Co-op appeal accepted, with new approval conditions and no vacation rental – Sonoma Sun

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Larry Barnett

On Monday night, the Sonoma City Council accepted an appeal by the owners of the historic Cooper Building, long a point of contention among neighbors north of First Street West. The appeal was prompted by the Sonoma Planning Commission’s denial of use of the building’s second floor for vacation rentals, which was prohibited under the original conditions of approval when the project began.

The approval, however, came after the McQuown’s, who own the now-renovated and rehabilitated structure, abandoned the idea of ​​using the second-floor residence as a vacation rental and changed its use to include a facility wine tasting by appointment on the ground floor. . The intention now is for the Stone Edge Farm tasting room to move from its First Street East location on Patten Street to the Cooperage location. A relative will reside in the residence on the second floor.

The rehabilitation project was approved in 2018 under the terms of the city’s Adaptive Reuse Ordinance which provides flexibility of use to facilitate the preservation of historic structures. Subject to approval at the time, a ‘lifestyle shop’ use was approved for the ground floor. Also, use as a vacation rental was prohibited.

Controversy erupted when the building’s owners changed their plans to use it as a residence with lifestyle store to request a change of use for vacation rental and wine tasting room and put the building on the market for sale.

The request has been the subject of repeated council meetings. Residents vocally opposed the vacation rental proposal, hired an attorney and spoke at length to support their opposition.

The matter will be brought back to the City Council at least one more time. Staff must now draft a final resolution that reflects the direction of the city council and the new conditions of approval that apply to the use of the wine tasting, its hours of operation, etc.