USA, NC: Plans for microbrewery near Kings Mountain under county review

Plans for a microbrewery near Kings Mountain have stalled after county commissioners voted to send the issue back to the planning department for further review, the Shelby Star reported on June 13.

The plans attracted some attention from residents in the neighborhood, which is located on Stony Point Road, and several spoke out against the plans during a recent meeting of county commissioners.

Commissioners first discussed amending the county’s unified development ordinance definitions to allow microbreweries as a permitted use in the rural agricultural district.

Currently, they’re only allowed in the heavy industrial district.

This amendment, if approved, will define and separate microbreweries from the beverage and tobacco product manufacturing category and allow them in the rural agriculture district with a zoning permit.

The planning board voted unanimously to recommend approval and determined that the use of a microbrewery in the rural agriculture district was consistent with similar uses of a winery and distillery, which are already permitted in the rural agricultural district.

A microbrewery is defined as primarily engaged in the production of less than 15,000 barrels of beer per year and may include on-site beverage and food services.

Even if the text amendment was approved, commissioners would still need to vote and approve a rezoning request to change the current zoning from residential to rural agricultural before the microbrewery could move forward.

Phillip and his wife, Jillian Hidy, made the request and described some of their plans for the property, which has previously been farmland.

Phillip Hidy said they are trying to create something unique and keep the farm vibe. They hope to create a barn-style brewery of a maximum of 10,000 square feet.

He said his wife is involved in animal rescue, and they hope to incorporate that into their plans for the property.

“One of our primary goals is to set up the parcel as an animal rescue,” Hidy said.

They want to continue to farm and have cows, sheep and goats as well as host dog adoption events. He said the brewery is secondary to the rescue, and they have pretty modest goals, which include production of around 500 barrels of beer during the first year. He said they don’t plan to distribute their beer.

“We’re planning to only have beers consumed on-site,” he said.

Hidy said the third goal is to have an event space set up, and they already have a barn on the land and hope to turn it into a wedding venue space.

“We’re trying to keep the rural vibe, farm vibe,” he said.

Potential business hours would be from noon to 8 p.m. and closed Monday and Tuesday.

“We’re trying to make this similar to wineries, like Veronet,” Hidy said.

He said it will be a family friendly place where people can enjoy a beer and visit with the animals.

“This is why we proposed to add it to the district wineries are in, because we’re proposing to do the same thing,” he said.

He said they have plans to move into the house on the land and will be residents there.

Some of the opposition voiced concerns about additional traffic on Stony Point Road, dangerous driving, and questioned why a brewery would want to locate in a rural area instead of a town or city.

Commissioners voted to send the text amendment back to planning staff to review and postponed the case until the August meeting.

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