Trouble Brewing Over Proposed Wholesale, Tasting Room Business

A craft beer maker is seeking zoning changes to accommodate a new microbrewery, warehouse and retail tasting room on a two-acre site at 332 E. Lincoln.

ROAK Brewing Co. asked the  Royal Oak Planning Commission Tuesday to approve a general industrial zoning classification for the property, currently zoned as a mixed-use 1 area, The Observer & Eccentric reports.

As a state-licensed microbrewer, ROAK Brewing Co. could sell its beer on site without an additional license, which some commission members said made the  establishment seem more like a bar than an industrial brewery.

“I came here kind of supporting this idea, but at this point I’m not ready to support it,” Mayor Jim Ellison said. “I like the concept, I just don’t like the way they are doing it.”

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ROAK co-owner John Leone said the tasting room would only be a small part of the operation, which would concentrate on wholesale beer sales to distributors. He and his partners don’t want to run “a full-blown bar,” he said.

In a letter to the Planning Commission, City Commissioner Peggy Goodwin  a large number of alcohol-related establishments already operating in Royal Oak. Currently, there are 63 liquor licenses for restaurants and bars and 41 licenses for packaged liquor sales.

“Clearly, the proposed brewery is not unique nor a category we are missing in Royal Oak,” she wrote. “From our retail stores to our restaurants, you can find Michigan microbrews and gourmet beers throughout the city, but especially concentrated in this area.”

A nearby resident, Theresa Neilson, implored the planning commission to reject the request, stating an overflow of traffic and problems in the area from downtown bars.

The planning commission will take up the issue again on July 8.