Feedback & FAQ

The St. Helena Resort project includes an up to 56-room resort, restaurant, spa, and other visitor-serving amenities at the Charles Krug Winery site. The resort would be constructed on 8.5 acres of land off Deer Park Road.

The property where the resort would be built is currently undeveloped, fallow land on the 140-acre Charles Krug Winery property.

Noble House Hotels & Resorts, owners of the Napa Valley Wine Train since 2017, have proposed building and operating the St. Helena Resort project. They are proposing this project in consultation and with the support of the Peter Mondavi Sr. family, owners of Charles Krug Winery. Noble House would enter into a lease agreement with the property owners to build and operate the resort adjacent to the winery.

The initiative process allows any registered voter in the subject area (in this case, a registered voter in the City of St. Helena) to seek a pathway that allows for adoption of the initiative and entitlement of the project through a vote of the people, instead of going through the traditional entitlement processes with the City, which typically takes several years.

If a registered voter brings forth an initiative to the city, the city is given an opportunity to review the plans and issue a Title & Summary for the initiative, a step preceding a signature-gathering drive in an attempt to qualify the initiative for the ballot amongst registered voters in the subject area.

If this effort is successful and the required number of signatures has been collected, then the City Clerk certifies the initiative and presents options to the City Council for their consideration: adopting the initiative, conducting an impact study in accordance with Elections Code § 9212, or putting the initiative before voters (in this case, likely on the November 2024 ballot).

You can learn more about the initiative process by clicking here.

Noble House Hotels & Resorts, owners of the Napa Valley Wine Train since 2017, have proposed building and operating the St. Helena Resort project. They are proposing this project in consultation and with the support of the Peter Mondavi Sr. family, owners of Charles Krug Winery. Noble House would enter into a lease agreement with the property owners to build and operate the resort adjacent to the winery.

The City of St. Helena recently reviewed the citizen's initiative for the St. Helena Resort project. As part of this limited review period, the City Attorney responded by issuing a Title & Summary for the initiative on March 28, 2024, which will facilitate a signature-gathering process. If a sufficient number of signatures have been collected, the City Clerk will certify the initiative and present a series of options to the City Council on next steps, which may include an impact study as outlined in California Elections Code § 9212.

In accordance with Napa County’s Groundwater Management Ordinance (GMO), the applicant has collaborated with a reputable civil engineering firm to develop a water use proposal with no net impact to the aquifer. This will be achieved by treating and recycling all non-potable water for landscape irrigation, toilet flushing, cooling systems and groundwater recharge, while reducing water use from the Charles Krug winery operations to offset all potable water used for the project.

The resort project would operate independently of city water and sewer connections – no public connection to city water distribution lines or water treatment (sewer) systems are anticipated. Instead, the resort will construct a state-of-the-art water treatment system in the basement of the estate house (the primary resort building) to treat all wastewater.

A traffic study is being conducted to evaluate traffic impacts from the proposed project. The final report prepared after the completion of the study will both outline anticipated traffic impacts, and measures that can be taken to offset these impacts, so that surrounding roadways continue to operate at acceptable levels. Town-car or shuttle services are being considered for future hotel guests, to provide them with access to downtown St. Helena and other locations or experiences in proximity to the project site.

Yes – hotel guests and patrons of the future restaurant and other on-site facilities will be able to access the site via the Napa Valley Wine Train, which will help reduce traffic congestion.

The northernmost segment of the Napa Valley Vine Trail between the City of Calistoga and northern part of St. Helena will soon open. The southernmost part of this new segment, which will end at Pratt Avenue, will create an opportunity for the resort to create a connection from the Vine Trail to the resort property, to further incentivize future hotel guests to use alternative modes of transportation.

The project is designed to have minimal visual impact from surrounding properties. Most buildings on the property are only 1-2 stories high, and are designed with natural earth tones to harmoniously blend in with the natural environment. Photorealistic renderings of the project from select vantage points on Highway 29, Deer Park Road, at the future driveway to the property, and from Charles Krug Winery have also been prepared to show the minimal visual impact the project will have.

With the City of St. Helena’s budgetary challenges, the St. Helena Resort project will provide a windfall of one-time and ongoing revenues to help the city improve essential services, which include new city facilities, improvements to streets, sidewalks, and water and wastewater treatments plants.

The resort will provide significant income to the City of St. Helena in the form of higher property taxes, transient occupancy taxes (more commonly referred to as “TOT”), sales taxes, and one-time development fees. More than $2.05 million in total annual taxes is anticipated in Year 1 of operations, growing to $3.46 million in total annual taxes anticipated in Year 3 of operations. Based on these projections, over 20 years, the project could provide well over $65 million to the City of St. Helena.

The restaurant will welcome locals and visitors alike. Furthermore, there will be a barn and some small meeting spaces inside the estate house (primary resort building) that can be rented or used by local residents and businesses.

The City of St. Helena’s Financing Civic Infrastructure Task Force concluded two new hotels within St. Helena city limits are essential to create new revenue streams to address the city’s budgetary challenges and finance the city’s many infrastructure needs. By creating a world-class resort in St. Helena city limits, the resort can both meet lodging demand for those who are traveling to the Napa Valley regardless of whether or not the project is built, and create valuable revenue streams to the City of St. Helena.

The St. Helena Resort project website: www.StHelenaResort.com, will be the best resource to stay informed on the project moving forward.

Those behind the St. Helena Resort project welcome support for the project, particularly those residing in the City of St. Helena. You can add your name to a list of project supporters by sharing your feedback with us.