In its letter of opposition to proposed changes to San Joaquin County’s wine rules, the Stockton Convention and Visitors Bureau requests the Board of Supervisors create a working group of interested parties.
It would not be the first time a group has got together to change the county’s current wine rules. A working group organized by the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation came up with some proposed changes in mid 2011 after seven months of meetings.
The group brought together wineries “of all sizes,” according to an update circulated by the Farm Bureau last year, including to the Board of Supervisors and the county planning department. The working group included some of the same people lining up in opposition to the proposed changes now developing in the county, according to the Farm Bureau.
Some of the proposed changes included to definitions. “Marketing events was too broad a category that lumped wine club activities with corporate events like weddings and fundraisers … leading to a rapid expansion of applications that began to use an offsite cellar as an avenue to produce events, not wines.”
Here’s the whole update from the Farm Bureau’s working group: FB WineOrdMemo
