Proposal to Impose New Fees and Restrictions on Wineries Met with Criticism

If a proposal to impose new fees and restrictions on Riverhead wineries was intended as a trial balloon, it has certainly achieved results.

Described by Town Attorney Dawn Thomas as "a working draft," proposed revisions to Chapter 90 of the Town Code, which regulate public and private events, have evoked wails of protest from a number of winery owners. The wine industry is claiming that many of the proposals are unworkable and could severely damage their livelihoods.

One proposal would impose a fee of $1,000 for private events – including weddings, private parties and private fundraisers – drawing a crowd of 100 or more.

Another provision states "there shall be no residences within 500 feet of the portion of the premises designated for a private special event," a rule that would rule out most Riverhead wineries, according to Steven Bate, executive director of the Long Island Wine Council.

Still another provision says that a private special event shall only take place on a portion of the property that is equal to no more than 10 percent of the winery's total acreage. That would mean, Bate said last week, that a winery would need to have 10 acres to comply. And a $1,000 fee for private fundraisers, he said, would pretty much wipe out that part of the business.

The harshest criticisms have come from Charles Massoud of in Aquebogue. In an opinion column published last week, he suggested that the new restrictions might be intended to drive local wineries out of business.

"Would the town rather get rid of the vineyards and get those of us who are fed up with creeping taxation decide to pull out our vines and extend Queens to the North Fork?" Massoud wrote.

He continued with his criticisms in an interview with Riverhead Patch earlier this week.

"What they are proposing makes no sense. Dawn Thomas has been on this kick ever since Cardinale was in office," he said, referring to Supervisor Phil Cardinale, the three-term supervisor whom Walter defeated in last year's election.

"They want to charge $1,000 to erect a tent," Massoud continued. "By what logic? Unless the fire marshal is making a million dollars a year, I don't know where the figure comes from. If they are serious about solving a problem, why don't they invite us in for a dialogue? "

Asked yesterday about Massoud's comments, Walter said, "Be a man. If you have a problem with something that's proposed, pick up the phone and talk to me. Don't lambaste me in the newspaper on something you don't even know what my opinion is.

"It's a proposal," Walter continued. "People are making news out of nothing. That's what you guys have done in the press. It isn't news, and I wouldn't get all twisted up about it."

Last Friday, Thomas said she has been trying for weeks to have the Wine Council and other interested parties come to her with constructive suggestions. She said some comments have been offered, but that they were too general to be of use.

"Give me what works," she said. "We want to make sure that we can regulate things and control the negative impacts, but we don't want to kill the wine industry either. So if it doesn't work, tell me."

Walter said that proposals to do something about complaints from residents regarding noise and traffic have been kicking around for years. In addition, some local business owners, particularly restaurants that compete with wineries, have long complained about the lower tax rates agricultural parcels pay -- amounting, on average, to exemptions of between 85 and 95 percent on land being farmed, according to Laverne Tennenberg, chairwoman of Riverhead's Board of Assessors.

"There are problems, and some farmers are not policing themselves," he said. But, he insisted, "nothing is carved in stone," including the $1,000 fee – a fee that Councilman George Gabrielsen, a farmer himself, has dubbed "the wedding tax" and has said he would never vote to approve.

Bate said that Riverhead members of the Wine Council would be gathering this week to put down on paper specific counterproposals. Thomas said that she would await the council's suggestions before asking that the proposals be put on the schedule for a public hearing. 

"I just need real comments," she said. "I can't beat this to death any more. People can come to a public hearing and yell at us, but I'd rather not do that."