Back in 2003, the Schenbly’s began wine making, turning a hobby into a business. The birth of the winery is not necessarily as romantic as the story they present on their website. The county winery ordinance created in 2004 sought to protect the sanctity of the agricultural community while allowing some agri-tourism to occur. The existing winery is not quite like the ordinance envisioned, or perhaps, it is exactly the vision and the reason the winery ordinance hearings were so inharmonious among residents in The Redland. There was much community animosity and county laws (or lack of) for the owners to deal with before they got the winery open for business. They were great at the “cart before the horse” routine.
Today, there is trouble in paradise and the rule bending still proceeds:
The RULES say: Food service must be accessory to the production of wine and limited to hors d'oeuvres and other snacks. All such food shall be prepared off-site.
The Reality Is: Rental of the prep kitchen is available for all catered events for a fee of $500.00. This fee will cover the use of ice, electricity, as well as the use of the dishwasher and food prep area. No cooking is allowed in the kitchen. All cooking will be done outside.
The RULES say: Special events such as festivals are subject to the special events requirements of the Miami-Dade County Police Department
The Reality Is: Based on the type and projected attendance, additional security may be required, in which case the Host will be required to secure and pay The Homestead Police Department Stipulated by the Events Coordinator.
The RULES say: That the use of mechanically amplified outdoor live entertainment shall be prohibited.
The Reality Is: Noise levels due to crowd, music and other sources shall be at the discretion of the Event Coordinator.
The RULES say: That the hours of operation for the farm related winery shall not extend beyond 10:00 p.m.
The Reality Is: All receptions must end by 11:00 pm. All beverage service must conclude 15 minutes prior to the ending time.
The RULES say: That the principal use of the property shall be a working grove or vineyard and that the farm winery shall be ancillary to the principal use of said grove or vineyard.
The Reality Is: They are running a nightclub and event hall on farm winery property. When is that sort of business an ancillary use to a principal use of grove or vineyard?
The RULES say: That such a farm winery may be open to the public for tours, wine tasting and for the sale of the wine products produced on the property… Such outdoor farm related winery festivals shall be restricted to daylight hours only.
The Reality Is: While the ordinance does allow for six festivals a year, is each wedding or dinner event a festival? Even the festivals cannot be a night event, so how can an outdoor nightclub be allowed? Where are the ZIP permits if they are considered festivals?
The RULES say: Outdoor farm related winery festivals shall be allowable on properties having a current Certificate of Use for a farm related winery provided the organization and nature of those festivals is related to the winery operation on the site for the purpose of promoting the farm winery concept.
The Reality Is: Are weddings and outdoor nightclubs promoting the principal use of said grove or are they promoting an entertainment business? How is this business different from Signature Gardens?
The winery’s gorilla marketing goes way beyond the property line. They consistently posted A-frame signage and other signs along the roadways because they could not get county permission to tout the winery on public right-away. The county has strict rules about business signage, a policy that did not coincide with the Florida signage rules which gives the winery’s agricultural business an advantage over other agricultural enterprises.
Some people may consider the winery issue trite. However, when you have a business owner setting their own rules in spite of laws that were designed to prevent the direction he has gone, it then goes to the very heart of county building and zoning laws. Why do we have public hearings, ordinances, and code enforcement if they mean nothing? That very issue affects the quality of life that everyone living in this county enjoys.
The winery’s disregard for the very law that created their facility brings other people into innocently abusing county law. The winery is an entertainment business in a rural agricultural area taking advantage of tax exemptions. How does a business owner flaunt the county laws and still have code enforcement people as well as the public shrug it off? These actions are exactly why the community fought the winery.
The winery has become the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent: commercial development way beyond the Urban Boundary Line.
24 comments:
I'm curious - do they have a beer and wine (alcohol sales) license? As described, it is required.
And who owns this place? Is it a right-wing developer's pal or a crony of the entrenched plutocratic government?
The owners must be contributing to the commissioners' and the mayor's campaigns. At the Redland Farmers Market I saw a similar situation. In the back there's a place that sells beers and plays loud live music all day Sat. and Sunday. The men are obviously drunk when they drive out. I've wondered if selling liquor is allowed there. The police should be watching to stop people from driving under the influence.
Is the Gourmet Dinner $5 too? I should go.
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls/PressReleases/090409-01.html
That is the press release from the US attorney on April 9th.
From flicker:
We had a great time hanging out with everybody this Friday! We had over 400 people come out and we had to send the guys from The Capri back for more food three times!! You all really helped to make this a success. If it keeps growing like this, we're going to have to do it twice a month!
39 photos | 328 views
items are from 27 Mar 2009.
___________________
I wonder if they are getting their parking approved like it is mentioned in the ordinance?
I took this post off and put it back after someone above posted the link.
DO NOT MAKE ACCUSATIONS WITHOUT BACKING THEM UP ON THIS BLOG. PLEASE!!
Importation of Contaminated Food - April 9, 2009 Southern District of Florida Press Release
Serge (Schnebly Wife) was sentenced to a three (3) year term of probation, including a nine (9) month term of home confinement; a $10,000 criminal fine; and $375,000 in criminal forfeiture. Peter Schnebly was sentenced to a two (2) year term of probation.
here is the post I deleted:
Does anyone know what Schnebly's sentence was for the the Fed indictment? Moss is his cheerleader by the way. And, yes, the neighbors are very angry. Schnebly has totally breached the term of the covenant and rubs it in the face of Redland - with Moss protecting him.
Selling contaminated snow peas that were supposed to be destroyed; then lying to the Fed Gov....Wonder what goes into the wine....
These criminals appear to be breaking many laws. At least they were convicted on several counts.
Who is trying to make them abide by the rules, covenants and all other regulations that apply?
Are they damaging the Everglades?
The Schnebleys are in Moss' pocket or maybe he is in their's. They have broken every rule of the ordinance, not to mention the federal indicment for contaminated snow peas; the county does nothing. Peter and Denise are the most selfish people I have met, everything is for them, the hell with Redland. I feel sorry for their neighbors who have to put up with living next to a nightclub. Moss doesn't care, his plans for metrozoo will do the same to the poor people living in that neighborhood. So much for quality of life and support of agriculture. Schnebley's abuses have opened the door for more.
Probation for selling contaminated food? What a joke. They should both do jail time. Then maybe the winery will go away.
I think they do a great job for the area. They are part of the Redland Historic Trail which brings visitors to the many ag-related businesses in the Redland.
What neighbors do they have? Are you refering to the vacant Lennar homes south of 217 Ave and 312 Street?
I wish them all the best and think there should be more credit given to the combination of both tourism and agricutlure. There is not only a need for more of these types of businesses which produces jobs but bed and breakfast lodges as well.
I enjoy being able to fly my plane into Homestead General and riding over to the winery.
The thing with the winery and/or any other business is that you do business by the rules. You and I, as business owners, can't disregard parking regulations, noise regulations, sign laws, hours of doing business laws, building permits or any other law that is on the books that applies to us. So, why should they be able to?
Think about the amount of money they made in one nite. According to that flicker post that was posted by someone up ^^^ there, the winery claimed to have over 400 people there. The winery's April newsletter claimed over 600. WOW. 600 people x 5.00 cover charge X 2 bottles of wine at 15.OO a bottle X 4 dinners at 14.00 each person. If you wish to reserve a table they are offering us the opportunity to reserve a dining table with a credit card. Choose from two types of seating: Picnic Table (seats 6 people) $42 or Bar Table (seats 8 people) $56. The good news is the reserved table allows you to drop the cover charge. Nice? Anyway, how much money are they making in one 5 hour evening by ignoring the various laws?
Far as contaminated peas, I do not know much about insecticides, but I do know that 1. They could have seriously hurt people if they had not been so lucky as to have snow peas sprayed with a chemical that was not fatal in the dosages that was on them 2. They knew they were risking hurting people that WHEN THEY SET UP A PROCEDURE TO FAKE DOCUMENTS and that is the evil part of that transaction. They didn't care because the law was wasn't for them and they rolled the dice on their customers health.
If they were dumping the rotten snow peas on the ground, who knows what that could have done to the soil or ground water.
There is another issue with these "events". The traffic affect the main artery's outside the UDB going to and from Schnebly. They have no event permits to do what they're doing. Making a profit is fine but rubbing it in the face of Redland isn't. I also find it interesting about Capri catering. On April 14th they made a proposal to get grant money in front of the Empowerment Zone Board in Homestead claiming they want to expand their catering business (like they couldn't afford it with the prices they charge but why not use othe peoples free money). And early this month, at a PAB Hearing, there was an application to expand uses in the Ag area which I believe negatively impacts the Ag area and would directly benefit Schnebly. It was such a bad application Charles LaPrad came before the PAB - after the vote didn't go the way it was supposed to and then another vote was taken with the same results. Then the head of Planning came down to ask for another vote. I don't know who pulled the strings on that but it was very high up the food chain and quite suspect.
Charles is the county Ag Manager. He is works for the county manager and mayor. He is connected to the Farm Bureau group just because he grew up with them. The Farm Bureau raises money for the politicians. They also view land as their IRA and it has more value as development property than farmland if they are retiring.
That is the issue, balancing our needs for food and local jobs, with someone's rights to sell their land to the highest bidder. (Note: the property owner does not have any special right to have government put the highest and most valuable zoning on on your parcel. You buy the land with the zoning it has on it) Farmland is gone once the AU zoning goes...there is no coming back to crops once the concrete is poured.
I think it is a real issue within the state of Florida when people abandon farms when the world is so jumbled up... do we trust our food supply to people who don't like the USA? Or even, the Schebly legal issues highlight that other countries use chemicals on food that we don't.
There are people with in planning and zoning that have attachments to the issue.
Additionally, people who don't live in the Redland often don't understand the ag area, just assume that empty land is unused and not productive land. That land may look weed infested, but it is that way for a reason. It may be "resting" or simply between seasons.
The benefit to the winery has been the centerpiece of much legislation and "friend" building with the winery owner. He is a master salesman and really is unhappy when you don't agree with him. He can't see the damage that he is doing to area around him because it doesn't affect him in a negative way.
The PAB ought to be thanked for standing up to the power. However, someone should be investigating the unusual push to control the PAB that sounds like more corruption.
It's sad that the efforts of activists such as Pat Wade were never enough to incorporate the Redland because of counter-efforts from people such as Commissioner Moss and 'friends.'
Redland incorporation was meant to protect the area and keep developers from building pell-mell without regard for the environmental impact.
Ten years later, we aren't any closer to it happening.
The winery is not above the law. It should be held responsible for abiding by all the laws as everyone else is.
Lie down with dogs and you'll wake up with fleas.
I meet this couple about 9 years ago,
Peter Schnebly need to be treated by a mental institution, they are going to find out that he truly believe he is God and everything he say is correct, if somebody dare to say otherwise will be his enemy or fired if it is an employee.
He does believe that coming from New York he can do what he wants in Homestead, brake the law, treat all his employees as slaves, and the growers like providers for him to make money.
Denise S. came from Colombia thinking that here in USA she will have the right of humiliate everyone of the employees, hurt everybody, it is what we call Slave Master,
They will never understand that all the problems that they have are in fact all related to the fact that they mistreat one of their employees,
They do not understand that now they are more vulnerable to be in jail if they keep doing the same to their employees.
MONEY.MONEY.MONEY,, that is their Bible. That is their truth.
Wine????? That is not wine ,,, it is vinegar of rotten fruit. Origin of the name “wild wine”
Wow - You crotchety old bastards are crazy.
The winery is a good thing. So what, he's making a few bucks and you guys want to jump all over him?
Yeah, Schnebly is a bit crazy and bends the rules, but you all have him drawn with horns and a pitchfork. Calm down.
If you don't like Moss, don't vote for him. If he wins anyway, then you are obviously in the minority and democracy has been served.
Tommy Adkin says:
The old saying says, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
A too determined sense of anything is often times fatal.
Dear RUDE Sane Citizen ...
Bending the rules is not what law is about. That is what anarchy is about. You shouldn't win in a court of law, with "it is okay, he just bends the rules. Drug dealers "just bend the rules". Our bankers and Wall Street people "just bent the rules" and look what it did for the Untied States and the world.
I agree about voting, you vote and you win or lose. But sometimes the cards get stacked by money and it is difficult to know if democracy truly prevailed because the appearance of corruption.
And I am not crotchety, old, a bastard, or crazy.
I just happen to believe if you get special privileges like the winery did when they got the law winery law written, then they should be very attentive to honoring the rules that allowed them to be blessed. So far, they are far from being poster children for compliance to local ordinances. It seems that they missed honoring a few Federal laws, too, a fact which I chose to ignore in the original blog content even though it is more bending the rules. I really can't imagine what bending the rules could have meant to our growers, community and even people across the county if the produce had been seriously tainted.
I went out to the last Friday event and they had police posted, shut everything down at 10 (much to the dismay of the crowd). Seems like they are trying to be good neighbors.
But really the Redland is an agricultural area and it should be for ag, not residents.
More tourism for the area means more farms making more money, more farm jobs and making it easier to "Keeping It Rural".
I suppose you'd like to also shut down Robert Is Here for having live music and a petting zoo...Sheesh people...
And it's not like they're having some crazy wild loud party...There's always families there and kids running around. This lady was even feeding her baby, unless the picture is set up: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schneblywinery/3473087007/
I guess I might not know the full story behind who is complaining about this, but I don't understand what the big deal is...
Interesting post.
Not sure if I agree, but that's beside the point.
I just wanted to let you know that it's "Guerrilla Marketing". Unles you were making a play on words...In which case - I don't think I get it.
Pip pip cheerio
There is another agreement the Schnebly's are disregarding. They agreed to make wine only from the fruit they produce on their land. No way they are doing just that. That agreement with the city of Miami was to keep them an agirculture venture and to keep them a small winery venture. An investigation of where they are getting their product to make their wine would shut them down. Good riddance to bad people having done bad things.
I just wanted to let you know that it's "Guerrilla Marketing".
Actually, I was thinking more in the lines of someone who is aggressive and takes no hostages, the sort of marketing person who pounds you into submission to get you with his program, who doesn't follow rules, because he envisions himself BIG enough to make the
rules...not the Che type of "guerrilla" with bullets strapped to his chest or the marketing equivalent. Both are on the web, by the way.
Pip pip too
Been there
People having fun
Kids having fun
Beer good
Wine Good
Food Good
Music Good
Property feels like your in paradise
Great place to take you Mom and Kids
Maybe you guys should work on street lights and enforcing speed limits.
Will be back to spend more money in Homestead.
Post a Comment