Breweries Coming To Springfield, But Are They Legal?

[Metro Jacksonville]

Breweries Coming To Springfield, But Are They Legal?





Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2016-sep-breweries-coming-to-springfield-but-are-they-legal

[strider]

The Springfield Overlay was not written to help businesses, it was written and has been historically used to hinder businesses as much as possible simply out of the fear that the "wrong kind" of business may wish to open. The local organization used to put out flyers telling building owners their version of the codes to stop the "wrong kind" of business.  The fear here is that some within the community may indeed feel micro breweries are the "wrong kind" of business.  More recently too, a civil rights organization filed an injunction against the overlay to prevent it's discriminatory language from being enforced.  I have not heard much about that since it was filed.  If you browse this forum, you will also see that many legit and needed businesses have had to fight to get a exception or a PUD while some have been granted it easily.  And many businesses have had to get PUD's to open.  This all adds up to the fact that it is past time the poorly done, often unenforceable Springfield Overlay be totally gone through and brought up to a proper standard for an emerging urban core.

[Bill1234]

Just to let everyone know. There is push back against these breweries coming from a local baptist minister (whose church is not in the area) and from the district councilman Reggie Gaffney, who has a problem with the breweries being within 1500 feet of area churches, even though they meet the waiver of liquor distance requirements.

[UNFurbanist]

Why the hell is there any push back on new breweries while uptown has a full service bar and a liquor store operates right down the street? This just seems like obstructionism for the sake of obstructionism because why? Jesus doesn't like booze? Dumb.

[thelakelander]

^Didn't Jesus turn water into wine......

[thelakelander]

Anyway, there was a great article in the Miami Herald about this topic yesterday. Here's a link:

How the Bible Belt got down with craft beer

ASHEVILLE, N.C.
In the beginning, Walt Dickinson was just a rock-climbing-guide turned rainwater-collection-system salesman who couldn't find a decent beer in his home state and decided to start making his own at home.

"It was a wasteland," he says of North Carolina and surrounding states. "There was no good IPA in the Southeast."

The reason the region wasn't producing hoppy, piney, West Coast-style India pale ales, the type that dominate craft sales around the country? Stifling government regulation. Century-old laws made it nearly impossible to start a craft brewery across the South and Mid-Atlantic. And when lawmakers began to repeal those laws, starting with North Carolina in 2005, Dickinson and other enterprising brewers took advantage.

Dickinson and his brother, Luke, partnered with three family friends: Ryan, Rick and Denise Guthy. Together, they invested $3 million within six months, and in late 2012 they started Wicked Weed, a purveyor of IPAs, sour ales and other malted varieties that is now the fastest-growing homegrown brewery in Asheville. The Asheville area has at least 23 craft breweries and 90,000 residents, the densest concentration in the United States. North Carolina's microbrew production has increased 600 percent, to 675,000 barrels in 2015, just in four years.

Similar stories are playing out in Virginia and South Carolina — opening a market for local entrepreneurs and, at a much larger scale, big craft players from the Western states where government hurdles were never a problem.

Florida's craft beer scene, too, continues to grow, bolstered by national trends and industry-friendly legislation. Never in the Florida Brewers Guild's 20-year existence has the trade and lobbying group had more members: more than 100 breweries and brewpubs that are currently open or coming soon. About a quarter of those operate out of South Florida, from Palm Beach County through the Keys.

In Miami, the owners of Wynwood Brewing Co. navigated through permits and red tape for two years before opening their family-run brewpub in 2013. Since then, a handful of other breweries have cropped up around Miami-Dade, including two in Wynwood and two in Doral.

Last year, small brewers claimed a big victory in the Florida Legislature with the passage of the so-called Growler Bill. It allowed for licensed retail locations to fill 64-ounce portable containers known as growlers. Florida was one of only three states that still outlawed that size growler, a staple at most U.S. brewpubs. The brewers guild says it now has its sights set on changing state law to allow some form of self-distribution by breweries to retailers, which is the norm in 36 states.

The arrival of California brewery Sierra Nevada, which opened outside Asheville in 2014, and Colorado's New Belgium, which has just started offering tours, opens a final geographic frontier for one of the rare American industries where small business is booming. Their mammoth production facilities cement Asheville's status as a power-player in the craft world — but also give their homegrown brewers some big new neighbors to worry about.

The proliferation of craft brewing on the East Coast is a case study in how government regulation can block entrepreneurship for decades — and leave entire regions playing catch-up when it is finally relaxed.

New business creation is slowing across the country and in most industries, but not in the world of beer.

Read full article here: http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/restaurants/article99432222.html#storylink=cpy

[Bill1234]

Why the hell is there any push back on new breweries while uptown has a full service bar and a liquor store operates right down the street? This just seems like obstructionism for the sake of obstructionism because why? Jesus doesn't like booze? Dumb.

The official line is they don't want church members to be exposed to places which serve beer or exposed to people who drink beer. Unfortunately some council members seem to agree with this. If you disagree, please write in support. Here is a list of city council member's emails:
JoyceMorgan@coj.net
Ferraro@coj.net
ABowman@coj.net
SWilson@coj.net
LBoyer@coj.net
MattS@coj.net
RGaffney@coj.net
KBrown@coj.net
GarrettD@coj.net
RBrown@coj.net
DBecton@coj.net
DoyleC@coj.net
Gulliford@coj.net 
JimLove@coj.net
ABrosche@coj.net
JRC@coj.net
THazouri@coj.net
GAnderson@coj.net
SNewby@coj.net

[thelakelander]

Why the hell is there any push back on new breweries while uptown has a full service bar and a liquor store operates right down the street? This just seems like obstructionism for the sake of obstructionism because why? Jesus doesn't like booze? Dumb.

The official line is they don't want church members to be exposed to places which serve beer or exposed to people who drink beer. Unfortunately some council members seem to agree with this.

That's pretty much everything. Gas stations, Pharmacies, Restaurants, SJTC.....and the church itself....

[Bill1234]

Why the hell is there any push back on new breweries while uptown has a full service bar and a liquor store operates right down the street? This just seems like obstructionism for the sake of obstructionism because why? Jesus doesn't like booze? Dumb.

The official line is they don't want church members to be exposed to places which serve beer or exposed to people who drink beer. Unfortunately some council members seem to agree with this.

That's pretty much everything. Gas stations, Pharmacies, Restaurants, SJTC.....and the church itself....

I didn't say their reasoning made sense....

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Why the hell is there any push back on new breweries while uptown has a full service bar and a liquor store operates right down the street? This just seems like obstructionism for the sake of obstructionism because why? Jesus doesn't like booze? Dumb.

The official line is they don't want church members to be exposed to places which serve beer or exposed to people who drink beer.

I don't have much to add, this is mostly to follow the thread easier, but shouldn't churches be more supportive of places that create more reasons for saving?  I mean, the more people with guilty consciences after a night of drinking might be more apt to attend the church around the corner to make up for it.

Why to you think Planet Fitness locates in or near restaurant districts?  (Aside from the basic realities of development obviously...    )

[BridgeTroll]

Intuition is open and it's impressive

[Bill Hoff]

Just to let everyone know. There is push back against these breweries coming from a local baptist minister (whose church is not in the area) and from the district councilman Reggie Gaffney, who has a problem with the breweries being within 1500 feet of area churches, even though they meet the waiver of liquor distance requirements.

You may see something on Action News about this today/tomorrow.

It's a cultural clash. Part of the inevitable 'old vs new' in a transitional neighborhood.

[JaxUnicorn]

Last night the Urban Core CPAC voted to SUPPORT this change to allow the breweries.  Let's hope this passes.

And to quote a good friend of mine, "Time for churches to start paying taxes or shut up about business that want to open in areas."

Amen brother, AMEN!

[JaxUnicorn]

I've just received notification that the Planning Commission approved the request!  Now it's off to LUZ.  I'm sure more work will be needed to get this through.

[SuzySpringfield]

Planned Springfield brewery met with public support at zoning meeting

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2016/09/21/planned-springfield-brewery-met-with-public.html