Planning commission approves Ojai Valley Inn winery expansion with conditions

The Ojai City Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a design review permit amendment, an amendment to an existing conditional use permit and a tree permit for renovation and additions to the winery at 821 West Ojai Avenue. The commission’s action included conditions that require additional landscape screening, further study of fire-hardening options and modifications to the bike-path crossing adjacent to the site.

The amendments approve the project as shown in materials dated for the meeting and add specific mitigation steps requested during the commission’s December review and public comment. Staff said the revised designs reduce the apparent massing on the west façade, shift and screen parking near Ojai Avenue and add new fencing and planting intended to reduce noise and headlight glare.

Why it matters: The winery sits within a mixed commercial-residential zone near the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa campus. The commission and members of the public raised concerns about noise, views from Ojai Avenue, tree protection and safety where vehicles and resort shuttles will cross the county-owned bike path. The project’s revisions were intended to respond to those concerns while preserving the property’s longstanding event and winery use under the existing CUP.

Commissioners and staff said the amendments address the principal issues the commission flagged in December. Planning staff described comparisons to other venues that have longer, more detailed conditions because they are adjacent to residences, and noted that the existing winery’s circulation patterns and earlier use history differ from the motel-based venues often discussed.

What changed since December: The applicant raised the wooden fence along the Ojai Avenue frontage to the…