Schnepf Farms seeks to host 12 concerts yearly

Schnepf Farms will find out Wednesday whether the farm will be able to host 12 large concerts a year, something the farm's owners argue is necessary to stay economically viable, but neighbors say isn't appropriate for the usually quiet area off a two-lane road.

Schnepf Farms faces opposition over event permit

Queen Creek's Town Council will vote Wednesday whether to grant owners Mark and Carrie Schnepf a change to their use permit. If approved, the permit would let Schnepf Farms hold 12 musical events with up to 15,000 people a year through 2013.

The Schnepfs had asked for 15 days of events, but the town's planning and zoning commission recommended scaling back the proposal.

Since the vote would change an already granted permit, six of the seven council members will have to vote yes to approve the change.

The council votes comes after more than 150 e-mails sent to the town on both sides of the issue, competing petitions circulating both for and against the change and a delay on the vote so that noise and other issues could be kept track of at the alternative rock concert Edgefest, which was in September and attracted about 13,000 people.

"I thought it went really well. This is two years in a row of us hosting Edgefest and there were hardly any problems," Schnepf said. "I think the staff report backs that up."

That report indicates a few minor traffic problems, public safety issues "at or below the level anticipated" for the size of the concert and noise levels from the concert in compliance with town ordinances.

And Schnepf said he's not planning on 12 events like Edgefest. He envisions attracting a wide variety of groups, including jazz, Christian and country festivals and symphony concerts.

Schnepf also is asking for an extension on the noise level allowed by town ordinance, which requires sound to be turned way down at 10 p.m. Schnepf is asking for an extension to 11 p.m. so he can be competitive with other venues in the Valley that allow for later concerts.

"I don't see a symphony concert going until 11," Schnepf said. "But I do see a jazz or a country concert going until 11."

Schnepf turned in a petition supporting his proposal a couple weeks ago with an estimated 2,100 signatures, which town staff didn't count or verify. Schnepf said the signatures were collected primarily at the farm the last two weekends of the Pumpkin and Chili Festival in October. A few hundred more signatures weren't turned in.

The town received a petition with 98 signatures against the proposal a few months ago, about 60 of which they verified and mapped out to show most came from the neighborhood just north of the farm.

Neighbor Adrienne Call has been one of the most vocal residents against the change.

Call said she doesn't want to see Schnepf Farms close, but she also thinks a different area, such as near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, would be more appropriate for a large music venue.

Granting 12 days of music events would set a precedent and make it easier for the Schnepfs to ask for more concerts when the permit expires in 2013, added her husband, Wayne Call.

"It's not right to put it next to a neighborhood that's already established," Adrienne Call said. "If the noise is still coming into our homes, we don't care what kind of music it is."

The Calls also are concerned about the traffic that comes into the area on the two-lane stretch of Rittenhouse Road.

Wayne Call said he's been talking to council members to ask why Schnepf Farms shouldn't be required to improve the roadway to accommodate use as a music venue when that's exactly what another longtime farming family, the Barneys, were required to do at their own expense when they put up a sports complex.

"Barney Farms, they've got a certain part of their farm, (they) had to get it rezoned," Call said. "What's the difference between Barney Farms and Schnepf Farms? Mark is wanting to do the same thing."

The Calls did say Edgefest seemed to be better managed this year than last year, especially the traffic.

But Adrienne Call said it seemed to be louder, which she thinks was due to the wind direction, and made the walls in neighborhood homes shake. She said a light also was left on that shined right into her neighbor's bedroom all night.

Schnepf said he did hear the light was left on accidentally.

"Every once in awhile I make a mistake and I try to correct that as fast as I can," he said. "We want to be good neighbors, but we have to do things that make us economically viable."

The alternative to having events that subsidize the farming would likely be selling the farm for development, probably as a regional shopping center, apartments or something similar, he said.

Also, plans call for Riggs Road to eventually become six lanes and a shopping center to go in caddy corner to the farm, Schnepf said.

"Once that development gets started, the small amount of traffic and noise of 12 days of concerts will just pale in comparison to the every day noise," he said. "I hope (neighbors will) understand the benefit of living next to a farm that's a quiet farm most of the year."

Queen Creek Town Council meeting

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Town Hall, 22350 S. Ellsworth Road