Newport council could allow alcohol tasting rooms in industrial area

More alcoholic beverage manufacturers in Newport Beach could let customers drink their products where they’re made under a new city zoning code the Planning Commission green-lighted Thursday.

The potential expansion specifically would allow craft breweries, wineries and distilleries in the industrial area on Newport’s west side to have small rooms for onsite consumption.

The code amendment will go to the City Council for final approval.

Beverage 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 the city’s industrial area around 16th Street and Placentia Avenue, where alcoholic beverage manufacturing is allowed under “food processing,” onsite tasting rooms aren’t allowed.

The proposed rule would allow tasting rooms up to 750 square feet and outdoor patios up to 1,000 square feet, with hours limited to 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., subject to review on a case-by-case basis. Food and entertainment also would be allowed, but the idea would be for the tasting rooms to be accessory uses, not to transform the businesses into restaurants or nightclubs, city staff said.

The potential change comes after Costa Mesa’s Gunwhale Ales approached Newport Beach last fall proposing a manufacturing and retail location for its “coastal ales” concept in the industrial zone. City staff and Gunwhale officials have said tasting rooms are an important business component for modern microbreweries.

Richard Allred, who owns the clothing and lifestyle brand Toes on the Nose and its facility on Monrovia Avenue, welcomed the idea of tasting rooms as social spots in his neighborhood, which he said has been diversifying lately with the addition of housing.

“It’s really turned into a live-work environment over there,” he said.

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