Code Violators

The wine industry is thriving in the Sammamish Valley and Woodinville, with more than 130 wineries and tasting rooms in operation. The vast majority are operating legally according to Washington State and King County regulations. Only a handful have been cited for various code violations and are illegally operating wine bars and event centers in the Rural Area. [Note: King County code enforcement was suspended pending completion of the Sammamish Valley Wine and Beverage Study - click here to learn how we got to this point.] 

Let's call these violators what they are - bars. There is no wine production happening on-site. These are not 'tasting rooms' in the romanticized sense, with the proprietor in grape-stained overalls offering samples of the latest harvest maturing in barrels in the backroom. These businesses can serve wine onsite by the glass and bottle, provide live music and dancing, and bring in food trucks or catered food. And what is an 'event center' but a bar that's closed for a private event?

Click here for a map of the Code Violators, showing their locations in the Sammamish Valley Rural Area and APD farmland.

1. Property Owners: Cliff & Diane Otis (with operating help from Bryan and Jeff Otis)

16116 140th PL NE Woodinville, parcel # 152605-9092

Usage: Matthews wine bar, event center and guest house, also owned by the Otis family. Matthews moved their wine production to Walla Walla years ago. 

2. Property Owner: TM Squared LLC (Michael Tenhulzen)

14701 148th Ave NE, Woodinville, parcel # 152605-9051

Usage: Tenhulzen Residential Design/Build Remodeling company is operating offices from the Rural Area property. King County required them to shutter the offices by May 31, 2022. Tenhulzen appealed to the Hearing Examiner which is ongoing. Good Brewing Taproom, also illegally operating on the property shut down in November 2022.

3. Property Owner: Vince Carlson

15114 148th Ave NE, Woodinville, parcel # 340770-0006

Usage: Castillo de Feliciana wine bar (just north of Tolt Pipeline Trail), also owned by the Carlsons. Wine production is in northern Oregon near Walla Walla.

4. Property Owners: Stephen & Sherri Lee

14366 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE, Redmond, parcel # 340470-0027

Tenant: Cougar Crest wine bar (in the small roundabout cluster south of the main Hollywood Hill roundabout). Wine production is in Walla Walla. Cougar Crest rents this location.

5. Property Owner: Larry & Jane Scrivanich

14356 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE, Redmond, parcel # 340470-0026

Tenant: Cave B wine bar (small southern roundabout cluster). Wine production is in George, WA. Cave B rents this location. Mr. Scrivanich also owns the nearly property at 14430 Woodinville Redmond Rd which is also in Overlay A.

6. Property Owner: SR-9 Investments

14344 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE, Redmond, parcel # 340470-0030

Tenant: Forgeron Cellars wine bar (small southern roundabout cluster). Wine production is in Walla Walla. Forgeron rents this location.

7. Property Owner: Greg Lill, Cedar Pond 14208 LLC

14208 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE, Redmond, parcel # 340470-0060

Tenant: Chateau Lill. Greg Lill stopped making wine here for his DeLille Cellars winery many years ago. Wine production was elsewhere in Washington State and all DeLille Cellars winery operations have recently moved to the former Redhook Brewery property in the City of Woodinville Tourist District. Greg and Stacy Lill are now running an event center out of the home and as an article in the Puget Sound Business Journal noted, “The couple plans to expand Chateau Lill’s events beyond weddings - every Saturday in 2019 is already booked - to outdoor movie nights with food trucks, corporate retreats and pop-up wine tastings.” The Lill’s also own the southernmost parcel that is in Overlay A and destined for remote tasting rooms.

8. Property Owner: Paul & Kay Talbott

14300 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE, Redmond, parcel # 340470-0040

Tenant: Sky River Mead, which rents the location.

9. Property Owner: Icarus Holdings (Vladan Milosavljevic)

16507 140th Pl NE, Woodinville, parcel # 152605-9028

Usage: Rooster Bakery and Coffee Shop; Three Monks Distilled Spirits; Chateau Ste Vladany Wines. The bakery, coffee shop and bars are all owned by Mr. Milosavljevic. Heavy equipment and construction materials for another business are being stored here as well. This property is actually in the Sammamish Valley APD protected farmland area. Mr. Milosavljevic also owns another property in the north end of the Sammamish Valley APD.

many legal options are available

It's not the case that these code violators have nowhere to go. The City of Woodinville, as well as other nearby cities, have plenty of retail and commercial space available, with sewer hookup and other infrastructure in the properly zoned Urban Area. Approximately 170,000 sq ft of new space is available just north of Chateau Ste Michelle on Hwy 202 where a number of beverage businesses are already located. An additional tens of thousands of square feet of new retail space is in the works in the Central Business District, and numerous existing properties are available for rent or purchase.

Driving some of this expansion into the RA and A lands is the desire for less expensive operating costs. Since they do not have to pay for the commercial infrastructure (e.g. sewer hookup, lighting, sidewalks) and permitting required for businesses that operate in commercial zones, they have an unfair advantage over their legally operating competitors.

Friends of Sammamish Valley is supportive of the wine tourism industry, as well as having true production wineries in the Rural Area. We believe that the handful of illegally operating bars and event centers in the Rural Area should move into the nearby Urban Area - joining the vast majority of tasting rooms, bars and event centers already operating there legally. Our amendment to the Ordinance proposed that the violators be given a 12-month grace period to move to a new legal location or cease illegal operations. Note that King County has already given violators a 3+ year grace period by freezing zoning enforcement while the Wine Study was conducted. 

Drive-up retail businesses need the infrastructure that already exists in the Urban Area such as sewer hookup, parking, sidewalks, lighting, and better ingress/egress from access roads. Operating in the Urban Area will help solve infrastructure problems while also enabling these businesses to have longer hours and more customers without the negative side effects of traffic, parking lots, noise, and visual pollution that deeply affect the rural neighborhoods and farm businesses. These negative side effects are additionally counterproductive to the local wine industry itself which in fact relies on the visible presence of open lands and agriculture and the bucolic nature of the Sammamish Valley to draw in tourists from around the Puget Sound. 

Matthews

sal leone(Now Tenhulzen)

SAl Leone (Now Tenhulzen)

sal leone (now Tenhulzen)

felicianA

icarus holdings

ICarus Holdings

Cave B