to incrementally creep towards its ultimate goal of becoming an event center — even of creating a hotel or bed and breakfast on East Lake Road — and not be limited to its original plan and approval of being merely a farm winery.

The planning board approved the extended operating hours from 5 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays for corporate-style events serving a maximum of 125 patrons in the existing seasonal tent on a vote of 5-2, with members Anne Ferguson and Bob Ridler voting no. The approval will sunset on Oct. 31, 2017.

Ferguson said she voted to reject the extended business hours because the proposed changes were to accommodate the business of the winery’s event center, not the business of a farm winery.

“If his business model is not proving profitable, in my view, changes should be considered that do not make the winery’s viability increasingly dependent on what technically is an ancillary operation,” Ferguson said. “While a planning board should not impose undue constraints on a business, I believe it also is not our job to make changes just to make a business viable.”

Ferguson said she also voted no because she was concerned about potential “incrementalism,” and that Owera would be back before the board next year asking for additional nights and longer hours; and because she believed the neighbors’ concerns of the potential negative impact on the residents were valid concerns.

Owera owner Nancy Muserlian said she was pleased by the planning board’s approval of the the enhanced patio and extended event hours. “These changes will help Owera continue to draw visitors, further promote our farm products and contribute to agri-tourism growth in Madison County,” she said.