The Little Compton Town Council will defer action on a request from Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyard for a BV retail beverage license until questions can be answered about future business plans for a 50-seat restaurant and potential conflicts with zoning regulations that prohibit such establishments in residential zones.

The council’s decision was prompted by a letter from Zoning Official Peter Medeiros, who said the vineyard’s license application, submitted earlier this year, includes references to a restaurant setting.

“A restaurant is not permitted in a residential zone,” Medeiros wrote. He noted, however, the current use of the property — as a vineyard and winery — is a legal non-conforming use that is in compliance with zoning regulations.

Medeiros did not mention the vineyard’s on-site café that currently offers a light menu. Little Comption issues a victualling license to the vineyard annually to allow the serving of food products. A state-issued license allows sale of wine. The BV license, if approved, would mean beer and other alcoholic beverages could be served on the premises. 

Vineyard General Manager Cynthia Rocha sent a letter to the council in February saying the business has served wine and food to the public for decades. Now, the food menu is expected to “evolve as demand and staffing allows,” she said. “We see an opportunity to utilize an expanded menu, to introduce Sakonnet Vineyard to those who would not normally visit.”

Additionally, she described a “restaurant experience” that will take place in the main building and on the lawn, “where the previous café has operated historically.” The wine tastings, she said, will continue in the seasonal barn as well as in the field across from the tasting room.

Anticipated expanded hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Occasionally, Rocha said, the vineyard may host private events that will go no later than 11 p.m.

“The restaurant — it’s been called a café in the past — is a sit-down tableside dining experience that is separate from the tasting experience,” Rocha told the council.  She said there would be no expansion of the cooking area.

Councilors said the decision to defer action should not be interpreted as a denial of the beverage license application, and they are not dictating to the applicant how to proceed. Rather, the vineyard now has the option to appeal the council’s decision to defer action or to approach the zoning board to determine the next steps.

“The vineyard already serves alcohol and food but what they are proposing now pushes it into a gray area,” said councilor Paul Golembeske. “I don’t personally have anything against it…but it looks like it’s going to conflict with our own zoning official’s opinion.”

Backup materials for last week’s council meeting included a letter from longtime resident and former town council member Larry Anderson, who said the beverage application and related materials “leave little doubt that the vineyard’s plan is to operate a 50-seat restaurant throughout the year.”

“In light of the opinion from Peter Medeiros,” Anderson wrote, “the vineyard can, and perhaps must seek relief in the form of a variance from the Zoning Board if it wishes to operate a full-service restaurant on the property.”

Anderson said it is time for the town council to review and consider amendments to the Zoning Ordinance to clearly define accessory uses associated with agricultural properties, “including possible restaurant operations in a residential zone, perhaps subject to a special use permit.”

He said the current ordinance regarding agricultural uses has not been substantially revised since 1994.