Blueprint Brewing makes case for zoning change

A planned brewery to be built in a warehouse in Towamencin is moving closer, and could receive two key approvals next month.

“We’ll try to do those simultaneously, so they can keep the project moving along,” said supervisors Chairman Chuck Wilson.

The co-owners of Blueprint Brewing Company first announced plans in April to convert roughly 6,400 square feet within an industrial building on Gehman Road into a brewing and testing space, with a seating and serving area surrounded by taps for beer to be served onsite, and at least one food truck to be stationed outside.

Co-owners Cory McDonald and Jason Scholl gave the supervisors an update Wednesday night, as they made their case for a zoning amendment the brewery will need to be able to operate in the township’s limited industrial district.

“Our position all along has been, we are certainly the first people to come with this idea to the township, and there will be additional applicants that will want to use this district,” said McDonald.

Under current codes, manufacturing and distribution of beverages is allowed by-right, but the Blueprint team is requesting that retail sales and provision of prepared foods also be allowed in that district. Both the township and Montgomery County planning commissions have vetted and support that change, according to Wilson and township Manager Rob Ford, but the board suggested a procedural change that could speed up the brewery’s approval process.

“They need the zoning amendment, and what we suggested to them was we make that use, instead of by-right, make it by condition, at which time the board can approve that use with certain conditions,” Wilson said.

“We don’t necessarily see that as an issue with this project, but because that zoning change affects the whole district, we could have an application in the future” that would be impacted, he said.

A zoning change would require a public hearing be held by the board, and the project will also need conditional use approval by the board, so the supervisors suggested both could be handled at the same time, during the board’s Aug. 23 meeting.

“The conditional use would require us to have a public hearing and let residents come in, and hear any concerns, and set any conditions to deal with those concerns,” Wilson said.

“The zoning change affects the whole LI district, so whereas there aren’t any residential neighborhoods where their facility is, down the road you could have those,” he said.

Since the brewery project is not changing the footprint of the building that will be occupied, a formal land development application isn’t necessary; the Blueprint owners said they may consider dedicated outdoor seating areas in the future, but want to focus on the interior first.

“If they’re doing stuff outside, technically it could be, but it’s a very minor thing. So as of now it’s not a land development; it’s just a zoning change that’s required, because of the proposed use,” Wilson sad.

Supervisor David Mosesso said he baked the projected, but was worried it could attract a crowd that would need an extra police presence.

“I wouldn’t like to see this location end up as what could become a neighborhood bar, where people go after work, where the wrong kind of element could end up being there,” Mosesso

“We want this to be a place, not only for our own families, but for the other families in the township to hang out,” McDonald answered.

“At the end of the day, if we’re a family establishment and the wrong sort of element starts to show up, we’ll close our doors and go straight to manufacturing. That’s not what we’re about, that’s not what we want to create,” he said.

Supervisor Jim Sinz asked which food truck or trucks the Blueprint team is considering, and Scholl said “all of them — my phone is burning up” from vendors interested in setting up there.

“It’s good for us: it lessens our overhead, we have no kitchen, and none of that red tape,” he said.

Mosesso also asked if the interior would include a play area for parents to bring their kids, and Scholl and McDonald said their plans include a 20-foot-by10-foot play area, which their wives are helping design, and which all three coowners plan to have their young children use.

“We’ll have a TV on the Disney channel, we’ve got a chalkboard wall we’re planning, there will be plenty of things for them to do,” McDonald said.

“As a father of young children, I have about two places we can go to every week. I want to be able to give people the opportunity to do something besides those two places,” he said.

Scholl and McDonald said afterward their state approvals are nearly complete, and the township approval process should be the final hurdles they need to clear.

“Construction should take a few weeks, so hopefully once they give us this, we’re ready to go,” said Scholl.