DC working on zoning amendment for microbreweries, brew pubs in commercial zones

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE — Dunn County is working on a zoning amendment that would allow microbreweries and brew pubs in commercial zones.

Dunn County’s existing zoning ordinance only allows breweries in heavy industrial zones but does not include anything about microbreweries or brew pubs, said Bob Colson, zoning administrator, at the Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee’s November 8 meeting.

Breweries in heavy industrial zones but no microbreweries or brew pubs has become an issue because an application has been submitted for a microbrewery in a commercial district, he said.

Colson said he and his staff have been meeting with five local micro-brewers to help county staff understand the microbrewery business and to develop definitions for a zoning amendment.

Under what is expected to a be proposed zoning amendment, breweries would be classified by a “tier up” system, with brew pubs, microbreweries, microbreweries-large and breweries, Colson said.

A brew pub is an establishment that serves food and serves beer that the establishment has brewed. A microbrewery manufactures up to 10,000 barrels of beer per year. A microbrewery-large would produce up to 100,000 barrels of beer annually. Anything over 100,000 barrels would be an industrial brewery, Colson said.

The only option currently available for a microbrewery is to obtain a rezone to heavy industrial in the area where the microbrewery wishes to locate and then a special exception to allow the microbrewery, he said.

Difference

Generally speaking, the difference in traffic, number of employees and the business’s “footprint” does not change much between a microbrewery that produces 2,000 barrels of beer per year and one that produces 10,000 barrels per year, Colson said.

A microbrewery that produces up to 100,000 barrels per year might have a somewhat bigger footprint but still does not have much more of an impact than a microbrewery that produces up to 10,000 barrels per year, he said.

The problem with rezoning to heavy industrial for a single use is if the brewery moves or goes out of business, then the heavy industrial zone would remain for whatever other permitted uses or special exceptions are allowed in an industrial zone, Colson said.

Wineries

Gary Bjork, county board member from Colfax and a member of the PR&D committee, wondered about wineries.

Wineries are allowed under county zoning, and a winery is located in the Town of Sherman in a general agriculture district, Colson said, noting that wineries often grow their own ingredients to make wine, or use locally-grown ingredients, which is why they are allowed in a general agriculture zone.

If someone grew the grain and the hops to make beer, could a microbrewery then be located in a general agriculture district? Bjork asked.

No one has made an application to grow grain and hops and have a microbrewery in a general agriculture district, “although I suppose an argument could be made for that,” Colson said.

Timeline

The Dunn County Board does not meet in December, so the earliest that the county board could approve a zoning amendment would be in January, Colson said.

The same would be true for a rezone to industrial. A rezone is not on the agenda for the Dunn County Board’s November meeting, so the soonest the county board could consider a rezone would be January or February, he said.

Colson also noted language in Dunn County’s zoning ordinance that allows the zoning administrator to make a decision about allowing a certain use.

In any zoning district, if a particular use is neither specifically permitted or specially permitted, the zoning administrator can determine which zoning district is appropriate for the use as either a permitted use or as a special exception, Colson said.

If it looked as though the county board would be close to making a decision on a zoning amendment for microbreweries and brew pubs, and the applicant for the microbrewery suddenly faced a deadline for starting work on the facility, Colson said he would consider making a decision, as the zoning administrator, for the microbrewery.

If such a situation were to occur, however, Colson said he would not make the decision without first  informing the PR&D committee and discussing it with committee members.

Microbreweries have “been around since the 1970s, and the county needs to address them (in the zoning ordinance),” Colson said.

Colson said he expects to present draft language at the PR&D committee’s next meeting for amending the zoning ordinance to include microbreweries and brew pubs.

When the draft amendment is available, the PR&D committee can then schedule a public hearing on the amendment, he said.