New winery OK'd near Los Alamos

By Times Staff

Richard Dore's plans for

a new winery on Foxen Canyon Road east of Los Alamos were unanimously approved Wednesday by

the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission.

Dore wants to build the Foxen-Dore Winery and

tasting room on a 218-acre site now planted with 10

acres of vineyards. Those vineyards are to be expanded by five acres when the winery is built.

The approved structures

total 22,509 square feet, including 13,912 for a wine

processing facility, 1,472

for public wine tasting

and a conference facility, 6,500 for storage and 625 square feet of office and lab space.

County permits will

allow the winery to produce

a maximum of 20,000 cases

of wine annually, produced from grapes grown onsite

or elsewhere in Santa

Barbara or San Luis

Obispo counties. Up to

12 annual events, each

attended by a maximum

of 175 people, will be

allowed there per year.

Dore told the commission that solar power will be

used for much, if not all,

of the planned structures

at 7600 Foxen Canyon Road.

“I don't see any problems with the project,” remarked Commissioner Joe Valencia. “I think it's going to be a good project.”

His fellow commissioners readily agreed, on a 5-0 vote.

November 16, 2007