As the industry as a whole is undergoing massive growth statewide and nationwide, many localities are changing land use policies as a way of encouraging new breweries to open in the city’s urban core and help revitalize long-struggling neighborhoods. Cities like Dallas, San Diego, St Petersburg and Charlotte have introduced microbrewery-specific land use designations.
Green Bench Brewing Co is St. Petersburg’s first craft microbrewery, opened in 2013. In order to open, City officials worked with Green Bench’s ownership team to update local land use regulations. Since opening, Cycle Brewing and 3 Daughters Brewing have opened in close proximity to Green Bench. Image Credit: Aerial Excellence
Whereas Jacksonville lacks performance standards for a brewery like Intuition Ale Works, St Petersburg added specific performance standards in their zoning code to allow microbreweries by Special Exception in the downtown and in the “Traditional Commercial Corridor” districts, and by right in the “Suburban Commercial Corridor” district. Brewpubs are treated like restaurants, and allowed by right in all the commercial districts.
· Purpose. Due to economies of scale in production, distribution, marketing and advertising, national and super-regional breweries have dominated the beer industry for decades. These large-scale production facilities are traditionally assigned to industrial zoning classifications. Starting in the 1980's, local, independent breweries emerged as a competitive market segment within the beer industry and by the turn of the twenty-first century, the increased demand for small production facilities and mixed-use concepts began to reshape certain expectations about the potential impacts of this land-use type when developed on a smaller scale. The purpose of this section is to recognize the emergence of this specialized market segment and establish appropriate standards allowing for the typical range of activities, while mitigating any associated, undesirable impacts. · Applicability. This section shall apply to brewery, microbrewery and brewpub uses. Breweries are generally divided into four distinct market segments: brewpub, microbrewery, regional (small) brewery and large brewery. This section does not apply to temporary or special events authorized by other sections of this chapter. · Establishment. Brewery, including regional (small) and large, microbrewery and brew pub uses shall be allowed as provided in the Matrix: Use Permissions and Parking Requirements Matrix and Parking Matrix and shall comply with the development standards of the applicable zoning district, general development standards and this section. · Use-specific development standards. · Restaurant and bar, brewpub. In addition to the development standards of the zoning district, applicable general development standards and where applicable, Use Specific Development Standards for a "restaurant and bar, indoor," "restaurant and bar, indoor and outdoor" or "restaurant and bar, accessory outdoor area," an establishment that meets the definition of a brewpub shall comply with the following: 1. Revenue from food sales shall constitute more than 50 percent of the total business revenues; 2. No more than 50 percent of the total gross floor area of the establishment shall be used for the brewery function including, but not limited to, the brewhouse, boiling and water treatment areas, bottling and kegging lines, malt milling and storage, fermentation tanks, conditioning tanks and serving tanks; 3. Where permitted by local ordinance, state and federal law, retail carryout sale of beer produced on the premises shall be allowed in specialty containers holding no more than a U.S. gallon (3,785 ml/128 US fluid ounces). These containers are commonly referred to as growlers; 4. Brewpubs may sell beer in keg containers larger than a U.S. gallon (3,785 ml/128 US fluid ounces) for the following purposes and in the following amounts: a. An unlimited number of kegs for special events, the primary purpose of which is the exposition of beers brewed by brewpubs and microbreweries, which include the participation of at least three such brewers; b. An unlimited number of kegs for City co-sponsored events where the purpose of the event is not for commercial profit and where the beer is not wholesaled to the event co-sponsors but is instead, dispensed by employees of the brewpub. 5. All mechanical equipment visible from the street (excluding alleys), an adjacent residential use or residential zoning district shall be screened using architectural features consistent with the principal structure; 6. Access and loading bays shall not face toward any street, excluding alleys; 7. Access and loading bays facing an adjacent residential use or residential zoning district, shall have the doors closed at all times, except during the movement of raw materials, other supplies and finished products into and out of the building; 8. Service trucks for the purpose of loading and unloading materials and equipment shall be restricted to between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Sundays and national holidays; 9. No outdoor storage shall be allowed. This prohibition includes the use of portable storage units, cargo containers and tractor trailers. · Microbrewery. In addition to the development standards of the zoning district, applicable general development standards, and where applicable, use specific development standards for restaurant or retail uses, an establishment that meets the definition of a microbrewery shall comply with the following: 1. The microbrewery shall produce no more than 15,000 barrels (465,000 US gallons/17,602.16 hectoliters) of beer per year; 2. This use shall be permitted only in conjunction with a "restaurant and bar, indoor," "restaurant and bar, indoor and outdoor" or "restaurant and bar, accessory outdoor area," tasting room or retail sales and service: a. No more than 75 percent of the total gross floor space of the establishment shall be used for the brewery function including, but not limited to, the brewhouse, boiling and water treatment areas, bottling and kegging lines, malt milling and storage, fermentation tanks, conditioning tanks and serving tanks; b. The façade of any accessory use(s) shall be oriented toward the street, excluding alleys, and, if located in a shopping center, to the common space where the public can access the use; c. Pedestrian connections shall be provided between the public sidewalks and the primary entrance(s) to any accessory use(s). 3. All mechanical equipment visible from the street (excluding alleys), an adjacent residential use or residential zoning district shall be screened using architectural features consistent with the principal structure; 4. Access and loading bays are discouraged from facing toward any street, excluding alleys; 5. Access and loading bays facing any street, adjacent residential use or residential zoning district, shall have the doors closed at all times, except during the movement of raw materials, other supplies and finished products into and out of the building; 6. Service trucks for the purpose of loading and unloading materials and equipment shall be restricted to between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Sundays and national holidays; 7. No outdoor storage shall be allowed, including the use of portable storage units, cargo containers and tractor trailers, except as follows: spent or used grain, which is a natural byproduct of the brewing process, may be stored outdoors for a period of time not to exceed 24 hours. The temporary storage area of spent or used grain shall be: a. Designated on the approved site plan; b. Permitted within the interior side or rear yard or within the minimum building setbacks; c. Prohibited within any yard abutting a residential use or residential zoning district; d. Fully enclosed within a suitable container, secured and screened behind a solid, opaque fence or wall measuring a minimum five feet in height. · Regional (small) and large brewery. Regional (small) and large breweries shall comply with the development standards of the zoning district and applicable general development standards.
St Petersburg’s ordinance establishing performance standards for craft breweries.
Although breweries in Dallas still have to deal with unfriendly State laws in relation to distribution rights, City Council successfully updated zoning laws effectively legalizing and encouraging microbreweries, microdistilleries and wineries to setup shop in town. Instead of interpreting a craft brewery in the same vein as a waste incinerator, the Code now carves out a specific use and performance standards for such businesses. Like St Petersburg, many of the location constraints have since been removed, and brewers have begun to open operations within several gentrifying neighborhoods throughout the city.
Green Bench operates out of a rehabilitated, 6,000 sq. ft. warehouse building on Baum Ave in downtown St. Petersburg’s Edge District. The facility features an on-site taproom, outdoor beer garden and lawn games located in the shadows of Tropicana Field. Image Credit: Aerial Excellence.
In Jacksonville, performance standards for craft breweries could easily be added in Part 4 of the Code. This would specify a designated use for breweries and establish a set of prerequisite conditions to be met in order to obtain approval for opening a craft brewery operation. With a set of baseline criteria written into the Code, certain conditions could be added for each brewer’s approved zoning application that would define when and how much beer an operation could produce based on its lot’s size and proximity to residential units, etc. This would ensure a mechanism for breweries to be appropriate to the scale and context of a surrounding neighborhood, instead of outlawed from mixed-use residential neighborhoods all together.
These are the painfully boring details of the state of craft brewing in Jacksonville. If you’ve made it this far, then cheers! But these nuances are necessary to understand the structural deficiencies which are making difficult work for those seeking to invest in struggling neighborhoods and create a much-needed economic impact in Jacksonville. When politicians lament about revitalizing struggling neighborhoods and streamlining business development, these mundane zoning nuances are most often overlooked in these conversations. In reality, the headaches entrepreneurs face from zoning challenges, angry neighbors and the economic challenges of rehabilitating aging and deteriorating buildings within an already risky neighborhood, is the primary reason why most businesses head for suburban locations instead of older neighborhoods like those found surrounding the urban core.
Article by Mike Field. Special thanks to Jack Shad of Windmill Consulting. Cover photo courtesy of Visit Jacksonville. </b>