Stay keeps Lake Milton winery in operation during appeal

The stay will be revoked if the winery expands, judges warn.

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — A Lake Milton winery has obtained a reprieve from a common pleas judge’s order that it cease to operate in a residential neighborhood.

The 7th District Court of Appeals granted a stay that allows the Myrrdin Winery to continue functioning pending its appeal of Judge John M. Durkin’s order that the winery cease operations at 3020 Scenic Drive in Milton Township.

On Nov. 3, 2008, Judge Durkin, of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, issued a permanent injunction barring operation of the winery in its lakefront location off Southeast River Road, which is zoned as a residential district.

The injunction followed Judge Durkin’s October ruling that the winery cannot validly claim to be an agricultural land use that is exempt from township zoning regulations.

The judge added that 95 percent of the wine sold by the winery is made from grapes grown elsewhere.

Based on neighbors’ complaints about the winery’s traffic and retail activity in a residential area, Jennifer Terry, township zoning inspector, had sought the court order barring the winery’s continued operation at that location.

Winery operator Gayle K. Sperry filed her appeal and sought the stay of Judge Durkin’s injunction, saying she would suffer an economic loss if the winery couldn’t operate and she would likely breach a crop-sharing agreement with the owner of adjacent land, where grapevines have been planted.

In granting the stay last week, appellate Judges Joseph J. Vukovich, Cheryl L. Waite and Mary DeGenaro ordered Sperry not to expand the business, not to plant any more grapevines or other fruit plants, and not to expand Internet advertising or signage on the property while the appeal is pending.

The judges warned that they’d revoke the stay if the business expands.

The judges said they’ll schedule a hearing on the merits of the zoning dispute concerning the winery as soon as possible.