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Mountain Winery gets permit renewed-finally
By Rebecca Ray
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 5 voted to renew the conditional-use permit for the Mountain Winery. The decision was a setback for the Saratoga Trail Enthusiasts, the nonprofit organization that supports the city's trails, which had successfully challenged the county's earlier approval of the permit.
Superior Court Judge Mary Jo Levinger in November 2001 ruled in favor of the Trail Enthusiasts, but only on one narrow aspect of their challenge--that the county was violating its own ordinance in allowing fewer parking spaces than required at the entertainment venue.
The county had required the Mountain Winery to limit its on-site parking spaces to 725, but this conflicted with a county ordinance that required a venue the size of the Mountain Winery to have at least 833 spaces.
Levinger ruled that the supervisors must either amend the ordinance so that the county could require venues to have fewer spaces in certain situations; allow the winery to have at least 833 spaces; or disapprove the winery's application for the permit.
The supervisors decided on Feb. 5 to modify the parking requirement when the winery further developed its plans for expansion.
Winery co-owner Bill Hirschman said he was glad to have the permit in place again. Winery officials applied for it in 2000 so that they could begin plans to increase the number of seats in the concert bowl and expand the winery building. The winery had hosted concerts, events, receptions, business meetings and theatrical productions for 40 years without the permit, which violated county ordinances.
The winery, at 14831 Pierce Road, had obtained a permit from the county, rather than the city of Saratoga, because while 75 or so of its acres are within city limits, about 600 of its acres sit on county land.
Levinger had also ruled in favor of the Trail Enthusiasts on their challenge to the winery's architectural and site approval, which was contingent upon the validity of the permit. However, she ruled that the approval itself contained no flaws.
In her November 2001 ruling Levinger came down on the side of the county on all other counts raised by the Trail Enthusiasts in their challenge. These included issues on noise, parcels and traffic and the county's certification of the winery's environmental impact report. Trail Enthusiasts member James Baron has appealed the rulings.
Baron also asked the judge to rule that the county must pay the Trail Enthusiasts' attorney fees, since the money came from funds the group uses to maintain trails. Levinger denied the group's motion on Jan. 29, saying that the Trail Enthusiasts failed to show "that their efforts conferred a significant benefit on a large class of persons."
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
