Santa Barbara County temporarily clears pathway for wineries to begin serving food

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. -- Santa Barbara County will temporarily suspend zoning regulations and permit restrictions on wineries and wine tasting rooms serving food on Tuesday.

The suspension is to minimize economic impacts of COVID-19 in the County.

The reopening will operate in Stage 2 of Governor Newsom's four-stage COVID-19 Resilience Roadmap.

On Monday, the County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato, serving as the Director of Emergency Services, declared Emergency Rule number 2 which temporarily suspends County Code Chapter 35, a restriction that prohibits wineries and wine tasting rooms from serving food.

This suspension will allow wineries and wine tasting rooms to serve food during the COVID-19 emergency as long as these businesses are compliant with state laws regulation on retail food, alcohol, alcohol licensing and all local directives regarding reopening of businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic response.

This emergency rule continues the implementation of the County’s Small Business and Community Partnership Enhancement Program (SBCPEP) that began on May 21.

The County says the emergency rule will be in effect until December 16 until further notice.

The emergency rule will be recommended to the County Board of Supervisors for their confirmation on June 2.

The County Planning and Development Department will also present recommended zoning code amendments to the Board and Planning Commission in June.