In a decisive move by the Napa County judiciary, Hoopes Vineyard found itself on the losing side of a recent compliance court case. Brian Bordona, the Director of Planning, Building, and Environmental Services for the County, confirmed the favorable ruling in a statement, asserting the importance of a fair and effective winery permit process. "This ruling is a culmination of many years of code enforcement efforts by the County to bring Hoopes into compliance, beginning with a request for voluntary compliance," Bordona noted, as cited by Napa County.
Having engaged in a string of non-compliant activities, Hoopes Vineyard continued offering wine tastings without acquiring the necessary use permit, a tool deemed essential to securing public health and safety. The county has met resistance in an ongoing effort to bring Hoopes into compliance since 2019, prompting the eventual turn to legal recourse. Despite the County's intentions for a collaborative resolution to these critical standards, as Bordona mentioned, per the Napa County website, "our proposals were refused."
Bordona pointed out that evidence of non-compliance included the vineyard's persistent refusal to adhere to regulations already followed by hundreds of local wineries. These practices safeguard public health and mark fair business operations within the community. Following Hoopes' acquisition in 1984, the vineyard operated based on a Small Winery Permit Exemption, which allowed them to sell bottles produced on-site but not to offer tastings or tours without a permit. Persistent violations over three years led Napa County to pursue legal intervention in October 2022.
The court's decision, as mentioned on the Napa County website, underscored that although amendments to the Napa County Code (NCC) permitted wineries with a use permit to conduct tours and tastings, these activities were barred for wineries like Hoopes that operated without such permits. Hence, the NCC "precludes 'small winery' public tours and all tastings, by definition." This judgment also emphasized that Hoopes knew these permitting requirements before the vineyard's acquisition.
