Newport planners begin work on allowing brewery tasting rooms

Newport Beach planners will begin drafting a new city zoning code that would allow tasting rooms at craft breweries.

The potential change comes after Costa Mesa-born Gunwhale Ales approached Newport Beach city staff proposing a manufacturing and retail location for its “coastal ales” concept, and could open the door for similarly appointed microbreweries plus craft wineries and distilleries.

The change would specifically open up Newport’s industrial area, which already allows beer manufacturing under the umbrella of “food processing,” to allow those breweries to have small attached tasting rooms.

The city Planning Commission voted 6-0 on Thursday, with Commissioner Lauren Kleiman absent, to move ahead with the zoning code amendment.

Planner Jim Campbell said beer manufacturing and onsite consumption are allowed in areas zoned for restaurants such as Newport Beach Brewing Co., which has a full bar and menu at its Newport Boulevard location. But in industrial areas, like the one where Gunwhale hopes to stake its claim, onsite tasting rooms aren’t allowed.

City staff and Gunwhale officials have said that modern microbreweries depend on tasting rooms as an important business component.

“They do produce beer from raw ingredients,” Campbell told the commission. “They cook it, they ferment it, they condition it, they bottle it, they can it, they fill kegs, they do all of that through an industrial operation, and they sell most of their beer wholesale to restaurants, bars and retail establishments. But they do have taprooms, or tasting rooms.”

Gunwhale’s partners submitted a letter to the city of Newport Beach last month proposing a brewery with a tasting room in an industrial pocket of west Newport around 16th Street and Placentia Avenue, near the Costa Mesa line. They have identified a few properties in the area that they could convert to a production brewery with a small space for selling beer for onsite consumption or packaged to buy and take away.

Two of Gunwhale’s three founders live in Newport Heights, and the trio told the city it hopes to make Newport its primary facility.

Campbell told the commission that tasting rooms can sell full pints and schooners and can resemble a typical bar, some with food, games, TVs, live entertainment and late hours. Those variations can depend on local regulations, he said.

Newport’s potential code amendment would allow breweries with tasting rooms, subject to review on a case-by-case basis, with some regulations on building size, hours of operation, provision of food service and parking. Changes will need further Planning Commission review before being finalized by the City Council. The process could take about four to six months, Campbell said.

Commissioner Kory Kramer suggested the updated code also allow tasting rooms for wineries, and Erik Weigand suggested it cover craft distilleries.

Commissioner Bill Dunlap said craft brewing is a burgeoning industry in the area, with Costa Mesa approving its fifth and sixth microbreweries last month. Gunwhale was Costa Mesa’s second locally based brewery when it opened its first location at 2960 Randolph Ave. less than a year ago.

Dunlap said Anaheim is probably leading the way in Orange County with the industry, with a city staffer designated as a “beer planner.”

“It’s something that’s coming,” he said. “I think we need to address it.”

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