CUP 17-14 CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT REQUEST - 2711 HIGHWAY 94 SOUTH Application: Owner: Applicant: Use Requested: Property Zoning: Area: Location: CUP17-14 Defiance Ridge Vineyards, LLC Chuck Gillentine, Manager of Defiance Ridge Vineyards, LLC Buildings, structures or open spaces for conducting weddings and/or wedding receptions or other private parties, and a Winery A, Agricultural District with Floodway Fringe Overlay District 42.00 acres Council District: 2 Account No.: 627570B000 On the west side of the intersection of Highway 94 South and Darst Bottom Road; near Defiance CONTENTS: Staff Recommendation Photo(s) of Site Aerial Photo Surrounding Zoning Map Explanatory Narrative for CUP Application Land Title Survey Letters Received: None
STAFF RECOMMENDATION To: County Planning and Zoning Commission Prepared by: Mark Price Jr., A.I.C.P. Application No.: CUP17-14 Date: January 09, 2018 GENERAL INFORMATION Owners: Applicants: Requested Action: Existing Zoning: Location: Size: Current Land Use: Adjacent Land Use and Zoning: Defiance Ridge Vineyards, LLC Drew Weber, Hamilton Weber LLC Conditional Use Permit for a Winery and for buildings, structures or open spaces for conducting weddings and/or wedding receptions or other private parties. A/FF, Agricultural District with Flood Fringe Overlay 2711 South Highway 94, on the west side of South Highway 94 at the intersection of South Highway 94 and Darst Bottom Road. 42 acres. Restaurant Direction Zoning Land Use North A/FF, Agricultural Flood Single Family Residential Fringe South A/FF, Agricultural Flood Single Family Residential Fringe East A/FF, Agricultural Flood Fringe Vacant Agricultural / Katy Trail West A, Agricultural Vacant Agricultural / Excavating company Zoning History: This property was originally zoned A, Agricultural District in 1959. The property was granted a Conditional Use Permit (#C505) on November 26, 1997 for a Nursery. This Conditional Use Permit is no longer active. On June 26 th, 2002, County Council approved a second Conditional Use Permit (#C569) for a winery to be located on this property. County Council required five conditions. Those conditions are: 1) A site development plan would be required to be submitted and approved by St. Charles County for the winery. 2) Five acres of grapes would be planted on the Wine Country Gardens property by May 15, 2003. 3) Wine Country Gardens must contract with another St. Charles County winery for the processing of wine and juice making material by the time of site plan approval.
SPECIAL INFORMATION 4) Wine Country Gardens must lease 5 acres of producing grapes in St. Charles County by the time of site plan approval. This lease must remain in effect until the grapes grown on the Wine Country Garden property have matured for wine production. 5) Within one year of approval of Conditional Use Application C569, Wine Country Gardens must begin processing. The applicant ultimately did not develop a winery. On December 30, 2003, the County Council granted the property a Conditional Use Permit (C605) for a Restaurant use in conjunction with the Greenhouse/Nursery use already established on the property. As part of County Council s approval for the Restaurant Conditional Use Permit the following conditions were placed on the property: 1) The site must meet all Community Health and the Environment Department regulations. 2) A site plan must be approved by the Community Development Department. Public Services: County Council District 2 School District Francis Howell Fire District Augusta Fire Protection District Utilities: Water Public Water Supply District No. 2 Service Area Sewer Individual Wastewater Treatment System PETITIONER S REQUEST The petitioner is requesting a Conditional Use Permit for a Winery and for buildings, structures or open spaces for conducting weddings and/or wedding receptions or other private parties. ANALYSIS The current owner, Defiance Ridge Vineyards, is requesting a conditional use permit to operate a winery and hold special events in conjunction with their existing restaurant. No changes are proposed to existing buildings or parking areas. Wine will be produced in an existing structure that is approximately 60 by 65 in size and is now located on the western side of the property. The applicant is proposing to sell wines made both on and off premise. The winery would be open to the public from 11 am to 5 pm Monday through Thursday, 11 am to 9 pm on Fridays, 11 am to 5 pm on Saturday, and 11 am to 5 pm on Sunday. The applicant is also requesting the ability to operate a wedding/special event venue. The applicant states Wine Country Gardens has hosted weddings, receptions and other special events for many years on the property as part of their restaurant. The business hosts special themed dinners, class reunions, birthdays, holiday celebrations and other similar events. Staff notes these uses are all currently allowed inside the restaurant under the Conditional Use Permit for the restaurant. The applicant notes that, if the Conditional Use Permit is approved, during the months of April through October, there will likely be at least one or more wedding, reception or other special event each weekend. Those events that are outdoors will be held on the patio adjoining the restaurant. The weddings will occur on the outdoor stage that is currently used for live music during the restaurant s operating hours. During the months of November through
March, the events will be less frequent. The events would host from approximately a few dozen people to several hundred attendees. The applicant states the events will end by 11 pm. The vineyard must contain a minimum of 5 acres of grapes and at least 50% of the grapes used in the wine produced on site must be grown within St. Charles County (Section 405.060). New wineries must conform to specific architectural requirements contained in Section 405.520.F.2-5. All but one of the existing structures meets the architectural requirements contained in Section 405.520.F.2. The building proposed for the winery lacks cladding of stone, brick or wood to match the other buildings located on site. However, since the winery would be constructed within an existing building without expansion of the footprint, the project is eligible for a Conditional Use Permit without meeting these architectural standards, per Section 405.520.F.6.a. In conformance with Section 405.520.F.2, the buildings conform to the maximum of two stories in height, and are located more than the minimum 300 feet from the nearest church. The Missouri Department of Transportation has been notified and has not submitted any comments or concerns. All buildings and parking areas to be utilized in this request already exist on the subject property. Conditional Use permits are evaluated based on criteria established within the Unified Development Ordinance. The CUP criteria are as follows: Before authorizing the issuance of a conditional use permit, the County Council may impose such conditions as will, in the County Council's judgment, ensure that the establishment, maintenance, or operation of the conditional use will not be detrimental to or endanger public health, safety, or general welfare; that the conditional use will not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity for the purposes already permitted or to the esthetic and/or scenic values of the vicinity, nor substantially diminish and impair property values within the neighborhood; and that the establishment of the conditional use will not impede the normal and orderly development and improvement of surrounding property for uses permitted in the district. Substantial compliance with an approved concept plan shall be a condition of an approved conditional use permit. 1) The conditional use will not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity for the purposes already permitted or to the esthetic and/or scenic values of the vicinity. The restaurant s conditional use permit currently allows for all of the events the applicant has requested to be held indoors. The Conditional Use Permit would allow the applicant to have events outdoors. The addition of the winery to the area would increase the esthetic and/or scenic values in the area. The subject property is approximately 42 acres in size and the nearest home is approximately 1,000 feet from the restaurant. There have been no complaints filed with the County relating the uses on the subject property. 2) The conditional use permit shall not substantially diminish and impair property values within the neighborhood. As the applicant is not proposing any additional buildings, structures, or paved areas as part of this Conditional Use Permit and are only proposing the addition of outdoor events at this location, property values should not be diminished. 3) The establishment of the conditional use will not impede the normal and orderly development and improvement of surrounding property for uses permitted in the district. The property consists of 42 acres of open space. The property contains several buildings and parking lots as well as approximately 3.5 acres of vineyards. The
applicant will have to increase the acreage of vineyards to the minimum required 5 acres. The surrounding properties are larger lot residential and agricultural properties that range in size from 3 acres to 65 acres. The surrounding properties are developed as single family homes. The exceptions to this are one business located on a parcel located near the northwestern corner of the subject property and the land in the flood fringe and flood way that is located on the eastern side of the subject property and extending all the way to the Missouri River that is used for agricultural purposes. Staff has reviewed these criteria relative to the subject site and finds that, with conditions proposed herein, the proposed winery and buildings, structures or open spaces for conducting weddings and/or wedding receptions or other private parties will substantially conform to the Conditional Use Permit standards. With the proposed short duration of amplified sound, and distance of over 200 feet from the nearest property line, these outdoor events should not be detrimental to nearby land uses. Staff believes that, with the proper conditions, this is an appropriate use for this area. RECOMMENDATION Based on the preceding considerations, County staff recommends approval of the application as conforming to the criteria of Section 405.510.B of the County Code, subject to the following conditions: 1. The winery shall meet the definition of a winery as defined in section 405.060 in the Unified Development Ordinances of St. Charles County, Missouri. 2. Records demonstrating compliance with the requirements of a winery as defined in Section 405.060 shall be made available to the Community Development Director upon request. 3. A site plan must be submitted to and approved by the Community Development Department prior to the conditional use becoming active. 4. All gravel parking areas shall be at least 6 inches thick and void of weeds and vegetation. 5. No conditional use shall be in active use until such time all conditions of approval have been met. 6. No outdoor event shall be held after 11pm or earlier than 11 am. 7. Any amplified outdoor sound shall be limited to 11 am to 11 pm during the businesses hours of operation.
CUP 17-14 2711 Highway 94 South Subject Properties
CUP 17-14 2711 Highway 94 South Subject Property
Subject Property CUP 17-14 2711 Highway 94 South
Memorandum To: From: Mark Price Drew Weber Date: January 5, 2018 Re: Explanatory Narrative for Defiance Ridge Vineyards CUP Application This memorandum serves as a supplemental narrative for the Conditional Use Permit Application submitted by Defiance Ridge Vineyards, LLC, requesting conditional use permits for a Winery and Buildings, structures or open spaces for conducting weddings and/or wedding receptions or other private parties for property located at 2711 S. Highway 94 in Defiance, Missouri (the Property ). Defiance Ridge Vineyards is both a continuation of Wine Country Gardens and a new business. Defiance Ridge Vineyards LLC will continue operating the restaurant on the Property, growing grapes and holding weddings, receptions and other special events on the property. Wine Country Gardens conducted these business activities on the Property for over a decade. The restaurant and banquet center building, along with the accompanying patio area, is shown below: 1
The only new use being proposed on the Property is operating a winery, using grapes grown on the Property as well as grapes grown off the Property. Wines produced on and off-property will be sold at Defiance Ridge Vineyards. Under Section 405.060 of the Unified Development Ordinance of St. Charles County (the UDO ), a winery is defined as follows: Any establishment that makes more than two hundred (200) gallons of wine annually, including grape crushing, fermenting, and bottling, with or without subsidiary accessory uses, including, but not limited to, the sale of wine and related products, public wine tasting, sale and service of food, and tours of the winery. Any such establishment shall have five (5) acres or more of wine grapes cultivated on the premises. All wine produced at the winery must be produced under a State of Missouri domestic winery license. At least fifty percent (50%) of the grapes used in the wine produced on site must be grown within St. Charles County. Currently, there are approximately 3.5 acres of grapes being grown on the Property, at the location shown below: 2
On Tuesday, November 7, 2017, representatives of Defiance Ridge Vineyards, LLC, met with Robert Myers and Mike Hurlbert with the St. Charles County Department of Community Development. Mr. Hurlbert indicated that because the holder of a conditional use permit has two (2) years to act on a conditional use permit, Defiance Ridge Vineyards, LLC, would have two (2) years to plant the full five (5) acres of grapes. Defiance Ridge Vineyards, LLC, plans to fulfill this requirement within that two (2) year timeframe. Although weddings, receptions and other special events have been held on the Property for over a decade, Defiance Ridge Vineyards LLC is applying for the conditional use of "buildings, structures or open spaces for conducting weddings and/or wedding receptions or other private parties" in order to insure that there is no question as to the permissibility of continuing to use the Property for holding weddings, receptions and other special events. By way of example, there will be weddings, wedding receptions, special themed dinners, class reunions, birthdays, holiday celebrations and other similar events held at Defiance Ridge Vineyards. During the months of April through October, there will likely be at least one wedding, reception or other special event each weekend, and maybe more. During the months of November through March, special events will be much less frequent. The size of events varies significantly, ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred attendees. Defiance Ridge Vineyards will conduct the weddings, receptions and other special events in substantially the same manner as they were conducted by Wine Country Gardens. Wedding receptions and other special events will usually not run past 11:00 p.m. Wedding ceremonies are sometimes held outside on the Property and there may be recorded or live music during those ceremonies. This music is likely to be "typical" wedding ceremonial music and not loud or long in duration. Occasionally, music played during a wedding reception may also be broadcast outside the building. In such cases, the music will be broadcast on the stage adjacent to the patio. There are indoor and outdoor seating areas on the Property and guests are permitted to walk around the Property. Defiance Ridge Vineyards will continue having live music on weekends which will take place on the stage adjacent to the patio. Defiance Ridge Vineyards will be open all year round and the typical operating hours will likely be as follows: Monday-Thursday: 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 3
Friday-11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday-11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Special events will be held both during and after the normal operating hours. In short, Defiance Ridge Vineyards will operate in substantially the same manner as Wine Country Gardens. The main difference is that wine will now be produced on the Property for the first time. 4