Public can weigh in on Eau Claire expansion plans

A Turner Valley distillery owner’s plans to attract more tourists to town will be up for discussion next week.

A public hearing is scheduled for May 28 following Eau Claire Distillery’s application to redesignate seven acres of land it purchased last year from urban reserve to direct control to allow for a mixture of retail, commercial, agriculture and industrial type use in Turner Valley’s business district.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the town’s council chambers.

“It allows a pretty wide range including agricultural and more commercial,” said Eau Claire Distillery owner David Farran of the proposal. “It would be a great addition to the community and a nice fit in a small, rural place. It wouldn’t change the character but would add reasons to come and visit.”

Farran said the west side of the property, representing two thirds, would be for agriculture use, and the remaining land would be used to expand the distillery.

Immediate plans include a 1.5-acre vegetable garden with the produce donated to the Oilfields Food Bank, a one-acre barley field for farming demonstrations using oxen and Percheron horses, an animal paddock and a tent structure with a patio for events and producer suppers where Calgarians would be bussed in twice a week throughout the summer.

The plan also calls for pathways weaving throughout the property so people can browse the various features.

“It’s unique because it’s right in the middle of Turner Valley,” Farran said. “We’re trying to preserve as much green space as possible. It’s a really neat way to showcase Alberta and our history in a nice location.”

The land contains the two oldest operating wells in Alberta, drilled in the 1920s, which were recently abandoned by Crescent Point and the land remediated.

“It’s been private land for a long time,” Farran said. “I think residents will be pretty excited about the fact that it’s being preserved.”

Conoco Phillips owns land to the south of the property, there are commercial and residential properties to the north with more residential properties to the west, and the St. George’s Anglican Church is located to the east.

Since purchasing the land last year, Farran had an acre on the northwest side tilled, fruit trees and botanicals including black currents, elderberry and junipers planted along the northwest perimeter and had a small gravel parking lot installed at the northeast side.

“We broke the land last year with horses to let it go fallow for a year,” he said. “We planted our edible forest and forest trees. The next phase is landscaping and pathways.”

Farran’s long-term plans include expanding the manufacturing facility to include whiskey storage, packaging, a farmers market of local food production, gift shop and visitor centre.

“We hope to start with a new building development in 2020,” he said.

Farran expects positive feedback at next week’s meeting, based on the comments he’s received so far.

“People are excited that we’re doing something in the town that’s positive and exciting,” he said. “We’re keeping the land without doing a full scale development.”

Eau Claire Distillery has celebrated great success since opening in 2014, from a growing worldwide tourist base to winning international awards for its products.

“People have really taken to our products so we wanted to do this and have a place that people can come and see in a bigger area,” he said.

Farran said it’s time to expand.

“Our tasting room seats 60 people and this would just give us a bit more room and enable us to do a big more packing in the back,” he said.

The distillery farms its barley at the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site, near Langdon and west of Turner Valley. Farran said the barley on the site, if approved, is primarily for aesthetics.

“It’s more like a demonstration just to show people even what barley looks like and how we grow it and how we use our horses,” he said.

At the start of the public hearing, Eau Claire Distillery representatives will make a presentation and the Town will present an analysis and recommendations to council.

Members of the public can speak for or against the application, said Todd Sharpe, chief administrative officer.

Sharpe said while public hearings are typically held during regular meetings of council, this was scheduled at a special time due to time constraints for the applicant.

“The applicant was not available the first few weeks of June so it was either move it up a week or wait an additional month,” he said. “Council thought that might adversely affect the process and the timelines the applicant had.”

Those unable to attend or wanting to send a written submission can do so by emailing [email protected]