Sergio Neri: "I need a way to market my wine, but I’m perplexed on how to do it at this point."
By John Tredrea
Hopewell Valley Vineyards owner Sergio Neri has scrapped his controversial proposal to install a catering hall for 200 people on his 74-acre property off Yard Road.
Mr. Neri withdrew his application for a use variance from the township Zoning Board of Adjustment just as the board was getting ready to vote on the application Dec. 6.
Statements made by all seven board members indicated the application was headed for defeat. Under state law, five affirmative votes were needed for approval of the variance.
Phillips Heathcote Jr., Mr. Neri’s attorney, said while withdrawing the application that he and his client "feel that it would be appropriate to re-examine this application" and perhaps return to the zoning board with a revised version.
Mr. Neri said Tuesday that he didn’t know if he would reapply to the township for permission to build a catering facility perhaps smaller than the facility proposed in the zoning board application that has been withdrawn. "I need a way to market my wine, but I’m perplexed on how to do it at this point," he said. "I’m still thinking it over."
"I think the intensity of use proposed by this application is inappropriate," board member Bill Cane said Dec. 6 during the discussion that typically precedes votes at planning and zoning board sessions. During these discussions, members indicate how they going to vote, and why.
"This would change the neighborhood significantly," Mr. Cane said of the Neri plan.
Mr. Cane noted that the vineyard already has a building that can host 25 to 30 people inside and 25 to 30 more on a veranda.
The vineyard is about a half-mile west of Yard Road’s intersection with Route 31. Township residents and officials including police Chief George Meyer during the now-concluded hearings on the vineyard say this is one of the most dangerous intersections in the area. Yard Road itself is narrow, with no sidewalks. During the vineyard hearings, many residents voiced fears about additional traffic if Mr. Neri got an approval. Some of the residents said it was inevitable that some of the traffic leaving the catering hall would include drivers who had become intoxicated during events.
"My major concern is that this would be a commercial operation in a residential zone," board member Bill Schoelwer said during the deliberations. "I think this is pushing the envelope too far."
The catering hall would have gone in a 12,500-square-foot building. Half that square footage would have been for a basement for wine storage, the other half for a first floor with more storage, restrooms, a food preparation area and the catering hall.
Proposed in the application was use of the hall six days a week, with up to three weddings a week allowed. The only alcoholic beverages that would be served, the application said, were Hopewell Valley Vineyards’ own wine.
Board member Frank Klapinski wondered about that, saying he thought people would "bring their own liquor" to weddings at the vineyard and that it would be difficult to turn them away. Mr. Klapinski said traffic impact was a concern as well.
The application had been supported by the township’s Agricultural Advisory Board, which termed the Neri proposal "agri-business." Mr. Neri has been producing and selling wine at the vineyard for several years.
"Two hundred people is just way too big," board member Denise Moser said. "I don’t think a catering hall is agri-business."
"Parties every week, and the traffic they would bring, is a problem," board member Sally Brenner said.

