Door opening to more brew pubs after Edmonton slashes red tape

Red tape has been cleared, which means Edmontonians will soon be able to quaff a couple in more parts of town. City council’s Urban Planning Committee did it as a favour to fans of drinking establishments.

“We’ve opened up the opportunities and zoning opportunities for small microbreweries and micro-distilleries so that they can now operate in more kinds of zones than they would have been able to operate in before,” Coun. Ben Henderson said.

“In the past, they were really limited to industrial zones and this allows it to mix in to commercial and other zones and do so in a way that comes up with a set of rules that makes sure they’re a good news story and they’re not creating nuisance.”

There’s no word yet on where these places will pop up to allow you to pour a cold one, but that should become apparent after city council looks at the plan at a public hearing.

“This is about land use from our point of view,” Henderson said. “The liquor laws are the liquor laws are the liquor laws, and some of our liquor laws in this province are archaic beyond belief.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is about land use from our point of view," Henderson said. "The liquor laws are the liquor laws are the liquor laws, and some of our liquor laws in this province are archaic beyond belief."

But he said the province is working on that.

READ MORE: Liquor taxes go up, but Alberta ‘shifts the beer playing field’ 

“I think we’ve lost some opportunities and hopefully this will make it possible for us to be more adaptable and allow creative ideas to go forward with out creating problems,” Henderson said.

Problems did exist where any thought of making the product was shunted off to only one part of town; anything that’s zoned industrial. Henderson said it led to business, and the dollars and employment they bring, leaving town.

WATCH: New regulations for Alberta beer

“I remember when Amber Brewing was looking to move when they had to come out of the area that was industrial, and they just weren’t able to find another place to go and as a result we lost them because they wanted to stay in the area.

“I think they also wanted to do some stuff in terms of their public space and their ability to use that space and make it available to people that our zoning just didn’t allow for at the time.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think they also wanted to do some stuff in terms of their public space and their ability to use that space and make it available to people that our zoning just didn't allow for at the time."

Now the product that’s manufactured on site can be sampled, and eventually enjoyed with a meal.

READ MORE: Alberta sees craft brewery boom in last 2 years

“They could still have a tasting room, there is a little of a mix of what actually happens. They’re probably not purely breweries; they might have a little restaurant. There might be other things in there and that’s why we needed to be careful if we were putting them in other zones that there was some regulation around that.”

The improved zoning will happen once things are passed by city council at a public hearing later this year.

Opportunities for microbreweries, distilleries and wineries by Anonymous TdomnV9OD4 on Scribd