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	Friday's Internet Edition, February 23, 2007
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	History watchdogs set sights on Nimbus
	By SHELLY BLANCHARD, Editor - A Folsom historical preservation group has implored county officials to put off decisions about improvements at and around the Nimbus Winery building until the historical value of the building can be ascertained. The request came at a meeting last week of the Cordova Community Planning Advisory Council (CorPAC) which was reviewing a development plan for new retail and a five-story condominium building at the site, located on Folsom Boulevard at Hazel Avenue. Loretta Hettinger of the Heritage Preservation League of Folsom said the existing winery and distillery were constructed in 1905 to replace a winery complex destroyed by fire a year earlier at the site, making the Nimbus Winery building more than a century old. They asked CorPAC to take no action and asked that a full Environmental Impact Report be completed, which would require the owner to make available its plan for the remodel of the Nimbus Winery building. Nimbus Village developers are proposing new buildings at the site, plus eventual renovation of the existing Nimbus Winery building, which today holds the popular Spaghetti Factory restaurant, Garbeau's Dinner Theatre and a variety of specialty shops. The site is also located about 200 feet from the Hazel Light Rail Station, making it a candidate for condominium development. CorPAC members, voting in an advisory capacity only, approved plans for the two retail buildings and condominium project pending a review of the historical value of the Nimbus Winery building and its surroundings and instructions to "preserve them accordingly." At this point, nobody knows exactly what that means. Hettinger said that while it is unknown what the owners' plans for the building may be, what happens around the building is important to consider, too. "You shouldn't approve something that would affect the sense of time and place of (the winery building)," she said. A five-story condominium building or new retail buildings nearby could detract from the historic values represented by the building. "That's like taking Lincoln's cabin and building a Motel 6 next to it," said CorPAC member Paul Bowers said. According to the heritage league, the winery and distillery are, along with the Sheepherder Inn, are the only remaining Natomas Company buildings in the Central Valley. "It (Nimbus Winery) is worthy of your help in keeping it as a tangible historic resource," Hettinger said. "This is the real thing." The Natomas Company, formed in 1851, once owned nearly all of present day Folsom and Rancho Cordova, and the Natomas area of Sacramento. It operated a flourishing vineyard on land that would ultimately be part of the Aerojet holdings. Natomas also managed orchards and ranchlands, which formed a major part of Rancho Cordova's agricultural heritage, preservationists said. The Nimbus Winery was "state-of-the-art" industrial construction in 1905, featuring hot and cold running water, a temperature-controlled storage facility a sewer system considered to be highly-sophisticated for its time. Heritage league members said the decorative pediments and extensions on the winery building are the architectural features which lend it distinction - "whimsically representative of Spanish colonial profiles and evoking the Mediterranean influence of the wine industry" - that has been faithfully preserved over the decades by a succession of owners. The winery is not the only historic building on Folsom Boulevard where modern development is looming. Developers at the refurbished Sheepherder Inn property to the west have been touring various agencies with a stunning plan to build a pair of 30-story towers near the Sheepherder. No formal filings have occurred. For their part, owners of the Nimbus Winery, represented by architect Mitch Bjorgum, say they are willing to work with preservationists. But Bjorgum also noted that Sacramento County has no historic preservation ordinances, and that throughout the planning process there have been no instructions relating to preserving the building's historic features. Hettinger said she just wants to give the building a "chance" for proper preservation, and said her organization believes the building is important enough that it be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, which can affect what can be done at the property. While they approved moving the project ahead, CorPAC members also expressed concern about a more modern-day problem, wondering whether the already-cramped Nimbus parking lot could carry the extra load. New retail buildings will gobble up space while increasing traffic, they noted. But developers hope the proximity to light rail and other features will lure patrons out of their cars and into other modes of transportation. Proposed is a "pedestrian friendly" site with paths and landscaping elements that would connect new buildings to each other and Folsom Boulevard, architect Bjorgum said. Developers said they hope to draw bike and pedestrian traffic from north of Highway 50 and from the light rail station. Developers are proposing addition of two new retail buildings, a multi-story condominium building and a pad for a future building, such as a restaurant. Owners are also proposing to remodel the existing exterior of Nimbus Winery, but plans for that phase of work have not been submitted. The two retail buildings would be a 7,485 square foot one-story structure on Folsom Boulevard and another slightly smaller building located on the north side of the site and backing up to Highway 50. The proposed condominium building is a 37-unit, four-story building, built atop first floor parking, for a total of five stories. The market rate units would include 28 one-bedroom units and nine two-bedroom units, with 16 of the units including two stories. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------