Council approves 50‑year interim use permit for Thicket Hill Winery, directs staff to tighten transfer language

Dayton City Council voted to approve an interim‑use permit for Thicket Hill Winery’s proposed event center, granting the applicant a 50‑year permit with conditions and directing staff to draft clearer language addressing transferability and inheritability.

The council approved the permit after a lengthy public hearing and back‑and‑forth with staff and the applicants, Jack and John (JT) Bernins. The project proposes a roughly 10,700‑square‑foot event center with a stated occupancy near 498–500, 111 paved parking stalls at the primary site and 139 overflow stalls on a lower, gravel lot served by a shuttle, on a 35‑acre parcel currently in agricultural use.

Why it mattered: council members pressed for assurances on several operational points that affect neighborhood impacts and long‑term viability — how the driveway should be aligned to preserve sight lines and stacking, whether septic and commercial‑grade fire‑suppression wells will meet code, and how a multi‑decade interim permit could affect financing and future ownership.

Key council concerns and applicant responses: Council members questioned whether the proposed driveway should be shifted south to increase vehicle stacking and improve sight lines; the applicants and their civil team said site topography and wetlands constrain options and that moving the driveway could worsen stacking onto the public road. The applicants said they were prepared to work with the city on traffic management measures (shuttle service, traffic control staff or paid officers for events) and to coordinate with public safety for access and response.

On utilities and safety, staff and applicants agreed commercial septic design and fire suppression requirements would be required; staff confirmed the project is pursuing commercial permitting and is coordinating with the city on whether municipal water extension or a private well + well‑sharing arrangement is more cost‑effective for both the city and the applicant.

Transferability and term: The applicants asked for a 50‑year IUP because lenders and investors were reluctant to finance substantial septic/well/fire‑suppression infrastructure on a short IUP. Staff had recommended a 25‑year term to align with sewer staging plans; after discussion the council approved 50 years but instructed staff to revise the resolution to add explicit transferability/inheritability language (for instance, clarifying whether transfers within an LLC or ownership succession would trigger re‑approval) so the permit better matches financing and estate‑planning realities.

Vote and next steps: Council approved the resolution with a 50‑year IUP and asked staff to prepare clarified resolution language addressing transfer/ownership triggers and conditions before final ministerial signings. Staff said they would return refined wording to council rapidly so the item could appear on consent if only the drafting remained.

What remains unresolved: The council and staff left several items to be finalized in conditions or through permits — exact parking ratios (city and applicant discussed rates ranging from the city’s one‑per‑two guests to one‑per‑three), driveway alignment and any temporary traffic controls for large events, and whether the city or applicant will fund extensions of municipal water versus private well infrastructure. Staff also will confirm the permit’s applicability to successor owners per the council’s direction.

Council members said the decision balanced neighborhood safeguards with practical financing realities for what the applicants argued is a long‑term hospitality investment.