Virginia Code 15.2-2288.3: Licensed farm wineries; local regulation of certain activities
A. It is the policy of the Commonwealth to preserve the economic vitality of the Virginia wine industry while maintaining appropriate land use authority to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth and to permit the reasonable expectation of uses in specific zoning categories. Local restriction upon such activities and events of farm wineries licensed in accordance with Title 4.1 to market and sell their products shall be reasonable and shall take into account the economic impact on the farm winery of such restriction, the agricultural nature of such activities and events, and whether such activities and events are usual and customary for farm wineries throughout the Commonwealth. Usual and customary activities and events at farm wineries shall be permitted without local regulation unless there is a substantial impact on the health, safety, or welfare of the public. No local ordinance regulating noise, other than outdoor amplified music, arising from activities and events at farm wineries shall be more restrictive than that in the general noise ordinance. In authorizing outdoor amplified music at a farm winery, the locality shall consider the effect on adjacent property owners and nearby residents.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 15.2-2288.3
- farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
B, C. [Expired.]
D. No locality may treat private personal gatherings held by the owner of a licensed farm winery who resides at the farm winery or on property adjacent thereto that is owned or controlled by such owner at which gatherings wine is not sold or marketed and for which no consideration is received by the farm winery or its agents differently from private personal gatherings by other citizens.
E. No locality shall regulate any of the following activities of a farm winery licensed in accordance with subdivision 6 of § 4.1-206.1:
1. The production and harvesting of fruit and other agricultural products and the manufacturing of wine;
2. The on-premises sale, tasting, or consumption of wine during regular business hours within the normal course of business of the licensed farm winery;
3. The direct sale and shipment of wine by common carrier to consumers in accordance with Title 4.1 and regulations of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority;
4. The sale and shipment of wine to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, licensed wholesalers, and out-of-state purchasers in accordance with Title 4.1, regulations of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, and federal law;
5. The storage, warehousing, and wholesaling of wine in accordance with Title 4.1, regulations of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, and federal law; or
6. The sale of wine-related items that are incidental to the sale of wine.
2006, c. 794; 2007, cc. 611, 657; 2009, cc. 416, 546; 2015, cc. 38, 730; 2020, cc. 1113, 1114.