By Jessie Burchette
Salisbury Post
Wine tasting goes before the Rowan County Planning Board Monday night.
Planners will be taking a look at a proposed zoning text change that will allow vineyards in the county to have tasting rooms.
County planners said recently they have received inquiries about vineyards and the operation of wine-related facilities in the county. At present, the county’s zoning ordinance does not make any reference to those types of facilities.
In a memo to the board, Planner Andy Goodall noted that other counties, including Surry, Yadkin and Iredell, have adopted wine-related text in their ordinances to deal with facilities as part of agricultural-based businesses.
Planners also noted the growth in the wine industry in the state, pointing out that North Carolina has become the 10th-largest producer of both grapes and wine in the U.S.
State alcohol regulations require a winery to have an Alcoholic Beverage Control permit to hold tastings.
Currently, the county zoning has no provision for wine-tasting rooms.
Under the proposed text, tasting rooms would be permitted in rural agricultural and rural residential districts as a conditional use.
The text defines a wine-tasting room as a facility in which wine products grown or processed on the owner’s property may be tasted and sold. The definition also includes small-scale associated gift/retail sales, dining and catering facilities and a restaurant facility.
The proposed text requires that the facility must be operated in association with an existing vineyard (bona fide farm) located on the same property or adjacent property under the same ownership.
Among other requirements, the tasting room would need all health and ABC permits before beginning operation.
The board will conduct a courtesy public hearing on the proposed text and will make a recommendation to the Rowan County Board of Commissioners, which has the final decision.
In other business, the board will recognize outgoing board member Steve Russell.
Planners will also ask a committee be assigned to work on a flood damage prevention ordinance.
The Rowan County Planning Board meets at 7 p.m. Monday in the J. Newton Cohen Sr. Meeting Room, County Administrative Offices, 130 W. Innes St.