(NVR) - Napa County Planning Commissioners heard Wednesday – as if they had any doubts – that the proposed Yountville Hill Winery remains controversial and they decided to give the public more time to submit comments.

The commission approved the winery in July 2014, only to have the matter appealed by opponents to the county Board of Supervisors. Winery applicants agreed to do an environmental impact report and the draft version is finished.

Commissioners held Wednesday’s hearing to collect verbal comments. The group Save Yountville Hill requested that the county extend the comment period deadline from Aug. 15 to Sept. 29, and the commission complied.

“This particular application has been one of the most controversial in the last 15 years,” longtime Planning Commissioner Terry Scott said. “I don’t think it’s something to rush through.”

Other commissioners agreed, with Commissioner Michael Basayne saying Yountville Hill Winery created a bit of a sea change in terms of public sentiment regarding winery applications.

However, this particular hearing was a fairly brief, tame affair, with only six speakers from the public. Opponents said they have more work to do analyzing the bulky document at a time when some of them are turning their attention to the grape harvest.

Yountville Hill Winery is to produce 100,000 gallons of wine annually, have two buildings totaling 14,000 square feet, have 35,590 square feet of caves, have up to 1,000 tasting room visitors weekly and have 58 marketing events annually. It would be located on the large hill north of Yountville near Highway 29.

Two alternatives have emerged. One shrinks annual wine production to 80,000 gallons, weekly maximum visitation to 800 and annual marketing events to 50.

Alternative two shrinks annual wine production to 70,000 gallons, maximum weekly visitation to 500 and annual marketing events to 48. The winery administration and visitors building would be moved lower down the hill.

The draft environmental report says the “environmentally superior alternative” is doing nothing and leaving the now-closed, neo-Victorian Castle in the Clouds bed-and-breakfast on the site. But, given that this direction doesn’t meet the project goal of constructing a winery, the report names alternative two as the superior option.