[Vision2020] Nils, Retreats

[Chris Storhok]

Phil, Nils,
These types of retreats are popping up all over the county, several of them
exist near Fairbanks, within the Mat-Su Valley, and along the Richardson
Highway (Fairbanks to Valdez).  I also know of a couple of retreats located
on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan's U.P. used mostly by residents of
Chicago.

The travel industry has taken note of this new trend and is beginning to
market these retreats.  They advertise the sparse rooms, the quite
no-activities weekend, and no thrills (read low fat/low sugar) meals.
Customers tired of clutter, noise, and living by a tight schedule are
reserving them left or right.   It is interesting that people have grown
weary of the activity filled vacations and now want to relax; is this a sign
that the baby-boomers are finally getting worn out or has modern life just
grown way too complex?  

I have several friends from Seattle who drive to Cottonwood just to spend a
couple of nights at St. Gerts., the appeal for these folks is the solitude.
The constant hum of modern life is enough to drive anyone nuts.  

What is wonderful about the retreats themselves is that most are designed to
have a very low impact on the environment (no golf courses, or large
buildings), and can be built for the most part on smaller lots.   Heck,
Mark's place on Moscow Mountain would make a perfect retreat.

This is a great business opportunity for someone in Latah County.

Chris Storhok





-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Phil Nisbet
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 11:38 AM
To: nils_peterson at wsu.edu
Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Nils, Retreats 

Nils

>From my experiences in Lemhi County the numbers you had do not look 
incorrect.  As a matter of fact, there were several such places in the back 
country that charged a lot more than $60 for visits and companies would book

them for away time group activities from as far away as New York.

There was a request submitted to the Planning Commission to consider a zone 
for these sorts of places, as currently they would not have a legal 
framework in the County.  The typical retreat location that I have seen is 
very similar to the Boy Scout Camp, with bunk houses and a central dinning 
hall.  You can not build or operate such a facility under our current 
ordinances.

The best you could so now would be to build a number of cabins and CUP the 
retreat as some sort of motel or resort.

Phil Nisbet



>From: Nils Peterson <nils_peterson at wsu.edu>
>To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: [Vision2020] Re: A Great Meeting
>Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 08:20:29 -0800
>
>Shortly after the exchange about Wendt and pottery possibilities (probably
>the weekend paper following) Bill London had a piece about a retreat center
>at St Gertrudes near Cottonwood. I noted in that article that the suggested
>donation is $60/person/nite and that they had 10,000 visitors last year. 
>I'm
>incredulous, but doing the math with the numbers given, they are grossing
>$600,000/year.  It suggests that the right retreat, far enough out of 
>Moscow
>to be a retreat, and close enough to get there Friday after work, might be
>something to examine as an economic engine for the county.
>
>
>
> > Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 07:08:39 -0800
> > From: "Robin Woods" <rawoods at moscow.com>
> >
> > Bill, Phil, et. al.,
> >
> > Thanks for your thoughtful postings regarding locally-produced pottery.

>The
> > LEDC had our first Business Recruitment and Retention Committee meeting
> > Wednesday, as well as an Executive Committee meeting, and we did discuss

>the
> > fact that there may be some business opportunities for locally produced
> > pottery and materials.  While our recruitment committee is still in our 
>goal
> > setting/strategy forming stage, we anticipate further discussions,
> > presentations and/or site visits in the coming future.
> >
> > Again, thank you for your discussions -- the LEDC always encourages 
>input
> > from our communities.
> >
> > Robin Woods
>
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_____________________________________________________
 List services made available by First Step Internet, 
 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
               http://www.fsr.net                       
          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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