Rural events venue gets OK in Johnson County

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors Thursday gave approval to an expanded events venue planned for north of Iowa City.

The board voted 5-0 in favor of a site plan for what is being called Celebration Farm.

The project comes from Dick Schwab, who runs what is now known as Celebration Barn. It hosts events like weddings 12 times a year, but Schwab said he gets more than 300 calls a year from interested parties.

He wants to expand the venue to include two barns with combined capacities of 450 people, an outdoor amphitheater, possibly a catering house and other features northwest of the intersection of Highway 1 and Morse Road between Iowa City and Solon.

Some surrounding residents objected to the plan, saying it would create too much traffic and noise in the rural setting. But other neighbors spoke in favor of it.

Plans call for the addition of a traffic lane on Highway 1 and lengthened turned lanes.

Wetlands mitigation and getting approval from the Iowa Department of Transportation for an access point from Highway 1 are necessary for the project to move forward.