The Rivendell Winery in New Paltz has declared bankruptcy and is going out of business after nearly 22 years, an outcome the owner blames on hostility to business development in the New Paltz community.
But the town supervisor said the outcome arises out of Rivendell”™s insistence on pushing a plan that was at odds with the town”™s zoning laws.
On Feb. 16, Rivendell Winery L.L.C. filed a voluntary petition for liquidation under Chapter 7 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in Poughkeepsie.
Chapter 7 cases do not involve the filing of a plan of repayment. Instead, a bankruptcy trustee gathers and sells the debtor”™s nonexempt assets and uses the proceeds of such assets to pay creditors in accordance with the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.
“You don”™t come back from Chapter 7,” said Robert Ransom who along with his wife, Susan Wine, operated the Rivendell Winery since 1987 on leased property on Libertyville Road in Gardiner. Two years ago, Rivendell tried to move to a new, more visible location at the intersection of Albany Post Road and Route 299 in the town of New Paltz.
Ransom said the town”™s resistance to the new location resulted in the bankruptcy filing.
“Fundamentally the bankruptcy was caused by our struggle with New Paltz regarding the new property, and carrying the financial burden of that,” Ransom said. “Had we been able to move our business on schedule, now pushing two years ago, and not incurred all this additional expense, we likely would have had a very healthy little business. But it didn”™t work out that way.”
“It”™s really a shame, a 22-year-old business that been very meaningful to the New Paltz scene has been put of business,” he said. “Make sure the point is made the bankruptcy can truly be attributed to the treatment of Rivendell by New Paltz.”
“Well, obviously the courts didn”™t think we were unfair,” New Paltz Town Supervisor Toni Hokanson said. She said the problem was Rivendell tried to put a commercial endeavor into a residential zone and shoehorn it in as an agricultural use. The town building inspector originally denied a variance of the winery”™s plans, a denial which was upheld by the town zoning board of appeals and ultimately by the state Supreme court. The issue is now being considered by the state Court of Appeals
“The courts have upheld our officials,” Hokanson said. “That area of town was not zoned for what they were proposing. They were trying to put a business in what is not a business zone.”
The intersection of state Route 299 and Albany Post Road is a rural stretch of road with a stunning view of the Shawangunk Ridge. Ransom argued that Rivendell Winery was an agricultural use, and thus allowed by right in that section of town, because it was going to plant at least an acre of vineyards and market and sell other wines of New York state. Opponents said that vineyards was a thinly disguised veneer for a wine tasting venue that would open a restaurant and gift shop operation, bringing traffic and tour buses to a quiet country setting.
The town is home to SUNY New Paltz, which is the economic mainstay of the community. Hokanson said that New Paltz is completing revisions to its comprehensive plan that should open additional areas to business, although not in the area where Rivendell sought to open its new facility.
She said the town is working with businesses to try to improve the business climate in the town. “We do recognize that in order to have a healthy community we need a healthy mix of business, industry, commercial and housing,” Hokanson said. “Changes are happening; they just take time.”
But Ransom said the town is turning into a suburban enclave which will soon become too expensive for most people to maintain a home. “There”™s growth everywhere even in these economic times, but not in New Paltz,” Ransom said. “They are so shortsighted. It ultimately, it will be a nice little suburban community without any commercial tax base to support itself.”
Meanwhile, Harry Robibero, owner of the 42-acre parcel on which the prize-winning Rivendell winery was formerly situated has said that he intends to open a similar facility at the site in several months. More specific plans were not yet available.
