From the Times Standard:
The project will place a 600,000-barrel-per-year brewery on a 9.3-acre parcel of pastureland located east of South Broadway between Sunset Road and Ocean View Cemetery. Neighbors have raised concerns ranging from obstructed views to the removal of cypress trees at the site.
When complete, visitors will find a 120-barrel brew house, new fermenters, a bottling line, small store, tasting area and a brew house from Germany in the 55,000-square-foot building. The new site will allow the brewery to quadruple its output.
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Let the story be told factually. The City of Eureka rezoned land that had been designated Public Quasi Public for cemetery use to Service Commercial. The cemetery land abutted Service Commercial zoned land located to the west and within the city limits. What the story conveniently omits is that the land located to the east of the cemetery land is long established single family residential which is NOT within the city limits but in Humboldt County. Since the residential area is not located within the city limits it was of no concern to the Eureka City Council and they did the following.
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2. Established a new General Plan category of business called "Craft Brewery" that would be Light Manufacturing (ML)
3. Designated Lost Coast Brewery (LCB) as a "Craft Brewery" which magically changed the brewery from Heavy Manufacturing (HM) to Light Manufacturing (ML)
4. Passed a special variance to allow a "Craft Brewery" to operate within a Service Commercial zone.
And now, through slight of hand, a residential neighborhood in Humboldt County will magically have a heavy manufacturing brewery right across the street from them.
The City, Cal Trans and LCB are going to need the use, probably by eminent domain, of some of Sunset Memorial Cemetery land for a truck turning lane so the 18 wheelers can make the turn into Sunset Road. 60 foot big rig vehicles going to and from the brewery will need the truck turning lane but the current neighborhood does not. Taking of land by eminent domain to benefit a single commercial venture is, I believe, illegal.
The rezoning, code changes and general plan changes were done to accommodate the Lost Coast Brewery and were not done for the benefit of the public in general. All the zoning, code and city plan changes were done at the same time for the benefit of a single commercial enterprise ... which smells a lot like spot zoning to me.
Many of the 22 cypress trees, 70 to 100 years old and about 100 feet tall, that were removed along Sunset Road were boundary line trees between the brewery property and my property, Sunset Road. The City has a road easement and the trees were removed without warning and without any permission asked or given. I believe the trees were removed solely to make brewery construction easier and were not a hazard. No report that I have seen has been produced claiming they were a hazard and had to be removed.
As projects go, this one will produce a decent result but the way the project was presented, promises made and broken and changes made to review committee codes and then crammed down the neighbors throats has not endeared itself to us.
The city wants needs revenue, the people want beer, Barbara Groom "just want to make beer.". Does it matter if a few laws and codes and rules are bent and broken for the betterment of the majority at the expense of the few?
Who will care if the residents of Weiler Road end up with a 25 foot tall "green monster" wall of Leland Cypress trees across the street from their homes.
I care but I do not have the money to fight city hall, the city council, the brewery owner and backers, and beer drinkers who like LCB brews.
Of all the neighbors I am in an enviable position. The home my wife and I built is high enough up on the hill that we will be able to look over the factory and still see the ocean. We will look over the factory but sorry, I will not overlook it. I will be a good neighbor and vigilantly assist LCB in their endeavors to keep their noise, lights and smells within legal limits.
Thanks for the local info Dean.
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