For 20 years, Rivendell Winery has been making and selling wine from grapes grown in the Hudson Valley and elsewhere around the state in a leased facility in Gardiner. The winery”™s success paralleled the growth of the wine industry in New York, which started out with a handful of wineries but today is the nation”™s third-largest wine-producing state. Rivendell won the prestigious Governor”™s Cup award in 2004 for its white Riesling, the only Hudson Valley wine to earn such a distinction.
Owners Robert Ransom and Susan Wine, who are married, have opened two tasting rooms and a restaurant in Manhattan to showcase their 15 wines, along with dozens of other New York vintages. But in the Hudson Valley, the thriving business is facing a major hitch to its operations.
A little over a year ago, Ransom and Wine purchased a four-acre property in New Paltz with a drop-dead view of the Shawangunk Ridge. Their intent was to relocate the winery to a 4,000-square-foot house on the site, since their long-term lease in Gardiner was about to expire. The couple submitted a site plan to the town”™s Planning Board and began renovations, which included bathrooms off the tasting room on the main floor, an upstairs apartment for themselves and a 30-space parking lot. They also leased 10 acres of abandoned farmland next door and planted a 12-acre vineyard.
But last June those plans were put on hold when the town of New Paltz building inspector ruled that the winery was not an agricultural use and therefore was not allowed under the zoning code, which is A-1.5, or agricultural/residential. In December, after months of public hearings, the New Paltz Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) upheld the building inspector”™s decision. Rivendell subsequently filed an Article 78 lawsuit against the ZBA and the building inspector. The suit is due to be heard in the state Supreme Court in Kingston Feb. 13.
“The building inspector and the ZBA in essence declared farming a nonconforming use in the town of New Paltz,” said Ransom. “The board has a two-faced attitude, which is ”˜we need to support agriculture but we don”™t want Rivendell at that location, so we”™ll screw them.”™ It”™s just about us at that location, and it”™s not fair. We bought the property with the right to farm it.”
Ransom said opposition from neighbors was behind the building inspector”™s and ZBA”™s decision. “What it really boils down to is that people do not want to see any change in that location,” he said. Indeed, neighbor Kevin Harp, who works in the Ulster County District Attorney”™s office, admitted he was one of two neighbors who hired an Albany law firm to attend meetings of the Planning Board regarding Rivendell”™s site plan. The attorneys provided counsel “as to why Rivendell should not be allowed to have a winery,” Harp said.
Harp said the house on the property was sold as a residence. He said: “Every neighbor within earshot shows up at those meetings and fights against having Rivendell here.”
Ransom said the ZBA decision has repercussions beyond his business. It could potentially, and debatably, “make every farm (in New Paltz) an illegal business.”
The underlying problem is that the winery is not located in one of the state”™s agricultural districts, said Julie Suarez, director of governmental regulations at the New York Farm Bureau, based in Albany. Suarez explained that the ag districts were created in the 1970s to protect farmers”™ rights to farm regardless of restrictions on agricultural uses by local municipalities.
Because Rivendell isn”™t located in a district, “the state of New York doesn”™t have much authority to intercede,” she said. Nonetheless, “we support Bob”™s effort. We don”™t think the town should decide a winery is not an agricultural use. The state Agriculture and Markets law is very clear that grapes and grape products are considered to be agricultural.”
So what basis do the ZBA and building inspector have for their decision? It has to do with a technicality in the zoning law. Under the state”™s Ag Markets law, owners of land used for agricultural production outside of the established agricultural districts may qualify for an “agricultural assessment” provided that the land doesn”™t include portions used for the processing or retail merchandising of crops. New Paltz”™s A-1.5 zoning district permits tax exemptions for agricultural uses as defined in the state”™s Ag Markets law, hence the restriction on retail and processing of crops would apply.
Rivendell”™s vineyard would qualify for the exemption. But the winery itself would not, since it involves the retailing and processing of crops, the building inspector determined.
However, according to a legal source, New Paltz makes an exception for farm stands, which do qualify as an agricultural use. That begs the question as to why a winery wouldn”™t qualify as well.
Furthermore, the state liquor authority characterizes Rivendell as a “farm winery” and issues it a license to produce and sell alcoholic beverages under that designation. However, the liquor authority doesn”™t define what it means by “farm.” And the licensed winery doesn”™t have to be located in a vineyard, according to the attorney.
According to a town document about the case, “good arguments have been made before the Zoning Board of Appeals as to why farm wineries should be allowed by the Town”™s zoning laws.” The document says that it falls upon the Town Board to legislate a change to the law.
The legal source said that Rivendell has submitted a proposed modification to the zoning law to the town board, which has referred it to the planning board for comment.
Ransom said the ZBA”™s decision “ignores the expert testimony and advice and history and common-sense knowledge as to what an agricultural use is. The New Paltz zoning code doesn”™t have a definition of agriculture. The only definition is an agricultural exemption taken from the tax code.”
He said that some communities view vineyards as an amenity that strengthens property values. Unlike other types of crops, grapes require very little pesticides, and they are picked by hand, rather than requiring harvest by noisy machinery, he said. He said Rivendell ”“ which in the meantime is leasing the Gardiner location on a month-by-month basis ”“ doesn”™t have a license to do catering events, so opponents”™ fears that it will attract substantial traffic and generate a lot of noise are unfounded.
Ransom said the winery reinforces New York”™s tradition of agriculture, which despite a long decline still supports 65,000 family-owned farms. “Agriculture is not new. What”™s new is building houses in agricultural zones,” which is what Harp has done, he said.
