Commission OKs bourbon warehouses as a permitted use on agricultural land
By JIM BROOKS & ELIJAH BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015, 9 p.m. — After a lengthy hearing Tuesday night, the Joint City-County Planning Commission of Nelson County approved a zoning amendment that allows distilled spirit warehouses to be built on sites zoned A-1 Agricultural.
Warehouses built under the new regulation would be required to meet the following regulations.
- Warehouses must be on a site of at least 100 acres;
- Warehouses are limited to traditional rack-supported warehouses;
- Warehouses will have sprinkler systems;
- The warehouses shall not have a footprint larger than 40,000 square feet, no taller than 60 feet tall, and shall be placed a minimum of 200 feet from property lines;
- Twenty-five percent of the site must be dedicated to agricultural use.
The question before the commission wasn’t if the warehouses would be allowed, but the manner in which the zoning regulation would change to allow them to exist in an agricultural setting.
The first version of the amendment allowed warehouses as a permitted use of land zoned A-1 Agriculture. The second version of the amendment allowed warehouses as conditional use.
Commission member Mike Zoeller said the difference between the amendments amounted to giving adjoining landowners an opportunity to have a voice when a warehouse project is planned on neighboring property.
Conditional use requires a public hearing, Zoeller explained, and the process gives adjoining landowners an opportunity to speak on a proposed project. If the warehouses are deemed a permitted use, neighboring landowners do not have an opportunity to speak.
Zoeller emphasized he supported the bourbon industry and didn’t disagree with placing warehouses in remote locations. He took issue with the commission changing the rules for a single industry, when other rules apply for the rest.
If warehouses are a permitted use, the planning commission has no say, he said. “We would never allow this for any other segment of the economy,” he said.
“Remember, 98 percent of the county is agricultural, and that’s an awfully large area to pick from to build warehouses,” he said.
Charles Howard, planning commission chairman, noted that making the warehouses a permitted use puts some teeth into the claim that Nelson County is the bourbon capital of the world.
“We can let the distillers and warehouses know that we are open for business for them.”
In June, Heaven Hill applied for a zoning change and conditional use permit for 174 acres in Cox’s Creek for a distilled spirits warehouse complex. The request to change the zoning from A-1 Agriculture to I-2 Heavy Industrial was later tabled by Heaven Hill in order to allow time for the approvals needed in the zoning regulations.
‘MOVE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.’ Bardstown attorney Jim Willett, representing Heaven Hill Brands, spoke in favor of the amendment. While both versions of the amendment were what he called “a positive move in the right direction,” Willett said the permitted use made sense given the restrictions added to the regulation.
The zoning amendment is needed because of the increased demand for Kentucky bourbon, he said. The permitted use language has sufficient restrictions and requirements to protect neighboring landowners, particularly the 100-acre minimum requirement.
The demand for premium bourbon means a greater need for bourbon warehouse space, he explained, and Heaven Hill is nearing exhaustion of its available space. The distillery needs to expand its warehouse capacity to meet current and future need.
Bourbon production in Kentucky has increased 170 percent since 1999, he said, and more than 5.6 million barrels now stored in Kentucky — much of that in Nelson County.
Overall, bourbon is a $3 billion industry in Kentucky that generates more than 15,400 jobs and an annual payroll of more than $700 million.
The proposed Heaven Hill complex will involved an initial $15 million investment, with up to $50 million invested overall. Heaven Hill currently employes about 413 people.
The project’s real importance is “in insuring the continued growth and vitality of the company and its current employment levels in Nelson County.”
Representatives from other local distilleries, including Willett Distillery, Beam Suntory, and Barton 1792 also attended the meeting, and Willett noted “their presence this evening underscores the importance of this amendment to this industry, which is an integral and important part of this community.”
Willett noted other Kentucky counties are interested in recruiting a distillery to locate their new new warehouse facilities in their communities.
Judge Executive Dean Watts spoke in favor of the amendment to make warehouses a permitted use in A-1 Agricultural districts.
Forty percent of Kentucky bourbon is stored in Nelson County, Watts said.
Whiskey warehouse are no more intrusive than large-scale chicken or hog operations which can be built in A-1 zoning areas, Watts explained.
At lease three local distilleries are considering adding up to 30 new warehouses in coming years, Watts said. Nelson County has a heritage of being the place to store Kentucky bourbon.
“I would rather for them to be in Nelson County than Washington County, Marion County or
Bullitt County.”
Stored distilled spirits generate substantial taxes that help the community — county government gets 37 cents for every barrel stored in the county; the school systems also get a share of the tax revenue.
“I live right across the street from 20-some warehouses and I see nothing intrusive about them,” Watts concluded.
MOLD CONCERNS. A property owner living less than a mile from the proposed Heaven Hill warehouse complex site voiced concerns about his house turning black from mold and if the warehouses will hurt his property values. “I don’t want my property values affected and I don’t want that black stuff on my house,” he said.
Watts said when he took office as judge-executive in 1994, he met with environmental officials about the black mold, which he learned is in the environment around us. Warehouses can attract mold due to the yeast involved in the process.
“This whole county, including Bloomfield and New Haven, have the same problem” with mold, he said. Watts said he was told by the EPA black mold presents no health hazard. It is more of problem that many homeowners have to deal with during regular exterior home maintenance all across Kentucky.
NEXT UP. The amendment — one of several approved Tuesday — will next go before local government bodies for final approval.
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