William Cole temporarily shuts down public visits

A St. Helena winemaker has opted to shutter his winery to visitation rather than install a county-mandated sprinkler system. Instead, he will seek historic status for the 1870s-era building.

Bill Ballentines winery, William Cole, was required to install the sprinkler system by Jan. 29 or else have its temporary certificate of occupancy needed to serve customers at the winery revoked.

Ballentine opted to let the temporary certificate lapse rather than install the system and meet another requirement to widen an access road, said former Napa County Supervisor Mel Varrelman, who has been advocating on behalf of WIlliam Cole.

Varrelman said the company can still make and sell wine, but cannot host the public for tastings.

Ballentine has said that the sprinkler system, which would be visible from the buildings exterior, would compromise the historic look hes worked to preserve. He contends that the winery building poses no fire danger since its almost entirely constructed out of stone.

The winery was first built in 1876 by J.C. Weinberger, and Ballentines goal is to get the business listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That would make it regulated by the state, not the county, and remove the sprinkler requirement.

Widening the access road would also remove trees and brush, which are landscaping features designed by the famed landscaping designer Thomas Church.

The whole idea is to preserve his property, Varrelman said. Thats been his goal from the get-go. I hope hes successful. To tear out all those trees doesnt make sense. To run pipes up and down those walls doesnt make any sense.

Napa County Landmarks has nominated the winery for the National Register, and is also advocating that the county use the California Historic Building Code for William Cole, rather than the county building code requirements.

That option would allow the county to work with Ballentine to find an alternative to meet the intent of the building code, the organization stated in an email.

Go here to read the rest:
William Cole temporarily shuts down public visits