Refusal to authorize the construction of wine storage facilities in a wine-growing zone

Facts

X. SA, a company active in the processing, enhancement, and trade of wine products, obtained authorization in 1997 to construct a shelter and a basement extension for the storage and marketing of wine. During the works, X. SA exceeded the scope of the authorization by, in particular, arranging an extension of the cellar and an additional underground room. A project to regularize these works was rejected by the Cantonal Land Use Planning Service (SAT) and the Vaud Administrative Court on the grounds that the underground premises, intended for the storage of wines from various origins, were not in conformity with the designated use of the wine-growing zone. X. SA appealed this decision to the Federal Tribunal.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal dismissed the appeal. According to case law, premises used for the storage of wine do not have their place in a wine-growing zone when the vineyards are operated in different regions, remote from the center of the operation. In this case, only 35% of the harvest processed by X. SA came from the Lavaux region, the rest coming from the Chablais, Bonvillars or Valais. Consequently, the industrial and commercial nature of the activity took precedence over wine-growing, excluding the conformity of the disputed facilities with the designated use of the zone. The fact that the building was…