Hot off a victory from their last council appearance where they were granted a necessary approval to serve food, Furnace Room Brewery (FRB) returned to council July 4 with another ask.
The local business requested that council support a patio at the brewery with live music under the Town’s Al Fresco in the Hills program, and endorse their application to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) for a “By the Glass” licence, which would allow them to serve full pint-sized drinks. Both requests were granted.
For owner Mike Dykstra, running his business has been a balancing act. He learned fairly recently that FRB had been operating under the wrong licence. The manufacturer’s licence the establishment had only permitted samples of FRB’s beer, which is brewed on site. Dykstra and his team has been trying to acquire the correct licence from the AGCO ever since.
Neighbours have also expressed concerns about the business. FRB, located at 1 Elgin St. in Georgetown, is in close proximity to several residential homes. Noise complaints were made to police and the Town’s bylaw enforcement. Bylaw had found some compliance violations. Dykstra has been making efforts to liaise with some of the neighbours.
“I know there were some concerns from area residents brought about last time,” Dykstra said, referring to residents delegating at the May 24 council meeting. “We actually proactively canvassed the neighbourhood to see what surrounding residents thought of this.”
Local resident Cheryl Sim was one of the delegates who express reservations about granting the licence to FRB.
“Yes, there are some neighbours who agree with the operations and there are also some neighbours that don’t,” Sim told council at the July 4 meeting.
She called for the granting of a risk-based licence - a permit by the AGCO that places restrictions on businesses so as to minimize risk to public safety.
“So this will actually alleviate any Town problems in monitoring. Because right now we are talking about the noise levels, and how do you put it on paper? But the AGCO already has that guideline. It’s a proper liquor licence,” she said.
“The AGCO does not issue risked-based licences to manufacturers, which is why we could not go down that route,” Town Clerk Valerie Petryniak said in response.
After some deliberation, Dykstra’s request for a temporary patio under the Al Fresco program was added onto the original motion about the AGCO licence. The program was launched in 2020 in response to the closure of indoor dining in restaurants during the pandemic. It's meant to be a temporary allowance and the program will end for the year on Oct. 1.
FRB will be allowed to operate the patio until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturday, and 6 p.m. on Sundays. Live music will be permitted until 5 p.m. Friday to Sunday.
Dykstra is also in talks with Metrolinx about temporarily renting 16 parking spaces from them during off-peak times (Friday afternoon to Sunday early evening). FRB is just a few metres across the street from Georgetown GO station.
