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Comment Letter St.Jorge Winery "Site Approval Application"PA-1200063 C. The Expansion Application Is In Response to Enforcement,Not Propriety 1. The Vierras' 2012 Application Was in Response to the County's Enforcement Action a. No Deference to Propriety The Vierras'2012 Expansion Application was filed in direct response to the County's filing its enforcement action against them for operating beyond their 2005 permit. The response took a week and a day. It was not done out of any deference to propriety,but rather only in response to the County's use of legal force. b. Seeks Approval of Facilities Already Illegally Built and Operated As seen in the 2012 Expansion Application's project description and the Development Department's enforcement case allegations,as well as the Department's June 7`s staff Memo,this Expansion Application seeks Planning Commission approval for facilities already illegally built and operated. 2. The Expansion Application Asks the Planning Commission for `Forgiveness After the Fact' a. . No Contrition;All Quiet The applicants' behavior is asking for forgiveness-after-the fact,not permission- beforehand as required by law. They show no contrition for their business operations' long- standing,routine violations of San Joaquin County law. The strategy is"All Quiet on the Winery Front." b. This Threatens the Public Health and Safety,and Degrades Marketplace Integrity These are public health and safety matters,and they are serious. The government is supposed to be able to inspect and permit these types of facilities and their business activities in order to protect the public. Violating the law for years until getting caught and then seeking an"OK"for it all places the public at risk,degrades the integrity of the marketplace, and is completely unacceptable. 3. The Expansion Application also Includes Four Separate"Special Events" a. Nature of County-Permitted"Special Event" A San Joaquin County"Special Event"is separate from a"marketing event"and,while it requires a permit,the event does not have to be related to the promotion of wine. A maximum of four"special events"are permitted a year on property zoned"AG-40,"as here. Issuing the permit is a ministerial application,done over the counter,in which the applicant is given a"Site Improvement Plan-Special Event"form and a"Special Event Routing Form"by the Community Development Department. The former is filled out by the applicant for the Development Department, and the latter is submitted by the applicant to various governmental agencies for their sign-off. Both fomes are then returned to the Development Department for its ministerial processing. Such forms are routinely available in San Joaquin County for business owners wishing to conduct"Special Events." 11