Coppola light pyramids draw fire

Francis Ford Coppola's plan to upgrade his Geyserville winery has one glaring problem.

His Alexander Valley neighbors aren't enamored of the two giant illuminated pyramids the filmmaker wants to install on the winery's European chateau-style roof.

That single design element, more than any other feature of the multimillion-dollar renovation planned to the former Chateau Souverain winery, has stirred fierce opposition from a small but vocal group who see the project as out of place for an agricultural area.

"Bringing Disneyland north seems to me to be so out of character with this wonderful place of Sonoma County," said Geyserville resident Malcolm Ross, one of about a dozen residents who spoke against the project Thursday at a hearing in Santa Rosa.

Opponents filed a petition signed by 182 people expressing concern about the project's noise, traffic and visual impacts.

A host of other issues came up at the Sonoma County Board of Zoning Adjustments hearing, any number of which could affect Coppola's plans to expand the winery.

The winery needs a use permit for the project because Coppola wants his winery, which he renamed Rosso & Bianco, to be much more than just a winery.

Plans call for a performing arts space, swimming pools, cabanas that can be rented for the day while swimming, a new restaurant and bocce ball courts.

All are aimed at making the experience of visiting a winery more family-friendly, said Michael Holden, chief operating officer of Napa-based Francis Ford Coppola Presents.

"He wants the whole family to have a good time," Holden told the board.

But Coppola also wants to chop off the tops of the twin-peaked roof, which was built to resemble hop kilns, and replace them with translucent 24-foot-high pyramid-shaped skylights.

The skylights would allow a large amount of natural light into the main winery building.

But they are also going to be lit from the interior by colored spotlights that will create, in effect, massive glowing triangles on the nighttime landscape. Computer-generated images shown at the hearing were yellow at the peak and orange toward the bottom.

The colors could be changed for the seasons, perhaps green and red at Christmas, Holden said. In response to concerns by county planners, the winery agreed to limit the use of the lights to 60 days a year.

County staffers are still opposed and have recommended the board reject the skylights.

But the winery's lighting consultant, UC Davis professor James Benya, said the lights won't actually be the eyesore people are making them out to be. They are about a quarter-mile from Highway 101 and in a valley, so most people will barely notice them, he said.

In addition, the winery is going to make a host of other lighting changes that will reduce light pollution from the project by 1.5 billion lumen-hours, Benya said.

Dennis Murphy, a longtime grape grower and chairman of the board, seemed to agree the pyramids weren't going to be nearly as jarring as some suggested. Murphy said he had a "real problem" with the idea that projects in the county must be essentially invisible from any public roads.

There are plenty of other activities in the valley, such as nighttime grape picking operations, that are far more "eye-catching" for residents and drivers along the highway.

"It's hard to see this thing. It's in a narrow canyon," Murphy said. "It is not a pillar of light per se. It is more of a red dot."

Other concerns raised by board members included the health of native blue oaks from a wastewater drip system, and how many special events should be allowed.

The winery is proposing 13 events per year of between 200 and 500 people, four events from 500 to 1,000 people, and three events from 1,000 to 3,000 people. The winery agreed to hold just one large event during its first two years.

The board took nearly four hours of testimony about the project. It postponed a vote until next Thursday.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemo

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