McCordsville sues Daniel’s Vineyard, alleges breach of development contract

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29 Comments

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    1. U think rhey just hate a bad neighbor that has skrited zoning laws and annoyed neighbors and won’t sit down an talk about the legal mess they have created for themselves.

  1. Crazy, the town doesn’t want a successful business that’s quiet most of the year vs cookie cutter homes. I’m guessing the town wants the land for housing.

    1. I think they just don’t want a business that has skrited zoning laws and annoyed neighbors and won’t sit down an talk about the legal mess they have created for themselves.

  2. Odd position by the local politicians. The venue seems like a winner: Fun. Family friendly. Not-a-chain. Set way back from the road. Agricultural. Employs lots of people. plenty of parking. Sophisticated ambiance.

    1. If you lived next door and your windows rattled every summer weekend, you might say something different. After all those home owners followed the rules and did not expect this mess to evolve next door.

    1. I don’t live in the area, but have dealt with a bad businesses violating zoning laws in my own neighborhood. It’s no fun when somebody is making money off something that hurts your property values and they didn’t bother to follow the rules and a least give you a chance to have your shot at due process and the rule of law.

    1. Almost nobody has “zoning police”. The town should have known something was up, but often it takes complaints from neighbors to bring violations to the attention of the local zoning authority. It also sound like, once somebody got to digging, DV has been skirting the rules for a long time. In addition, it sounds like these people have been deliberately ignoring officials once the issues were raised. Legal action is usually the last resort.

  3. I’m sure you could get a good price for that land, then come on out to Shelby or Johnson Co. and set up shop! We appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit along with good music and wine! Maybe you could sell you current land to a nice pig farmer?

  4. Nothing says pro-business, like this. Kind of a bad look for McCordsville. It is a nice venue, and a a local to the Geist Res. area, we have stopped in several times over the years. Assuming the town is tired of moaning neighbors.

    1. McCordsville did not just make up any of these rules. The owners of DV sound like they have been willfully ignoring zoning rules since the first “storage” barn went up. They made their own mess.

      If you want to enjoy the wealth and concentration of customers a town or a city brings to your backyard, then you need to follow the rules.

    1. I’m not sure Dan M. is even a neighbor, he’s just one of those people that wakes up angry and wants to find something to complain about that doesn’t impact him personally.

    2. This is a hot button for me. As a homeowner I’ve seen a successful, popular, and money making business make neighbors lives miserable as they hire lawyers with deep pockets to knowingly blast right past zoning laws.

  5. For what it’s worth, I live across the street from Daniel’s, and it’s been a huge disappointment not to have the summer concerts this year. We’ve not had problems with them, outside of the increased traffic when the show lets out at 10 pm. There was a large upwelling of support for the vineyard when the town decided to limit their concerts this summer, so not all neighbors are against it.

    Hopefully they can come to an agreement to remediate whatever so that McCordsville doesn’t lose a unique business in the town.

  6. McCordsville have endlessly harassed the Daniel’s Vineyard owners for years.

    I have been to the vineyard’s outdoor concerts. No windows are “rattling” from outdoor concerts that end by McCordsville’s noise ordinance’s “Quiet hours from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m” within designated decibels levels.

    This business is a successful Agrotourism story like Oliver Winery, Traders Point Creamery, or Huber’s Orchard & Winery.

    Keep the harassment up and watch all the tax revenue disappear when they turn it into a giant pig farm.

    1. We live nearby and loved the music, and now the music is gone. It’s a great amenity to our community! Too bad I can’t ride my golf cart over to the winery, because that would be fun, but it’s also a code violation.

  7. Great atmosphere and venue for music that doesn’t blare over the area. Go stomp some grapes during harvest time.Very Family and kid friendly. Kids love their gymnastics cartwilling down the hills. Better then gas station in the corner. Great Family running the place. Almost forgot it is an Indiana farm so let’s go easy on the hate folks.

    1. DV seems like a super-desirable business to have. I have been there and enjoyed spending time there. It is an asset for the community in many ways. But that doesn’t mean it can just ignore the rules or the agreements it has made. It is a shame that it had to come to legal action, but from the sound of it, the business brought this on itself. Good local governance requires creation of regulations that serve the common good, and then proper enforcement of those regulations. If a use is desired that falls outside of the regulations, there are procedures to request a zoning change or a variance. From the facts shared here, the business went through those processes, received variances, got development funding support from the town, and then has failed on multiple occasions to meet the terms of its legal agreements. How much thumbing of the nose is a town supposed to ignore? McCordsville is a growing town in a growing area, and deserves the ability to try to manage its growth as it sees fit. It’s not hating on a business to ask that it abide by the regulations that apply.

    2. I lived there for many years. I would sit and listen to the music and it didn’t “rattle my windows.” OH, and I have stomped grapes; it’s so much fun. McCordsville has it out for Daniel’s and if I were them, I’d use the vineyard to grow the grapes and move my venue somewhere that would appreciate it. When we lived at Geist, we were Cellar Club members and spent many hours at the vineyard. Most of those homes were there when DV built and now they complain. They built their house there, they should have checked it out before buying!

  8. We all have rules to follow, you can’t be upset with town taking responsibility to enforce its rules. Aren’t we all for law and order? I’m sure it will be settled amicably.

  9. What people in local government who have never been in the private sector (let alone run a business) fail to understand is that operations like Daniels Vineyard need programming like event space and concerts in order to be profitable. The Vineyard should be looked at like a community amenity that also adds to the tax base, not a red headed stepchild that needs to regulated to death. The building itself is well constructed from the times I’ve been there with a concrete slab 2nd floor and steel supports, well in excess of any zoning standard for a non-residential building.

    Also, houses in the nearest subdivision were built in 2023 per property records. The Vineyard opened in 2017. If you don’t want to hear noise don’t buy a house adjacent to a commercial business in a brand new neighborhood with no mature trees or anything to dampen sound. Residents near the gun club have continually tried to do the same thing after purchasing houses next to an existing gun club. Go figure.

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