RIVERSIDE -- After aging for four years, John Brodersen's plans to run a winery and tasting room were finally given a stamp of approval.

The Riverside County Planning Commission on Wednesday morning unanimously approved Brodersen's proposal to operate a winery and tasting room on his Longshadow Ranch property, 16 acres on Calle Contento in Temecula Valley's Wine Country.

The commission's action, which overturns a county official's May decision to deny the plans, wraps up more than four years of negotiations involving Brodersen, his development team and county officials.

Brodersen filed an appeal after the county's planning director denied his plans.

"He's been through hell to get where he is today," said Commissioner John Roth, making the comment when the commissioners were mulling last-minute modifications to the conditions that will be placed on the winery.

Brodersen's representative at the meeting, Temecula-based attorney Samuel Alhadeff, said Roth wasn't exaggerating about Brodersen's experience.

But Alhadeff said the county is working very diligently to make the planning department easier to navigate, news that should be welcomed by the numerous landowners who are waiting for approval of their winery plans.

"(Supervisor Jeff) Stone, to his credit, is looking for ways to work more expediently," he said.

The plans approved Wednesday will allow Longshadow, known locally for its Belgian draft horse carriage rides, to legally use a 1,935-square-foot building as a tasting room. The plans also allow the use of a 3,079-square-foot storage building, a bathroom, a patio cover and 15 parking spaces.

In addition, Longshadow will be allowed to build a 2,400-square-foot wine tasting building and 80 parking spaces, including the longer spaces used by limousines.

Longshadow shuttered its tasting room last year while the application made its way through the final stages of the planning department's process. Since November, a tent on the property has served as a temporary "room."

Longshadow also operates a tasting room in Temecula's Old Town that hosts live music on weekends.

Reached after the meeting, Brodersen said he was "very pleased" with the commission's decision and he is looking forward to working with the commissioners on the design of the new building.

The county, as Stone and the commissioners have detailed in the past, is looking for "quality" in Wine Country, architecture that works in concert with its surroundings and adds value to the area.

Some Wine Country landowners have chafed at the county's definition of "quality," saying the county is trying to impose its expensive taste on private landowners.

Brodersen said he doesn't have any problems with the county's plans, however, because the vision of quality development in Wine Country meshes with his own.

Longshadow Ranch has evolved quite a bit since 1999, the year the former musician from Huntington Beach and his wife, Susan, bought the land. Making wine to give away to friends turned into a full-fledged business in only a few years.

In October 2004, county code enforcement officers ruled that Longshadow was being operated without the right permit.

Brodersen said he thought he was well within his rights to run a boutique winery on his land. After looking into the matter, he submitted an application in November that same year.

It took more than four years, but Brodersen's application has been approved.

He chalked up the lengthy process to "misunderstandings and miscommunication," but he said he's looking forward, not back.

Contact staff writer Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or aclaverie@californian.com.