Application submitted for distillery, the second phase of proposed Madison Food Park
The county planning office has received a special use permit from Silver Falls Distillery, the next phase of the Madison Food Park.
The application was received Wednesday and is still being reviewed by staff. The application will require a public meeting and consideration by the Zoning Board of Adjustment, as did the first phase with Big Sky Cheese, but that meeting has not yet been scheduled.
According to the application, Madison Food Park intends to develop a facility that will be leased to and operated by Silver Falls Distillery for the distillation, bottling/packaging, and storage of liquors/spirits.
The company anticipates that at full capacity, the distillery will employ up to 18 positions, according to the application.
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The proposed distillery is part of the overall proposed Madison Food Park, about eight miles east of the city limits off U.S. Highway 89. Madison Food Park owns about 3,000 acres there and has planned a phased food processing complex that started with Big Sky Cheese, now the distillery and includes pork, poultry and beef processing facilities in the complete plan.
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According to the application, initially, liquors and spirits will be distilled and blended offsite and delivered to Silver Falls Distillery in bulk trailer trucks and transferred to holding tanks. From there, the alcohol will be bottled, sealed, packaged, stored and shipped from the facility.
Within about three years, the plan is to blend, bottle, seal, package, store and ship from the facility, according to the application.
Within five to 10 years, according to the application, liquors and spirits will be distilled onsite and the yield will increase from about 500,000 bottles in year one to 1.2 million bottles in year two and 2.9 million bottles in year three.
In a Facebook post, Madison Food Park wrote that the facility will likely include a tasting room, occasional tours, and possibly a small retail/sales area depending on licensing conditions.
According to the company, the building will be about 20,000 square feet and a portion of the building will be two stories with an overall estimated height between 30-35 feet.
The estimated water usage is 1,600 gallons per day or 1.28 to 1.52 acre feet annually, according to the application. Liquid waste from cleaning and disinfection is estimated to be 1,150 gallons per day and domestic wastewater is estimated to be 450 gallons per day, or the equivalent of that produced by one or two residences, according to company.
“Process wastewater will be pre-treated onsite, then seasonally stored in treatment/holding cells. The treated effluent will be beneficially reused through land application on approximately 10-15 acres of cropland, either onsite or on adjacent farmland. Domestic wastewater will be treated and disposed via a conventional septic tank and drain-fields, all in strict compliance with DEQ and local standards and regulations,” according to the company.
This story will be updated as county staff processes the application and more information becomes available.
