The town of McCordsville is suing a popular local winery, alleging the owners have breached a 2015 development agreement and hosted live concerts against local zoning law.
The suit against Daniel’s Vineyard, a family-owned winery and event venue near Geist Reservoir, was filed Sept. 29 in Hancock County Circuit Court. The vineyard owners, Daniel and Kimberly Cook, are named as defendants in the suit.
McCordsville’s main grievance lies in the fact that Daniel’s built a storage barn in 2014 and later changed the barn into the winery’s main hall without following local architecture standards. In addition, Daniel’s hosts frequent public live concerts even though the site is not zoned to be a music venue.
“McCordsville is one of the fastest-growing towns in Indiana, and we are committed to supporting our businesses while holding them accountable to consistent, legal and reasonable standards, protecting the integrity of our Town’s development process,” town manager Tim Gropp said in a press release.
Daniel’s Vineyard describes itself as a full production winery with a private wine club and event venue for any occasion.
Samples from Daniel’s Vineyard in McCordsville were given out to guests during a 500 fashion party held at Saks Fifth Avenue in Ind., on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.
Attempts to reach Daniel’s Vineyard for comment were unsuccessful prior to the publication of this article.
Lawsuit: Daniel’s failed to address architectural standards
McCordsville town officials say Daniel’s has failed to follow achitectural standards for a decade. The vineyard gained approval for a storage barn in 2014 that soon led to disagreements between Daniel’s and town officials.
Daniel’s filed a request to build a storage building on its property at 9061 N 700 W in McCordsville in 2014, even though there was no primary building on the site yet. The town’s Board of Zoning Appeals ultimately allowed Daniel’s to build the structure needed to store equipment for the winery, the suit says, but later Daniel’s expressed a desire to use the building for its main winery hall.
In response, the town asked for several changes be made to the building to follow local design and development standards required for all primary structures within the town’s borders.
Daniel’s did address the town’s request to upgrade sewage systems at the site with the support of a $189,000 investment from McCordsville.
Concerts at vineyard violating ordinances
Daniel’s began hosting “large-scale music concerts” at the winery in 2017, leading to complaints about noise and traffic, the suit says. The vineyard briefly paused public live music events from 2018 to 2020.
In 2024, McCordsville officials say Daniel’s hosted 18 large concerts between June and September despite not having proper zoning as a music or concert venue.
Daniel’s advertises a Summer Concert Series on its website but says the events were moved indoors to comply with the town’s noise ordinance. The note adds that the vineyard is actively working on a solution with McCordsville officials.
The lawsuit asks the court to clarify the zoning matter.
Alysa Guffey writes business, health and development stories for IndyStar. Have a story tip? Contact her at [email protected] or on X: @AlysaGuffeyNews.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: McCordsville sues Daniel’s Vineyard over live concerts, breach of contract
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