After a four-year dispute, owners of a 5-acre vineyard just north of Bend finally have Deschutes County’s approval to open a wine tasting and production facility. Still, neighbors in opposition say the fight is far from over.
The Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners tentatively approved the application March 25, pending a final decision in the coming weeks. The board greenlit the proposal amid some neighbors’ fears the winery would pollute well water and bring too much traffic to the rural neighborhood. Others have supported the winery, framing it as an economic boost for the area and a compliment to the rural aesthetics.
Duane and Dina Barker are co-owners of Lava Terrace Cellars on Bowery Lane, a 5-acre vineyard a few miles north of the new Costco in north Bend. They say they’ll be able to make 1,500 cases — or about 18,000 bottles — of wine per year. First proposed in 2022, the plan is to convert a barn and garage on their property into a wine production facility and a tasting room large enough for six to eight people, where they will host tastings and “wine related events.”
The Barkers did not respond to phone calls from the Source.
Toby and Michel Bayard, who live half a mile away on a curvy dirt road, have led the opposition. In January 2024 they formally contested a hearings officer decision approving the winery in 2024, and submitted a slew of emails and comments on the application.
In a phone call on Friday following the decision, Toby Bayard — a self-described “environmental junkyard dog” — vowed to hire an attorney and take the winery proposal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, which has the power to reverse or send back local land use decisions.
“I’m going to file an appeal,” Bayard told the Source. “We’ve been fighting this for years.”
A debate over “farm-use”
After the Bayards contested the original proposal, the Barkers circled back with a modified application in 2025. It changed some site plans like setbacks and parking, addressed wastewater concerns and reduced annual wine production from 2,000 cases to 1,500.
Wineries that produce fewer than 6,000 cases per year are “unlikely to have an adverse effect on the environment,” and are exempt from water quality permits from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, according to spokesperson Antony Sparrow.
Michel Bayard, who said he studied wine production at the University of Bordeaux in France, took issue with the fact that the Barkers planned to bring in grapes from other vineyards to supplement their stock for makingwine. He argued that would skirt agricultural zoning requirements because wine making would not be “functionally dependent” on the farming activity of the property — growing grapes.
The Mixed-Use Agriculture zone where the Barkers’ vineyard lies requires any commercial activity to occur “in conjunction” with a farm use.
“The mere thematic relationship between agricultural and commerce is insufficient,” he said.
Tommy Brooks, a third-party hearings officer for Deschutes County, thought differently in a 2024 decision, writing it was sufficient if the Barkers used grapes grown on their property to make the wine, even if not all the wine.
The 2025 winery proposal said the Barkers plan to make wine with grapes “from vineyards in Deschutes County, including Applicant’s vineyard.”
Central Oregon LandWatch, a nonprofit land use litigator, has pushed back on some winery proposals, expressing concern about Deschutes County using too much farm-zoned land for commercial activity. Kristy Sabo, a planner and attorney for the nonprofit, wrote in a 2022 letter the group was “initially concerned” about the Lava Terrace winery complying with farm use rules. Since then, the group has been silent on the proposal.
Toby Bayard is a frequent donor to Central Oregon LandWatch, as well as local Democrats.
She gave $8,000 to 2024 reelection campaign of Deschutes County Commissioner Phil Chang, who recused himself from the March 25 vote. Bayard is a top local donor ahead of this year’s primary elections for county commissioner. She gave $20,000 to the campaign of Jamie Collins, who is vying to unseat longtime incumbent Commissioner Tony DeBone.
With Chang recused, DeBone and Commissioner Patti Adair voted to approve the winery proposal.
A winery in the “Golden Triangle”
The winery plans to host events of up to 25 people, accommodated by 12 customer parking spaces.
Land use attorneys for the Barkers at a Feb. 25 public hearing described the neighborhood north of Bend as “an area that has recently experienced growth, and is poised for additional future development.” In 2024 the county finished improvements to Hunnell Road, providing ingress and egress to the area.
Some refer to the neighborhood as the “Golden Triangle” of Bend, because it provides rural character and close proximity to the city, said Julie Langou, who lives one block from the proposed winery, in a Feb. 24 letter to the county.
“On any given walk you will see alpacas, horses, llamas, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, and other small agricultural operations. Many residents actively maintain this environment because it is what makes this area special,” Langou wrote. “A tasting room and small production facility at Lava Terrace would complement — not conflict with — this character.”
William McVicker, who lives across the street from the vineyard with three young children, said he appreciated the Barkers’ “passion for viticulture” but expressed concerns about narrow roads, blind spots and drinking and driving.
“Our neighborhood is a quiet, residential area served by a single-lane, private gravel road with several blind spots,” McVicker wrote.
The neighborhood’s signature landmark is a small, covered wooden bridge that crosses an irrigation canal and connects to U.S. Highway 97. Built in 1963, the Rock O’ the Range bridge is the only covered span east of the Cascades in Oregon. It’s listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Residents declared the Rock O’ the Range Homeowners Association in 1966. Neighborhood leaders have argued the covenants bar any kind of commercial activity. But last year the Barkers sued the HOA, and a Deschutes County Circuit Court judge ruled the organization was never formalized.
The Bayards, who lead the HOA, contended the ruling.
“Let’s not say, we don’t have an HOA. We do,” Michel Bayard said Feb. 25. “That HOA does not allow commercial activity on Bowery Lane.”
This article appears in the Source April 2, 2026.
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When you are friends with permittees and entitled, this is just the beginning of the corruption. They don’t follow any rules. It is an ugly vineyard even in summer, it’s like the trailer park of vineyards and I’m sure real vineyard owners are embarrassed. All of this was built before they went to permitting process. Now trying to say they are legit business owners is ridiculous. The car dump next door who doesn’t follow permitting either (that is the next story), will be a great view or maybe you prefer the other neighbors, hotel and cemetery with your wine. The wine is mediocre and that is being generous because they use real grapes grown on real vineyards, not there. These are not real business owners, they will continue to do what they want even if rules exist.