LAKE COUNTY ? Converting vacant and underused pear packing sheds throughout the county was the focus of a study presented to the Lake County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
The study, funded by a state Community Development Block Grant of approximately $18,250, focused on converting vacant pear sheds and the properties on which they sit to vineyards. The study analyzed 10 pear sheds and identified three for potential re-use.
“When you look at Lake County over the last 5,000 or 7,500 years, you will see a natural trend where it seems when pears are doing good, then wine production is not doing as well. Then you get the cycle actually turn to where you have wine production doing well and pears not so good. That”s kind of where the cycle is now,” presenter Kelly Bearden of the Modesto consulting firm Impact Consulting and Training said.
Of the pear sheds the study identified, the largest was Mount Konocti Growers in Kelseyville, according to Bearden.
“It has the best re-use potential that we could identify for economic development purposes, through either jobs or assisting other businesses,” Bearden said.
The 136,000-square-foot building houses 57,000 square feet of cold storage, he said, creating potential for other purposes. The facility provides equipment and space for area winegrape growers to crush grapes.
Other pear sheds analyzed included the Moitozo Brothers packing shed in Upper Lake, which closed in 2001. The 200-acre property is currently for sale.
“That site looks like it is ideally suited for a brand-destination winery,” Bearden said.
Another site was the Big Valley packing shed, which closed in the late ”90s, according to the study. Bearden said the property had potential to become a winery.
“A good part of your analysis has an underlying assumption that the wine industry either will continue to grow, or that we will be able to take on some of the business currently handled outside of our county,” District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing said.
“I think there is a niche out there for Lake County and other counties like it, where people are getting a little fed up with going to Napa and spending $15 to taste wine at a particular winery,” Bearden said.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown said he thought it was ironic that the owners of the pear sheds identified in the study were not at the meeting to offer input about the conversion of their facilities.
Kelseyville resident Phil Murphy called the study unnecessary, alleging that pear growers who supported the study were “millionaires” not in need of a study funded by taxpayer dollars.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
