Fifth District Commissioner Mike Kane, right, helped work out a compromise at the Jan. 26 Unified Government Commission meeting that allowed live entertainment at a winery in the Piper area. Kane promised to visit the area in the coming year to watch over the situation. Commissioner Nathan Barnes is on the left. (Staff photo)

   The Unified Government Commission worked out a compromise Jan. 26 to allow live entertainment at the Wine Barn in the Piper area.

   Spearheading the compromise effort was 5th District Commissioner Mike Kane, who said, “This is the toughest issue I’ve ever worked on.” Earlier, Kane asked both sides to sit down and work out a compromise.

   The issue had dragged on for months as issues were worked out. Kane promised both sides he would be there watching over what’s going on during the year.

   Some neighbors had opposed live outdoor music at events held at the Wine Barn, 2850 N. 119th, saying it was too noisy. Concerns also were raised about traffic and paved parking possibly causing water runoff. Petitions circulated both supporting and opposing the live entertainment. All opponents of the live entertainment said they supported the winery, but it was the entertainment that they were concerned about.

   A neighbor who lives on 119th said the music was making it hard to sleep. Neighbors had to turn on their TVs and wait until the music was over before going to sleep, she said. At a distance, they could hear the “thump, thump, thump” of the drums, not the actual music. “It’s very irritating,” she said.

   “It’s a residential area, and they have chosen to put a business in the middle of a residential area,” said Mona Tichenor, who lives nearby.

   But the supporters of the winery pointed out that it thrives in a rural environment, and that adding paved parking would ruin the agritourism ambience it seeks to achieve. Neither opponents nor supporters of the entertainment wanted paved parking there, which had been proposed by the UG staff.

   Larry Reynolds, who lives on 119th, asked the commissioners, “Consider what you would want in our situation.” 

   He said the neighbors felt that if it was approved, the entertainment would grow and expand.

   The final approval that passed for the special use permit was a compromise measure with only one year approval given instead of the two requested. The one-year provision was suggested by Commissioner Mark Holland. The Wine Barn also agreed to put up a three-sided tent and some plywood that will act as sound barriers, and to reduce the time they allow live entertainment by two months. The number of hours for music was also reduced. It will receive a variance on the paved parking lot.

   Also, the Wine Barn’s attorney, Ryan Denk, said there would be no more rock music, but just classical or jazz in the future. Rock music was played once last summer, he said. He said the live entertainment was critical to the business.

   Because of the protest petition, the special use permit approval needed nine votes, and the vote was unanimous with one commissioner absent.

   The Wine Barn, a small family business, received substantial support from family, friends, some neighbors, the Kansas City, Kan., Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas Grape Growers and Winemakers Association.

   Cindy Cash, president of the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber supported approval of the Wine Barn permits, and also said a UG agritourism policy needs to be developed.

   A special education teacher from the Turner school district pointed out how the winery had helped him raise funds for his program. It also has helped raise funds for several charities throughout the community, including a Piper program for the developmentally disabled, as well as the Piper fifth-grade football team.

   Bob Des Ruisseaux, vice president of the KGGWA, said wineries promote agritourism, and that studies have shown that visitors who spend $1 at a winery then spend almost as much or more at other businesses in the same area.

   Fifty-two percent of persons who visit Kansas wineries are from outside of Kansas, he said. Within the past year the number of wineries has increased from 23 to 30 in the state, he added.

   “Agritourism is vital and needed,” Des Ruisseaux said. Often, wineries are run by small family businesses that are like pioneers. 

   At one time in its history, he said, Wyandotte County was filled with wineries and acres of land producing grapes. In 1874, Wyandotte County had 235 acres devoted to vineyards, producing 2,500 gallons of wine in 1873, and 587,125 pounds of grapes, historical records show. Then, it was one of the top wine-producing counties in Kansas, he said.

   But during Prohibition, Wyandotte County and the rest of the state lost its wineries, he said, and they are starting to come back again.