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 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010 1:24 am |
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Local News 
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Everett home winery halted Truckloads of grapes and the presence of a forklift prompted neighbors to complain. EVERETT — Wine aficionados Chris and Linnea Covington dreamed of starting a winery.Chris Covington, by all accounts an accomplished home wine-maker, wanted to bring his merlot to a wider audience. In September, the Everett couple got their liquor license for Covington Crest Winery. By mid-October, two flatbed trucks were delivering pallets of wine grapes for a barefoot crush in a giant vat and forklifts were moving supplies. The only problem: Covington Crest Winery is located at their north Everett home in the middle of a residential neighborhood. At least three neighbors complained to the city about the winery business. Officials filed a citation against the couple Oct. 19, which has put the winery at least temporarily out of operation. “It’s very painful,” Linnea Covington said. “When they asked us to shut down, we did everything they asked us to do.” The couple has both a state liquor license and an Everett city permit that allows them to produce up to 250,000 liters of wine — that’s upward of 300,000 bottles. Linnea Covington said they only made a small amount of wine, about several hundred bottles. Neighbors living near the Rucker Avenue home reported hearing machinery in the alleyway behind the home and seeing flatbed trucks making deliveries last month. Neighbor Susie Lopez said she heard forklifts operating in the mornings and often on the weekends in October. On her tree-lined street, the activity puzzled her. “Most homes don’t have forklifts,” she said. It’s illegal under city code for an industrial business to operate in a residential neighborhood, but the couple has a special permit that allows a wide range of commercial uses on residential property, Everett spokeswoman Kate Reardon said. As a condition of the permit, the winery can’t look like a business. That’s where the Covingtons tripped up. Equipment used for the business was being stored outside the home, according to the violation report. Linnea Covington said they had stacked some wine barrels in the back yard. The couple lives in a century-old historic house and the winery is operated out of a separate two-story building that faces a nearby alley. Chris Covington, a structural engineer, designed the space, she said. The couple just won a coveted award from the city, the Monte Cristo Award, which recognizes homes and businesses for their curb appeal. On Thursday, a flatbed trailer was parked on a pad behind a fence, but otherwise there was no sign, other than a very faint whiff of fermenting grapes, that a winery was located here. It’s been tough for the couple to hear that they were doing something they weren’t allowed to do, Linnea Covington said. They planned to give much of their wine to charity. Both are actively involved in Rotary and other civic organizations. They recently hosted a National Night Out event at a nearby business that included tastes of their wine. She said any noise the operation might have caused was short lived and nothing in comparison to construction noise coming from the nearby hospital expansion. After the delivery of two flatbed truckloads of merlot, cabernet and pinot grapes in October, the wine is now in barrels and just needs to age, she said. She’s not sure if they’ll continue operations in the future. A city hearing on the matter is scheduled for Dec. 17. There are no state laws against operating a winery in a residential neighborhood, said Anne Radford of the Washington State Liquor Control Board. She said the board learned Monday the city had placed a stop order on the winery. The board had no plans to rescind the winery’s license, she said. The Covingtons just want to go back to making wine. “We could give so much to this economy,” she said. Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com. |
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COMMENTS
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I was beginning to wonder when big brother would step in and quash the ability of the little guy to get a foothold in any market. Though I understand the neighbors opposition, I hope the Covingtons can work things out and get back to their passion.
CC At the Big B | Nov 20, 2009 6:46 am | 1 replies | Request removal
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Being part of a neighborhood means just that... being involved with those that might be impacted by your actions. Perhaps if the Covingtons had communicated with those around them regarding their intentions, who knows, maybe the neighborhood would not have reacted the way it did. Apparently they knew their intentions when they built the "structure on the alley" (garage) that was supposed to be for their RV in the beginning. It received special variances too I believe. From the outside, without communication, it looks as if special treatment is being given because, as they say, know this person and that person... Also will it draw more crime into the area if the kids figure out they have liquor in a garage? So maybe if it were handled differently... I don't know. For now it leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
P J | Nov 25, 2009 12:51 pm | 0 replies | Request removal
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Being the owner/operator of a small winery in a residential area, I'm very familiar with the activities of the Covingtons. Their temporary outdoor activities occur for a very short duration in the fall when the grapes are harvested. For the vast majority of the remainder of the year, the wines rest quietly in barrels inside the winery. Message to the neighbors - it's a small sandbox, folks. Let's all find a way to get along together. How about this suggestion - go to the Covingtons, and volunteer to help them with their winemaking. You will experience the passion they have for their chosen venture, and you might just find a new appreciation for the hard work it takes to bring a bottle of wine into life. Play nice! Try it - you'll like it.
John Bell | Nov 22, 2009 8:32 am | 0 replies | Request removal
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having been fortuante enough to have been able to help the Covington's with some of their wine making, it's hard to read the article with it's misrepresentations and not say someting. The forklift the neighbor complains about is a small electric (quiet) model, the delivery truck(s) is the Covington's pickup truck with a flatbed trailer and i can't imagine anyone wanting to put their bare feet into the 18 x 30 inch hopper on their electric grape crusher. The noisiest thing there was the power washer used to clean up when done. We worked from 9am to 6pm and at no time were the roads or alley's blocked, everything was contained on the Covington's property. The Covington's are an extremely giving and caring couple who are an asset to any community they are involved in.
tom rupert | Nov 20, 2009 5:44 pm | 1 replies | Request removal
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I was sad to hear that Chris and Linnea Covington's lifelong dream of starting a Winery was coming to a halt! These good people you see, would want to make sure they did things by the book! They are just that kind of people! Now to be shut down after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, is an "big ouch", none of us wants to endure! Especially the Covingtons! They are always doing something to give back to the community! The Night Out Against Crime is just one of the wonderful ways they bless our community! To you Chris and Linnea, I say, Harouch!! (is that how we say it Chris?)
Erin Pauley | Nov 20, 2009 12:20 pm | 0 replies | Request removal
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Hopefully when they get this cleared up their neighbors will still get some wine for the whine.
If it was truly just going to be an isolated event then I don't see the difference in this from the noise should the complaining neighbors decide to remodel a room and set up a table saw in the yard.
The noisest thing I would wager here would be the deliveries of the grapes.
Please keep us posted on how it comes together. I want to buy some of this wine ( I suggest you name it North Everett Table Whine)
Jack Hatley | Nov 20, 2009 8:00 am | 0 replies | Request removal
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