Lucy Gellman Photo
Wilson: Returning to zoning board with modifications.
A group of alders and East Rock residents ended Monday night ready to raise a pint in a new neighborhood watering hole — even if the place is still months in the making.
That show of support came during an East Rock Community Management Team meeting at mActivity gym, where East Rock Brewing Co. owner Tim Wilson gave a handful of East Rock residents, two neighborhood cops, and Alders Anna Festa and Jessica Holmes an update on his much-anticipated planned operation at 285 Nicoll St.
Festa: Any smells?
Slated to be “the first production brewery” (as opposed to a contract brewery) in New Haven since the departure of Elm City Brewing Co., East Rock Brewing Co. got unanimous approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) last July, after seeking special exceptions for beer manufacturing and zero on-site parking spaces in a light industrial (IL) zone.
Wilson is returning to the BZA March 14 for approval of some changes to the plan. The proposed changes are not variances but what Wilson called jokingly “special exceptions on special exceptions,” requesting small changes to last year’s approved plan.
Initially, the BZA approved Wilson for a 28,000 square foot space comprising a beer hall, tasting room and manufacturing operation open six of seven days per week. Now he is seeking to change that interior space, granting the beer hall an extra 281 square feet (from 3,000 to 3,281) as he shrinks the factory by 2,459 square feet (from 25,100 to 22,641).
He’s also seeking new permissions to put three silos — two for raw material and one for spent grain—and a CO2 tank outside the brewery, on the northeast corner of Mitchell Drive. And he wants to expand the operation for special events, with permission to open the beer hall on Mondays and prepare food on-site if he wants to. He has no immediate plans to build an industrial kitchen on-site; in fact, he and his colleagues are more interested in collaborating with restaurants and food trucks for a twist on bar food.
“We just want to be as transparent as possible,” Wilson said after the meeting. As for an opening date, he told the group, he had initially hoped for May. With some manufacturing equipment arriving in August, he’s now shooting for closer to September of this year. With current plans in place, East Rock Brewing Co. will employ 12 people for its brewing operations and another eight in the beer hall and tasting room.
Few Concerns, And Collective Cheers
McCarthy and Geertz..
After Wilson spoke, Team Vice-Chair Kevin McCarthy proposed that attendees discuss the brewery and voice any concerns with Wilson still present.
“Speaking personally I think it’s fine,” he said. “Obviously there’s a lot of interest in it going forward, and unlike some of the issues for the initial application, I’m not aware that there’s any controversy.
“I haven’t heard of any,” added Festa. “People can’t wait to go.” But, she added, she wanted to hear from neighborhood residents in the room. After a community meeting with New Haven Chlor-Alkali last week, she said she had all sorts of questions. What were the possible odors that new outdoor silo equipment would bring in? she asked.
To the best of his knowledge, Wilson said, there were none.
“You know, I have one of the houses across the street, so I’m as close as it gets for this stuff,” Eva Geertz, who lives on Nicoll. “Nobody has complained to me, and I have a two-family house with parents and neighbors — so there are certainly people who would complain … and I haven’t heard any serious concerns.”
“I’ve been racking my brain, because I’m a conservative person by nature,” she continued. “If I could think of a reason that I thought this was a bad idea, I would say something.”
Rob Rocke, a board member with Elm City Cycling, added that the spot may be popular with cyclists.
Rocke.
“We have use of the racks out here,” WIlson said, motioning outside of mActivity. “And there’ll be one outside that will accommodate seven. And there’s another one that will either accommodate seven or 14. If there’s demand for more, we’ll talk to the landlord.”
Festa added that she thinks the new changes will increase foot traffic with families and safer streets. McCarthy agreed, and raised a symbolic glass to the project.
“I think, at a minimum, you can feel free to represent that you came to the Management Team and you got positive responses to the proposal,” he said. “I think there’s just a lot of enthusiasm for the project.”
If the changes are not approved by BZA in March, Wilson said that East Rock Brewing Co. will move forward with last year’s zoning specs.
let's accelerate this. Great place for food and drink. Additional jobs (at various pay levels) in the city. I can't wait!