The Grapevine City Council unanimously approved changes to the city's brewery permit structure to allow on-premise consumption of craft beers at breweries Tuesday, and that is moving a local brewery project forward.
Changes fall in line with alterations to state rules governing craft breweries, Grapevine Assistant Development Director Ron Stombaugh said. Grapevine first discussed the item in a public meeting in May, and Grapevine Craft Brewery announced at the time it was planning a taproom facility as part of an upgraded development project for its upcoming Jean Street brewery.
Gary Humble, CEO of Grapevine Craft Brewery, said the company would move ahead with its plan to create a 10,000-square-foot facility on Jean Street after May's meeting, and Tuesday night's approvals move that forward further.
Humble said the development will include a tasting room on-site, and with the increase in its footprint comes additional parking that will help the company exceed its initially expected needs.
"We'll be able to have somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 parking spaces," Humble said. "That's great, because it's going to be more than we need from that space."
Grapevine Craft Brewery is preparing a set of plans to submit to the Grapevine Planning and Zoning Commission, and Humble expects his facility to break ground this September if the approval process with the city moves smoothly.
"If that gets the thumbs-up, that should put us in construction and give us a January 2015 move-in date," Humble said.
The city's permit structure change makes him excited for the future, he said.
"I love it," Humble said. "I think it's good for the market. Part of me realizes that opens the door for the potential for competition, but there's only going to be one Grapevine Craft Brewery. The city made a commitment to craft beer with Main Street Days, and I'm happy to see them follow that up with allowing craft beer to grow and flourish within the city limits of Grapevine. I think what we're doing is going to be an incredibly valuable piece of downtown Grapevine."