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(Editor’s Note: OMP resident Sandy Floraday writes that people who are over-served at Old Mission Peninsula wineries, including those on wine tours, make for dangerous roads. Read on for her thoughts below. Read about Judge Maloney’s recent ruling awarding the wineries nearly $50 million in damages here, and the Township’s plan to appeal the ruling here. -jb)
I want to take this opportunity to give you an insight on the wineries and the distribution of their product, as it was described to me by an individual who has been in the restaurant and bar industry for more than 30 years.
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The wineries’ tastings and flights are usually served in quantities of about two ounces. A customer who tastes four wines has now consumed eight ounces of wine. If their wine tour includes a minimum of five wineries with four tastings, they have now consumed 40 ounces of wine. That works out to be five cups of wine. There are just over three cups of wine per bottle. If you do the math, that’s approximately one and half bottles of wine that one person has consumed. That’s a lot of alcohol.
I have heard stories about bachelorette parties that have young women stumbling everywhere, individuals having sexual relations in neighboring bushes, and last but not least, vomiting along the side of the roads. You may not be directly affected by the wineries, but there are a lot of residents who are. Let’s not forget about the restaurants and their employees who have to deal with these intoxicated individuals.
As residents of Old Mission Peninsula, you have to look at the big picture. Individuals are continuing to be over served, making for very dangerous roads. As residents, we are very well aware that we have one main road onto the Peninsula, and that same one road takes us out. We do not need highly intoxicated drivers on Center Road, in the dark or any other time of day.
It was very eye opening when a former law enforcement officer made the comment that he moved closer to town because he does not want his family on Center Road with all the drunks. Many of you may not know that last summer, an individual was pulled over on Center Road, and he was five times over the legal alcohol limit. Thank goodness he was stopped before he injured or killed somebody.
When we moved to the Peninsula 26 years ago, the wineries that were here at that time were good neighbors. That is no longer the case. The lack of due diligence, poor business plans, and bottom-line greed have caused the wineries to become “bullies.”
Also, the wineries have nothing to do with farming. They produce a product that is a want, not a need. A product that most individuals cannot even afford. They are nothing more than a manufacturing facility.
Finally, what little the wineries have done for the residents of Old Mission Peninsula will never make up for a lost life due to their negligence.
Please do not be fooled by the wineries’ rhetoric.
On a side note, I would highly recommend the residents of Old Mission Peninsula take a ride and observe the wineries of Leelanau County. There were no large numbers of tour/brew busses. There was no traffic chaos. The wineries’ locations are such that they do not disturb the residents.
It’s a true testament to how the Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula have destroyed the quality of life on the Peninsula, let alone the division they have caused between the residents. It is so sad.
– Sandy Floraday, OMP Resident
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A part of the story you purposely (?) neglect to tell or maybe don’t know is this:
The person arrived at the winery already drunk. Since it was the first winery on that side of the peninsula the supposition is that he was served somewhere else off the peninsula not at a local winery.
When he arrived at the winery they refused to serve him. Responsible move wouldn’t you say?
When he left in a pique the winery called the police. Had they not called the police he may have caused an accident or worse.
So at least tell the whole story or are you concerned it will show the wineries in a good light and undermine your
narrative. The wineries have no interest in over serving people. Not to mention it is against their economic interest given their potential liability. I assume the wineries train their people to watch for those people who overindulge.
Great opinion piece Sandy! You have highlighted several powerful , truthful and negative aspects of living with the wineries on OMP.
Seriously, you wrote a column about information you received 2nd hand, brilliant writing. You need to have your facts straight. Shame on you for repeating.
I venture to say that sex in the bushes is as old as Adam and Eve. Who says it’s winery visitors. Let’s ask the sheriffs office to say how many stops for alcohol were due to a winery visit. I don’t know what’s going on at the overlook on center road but on my daily bike ride by the overlook I have seen condoms on the road a few times. Might just be some oversexed high school kids parking there, for all I know.
We can blame every ill out here on the wineries. Let’s try to blame the heat wave we just experienced on them. Yep it is their fault because they bring traffic which adds to the CO2 in the atmosphere.
Forget all the visitors to the lighthouse or all the back and forth trips to town by residents. Nope our scapegoat is always going to be the evil wineries. Get real.
This article supports a false narrative, designed to create fear and a ( not in my backyard) treatment of a agricultural industry that helps supports our pensulia. It’s appears that the author has a ax to grind!
Wait and see how many axes will be grinding when the new tax bills arrive. This is not about NIMBY… this is about commercialization of agriculturally zoned properties. Sure it would be great to have t-shirts from your favorite farm, but it won’t stop there. The Wineries of OMP have demonstrated that. What I see happening is, “we can do this, but we want more… and more… ” till there will be nothing more to give or gain because OMP won’t be the desirable region that it once was and tourism will wane.
Over consumption is a big issue and the TC area has been dealing with it for years. With the advent of alcohol tourism, local municipalities are having to deal with these over consumption issue on a regular bases. We have all seen it, people driving around the peninsula from winery to winery siping the fruits of our agricultural industry. And most of use remember the don’t drink and drive campaigns to help make our roads safer. But as a cyclist, it’s still dangerous to ride on the roads around OMP due to all the over consumption, even though we all know and have been told drinking and driving is bad and illegal. Some point out all the vans driving people to and from all the wineries and suggest this is curbing the drinking and driving issues. But not everyone takes a tour bus to go to wineries (just look at the traffic and speeds on Center Road and the number of cars turning into tasting rooms). And it’s these very van tours that end up dumping a bunch of drunk people off in downtown TC where we are seeing many more drunken people stumbling around town, puking in business doorways and planters and causing more public disturbances. The city even promoted a “healthy drinking culture” study but that didn’t do much but highlight what we already knew, we have a drinking problem locally. Most people on OMP are not against the wineries or agriculture. In fact, we have voted numerous times to voluntarily tax ourselves to protect agriculture and the historic nature of farming on the peninsula. Expanding commercial uses in zoned agricultural areas is only going to elevate these problems and continue to erode our rural character. We will see more traffic; more drinking and driving; more traffic bottle neck at the base of the peninsula; and more traffic accidents from speeding, drunken driving and mixing pedestrians with automobiles along our already busy roads. Expanding commercial activities in our agricultural zoned areas will only increase the issues we are already confronted with now. Some expansion is warranted but how much is too much? Most on OMP are not against agriculture or the open space protection it provides. What worries many is the added disruption that comes with the increased uses allowed in commercially zoned districts. Does OMP want to continue what it started by supporting a mix of agricultural and residential zoned areas or does it want to be bullied into opening up our zoning regulation to be a free for all for commercial ventures that could ultimately threaten the character and natural environment we have long worked to protect? The choice is yours and I hope we don’t ruin what makes living on OMP so pleasant. Call me NIMBY all you want too but supporting our farmers has always been important to us on OMP but throwing out the baby with the bath water is not what was intended and not what most people want to see on OMP.