If you have been thinking about building a new winery or expanding your existing one, there is a lot to consider before starting. It entails more than simply finding available space and putting up a building. In the world of winery construction the difference between a happy, successful conclusion to a construction project and one that turns into a money pit nightmare is pre-planning.

“Before you do anything, find your use permit either in your files or at the county records department,” said Demerus Lescure, vice president at Lescure Engineers, Inc., a civil engineering firm in Santa Rosa, California. “With an existing winery there is a description of what the county will let you do in terms of how many cases of wine you can produce, or whether or not you can have winery events. You may need to apply for a modification if your existing permit doesn’t match up with your new plans and sometimes, previous restrictions have gone away.”

It’s common, especially for rural wineries that don’t have as much public interaction, to run into trouble with use permits. As Lescure has observed, these winery owners often think nobody’s watching, so they just go ahead and add a new out building, or a new fermentation facility to enlarge their capacity. It’s all good until the neighbors start noticing more truck traffic and turn them in. It happens.

“It’s easy to say let’s add a room, or more barrels, or a new crush pad,” said Lescure. “But pretty soon the neighbors are paying attention. Over the years, we’ve seen wineries who do illegal building, get turned in, and have the book thrown at them. That never ends well.”

Lescure pointed out that even if your existing use permit doesn’t cover your current vision, there may be creative ways around the problem. “One restriction wineries encounter is that the amount of cases they can produce is based on their wastewater treatment pond. Are there ways to enlarge or increase capacity? Often we can develop a strategy that expands a wastewater treatment facility without building a bigger pond. There may be other options that can be considered to handle domestic wastewater, and increase the capacity for wine making.”

Pre-planning construction projects not only helps avoid permit violations, it helps solidify the costs ahead of time so that there are fewer surprises. The truth is, many projects end up costing more than originally thought. This is often not because of contractors lowballing their bids, however, but because the owners want to expand the original plan.

“Sometimes,” said Lescure, “an owner will suddenly decide that he wants the pond in another place. That type of change is not as simple as just digging a new hole. The original plans considered the initial topography; if you want to move it, it will require plan modifications, and that costs more money.”

It can pay to select professionals with experience in winery construction, especially if yours is a rural winery. Rural properties have special needs, for example, they have to retain their own storm water, have their own water source, and their own water disposal areas, all very important considerations.

“As civil engineers, we fill in the underpinnings—the things that will make sure that water won’t end up in the basement,” said Lescure. “Often architects that have little or no experience in rural settings are used to just plugging in to municipal services;—the stuff cities have all figured out for them. We can help with all of that, and the more professionals you can consult with before construction , the better your results will be.”

When Benjamin Franklin said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” he might have been talking about winery construction.

Does your winery facility include buildings, water, wastewater or drainage systems that were installed or expanded without permits?  Perhaps you're just not sure and would, frankly, rather not think about it. Don't wait until you are forced to do so by a due diligence report or notice of violation. 

Lescure Engineers has worked with many winery owners to assess and plan upgrades or replacement of marginal facilities...both before and after they have become a major headache.   In our experience, before is definately preferable.

Contact us for a free, confidential onsite meeting to discuss your concerns.  We will follow through with a scope and fee proposal for engineering, surveying and construction cost estimating services to help you plan for the Unthinkable. 

Lescure Engineers, Inc. is proud to be a member of the DesignSmart Group of consultants committed to implementing sustainable practices in architecture, civil and environmental resources engineering.