The town board should allow this fellow to do something constructive with the property as he has proposed. He has a beautiful piece of property that is being showcased as a winery. This is a great thing for LS. What the Board should really be focused on is the urban blight that greets visitors as they come into our great town; ie. the old Texaco and Exxon stations along with the old Wicker Rose/Mike's Toy store that just continue to sit vacant. That's the real issue, not a proposed winery with hopefully a little bit of traffic in these tough economic times. Lets get real here.

Hmmm...we all know what comes with a Winery ,a tasting bar . What is being proposed would wreck havoc to our town besides having to rezone the "farm" to commercial would that not lower the value ?assessments of surrounding homes (Pagg lane) which in turn raises the rest of our taxes upward or is the town willing to cut the budget to acceptable levels .one final thought I hope the parking lot will be made big enough to accommodate busses .As a reference look at Delicious orchards or our own Sickles farm .....LS is always screaming lets keep that small town atmosphere.... we can't merge police ,we can't merge schools ,we don't need another bank so lets make it a park ......It will be interesting to see if sanity rules or our politicians greed .....

I wonder what his "farm tax" break is for growing a vineyard like that. I'm going to put a few chickens in my yard, see if I can get a farm tax break on my property taxes.

Oh and there isn't enough traffic in Little Silver yet? I don't refer to Branch Ave as Branch Ave anymore. I refer to it as "the highway that is Branch Ave." Long before the 7 bridges road detour.

Anyone else find it strange that LS deny's Commerce bank from opening on prospect ave which is zoned commercial for fear of the "traffic " it would bring ....now would even consider building a winery in a very desirably highly taxed neighborhood that has already seen many accidents on that very dangerous corner ?...something stinks here

How many different kinds of grapes are grown there?

Absolutely, he loves the grapes, it has nothing to do with saving MONEY on his property taxes. How could the board ever give consideration to such a ludicrous idea. ? A store selling wine on Seven Bridges Road, REALLY !!!!!!

I work in local government in Middletown, the "farms" there pay under $100 on several acres. Pretty good deal. But let's face it, its just a backroom deal amongst the favored to avoid taxes. This property on Seven Bridges is beautiful, the owner started his hobby to enjoy. I'm sure he is proud, but he also knew what his costs would be, too expensive, hmm, reduce the vineyard to a manageable size to suit a "hobby".
Pay your fair share of taxes on this property. Just like the rest of us.

he should start with the planning and zoning board.....tasting rooms down the street from the point road school? are you kidding.

In February New Jersey Monthly Magazine featured examples of how some NJ wineries have added tasting rooms and stores to their properties. http://njmonthly.com/articles/lifestyle/ready-for-prime-time.html
One vinter commented, “People coming to wineries stay at B&Bs, eat at local restaurants."
In discussion of the winery's potential impact on Little Silver, what about exploring how it would contribute to the tax ratable base and how it might impact local tourism?

Just to be clear: Any plans for a tasting room that were originally proposed have been scrapped. The owner is now looking to use a building on the property for retail sale of his wine.

Open up the wine store and put a nice long boardwalk along the edge of the property with tables to sip the fine NJ Wines, also open up gift winds as a sports bar, we need more liquor licences in town.

This wonderful piece of property should not be developed . Let him give it a try. And by the way, his product is very good

With the current poor state of economy a new business should certainly be welcomed by residents of the area. Wine drinkers are unique bunch, they care about the quality and taste of what they drink and will go long distances to find new and exciting wines. Thus, a winery in the area is likely to attract new business, which in turn, will bring tax revenues to the town. I've had the opportunity to taste some of their product, and have been pleasantly surprised on many occasions as to how good it is compared with that of the commercial growers in California. It has my vote!

I believe this is a fantastic idea for our town of LS! The winery is bound to bring the other businesses around here more business which would be a large help to the economy. It's beautiful to see when driving over the bridge and I think it will be a great new asset to our town. So let's give the guy a chance!

The first time a looked out over that bridge and spotted the unmistakeable signs of a grape vineyard I was amazed, and I have went out of my way to see it again. I hope it works out for this little vineyard and winery because this beautiful town of Little Silver deserves it. I applaud the owner of this property and hope he can someday sell his wine, The last time I checked this was America, a place where peoples dreams can come to reality! Yes Im sure some people would rather see condos, but once that happens there's no going back. Wine Tasting on the river in my own backyard, thats sounds AMAZING!

We all know that regulation by towns is a good thing, but sometimes can go too far. If Mr Deblasi is showing some flexibility in his request then perhaps the town - and residents - can also. A vineyard is an expensive proposition and to help compensate such entrepreneurial efforts perhaps they should allow this - scrapped down activity . Actually I believe the winery itself adds more flavor and quaintness to the area. The hours of operation are so limited in any event.

Bill P
It’s tough to break even after developing and operating a winery. One has to be nuts or have a great love for growing grapes and producing wine. It looks like this land owner has spent a small fortune beautifying Little Silver. If he wants to throw more money into this endeavor, that should be his prerogative. I say let him sell a few bottles of wine he so proudly produces right here in this great town.

Mike g
“Though shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods” I don’t begrudge Dr. Deblasi his right to make excellent use of his open space. These laws were written for the specific purpose, to preserving our states natural beauty. Do we really want Little Silver to be homogenized into one continuous land mass with abutting towns? Down with condos and town houses (with their potential to incur further expense and a higher tax rate to residents.) Up with vineyards.

I think it's a wonderful idea. Our society is in a terrible state of affairs . This guy has an american dream and he should be allowed to follow through and be given the opportunity to make an attempt to start up a business focused on one of the natural products (grapes) available from good old mother nature. This vineyard is a little piece of heaven on earth. The vision of the vineyard from the bridge alone should convince anyoneof the additional beauty it currently contributes to LS. It is truly a shame there is so much bander about traffic etc.we're discussing an added asset to the community not a detriment.