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Comment Letter <br /> St. Jorge Winery "Site Approval Application"PA-1200063 <br /> 3. The St.Jorge Winery Has Violated Each of the County Code's Three <br /> Grounds for Enforcement Action <br /> As seen above,the three"grounds"denoted in the County Code's enforcement <br /> procedures for unlawful winery operations are(a)Fraud,(b)Violation of Condition,and(c) <br /> Adverse Impacts. <br /> In fact,the St. Jorge Winery operations have violated all three of these areas,any one of <br /> which are grounds for permit revocation under the Code <br /> a) The"Fraud"was in both(i)the original 2005 application,and(ii)the conduct of <br /> the business since the granting of the 2005 permit; <br /> b) The"Violations of Conditions"are laid out extensively throughout this <br /> Comment Letter;and <br /> c) The"Adverse Impacts"are to both(i)the neighbors and community of the <br /> Acampo/Lodi area in which the so-called wine-related marketing events are being <br /> conducted,and(ii)all law-abiding winery owners and operators in San Joaquin <br /> County and the State of California. <br /> B. The San Joaquin County Planning Commission is Being Asked to Commit <br /> Hypocrisy <br /> The San Joaquin County Planning Commission is being asked to give government <br /> sanction and approval to business behavior at the same time that the County's own Development <br /> Department staff is pursuing an official enforcement action against that business. This official <br /> enforcement action is not simply for,among many other violations being committed,the building <br /> of facilities without permits. <br /> The applicants have already been using these facilities for public hire including the <br /> serving of food,without government knowledge,inspection or approval. The applicants have <br /> already been brazenly operating their business well beyond the scope of their permit in a manner <br /> that challenges the government's laws. <br /> Approval of such behavior by a government agency sends the clear message that the <br /> government is not concerned with enforcing its own laws. Further,if a county business permit- <br /> holder is actually caught and the government initiated enforcement action against it for breaking <br /> the law,the permit-holder need only apply for a permit after the fact and the government will not <br /> enforce the breaking of its own laws. <br /> C. The San Joaquin County Planning Commission Should Not Approve This <br /> Expansion Application <br /> The Planning Commission should not approve this expansion application. An approval <br /> would not only reward illegal behavior,worse,it would notify all similar business owners that <br /> the San Joaquin County Planning Commission will knowingly sanction,forgive and approve <br /> large-scale violations of its permits. The logical conclusion of this is the ultimate failure of San <br /> Joaquin businesses operating legitimately under County laws. <br /> 16 <br />