Big Win For West Hartford Craft Brewers

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Those who like to imbibe fancy, intoxicating libations can raise their glasses to the West Hartford Town Council, which has approved a new ordinance aiding such establishments in town.

At their last meeting, the council voted 8-0 in support of a new ordinance that supports the establishment of locally-made beverage producers, such as craft beer brewers, without requiring them to serve food and allowing them to serve alcoholic beverages from other sellers in the state.

The new ordinance, which was approved Sept. 26, permits the sale of alcoholic liquor via Connecticut Craft Café Permits, which are allowed in certain zoning districts.

Relatively new, such permits were created by the state Department of Consumer Protection's Liquor Control Division to aid retailers of locally manufactured spirits, beers, wines, cider and mead.

"This is a relatively straightforward ordinance that seeks to amend our current zoning standards which authorizes certain classes of liquor permits to be issued under a zoning permit endorsement by the zoning officer based on a relatively new class of permit," said West Hartford Town Planner Dumais at a public hearing on the ordinance.

Essentially, the permit allows for retail operations serving such beverages to operate in town without serving food and/or hot meals.

It paves the way for microbreweries and other spirits operations, which are seen as an important tool in a community's economic growth.

In technical terms, the ordinance is a rewrite of an existing piece of local rules and includes the "Connecticut Craft Café Permit" language in the body of West Hartford regulations.

Both the West Hartford Plan and Zoning Commission and the Capital Region Council of Governments endorsed the new ordinance.

Also endorsing the ordinance was the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce, which said one local brewer — WeHa Brewing & Roasting on Shield Street — will benefit from the ordinance after it raised the issue with the town and chamber earlier this year.

WeHa Brewing & Roasting specializes in locally made craft beers and coffee.

"The West Hartford Chamber believes this would be good for West Hartford businesses such as WeH Brewing & Roasting by allowing them to offer a wider portfolio of choices to their customers," West Hartford Chamber Director and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Conway said at the hearing. "Combined, this would be a strong economic driver."

WeHa Brewing & Roasters Owner Cody McCormack told the council his operation, prior to the ordinance, was at a "competitive disadvantage" because folks could go to a local brewery and sample the beers in towns that adopted similar ordinances already and purchase a more diversified stock of products.

Council support was bipartisan.

"For businesses that want to compete and need to compete, this promotes Connecticut businesses in a way that allows them to do that," Democratic West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor said prior to the vote. "So I am thrilled with this. We have a lot of wonderful small businesses in our state and, surely, in West Hartford."

"This is a step in the right direction," added GOP West Hartford Councilman Alberto Corte. "It gives our businesses a fair chance and it shows our support for small businesses. This is something I look forward to seeing come together."

For the minutes of the Sept. 26 West Hartford Town Council meeting, click on this link.

From Aug. 24: 'WeHa Mulls Legalizing Local Beer, Spirit Operations'