Old Trestle Distillery will be bringing its locally made spirits straight to the table with plans for a restaurant on West River Street moving forward.

“It’s the first local distillery in over a century and we’re really proud to be bringing that here,” said Alicia Barr of Truckee Craft Ventures, which took over management of Old Trestle Distillery in 2018. “We all know the tourists are going to come, but we’re designing this for locals.”

The project, approved by the Truckee Planning Commission on Tuesday, will include the remodel of a 4,000 square foot industrial building at 10331 West River Street to install a kitchen and outdoor dining area. The remodel calls for removing the second story of the building to allow for a better view of the landscape. As to the design, Barr cited the California Cultural District’s website, which describes Truckee as “world-class scenery in a rugged high alpine setting that catalyzes and inspires art and culture.”

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“That’s exactly what Old Trestle is about,” said Barr.

Barr said a focus of the project is sustainability, with the building designed to maximize airflow and natural lighting. Solar panels in the plans are designed to give all of the distillery-specific equipment a net-zero energy cost.

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“Energy minimization is a huge focus for us,” said Barr.

The project will also include a significant amount of bike parking at secure locations, Barr said. As the parking spaces required for the project cannot all fit on the site, 30 spaces will be placed across the street from the restaurant, with two spaces on-site. To make it work, they obtained a lease from Union Pacific Railroad to construct the parking lot on the railroad’s land.

“The current area has been used as illegal parking for years,” said Barr. She said they will upgrade and pave the lot to minimize runoff into the Truckee River.

However, planning commission members took issue with the safety of customers crossing the street to get to the restaurant.

“I’m hung up on the public safety,” said Commissioner Nikki Riley.

The West River Streetscape Project, which the town is still in the design phase of, aims at increasing pedestrian safety along West River Street by installing sidewalks and crosswalks. Though the town has funding for the project, it will not come to fruition for another few years, according to Town Manager Jeff Loux.

The commission approved the project on the condition that developers work with the Town of Truckee to figure out a short-term solution for pedestrian safety. This may include signage or extra lighting where customers cross the street.

Hannah Jones is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. She can be reached at 530-550-2652 or hjones@sierrasun.com.