EVERETT — Chris and Linnea Covington, owners of the first boutique winery in the downtown core, are planning on opening a public tasting room later this year.
They’re also planning a lawsuit.
The city told the couple to close a winery they were operating out of their north Everett hom
e in 2009, because officials said they were violating city code.
The winery is now known as Port Gardner Bay Winery.
Now the Covingtons have filed a claim with the city asking for $23,996.72 to recoup operating expenses as well as improvements made to their property for the winery.
“We spent thousands and thousands to move our winery,” Linnea Covington said. “We want compensation for the Plexiglass and things like that, which we can’t reuse.”
They also want the city to pay for their attorney’s fees and other yet-to-be-determined costs.
The Covingtons live in a century-old house and the winery was operated out of a separate two-story building on the property.
In the claim, the Covingtons ask for the city to pay for electricity and improvements to the building such as drywall, flooring and even items such as a 56-cent carpenter pencil.
The claim is a crucial step toward filing a lawsuit, something Linnea Covington said they plan to do in the coming months. The couple filed the claim in November and said they have heard nothing back from the city. Their attorney indicated that’s a sign the city doesn’t plan to pay them anything, she said.
The city is still reviewing the claim, said city spokeswoman Kate Reardon.
The couple feels wronged because they had obtained both a state liquor license and an Everett city permit that allowed them to produce around 300,000 bottles in a specially outfitted building behind their historic north Everett home. And that’s what they were doing, although the Covingtons said they produced far less wine than allowed.
They got in trouble with officials after neighbors complained they could smell and see evidence of the business, including stacks of wine barrels and forklifts. At one point a flatbed truck delivered pallets of wine grapes for a barefoot crush in a giant vat.
It’s legal to run a winery in a residential neighborhood in Everett with a permit, but the home business must remain undetectable. A city code enforcement officer cited them for violating five conditions of their permit, including storing equipment outside their home.
The city never imposed a monetary fine on the Covingtons for those violations.
Their case helped spur city leaders to change codes downtown last year to allow boutique wineries and microbreweries, so long as they come with a tasting room and meet other requirements.
The Covingtons have since moved their wine barrels to a space downtown at their other business, Structural Design Associates, 2802 Rockefeller.
The winery has the proper permits to operate in that space, said Allan Giffen, Everett’s Planning & Community Development director.
They’ve already created a space for private tastings and plan to open up a public tasting room in June and outdoor seating, she said.
“Some people in the city have been really great working with us,” she said.
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197; dsmith@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
