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Planning Board Notes: No drop-offs at proposed Cutchogue winery?

The Southold Planning Board is discussing a possible ban on vehicles that drop off multiple people as a way to limit occupancy at a winery and tasting room proposed for Alvahs Lane in Cutchogue. 

Lisa and Anthony Sannino are seeking permission to construct Sannino Winery and Tasting Room, a two-story building with a 2,852-square-foot first floor for wine production, sales and a wine education room. A 438-square-foot office is planned for the second floor. The project also would have a 3,600-square-foot basement and 39 parking stalls.

The 8.9-acre property, where the Sanninos already have a bed and breakfast and a vineyard, sits in the Agricultural Conservation zone west of Alvahs Lane and north of County Road 48 in Cutchogue and can be accessed from both roads.

At an April 10 public hearing on the current project, one neighbor objected, citing “serious traffic concerns.”

The Planning Board expressed concern Monday about the maximum indoor and outdoor occupancy for the proposed building. They also considered a planning staff recommendation that would prohibit vehicles from dropping people off at the site and leaving.

While that suggestion is aimed mostly at limos, buses and other multi-passenger vehicles, officials said they would have to clearly define what type of vehicles it might apply to.

“I can’t see having someone inebriated and not able to call a cab,” Planning Board chairman Don Wilcenski said.

Still, he said, “we are trying to limit the occupancy by limiting the number of parking spaces.” Planning Board members said they want to hear from the town fire marshal about the maximum allowable occupancy for the project.

Mr. Sannino said limos and buses are allowed only by appointment at the winery’s other location, Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard in Peconic.

In March 2016, the Sanninos obtained a variance for their project by the Zoning Board of Appeals because the Cutchogue site is smaller than the 10 acres normally required for a winery.

NORTH FORK SANITATION

North Fork Sanitation is proposing a one-story 960-square-foot building for office use, which would be attached to a proposed one-and-a-half story, 6,000-square-foot warehouse building at the company’s existing location on the west side of Cox Lane in Cutchogue, just south of Oregon Road.

The proposed building would have no basement and 16 parking stalls on five acres. The property is zoned Light Industrial.

“We want a clean environment for our office staff,” owner Scott Schelin said. “We’ve been working out of an office trailer for years. Unfortunately, you don’t get the privacy. We have accountants and attorneys coming in and meeting people and we don’t have the space, so we end up going off-site to meet people.”

The warehouse building would allow trucks and equipment to be kept indoors and permit mechanical work to be done indoors, Mr. Schelin said.

“It’ll make it easier to start in the winter months. You get a big snowstorm, and you’re out there for an hour getting the snow off them,” he said. “We’ll be able to work around the weather. I think it’s going be quieter for the neighborhood, too. Trucks will be inside. If you get a flat tire you won’t hear that air jack taking a wheel off because it’ll be inside now and the sound will be more contained. It’ll be better for everybody.”

Planners, however, said the application is incomplete and that before it can be considered, the applicant must pay the remainder of planning fees, submit additional information about things like rights of way and curb cuts and provide a more detailed floor plan.

ONE WOMAN VINEYARD

A new application from Claudia Purita of One Woman Wines and Vineyards in Southold proposes a one-story, 4,410-square-foot building for agricultural storage on a 0.22-acre building envelope on Soundview Avenue, which is attached to 19 acres stretching south to Route 48 where development rights had been purchased by Suffolk County.

The town had previously approved a tasting room on this property and an application for a wine production building is pending, according to town planner Brian Cummings.

He recommended that the Planning Board declare this application complete and formally begin the review process by scheduling a June 5 public hearing on the proposal.

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