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Trustees approve special-use permit for winery and tasting room at 320 W. University with conditions
Summary
After extensive questioning about production, parking, occupancy and zoning, trustees approved SUP case 061909 for a winery/tasting room at 320 W. University, adopting five conditions including a vineyard plan, owner residency per cottage‑industry rules, an occupancy cap subject to fire code (99 or lower), an educational component, and contingency on property purchase.
The Mesilla Board of Trustees approved a special‑use permit (SUP case 061909) on Nov. 25 to allow a winery, tasting room and limited events at 320 W. University, subject to five conditions proposed by trustees.
Applicant Sylvia DeAndrea described a small‑scale tasting room and associated programming; she said most wine production would continue at an existing Deming facility but that she plans to plant vines on the site, host small educational events and use an on‑site kitchen for catered offerings. Staff explained that, under the town code, a cottage‑industry exception can allow limited on‑site production in the RF zone if residency and scale conditions are met.
Trustees focused on use classification (tasting room vs. manufacturing), parking and traffic near the highway and a nearby middle school, how many attendees an event might draw, and whether residency on the parcel should be required to qualify as a cottage industry. The applicant said she would aim to keep events small (she proposed staying under thresholds that would trigger additional fire‑safety infrastructure) and that she would plant vines and run an educational tasting program.
Trustees adopted the following conditions by individual motions and roll-call votes: a vineyard plan and planting schedule; residency consistent with cottage‑industry rules (an on‑site dwelling occupied by the owner/operator); an occupancy limit set by fire code with 99 persons as an upper practical cap; an educational component related to winemaking at the owner’s discretion; and that all conditions be contingent on full purchase of the property by the applicant.
The board approved the SUP by roll call (vote recorded in the minutes). Trustees and staff noted the application required follow‑up at permit stage to ensure parking, fire, health and zoning conditions are met.
