CAZENOVIA — Owera Vineyards on East Lake Road in Cazenovia has closed its tasting room and canceled all hosted events for 2024.

On Dec. 4, Peter Muserlian Jr, son of Owera owners Nancy and Peter Muserlian, confirmed the closing and said the farming, wine production, and distribution operations will continue at the Cazenovia location.

“We are committed to finding suitable replacement venues for those affected by the cancellations,” he said in an email.

Muserlian Jr., who has been handling all media inquiries for the winery, added that Owera is not taking any questions at this time.

As of Dec. 8, the Owera website is “under construction” and there are no posts about the closing on the business’s Facebook page.

Background

The Muserlians purchased their 57-acre property on East Lake Road in 2007.

They opened a tasting room a few years later and erected a seasonal, non-permanent 40 ft. x 100 ft. tent on the property to host events.

The winery became a venue for weddings, banquets, and other occasions in 2013.

Since then, neighbors have been very vocal about their opposition to the noise, lights, and traffic coming from the on-site events.

In Sept. 2013, Owera was issued a notice of violation by the town codes enforcement officer for “complaints relating to the conducting of activities (not ‘indoors’) after the hour of 10 p.m. on certain specified Fridays and Saturdays and after 5 p.m. on certain weekdays and Sundays, all outside of the parameters of the permits that [Owera has] been issued and the Town’s Zoning and Site Plan Laws.”

According to the violation, the complaints related to excessive noise that was identified as coming from the banquet area of Owera’s premises.

That same year, Owera applied to the town to replace their tent with a permanent structure. In the face of strong opposition from neighbors, the winery ultimately withdrew its application in January 2014.

Owera applied again in August 2014 to construct a building to replace the tent, and in February 2015, the town issued a comprehensive resolution approving the construction of a permanent 48 ft. x 142 ft. farm production and marketing facility structure. The resolution contained various conditions, including noise limitations, limits on the hours of operation, limits on the size and number of events held, required proof of compliance with certain New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (DAM) policies on an annual basis, and required immediate expansion of Owera’s acreage under cultivation.

Owera sued the planning board in New York State Supreme Court to annul several of the conditions that it found to be “arbitrary and capricious” and in excess of the board’s jurisdiction. All but two of the requirements were ultimately upheld. The building was not constructed.

According to Town Supervisor Bill Zupan, Owera submitted an application to the planning board in May 2022 to seek approval for the construction of a permanent building to replace the tent and accommodate year-round events.

During the board’s Oct. 5, 2023, meeting, Jo Anne Gagliano, president of Environmental Design & Research, explained that Owera had come to the board because the existing tent was at the end of its lifespan, and Owera’s preference was to replace it with a building to mitigate the issues that had “been coming up for a number of years,” according to the meeting minutes. She also said Owera proposed other site improvements to mitigate additional issues, such as lighting, that have been raised.

According to the minutes, Gagliano stated that Owera currently has an indoor venue — the tasting room — that operates without restrictions on days or hours, and “there hasn’t been a problem.”

According to Gagliano, the “agricultural, farm-looking structure” would include an interior sound monitoring device that would give the person running it a warning with a colored light when the predetermined sound threshold had been hit. The system would send an email to the town if the sound exceeded the set levels. Event sound history would be submitted quarterly to the town zoning enforcement officer.

According to Seth Waltz from ADL Designs in Rochester, the building drawings feature a “beefed up” roof, double doors, almost studio-grade windows, and “beefed up” exterior walls for sound attenuation.

Gagliano said there would be no events held on Mondays and Tuesdays. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, the hours would be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. On Fridays and Saturdays, the hours would be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. On Sundays, the hours would be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition, they proposed that during January, February, and March, events would be limited to a maximum of four events per month.

During the public hearing held during both the Oct. 5 and Nov. 2, 2023, planning board meetings, several neighbors spoke in opposition to the proposal, raising concerns related to the winery’s compliance with DAM, the proposed hours, potential year-round event noise, noise when guests leave the facility, traffic, and lights.

According to the October meeting minutes, East Lake Road resident JoAnne Race said she and other neighbors would rather have the winery maintain a tent structure than have a permanent event center without the 2015 list of conditions included.

“Please spend time publicly deliberating reasonable conditions and include reasonable protective conditions in the application for a permanent building, or else table this application,” she said.

During the Nov. 2 meeting, Tom Anderson, who owns the farm that backs up to Owera, said he wanted the hours of operation cut back.

“They should close at 7 p.m. like everything else,” he said. “Enough. We’re done. One family does not deserve to ruin a residential neighborhood — that is not right.”

One individual spoke in favor of the proposal.

Nancy Frisbey, who originally sold the property to the Muserlian family, said she has never “had a problem with anything that has gone on” and she thought the permanent building would resolve a lot of noise issues, according to the October minutes.

On Dec. 5, Planning Board Chairman Robert Ridler said Owera representatives would not be attending that night’s planning board meeting, and the application would be continued until next month.

Ridler added that he did not have information regarding the status of Owera’s operations.

Owera Vineyards is located at 5276 East Lake Rd., Cazenovia.

For more information on the planning board and to view meeting minutes, visit towncazenovia.digitaltowpath.org:10079/content/Boards/View/2.