A special meeting of the Southold Town planning board will be held on Monday to help expedite the Greenport Harbor Brewing Company’s process and help them to open the entire operation as quickly as possible so the bussines’ owners can make the most of the busy summer season.
The special meeting will be held Monday, June 28, at 4 p.m.
At a planning board work session on Monday, c–owner Rich Vandenburgh spoke to the planning board about his wish to open the full tasting room as quickly as possible, to make the most of August and summer visitors.
The board discussed work that’s been ongoing, including 98 parking stalls, with four ADA compliant, with two oversized bus and limo stalls, as well as a 1200-foot storage building.
A special event permit granted by the town’s zoning board of appeals “has helped us get through July,” Vandenburg said, adding that he’d like to see the whole business, including the tasting room, open by early August.
So far, the brewery has only been open on the weekends.
“August is the peak of the summer season for us,” he said. By August 4, Vandenburgh added, 80 to 90 percent of the improvements will be completed, except for planting trees and bluestone. “We’re asking for permission to open short of that last little bit of work,” he said.
Southold Town Planning Director Heather Lanza said the circumstances are “unusual,” because the board granted permission for the brewery portion of the operation to move ahead with a certificate of occupancy before a CO had been issued for the tasting room.
She said since the brewery had its CO, maybe guests could continue to taste beer outdoors until all the work was complete.
Vandenburgh said the hope was to get the CO for the tasting room building, as well.
Lanza said events were a bit out of order, and no CO would normally be granted until all the work was done; but, she said, because there was a CO on the main brewery building, the situation was different.
With competition in the brewery business statewide, co-owner John Liegey said, “We’re under attack. We’re trying to get the production space open, and the tasting space us to charge and make a little bit more money. We’re moving into the winter, so anything we can do to expedite this would help.”
“We understand you want to open before you have the tasting room done and get a CO as fast as possible,” Lanza said.
Planning board chairman Donald Wilcenski suggested the owners get as much work done as possible in the next two weeks.
The special event permit is set to expire on July 31; Vandenburgh said he was ready to petition the ZBA for one more weekend to get the business through to August 4.
Lanza said she believed the better way to do it would be to grant permission for tastings outside under a tent, since there was already a CO on the brewery and the site has safety features such as curb cuts and signage already implemented.
Wilcenski said a CO can’t be issued without site plan approval; Lanza said the brewery would be a go.
“So the tasting room is the issue,” Wilcenski said. “We’d be stepping out of the box to allow you to open without a CO.”
“Practically speaking, if we only had to plant a few trees and put gravel down, it’s really just a paper process,” Vandenburgh said. No structural changes are being made, he said, and there is no seating inside the building; a bar had been built, as well as a few bathrooms and new electric. “I understand it’s a little out of order, but practically speaking, there’s very little left to be done,” he said.
He added, “We desperate for financial success. Who knows what happens this winter?”
Lanza asked if the owners could just allow tasting outside, with a tent, until all the work was done.
“We’ll do whatever we can, including selling pies on the roadside,” Vandenburgh said.
The board agreed to the special meeting.
“We’ll do everything we can to help you along,” Wilcenski said, as the owners thanked the board.
Earlier this month, the mood was celebratory as, after months of anticipation, the Peconic location of the Greenport Harbor Brewing Company held its grand opening party.
The grand opening included tours of the brewery, a band, and food trucks, with crowds packing the brewery for the festivities.
Although the road has been long to opening day, Vandenburgh said he was elated that the moment had arrived. “It feels pretty amazing.”
Despite a number of delays, Vandenburgh said spirits had remained buoyed. “The one thing that has kept us going and thinking positively is the energy we get from all the fans, friends and neighbors,” he said. “It helps us when we feel like the energy level and bank balances are all but depleted. It keeps us going — and now we’re at the finish line and we’re pretty excited. It’ll be a good day when opening day comes, and I can just sit in a chair and drink a beer.”
The project, which has been in the works for some time, had an initial opening slated for last summer.
But now, Vandenburgh said, big plans are brewing.
First off, he said, the balance of the brewhouse, including vessels and tanks, arrived this spring, with six of the tanks, 90-barrel fermenters, already in place as of March.
“It’s exciting,” Vandenburgh said. “It looks cool.”
With beer made, kegged, and rolled out to market and the brewery open, next, Vandenburgh said the kitchen will open later in the summer.
Although the new location is now a go on the parcel where the former Lucas Ford dealership was located, Vandenburgh assured that the brewery’s first location in Greenport, on Carpenter Street, will remain open and fully operational.
When all is said and done, the new location will feature the company’s popular brews, a beer garden, food, outdoor seating and live music.
