Sonoita-Elgin tourism and preservation report draws packed house

The Cattle, Cabernet and Cuisine report – balancing rural character preservation and economic development for the Sonoita-Elgin area – was met with both cautious optimism and wary pessimism at a public meeting initiated by Santa Cruz County.

While the report represents the interests of community stakeholders, there is concern about whether there is enough community consensus to move it forward.

An overflow crowd of roughly 75 local residents packed the county annex in Sonoita on April 28 to hear an abbreviated version of the report, which was created by Worthy Communications and Colin Bishop, community development director for Santa Cruz County. Marnie Schubert, president of the Gilbert firm, was on hand to present the report along with Deputy County Manager Chris Young.

“This document, it’s whatever the community wants to do with it,” Young said. “The county is not pushing anything on this community. I want to make that very clear.”

The report, which is online, represents the last expenditure from a $300,000 federal grant for economic development. Young said the county returned $90,000 from the original grant to the federal government.

Schubert said the intent of the public meeting was to start a community conversation and present strategic options on how to support and sustain local businesses while preserving the area’s unique cultural heritage – using tourism not as a growth engine but to stabilize the local economy.

“Doing nothing is absolutely a choice,” she said. “This is about options … what you do want, what you don’t want, or what you only want pieces of.”

The document outlines a “phased approach to support the Sonoita–Elgin region by encouraging thoughtfully managed multi-day visitor experiences that reinforce local businesses, working lands, and rural character. The strategy is aligned with the region’s infrastructure limitations, conservation priorities, and agricultural heritage, and is designed to support residents and local businesses first.”

Some of the key strategies presented in the report are:

• To explore tapping into the county’s 1.1% bedroom tax – which is currently funneled into the general fund – to help finance a Destination Marketing Organization, or DMO.
• Collaboration between the existing Sky Islands Tourism Association and newly re-formed Chamber of Commerce in establishing a DMO.
• To explore the creation of an “agritainment” zoning designation that would allow for diversification and partnerships among wineries, ranches, food producers and outdoor recreation providers.
• Consideration of an overlay district at the Sonoita crossroads to ensure that any new construction or renovation reinforces the region’s identity rather than eroding it.

The report lays out a five-year phased approach to implementing the various options but the impetus falls on community members to determine how to move forward. Confusion over the “how” part of the equation, and who takes the lead, was a common concern expressed during the public comment part of the meeting.

Look for more coverage of the report in the June/July issue of the Patagonia Regional Times.