Sonoma Cheese Factory is Exhuming Old Use Permit to Allow New Remodel

The Sonoma Cheese Factory will forgo its ambitious planned expansion and instead remodel on a smaller scale under its existing use permit, owners of the venerable Plaza business announced this weekend.

The Viviani Trust, owners of the iconic Plaza food and cheese shop on Spain Street, clarified the path forward for the embattled deli’s future in a message to stakeholders saying it would abandon its plans for a significant remodel and instead revive a 15-year-old use permit to, in their words, “make the SCF better, not bigger.”

“Pete Viviani had a vision,” the message read, regarding the Cheese Factory’s late founder. “He wanted a multi-tenant marketplace that embraces the local food culture of Sonoma, where locals and guests could gather and socialize.” It continued to say that Pete’s daughters, Maria and Nina Viviani – who comprise the Viviani Trust – “are working to make Pete’s vision a reality.”

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