Capitalizing on a burgeoning statewide craft alcohol industry, the village of Mamaroneck will consider carving out space for microbreweries, distilleries and brewpubs in its local code.
Increased interest regarding smaller-scale breweries, wineries and distilleries—which, statewide, have blossomed to three times the amount since 2012—has spread to the village over the past several years; evidenced most notably by projects from beer mecca Half Time Beverage, which announced that they would pursue the addition of a brewpub to its location on Hoyt Avenue earlier this year.
Now, prompted by applications like Half Time’s, the village Board of Trustees has started undertaking a potential code revamp to revise zoning districts in the village’s c-1 and c-2 areas; sections that encompass a large swath of village commerce.
Alan Daniels, president of Half Time Beverage, said its plans for Mamaroneck will be a waiting game.
“These [zoning changes] just make good business sense and can have a very positive impact on the local economy,” he said. “One day, we hope we can satisfy Mamaroneck’s thirst for some outstanding local beer as well. Time will tell.”
However, according to Trustee Keith Waitt, a Democrat, the Board of Trustees’ Democratic majority, while supportive of the premise, has remained cautious on wholesale alterations to the village code.
“I support micro-alcohol establishments and what the state is doing to encourage them,” Waitt said. “But they should not be approved for C-2 or C-1 locations.”
Waitt, who is also a member of the village Industrial Area Committee, said that among his concerns regarding the introduction of micro-alcohol establishments to those zones are environmental impacts and lack of parking. For Waitt, the timing of the Planning Board’s decision to look at zoning code governing micro-alcohol establishments is noteworthy, as it coincides with an application from Half Time Beverage, who would benefit from more permissive zoning laws around breweries.
“My view is that we don’t just make a zoning change to meet this particular applicant’s requirements,” he said, adding that the zoning change has been supported most prominently by Mayor Norman Rosenblum. “What we’re trying to do as a [village] board is look at this in a more strategic way.”
Ad hoc zoning, Waitt said, has already lead the village to contentious situations with the likes of the Westchester Sandbox Theater and Ralph’s Italian Ices & Ice Cream—both of which face potential shutdowns after being found noncompliant with local zoning code.
Across the aisle, however, Republican support for a decision to loosen restrictions on C-1 and C-2 districts has been more straight forward.
Rosenblum said he’s in favor of Half Time beer expanding. “It certainly makes sense,” he said. “I would agree with going forward with the suggestion of the Planning Department.”
Rosenblum, however, refutes any claim that he has attempted to fast track the zoning alteration.
“No single person can fast track anything,” he said. “It would have to be a majority of the [village] board and the Planning Board.”
Nonetheless, Rosenblum said he still supports taking a hard look at the ripple effects of a potential zoning change. “We have to see what the consequences, or unintended consequences, are if you change that,” he said.
Additionally, in a memo from Village Planner Greg Cutler, the Planning Department acknowledges that lack of literature on micro-alcohol establishments makes their processing a more challenging task.
“Without clear definitions and use permissions, building officials are forced to make ad hoc use interpretations that can delay or even prevent otherwise desirable development,” Cutler states in his memo to the Board of Trustees.
A more apt location for establishments manufacturing alcohol, Waitt said, is the village’s industrial area, which the committee has recently rebranded as the “Maker Zone.”
There, the trustee said—a zoning overlay which is being pursued by the committee to allow for a broader scope of businesses outside of manufacturing operations to set up shop in the district—businesses would have the room and environmental stability to operate without disrupting traffic or neighborhood conditions.
The overly, he said, could even be extended to encompass Half Time, if necessary, given the proximity.
Whether or not the village opens up its code for micro-alcohol businesses, the time appears to have arrived.
In Mamaroneck, the Good Shepard Distillery—which distills a number of different spirits including Brandy and Vodka—has already been open for more than a year, while neighboring municipalities like the village of Port Chester, where StilltheOne Distillery makes its own American whiskey, have gotten ahead of the curve, updating their code to make conditions more conducive for craft alcohol businesses.
A call to Good Shepherd Distillery seeking comment went unreturned as of press time.
