Ocean Wine Storage Company Withdraws Coastal Commission Application for New Facility Off Montecito | Local News

Ocean Fathoms, an offshore ocean wine cellar company, has withdrawn its application with the California Coastal Commission that proposed the installation and operation of a new seafloor wine facility nearly a mile offshore of Fernald Point in Montecito.

The California Coastal Commission was set to discuss the permit application, which also included after-the-fact authorization for the placement and use of three existing wine storage cases in the same location, in mid-July, but the item was postponed until last Thursday and withdrawn a week before staff was scheduled to hold the hearing.

The new wine storage facility would involve the placement of six storage cases on the seafloor at a depth of 70 feet, covering about 128 square feet on the seafloor, according to a staff report. The cages would have an approximate seafloor footprint of 16 square feet each and would extend approximately four feet high.

No cleaning or removal of biofouling material was proposed to occur at sea, and no maintenance inspections or monitoring activities were proposed to occur outside of the annual recovery activities, according to the report.

Ocean Fathoms described the installation as a pilot project and plans to pursue a full project of 30 wine storage cages in the future, the report said. 

In the original staff report, California Coastal Commission staff recommended denying the proposal on the grounds that the establishment has the potential to result in adverse impacts to commercial and recreational fishing through damage and loss of bottom contact fishing gear that would come into contact with the wine cages. 

The report also stated that the facility would “adversely affect marine biological resources by disturbing, crushing and smothering marine life with the facility’s installation footprint, altering the seafloor habitat within that area and by trapping and entangling fish and mobile marine invertebrates” and that the proposed facility would result in the filling of coastal waters for a use not allowed by the California Coastal Act.

In a letter sent to California Coastal Commission staff, Ocean Fathoms president Emanuele Azzaretto said that many of the issue areas presented to justify the recommended denial still require additional clarification or discussion.

“In order to ensure that the hearing is not focused on the violation and that the staff reports presents the most accurate summation of the project, Ocean Fathoms is formally withdrawing its July 2020 Coastal Development Permit Application,” Azzaretto wrote, adding the request that commission staff work with Ocean Fathoms to address the issues associated with the previously unpermitted activities.

— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.