Stone-Magnon 
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Posted on: Jul. 29 2011,11:38 am |
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Winery ordered to stop construction
Published 9:29am Friday, July 29, 2011
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AUSTIN — The Four Daughters Vineyard & Winery ran into some trouble at the Mower County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday.
Four Daughters, originally scheduled to open this fall, was recently ordered to cease construction pending board action by planning and zoning employees after finding out the establishment was planning to serve food made at the site.
“If we did something wrong, we’re sorry,” said Vicky Vogt, one of the owners of the family-operated venture.
At issue is the winery’s business classification. If the winery sells things like pizza, bread and sandwiches, that could mean the winery is a restaurant under Mower County’s permitting procedure, which wasn’t stipulated in the business’s conditional use permit.
The Vogts say their winery’s food plans are covered under the Minnesota Farm Wineries Act, which was modified in 2007 to allow wineries to operate restaurants on-site.
Yet Mower County zoning laws take precedence, according to County Attorney Kristen Nelsen. The winery, located in Spring Valley, is on land zoned for agriculture and not zoned for restaurants.
“Maybe for state statute it’s fine, but in Mower County it is not,” said board chairman Tim Gabrielson.
Vogt told the commissioners her family was open about opening a small restaurant from the beginning, citing discussions she had with county officials about kitchen appliances and including the proper septic system for a small restaurant in the winery’s plans. Gabrielson and Nelsen disputed her claim after recalling their notes from the planning and zoning meeting when the Vogts applied for the winery’s permit. According to the county officials, the Vogts had said they would cater food whenever there was a need for it.
“We don’t want to get into the food business,” Vogt said.
The board could change the zoning on the winery property to reflect a small restaurant, but it would mean several actions by the board and the commissioners want more research done on the legal precedence of having a small restaurant as part of a winery. A spokesperson for Four Daughters said construction on the winery will continue as planned, as the company needed to bring this issue before the board by July 30.
“I think we can get it resolved,” said Commissioner Ray Tucker.
The Vogts are expected at next week’s board meeting at 1:30 p.m.
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