Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell made waves in late November when he proposed a temporary moratorium on new winery, brewery and distillery applications, saying the town needs time to revamp the “sparse” codes it has for regulating the industries. It was one of several times this year that the town and local wineries failed to see eye to eye.
Plans for a moratorium on applications for new wineries, breweries and distilleries in Southold Town are dead, Supervisor Scott Russell said Tuesday evening.
Instead, the Town Board is looking to create a broad-based working group to focus on how the code needs to change when it comes to regulating those businesses.
Earlier this spring, I began working through the application process with Southold Town to build a production brewery on an industrially zoned parcel located on the corner of Oregon Road and Cox Lane in Cutchogue. Work sessions gave way to a public hearing, and then to more work sessions, as our team worked to address any concerns the Planning Board and planning department had with our site plan.
In September 1986, Stony Brook University’s Institute for Social Analysis produced a 50-page paper entitled “The Wine Industry and the Future of Agriculture on the North Fork.”
Just over 30 years later, that paper can still be found on Southold Town’s website. Some of the subjects it explores — particularly paragraphs on how to market a wine region and how to deal with growth and the impacts of a transient economy — remain topics of conversation at Town Hall. READ
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell has suggested a temporary moratorium on new winery, brewery and distillery applications, saying the town needs time to revamp the “sparse” codes it has for regulating the industries. READ