First steps of planned Merced County events venue on river approved by supervisors
Preliminary steps toward bringing an imagined Snelling Road Event Center to fruition were kick-started by the Merced County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
“This is literally step one of the process,” said Director of Community and Economic Development Mark Hendrickson. “It also represents a very significant step in the right direction,” he added.
The project’s site is nestled between the east side of Snelling Road and the neighboring Merced River. The venue is envisioned as catering to events like weddings, festivals, fundraisers and farm-to-table classes.
The board on Tuesday unanimously approved a $22,758 contract for environmental consultant work, paid for by the project applicant. Now, with the necessary environmental review process commencing, the envisioned project is on its way to becoming a reality.
“It’s something we’ve been kind of been planning and dreaming about for about 25 years,” said project applicant Brenda Lee, who is spearheading the initiative with her husband, Rick Lee. “It’s been a lifetime dream, and we’re finally seeing the end of the rainbow.”
Project details and next steps
The Lees are also behind the Beyond the Gates Haunted Ranch, which has invited horror-hungry Halloween enthusiasts inside its doors each October since 2015. The haunted house started off at the same Snelling property where the event center is planned, but later moved to the Merced County Fairgrounds.
Although planned on the same property, the new project is visualized as a distinctly different kind of experience for guests.
The event center is conceptualized as having a “secret garden” type of atmosphere, teeming with trees, plants and an organic garden over about 10 acres of land, Lee said. Interested patrons will be able to sign up for pickle, jam and jelly canning lessons.
“When this property posted up for sale, we thought it would be perfect for everything we wanted to do,” Lee said. The total property extends across 23 acres of agricultural and lush natural California landscape views.
If approved, the event center is limited to 48 events annually. However, Lee said the hope is to expand into a full-time business with the capacity to employ a significant number of young people in the area.
“Snelling is a really small community, so they’re limited in finding jobs,” she said.
After the environmental review process, a more comprehensive plan detailing the event center’s scope, as well as findings from the environmental review, will come before the Merced County Planning Commission for a decision.
The anticipated timeline to get to that point is roughly 12 months, but the process is extremely fluid, Hendrickson said.
“Merced County is a historically very proud community with a great deal of heritage,” Hendrickson said, noting Snelling’s historical place as the first county seat.
“It is nice to see people trying to do very positive things to work to highlight the community.”
