NORTHBOROUGH – The Northborough Planning Board is finalizing the details of a series of proposed bylaws as this year’s Annual Town Meeting approaches.
One of the bylaws potentially heading to Town Meeting would allow for the development of breweries in Northborough. It would further define different kinds of breweries and related businesses for zoning purposes.
The bylaw was proposed by Planning Board member Amy Poretsky.
“I’m bringing it forward because there are a lot of towns in the local area that have breweries,” Poretsky said during a presentation to the Zoning Board of Appeals on Jan. 18. “So, I wanted to add it to our bylaws.”
Planning Board member consulted with neighboring communities
According to her presentation, a craft brewery or microbrewery is a brewery that produces small amounts of beer. These are often independently owned, and many serve a small selection of food.
A brewery needs federal, state and local licenses to be licensed.
Poretsky said she has talked with officials in other towns in the area that have breweries — including Hudson, Grafton, Hopkinton, Shrewsbury and Westborough — discussing how they implemented breweries into their bylaws.
Officials from all of the towns that she spoke with mentioned that they had minimal complaints, according to Poretsky.
The only issue Westborough found was in regards to parking, she said.
“They said, ‘Don’t overthink it,’” Poretsky recalled.
Poretsky presented a number of examples, including Start Line Brewing Company in Hopkinton, Medusa Brewing Company in Hudson, Cold Harbor Brewing in Westborough and Stone Cow Brewery in Barre.
“What I find with breweries is it’s not just all beer,” she said. “They run a lot of activities.”
For example, Cold Harbor and Medusa have offered yoga, while Stone Cow has even became “Snow Cow,” at times, and advertised sledding.
“They have a lot of outdoor dining, which was great during COVID,” Poretsky said of breweries. “Many grow their own hops and their own herbs. A lot of them have amazing food. It’s not just a brewery where people stand around and drink.”
Bylaw would include definitions
She recommended defining breweries in the town’s bylaws and adding them to the town’s use table, using definitions that are similar to the ones used by Westborough, Shrewsbury and Grafton.
That would include definitions for brewpubs, nanobreweries, microbreweries and breweries as well as distilleries, wineries and tasting rooms.
A microbrewery, specifically, is defined as producing a capacity of not more than 15,000 barrels a year, while a nanobrewery is often defined as producing under 6,000 barrels.
A brewpub, combining a brewery and pub, is a restaurant that brews its own beer on the premises.
Nanobreweries could be allowed in the same districts as restaurants, as could brewpubs.
Microbreweries, meanwhile, could also be allowed where restaurants are allowed with the exception of the downtown business district. That’s because Poretsky said there aren’t many large parcels left in that area.
Zoning Board of Appeals member Fran Bakstran voiced her support for the zoning plan.
“Like Amy, I have frequented many of these and I do think it’s a good idea,” Bakstran said.
Town meeting approaches
The Planning Board has been reviewing and finalizing the language in its bylaws with the help of town staff and Northborough’s attorney David Doneski. This process continued, most recently during its March 1 meeting.
Planning Board Chair Kerri Martinek is scheduled to present Town Meeting zoning articles during a Board of Selectmen meeting tonight.
The selectmen may vote to close the warrant at that time.
The Planning Board is also scheduled to continue discussing its articles during a meeting tomorrow.
Town Meeting is scheduled for April 25.
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