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Sponsor: Quirk
Benefitted: New Zagross Brewery
Allows "nanobrewery" in BL, which then includes in BM. (In the Bill's definition, a "nanobrewery" is ridiculously large - 3,000 barrels produced per year, with 500 barrels of that for on-site consumption, which was the state-mandated limit for any "brewery" of any size. That's something like 400+ pints drunk per day on-site, but with no food served! That's a hell of a bar for a Business Local zone!)
According to numerous references, a nanobrewery is considered to be one that brews single small batches (like 3 barrels) at one time (or maybe up to 20 total barrels brewing at one time). 20 barrels which take about 2 weeks to brew would yield about 520 barrels per year, not 3,000. 3,000 barrels per year would put it into the "microbrewery" category.
This Bill was intended to allow New Zagros Brewing Company in Arbutus. See June 9, 2015 Sun article which says that the first attempt was to put this brewery in the space on East Drive in Arbutus, ironically the same place where a short-lived candy store had been allowed by Bill 4-13.
This Bill appears to be faulty, since the County Council cannot pass liquor laws. Any brewery would likely be subject to state law, which does not mention "nanobrewery" at this time. It should be up to state law to say whether they may, may not, or must serve food. In fact, the Maryland Assembly passed SB1172 to raise the state limit of beer sold for on-site consumption. Then a "nanobrewery" could likely argue that they are not limited by this County Code limit (500 barrels) but rather by state law.
Passed April 6, 2015; effective April 20.
Four years later, nothing has been done. After the original intended location fell through, a search for another location apparently failed (how hard can it be to find a vacant place?) The owner has gone back to being a "brewing consultant" for another brewery in Baltimore City (according to his linkdin page). Today, a Google search on "New Zagross Brewery" comes up with only one match - this site!
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