Steel & Oak Brewing is seeking the city’s support for an expansion to its lounge.
The local business has applied to the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch to increase occupancy of its lounge from 30 to 50 people. After considering a zoning amendment at a Feb. 19 public hearing, the city would consider forwarding a resolution about the lounge expansion to the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch.
While council won’t consider the application until the public hearing, Coun. Bill Harper suggested the city may need an overall policy around brew pubs.
“These things are getting more popular, getting bigger. My understanding is there are some people interested in moving into the city and creating brew pubs,” he said. “The real question is whether or not we should have a policy around it.”
Harper suggested it may be useful for the city to have a discussion about the kind of brew pubs it would like to see in the city and what restrictions should be in place, particularly when they’re located near residential areas.
Jackie Teed, the city’s acting director of development services, said it’s part of the planning division’s mid- to long-term work plan to develop a policy about brew pubs.
“Currently we have had some preliminary inquiries regarding small-scale breweries in other commercial areas, but we haven’t had an application go through yet,” she said. “While at this time this application is specifically being prompted as the result of a specific business asking to expand, in the future we will be looking at a policy that looked broader.”
Teed said small cottage breweries are currently only permitted in industrial areas in New West, but the review would consider whether they should be permitted in commercial areas.
Harper said the city may want to consider a policy that allows businesses like Steel & Oak to expand and develop their products in the city.
“This particular company, Steel & Oak, has been hugely successful, so successful that it’s actually growing out of its space and may at some point may actually contemplate leaving the city if they can’t find the space that they want,” he said. “I am not saying they will leave the city – they could be forced to leave the city if they couldn’t find the kind of space that’s required.”
A Steel and Oak representative told the Record last fall that it has no plans to leave its current home in New Westminster, buy may have to consider a secondary facility so it could expand capacity.
Coun. Mary Trentadue believes the city needs to explore how to streamline its processes so local businesses like Steel & Oak don’t have to go through such a lengthy and onerous process to get a small increase in seating in its lounge.
