Here are some answers to FAQs about Wolf Craft School and Collective:

Is there lodging?

Yes! There will be 9 tent cabins on platforms with comfortable beds and bathrooms. There will be 4 tent cabins with shared bathrooms as well to offer a lower price point.

Where is it?

We are in South County on Wolf Road, 3/4 of a mile West of HWY 49 at the Higgins Corner intersection, about half way between Downtown Auburn and Downtown Grass Valley.

Is this an event center?

While we were planning on hosting the occasional wedding, craft fair or acoustic folk gathering, this is not at the heart of the project and we have done a noise study to learn how to mitigate noise and disruption to the neighbors. There is no building specifically for events.
We have heard the concerns of our neighbors loud and clear, so we are removing events from the Use Permit application.

Is your property zoned for this?

The property is zoned AG10, which is Rural Agricultural zoning. We are applying for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) as a Low Intensity Camp (think Summer camp, but for adults and year round). In Nevada County, Use Permits for Camps are only considered on properties with Rural zoning.

We are excited to have sheep, goats, alpacas and chickens on our land and teach classes that incorporate the use of their fiber in our fiber arts classes. A ’Sheep to sweater’ class is an example of one of the classes that we plan to offer - learn the process of shearing, cleaning, carding, spinning and knitting - sharing the ways to live off the land you have is core to the classes we will offer.

Instead of just having a private residence on our AG land, we are using the land to explore traditional crafts and inviting the community onto the property to learn these skills, which we believe are at the heart of Agricultural zoning - we want this school to be of the land, serve the land and revive the disappearing agricultural heritage of this area.

What planning has been done for this project?

We’ve been working with the Nevada County Planning Department for the past 3 years on designing the buildings, the landscape plan, lighting plan, drainage plan, and site plan. It’s a very involved process that has required 3 submittals, each time with a lot of notes from the County. The application was deemed complete in May and the Planning Dept published their 290 page CEQA document (CEQA stands for California Environmental Quality Act, which is a law that requires state and local agencies to evaluate and disclose the environmental impacts of proposed projects). Once the CEQA document was published, a notice to the neighbors within 150 feet were notified of project and have 30 days to provide feedback to the county. We had a public hearing with the Planning Commission and presented the plan on July 25, 2024, only 4 of the 5 Commissioners were present and the vote was 2 to 2, so we didn't get the Use Permit. We are appealing to the Board of Supervisors to overturn that decision, and our hearing has been set for Oct 22nd at 10:30am at the Rood Center in Nevada City.

What about fire safety?

We are very concerned about fire safety, and are using fire safe building materials and have worked closely with the fire marshall on how we would handle a fire. He came to our property and felt secure that we have an abundance of water on our land to operate safely. After spending so much time and energy building something so important to us, we will be doing everything possible to preserve it and the surrounding area.

Are you building this all at once?

No, we are phasing the project to be able to start as small as we can and see what resonates with the community and continue from there.

Phase 1 will include the land's infastructure (septic, plumbing, electrical, etc), a barn, office, tent cabins, a ceramics studio and 2 general classrooms and a food truck.

To apply for a use permit, you need to project wayyyy into the future and design your project without any real time feedback from customers. We've outlined the phasing for how we think the project will go, but want to remain as flexible as possible to pivot with the needs of the school.

Phase 2 will include the owner's residence, a woodshop and metal shop.

Phase 3 will be adding a commerical kitchen (if we continue to offer food to the students) and converting some of the tent cabins to permanent cabins.

Who are you?

We are Leslie Barbazette and Jay Morgan! In 2020 when reflecting about what the rest of her life will look like (as many of us did during COVID), her shared love of learning and crafts with Jay came into the forefront and they decided to look for land to build a place where they could live and host classes in nature for people to learn new skills.

Why Grass Valley?

Leslie’s ancestors settled in Grass Valley in 1853 and many generations of her family lived here for over 100 years. She’s spent a lot of time here with friends and family, and Jay fell in love with it on many camping trips over the years. 

Is this a Trade School?

We love Trade Schools and think there should be more in the world. However, we are not a trade school. We are not offering certifications in plumbing, electrical work and the like. We do plan to work with the local high schools to offer field trips.

Will this increase traffic?

We have done a traffic study as part of the use permit application and the results of that indicate there will not be a significant increase on traffic on Wolf Road. We are planning on adding a left hand turn lane on traffic going South on Wolf Road to ensure there’s no disruption to the flow of traffic.

What about the noise?

We did a noise study to ensure that we mitigate any noise disruption to our neighbors.

What about light pollution?

We designed a lighting plan that has no up or out facing lights, all lights are downward facing to be in compliance with the strict County guidelines on light pollution.

Please reach out to us via email at hello@wolfcraftcollective.com and we would be happy to talk about any concerns you have.