Planned brewpub clears first hurdle
TROY, N.Y. >> A plan by a group of friends to turn a Congress Street church into a brewpub cleared its first public hurdle Tuesday night after concerns about its impact on a neighboring city park were addressed.
The city Zoning Board unanimously agreed to a pair of variances and a special use permit needed for Collar City Brewing to convert the Mount Ida Community Baptist Church to house a brewery and brewpub. Church officials said the 30- to 35-member congregation unanimously agreed on Easter Sunday to sell the building to the group of about 10 friends after trying unsuccessfully for about a year to find a buyer.
Louis Emory, who appeared with David Farley on behalf of Collar City Brewing, said the group hoped to take advantage of the growing popularity of brewpubs. The group pictures it as an upscale establishment that would be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, he said.
“Our plan is to basically be similar to Brown’s [ Brewing Co.},” Emery told the
board, referring to the popular brewpub on River Street. “We’re trying to be part of this renaissance that’s going on here in Troy.”
The board needed to sign off on the proposal, however, because the city has no zoning regulations for brewpubs, leaving the group in need of a use variance to operate a brewery and a special use permit to sell and consume alcohol on the premises.
“Brewpubs are very popular, but they’re not listed anywhere in the zoning code,” board Chairwoman Catherine Conroy explained.
Emory said the group’s plan is to start small, with just the brewery and a small tasting room to start, but zoning code would require the business to have about 143 parking spaces, as opposed to the 16 currently on the property. That resulted in the group also asking for amajor area variance to allow them to at least operate initially with the existing spaces, but Emory said they have also been approaching nearby property owners, including the city, about buying land for additional parking.
“We’re actively doing whatever we can to meet the parking requirements,” Emory told the board. “We want to do business in Troy, and we’ll do whatever we can to make it work.”
One of the group’s plans, however, sparked concern about the fate of Pawling Park, a small park at the corner of Pawling Avenue and Congress Street where a statue honoring the city’s first mayor, Col. Albert Pawling, was dedicated last spring. Members of the committee that made the statue a reality said Tuesday night they feared Collar City Brewing’s plan to add parking spaces on greenspace that is currently part of the park would endanger the statue.
Gary Pavlic, a Rensselaer County legislator and co- chairman of the statue committee, said the plan would result in the destruction of about half of the park to add just three parking spots. In addition, he said sculptor Patrick Piggott feared runoff from the new pavement would erode the base of the statue, while others feared a patron who had too much to drink crashing into the statue, which would sit adjacent to the lot.
explained to the board that when plans were being developed for the statue, church leaders agreed to allow the use of a piece of church property along with adjacent, city- owned land, to create the small park. Committee members were promised by church leaders, he continued, that when the church sold the property, that piece would be given to the city.
With that promise in hand, Pavlic explained, the group spent a significant amount of time and money to create the park. When committee members learned of the sale, however, Pavlic concluded, they also learned the church had reneged on its verbal agreement.
“Such beautif ication projects would not have happened without that verbal agreement,” he concluded.
The zoning board unanimously signed off on the parking variance, but not until Emory promised not to pave over the disputed greenspace.
“We’re not looking to be the bad guys,” Emory said. “If we can work out something, I’d love to work out something.”
Statue committee members expressed their appreciation for the gesture, but added hope that the group would live up to the deal the church made.
“We put a lot of time into this park,” said Adam Sanzone, the committee’s other co- chair and the man who initially proposed the statue. “We would love to see this greenspace given to the city, as was promised.”