House Family Vineyards will be able to host limited wine tastings for another year after the Saratoga City Council voted this month to renew the popular winery’s temporary use plan.
The winery, located in the hills of Saratoga at 13336 Old Oak Road, opened 10 years ago and slowly grew to offer on-site wine tastings on its open-air tasting deck. However, it never obtained the necessary permits to do so, and the city shut down operations as the winery worked through the required paperwork.
House Family Vineyards applied for a temporary compliance plan to offer wine tastings on a limited basis through Sept. 30 of this year while it completed the permit process it bypassed more than a decade ago.
In a split vote, council extended that temporary plan for another year at its Sept. 6 meeting, giving the winery a reprieve until Sept. 30, 2024. However, the winery also must provide the necessary information for its Environmental Impact Report by Jan. 12, 2024, or its TCP could be suspended or revoked again. Mayor Kookie Fitzsimmons and councilmembers Chuck Page and Belal Aftab voted to extend the permit; councilmember Tina Walia and Vice Mayor Yan Zhao voted against the extension.
The winery’s petition for increased hours and on-site catering was denied.
“The House family brings people from Saratoga and surrounding communities to Saratoga and local businesses, bringing revenue, providing jobs and supporting our local economy,” said Jim Cargill, House Family Vineyards’ winemaker. “This benefits all of Saratoga and in turn brings sales tax revenue to the city and its citizens. We are a community gathering place.”
While the winery can host tastings by appointment for another year, they still have a long road of permits, environmental impact reports and fire prevention compliance ahead of them.
“This is not about what they didn’t do or what they did wrong. It’s about them trying to make it right. And if they can’t get it right, they will be shut down,” said Page.
More than 40 residents spoke during the council meeting, and another 200 sent in emails, with the lion’s share in favor of permitting the winery to remain open. One resident shared that his daughter had her engagement party at House Family Vineyard, another said it was a place they liked to bring their out of town friends and guests.
Robert Rolland, a longtime Saratoga resident, said he’s a member at House Family Vineyards and has been attending wine tastings for years.
“I really enjoy the ambience of the place, looking out at the vineyards, enjoying the wine and interacting with their friendly staff,” Rolland said.
Some councilmembers and residents expressed frustration with the precedent the vote set for other businesses in the community.
“I am very disappointed that one year later, when council approved the temporary compliance plan…we are looking at the request for yet another year’s extension to a temporary compliance policy,” said Walia. “That is 3-1/2 years after the temporary compliance policy was created. It doesn’t look temporary to me.”
Nancy Leitzke, who filed an appeal against the winery’s temporary permit last year, said she and several other residents are concerned about the commercialization of their quiet neighborhood.
“The House Family Vineyards wants you to believe the goal posts keep changing, when in fact unpermitted actions and delayed decision making put the project at the crossroads with the California legislation, and local municipal codes,” Leitzke said.
Under the temporary permit, House moved its tastings to Izumi Point, a Zen garden located on the sprawling property.
Dave House, owner of the vineyard, built three homes on his 73-acre property before constructing the tasting deck. He started planting grapes as a hobby before teaming up with soil and weather experts in the early 2000s to expand his pet project into a business.
By 2010, House got licenses to sell wine retail and wholesale at restaurants in downtown Saratoga. The family started hosting wine tastings from their home on the property, and the city warned that if the tastings increased in size or frequency, they might require a conditional use permit.
In 2013 the winery built the tasting deck – without any city permits– to host both public and private wine tasting events.