The following letter was sent to Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa and members of town council. A copy was forwarded to The Lake Report for publication.
Dear lord mayor and members of council:
“The applications are proposed to facilitate the development of a hotel containing 58 guest rooms, and an event space within an existing wine production building, as secondary uses to the Strewn Estate Winery.”
With all due respect, the proponent is euphemistically referring to this development as a “farm stay.”
Sounds lovely. I imagine escaping the city to immerse myself in an agricultural environment in the countryside. Accommodations are an intimate, cozy cabin or cottage with a porch overlooking the vineyards or fields.
Enjoying fresh country air, trying to find a connection to the land and appreciate where our sustenance comes from.
Perhaps if I’m at a poultry farm, I would help gather eggs in the morning or milk the cows on a dairy farm or even better, on a flower farm, help to make bouquets.
Then at the end of the day, I imagine gathering around a harvest table with the other dozen or so guests and sharing our experiences as we are enjoying some of the bounties of the farm.
It’s hard to imagine that this would be part of the experience if you are staying at a hotel with 58 rooms and 114 other people gathering around the harvest table. How do they all interact with the land, the farm and the farmer?
This proposal is not bringing people to the farm — it is the city and development invading our precious countryside. Most of our orchards have become vineyards and now our vineyards may become hotels. Where does it all stop?
Commercial developments invading established residential areas in Old Town is bad enough, but even entertaining the idea of a hotel on agricultural land in the Greenbelt in a specialty crop area is blasphemy to nature and our environment.
This proposal is not for an agricultural “farm stay” experience — it is simply plunking a hotel in a vineyard to capitalize on weddings, conferences and other events.
Surely, this proposal must be met with a resounding “no.”
Connie Tintinalli
NOTL
