Concert, rodeo venue’s zoning south of Lafayette heads to commissioners, fate in question

Family, friends vouch for Benito Munoz’s Plaza Rancho Alegre, opened in 2021 without proper zoning. Neighbors say it’s too much for a quiet part of the county. Commissioners could make or break it

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CONCERT, RODEO VENUE SOUTH OF LAFAYETTE LOOKS TO GET LEGIT AFTER INCONCLUSIVE ZONING VOTE, FACES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS NEXT

Friends and family of Benito Munoz, who has businesses in Frankfort and Lafayette, rallied Wednesday night, vouching for him and his hope to legitimize Plaza Rancho Alegre, a combo rodeo and concert venue he opened in 2021 near Romney, close to the southern Tippecanoe County line.

The problem: The venue near the corner of County Roads 400 East and 1300 South doesn’t have the proper zoning that would allow him to have the sort of large events on the former grounds of the Foxton Farms riding club and stables. That’s what the Area Plan Commission was there to consider Wednesday evening.

The other problem: Neighbors say the bands play loud enough and late enough to rattle their windows a mile away and traffic overwhelms the rural county roads, several of them gravel.