Los Olivos, Calif. -- In the last decade, this Central Coast village, population 1,000, has become a mecca for wine tasting. Its two-block-long main thoroughfare, Grand Avenue, is now home to at least 16 wine tasting rooms, and applications are pending for another five.

Some local residents are saying "enough, already," and calling for regulations and limitations from the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission. Dr. Shelley Lane, a long-time resident who practices acupuncture in nearby Solvang, put together a petition asking the commission to limit the number of tasting rooms permitted in town.

Several hundred residents have already signed the petition, which contends that the unrestricted proliferation of tasting rooms is affecting their quality of life. "We virtually don't have a community anymore," Lane told Wines & Vines. "There's nobody in charge. There is no security or regulation. You don't even go to town on the weekend: there's nowhere to park, there are buses that park with their motors idling in front of people's homes and driveways. People wander around the streets carrying open containers of wine. We don't feel safe having our children walk around. It's a free-for-all. We need a plan."

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Lane noted that recently the planning commission held a public meeting to discuss the environmental impact of a development plan it is weighing. "This (aspect) wasn't even considered," Lane said. The commission extended its deadline until late September, giving residents time to mobilize support and gather signatures for the petition.

One perhaps unlikely signator is Diana Longoria, co-owner with her husband Rick of Richard Longoria Wines. Ten years ago, the Longorias opened the fourth tasting room on what is now Los Olivos' tasting room row. Diana Longoria grew up there, in what she called "a very, very small town, pretty much two blocks long," adjacent to busy Highway 154. The Longorias established their winery 11 years ago, in Lompoc, perhaps best known for its high-security federal penitentiary, and now home to a growing "wine ghetto" in industrial buildings like the one where Longoria still makes wine.

To attract consumers to their wines (3,500 cases per year of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir), the couple decided to open a tasting room on Grand Avenue, when Los Olivos was "a sleepy little town with art galleries and antique stores." Now, Diana Longoria said, it's all tasting rooms, punctuated by "a couple of real estate offices, and maybe a couple of galleries."

One reason that tasting rooms have taken hold, Longoria said, is that "Rents have gone way up. People are buying up properties and charging more. Only wineries can afford to rent, because we actually make our product, and sell direct."

The Longorias keep traditional tasting room hours: 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, "because Rick and I want a life. We wanted to go home and have dinner at a reasonable time." Other tasting room operators, she noted, are officially open until 6 p.m., and she said, some appear to continue serving long after that on busy Saturday nights.

And, she noted, "I'm not a bar. We suggest people visit only three tasting rooms in a day. We direct people to the local restaurants and delis, and we invite them to bring lunch and picnic on our patio." The Longorias also limit visiting parties to eight, to maintain contact and control in their small space.

Longoria also mentioned a less savory aspect of the tasting room infestation: Los Olivos does not have a sewer system. "Everyone is on septic tanks; we have a high water table and clay soils." Like many other local businesses, the Longoria tasting room lacks a restroom. The county stepped in to contribute a trailer housing chemical toilets, parked on the street. "They were nice to do it," Longoria said, "But they don't maintain it. The businesses all pitch in to have it pumped and cleaned."

Apparently, however, the lack of facilities fails to discourage wine-loving tourists, many of whom make the 200-plus mile round-trip drive from Los Angeles in a single day, "Although I wouldn't recommend it," Longoria said.

Despite phone calls to half-a-dozen Grand Avenue tasting rooms, Wines & Vines was unable to obtain comments from other wineries, although an anonymous source did claim that on one recent Saturday, there were at least 14 empty parking places along the two-block stretch between Highway 154 and "the flagpole."

Officially, Los Olivos is still high on wineries. The homepage of a website funded by the Los Olivos Business Organization, losolivosca.com, is emblazoned: "Los Olivos, California--In the Heart of Santa Barbara Wine Country."

Lane, who admitted to enjoying good wine "in moderation," contends that local business is out of balance, and is hopeful that the November elections will put in office some officials more attuned to her concerns. "We need economic diversity," she said. "And we also need security."