Could this wine region be the new location of a concert venue? A California developer hopes so
A California development company wants to build a 5,000 seat-concert venue in Canyon County’s premier agricultural and wine region. Some local winery owners and area residents oppose the idea.
Now the city of Caldwell has come down on the developers’ side. Soon the county commission may decide whether the proposal will live or die.
Sunnyslope residents and wineries overlook views of the Snake River, the small town of Marsing and the Owyhee mountain range. Many residents enjoy a rural lifestyle and quiet living.
A dozen of them, disturbed to hear that an out-of-state developer planned to change that lifestyle with a concert venue near Symms Fruit Ranch, voiced their objections when the proposal came before the Canyon County Planning and Zoning Commission last December.
“This is such a quiet little beautiful place,” resident Mary Salaber said. “This doesn’t belong in the middle of it.”
The developers, EW Real Estate, based in Los Gatos, have developed one winery/concert venue in Saratoga, California. The Mountain Winery is “recognized as one of the top 10 outdoor concert venues, similar to Red Rocks of the Gorge, but a fraction of the size,” said Bill LeClerc, representative for EW Real Estate, in the hearing.
He said EW Real Estate has a similar vision for The Orchard, the project it proposes in Sunnyslope.
Project would include u-pick fruit, cider
EW Real Estate planned to work with Symms Fruit Ranch to build the venue on one of the ranch’s parcels of on “non-productive farmland” along Idaho 55 near the intersection of the highway and Lowell Road.
The concert venue, located at 13748 Sunnyslope Road, would point away from the neighborhoods to mitigate noise, LeClerc said.
James Mertz, a farmer with Symms Fruit Ranch, said the company still plans to farm on the area and wants to work with the developers to create a u-pick orchard option for visitors and a cider production and tasting site.
Amy Bitner, a co-owner of Bitner Winery in Sunnyslope, said her winery has occasional musical performances with only 100-140 attendees, and the events sometimes get so loud that the Bitners reduced the frequency to only three per year “out of respect for our neighbors.”
Bitner worries that having thousands of cars traveling the highway would bring traffic and vehicle accidents.
Judy Leathers, another resident, said Idaho 55 is “already too busy,” and she can’t imagine it carrying 5,000 people in the evenings.
At the end of the commission hearing, the five-member board denied it, citing the large size of the proposal, the capacity of Idaho 55, and insufficient emergency services.
What it comes down to, said Commissioner Harold Nevill, is “whether or not it is too drastic of a change to the area.”
“When you talk about 5,000 folks out there for concerts, that is five times the city of Marsing,” he said.
Developers are not backing down
But that was not the end for the project.
Since last winter, LeClerc has garnered support from the city of Caldwell for an appeal of the commissioner’s decisions.
In a promotional video, Caldwell Economic Development Director Steve Jenkins said he supports The Orchard.
“We want to be wine-region specific, we want to be a community that has events that are family-friendly and that will bring in folks from all over the area, and we feel like (the venue) is something that would further our efforts,” Jenkins said.
In a news release Thursday, LeClerc made five arguments for approval:
“1. This venue will increase Caldwell and the Sunnyslope Wine Trail overnight stays. Overnight visitors spend nearly four times that of day visitors.
“2. It will get those overnight stays in the immediate area, providing feasibility of additional accommodations (higher end) being built in Caldwell rather than just having visitors head back to Nampa, Meridian, and Boise.
“3. It will increase shopping and dining (the top two complementary activities to wine-based tourism) in Caldwell, where both the public and private sector have invested millions of dollars in redevelopment.
“4. It will dramatically increase the visibility of the Sunnyslope wine region (or trail) in marketing and development across the entire Northwest.
“5. It will put the Sunnyslope wine region ‘on the map’ as a stand-alone destination, rather than a day-trip activity for Boise residents and their visitors.”
The Canyon County commissioners are scheduled to hear the appeal at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 25, in the commissioners’ meeting room at the county courthouse in Caldwell.
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