Artist and small-scale winemaker seeks to locate bottling facility and gallery in former fire station; commission advises code amendment or conditional-use path

Paul Hunt and artist Stephanie presented a proposal to convert the former fire station at 10 South Main into a combined art gallery, community art space and a very small wine bottling operation. Hunt said his operation would be limited to bottling wine purchased already fermented offsite and that production would be small scale — "probably no more than 5 or 10 of these barrels in any given year," he said, referring to 60-gallon barrels.

Hunt described the proposed layout: gallery and retail/art class space in the former fire-station building; a small bottling line and stainless-steel tank in a secondary garage structure; and storage in a refrigerated room. He said bottling/storage activities would occur only a handful of days per year, that he already holds federal permitting for his existing California operation, and that state wine-manufacturing and package-license requirements would apply if the business locates in Utah. "I can only sell the product that's actually made on the site," Hunt said, and he confirmed that on-site consumption beyond regulated tasting samples would not be permitted under the package license he described.

Planning staff noted local code currently classifies a bottling plant under manufacturing. Jill said the classification raises questions about whether a small, pre-processed beverage-filling operation would be considered "manufacturing" for zoning purposes or whether a light-manufacturing or a new code category should be created. "Manufacturing is bottling plant," Jill advised, and staff recommended that the applicant pursue either a code amendment to allow limited bottling in the general commercial zone or a conditional-use/variance pathway.

Commissioners generally reacted positively to the concept, praising the art and community benefits while flagging code constraints and building-condition questions. One commissioner with an engineering background said the current code does not allow bottling plants in the zone and that the applicant would need a code amendment or a conditional-use permit. The commission discussed timelines: staff said the next available planning commission meeting for such an amendment would be Nov. 18, with city council review following; applicants indicated the seller has an offer and they are seeking to accelerate review if possible.

Staff and commissioners also asked about safety, sanitation and structural condition. Hunt said contractors had evaluated the structures and that initial investment priorities would focus on preserving exteriors and making limited interior improvements; he acknowledged some costs could be large if deeper structural work was required.

No formal action was taken; staff advised the applicant to pursue either a code amendment (to add or clarify a light-bottling category in general commercial) or a conditional-use/variance process and to bring more-detailed plans and licensing information to a future meeting.