Court votes 4-1 to temporarily stop zoning approvals for bourbon-related projects

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Friday, April 14, 2023 — With a room packed with representatives of the bourbon industry, Nelson Fiscal Court approved a 90-day moratorium on any distillery or bourbon-related project that isn’t currently already underway or currently properly zoned.

According to Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins, the moratorium will give the planning and zoning office — and fiscal court — an opportunity to review the existing ordinances dealing with the bourbon industry.

The moratorium states that the “increase in distilleries and distilled spirits storage facilities have resulted in a loss of prime agricultural land, [and] has detrimental effects on public health, safety and welfare of our citizens.”

The moratorium directs the planning commission to review and adopt regulations that allow the bourbon industry to thrive and at the same time, “protect prime agricultural land, [and] protect the public health.”

The moratorium stops action by planning and zoning, the board of adjustments, and the planning office on any distillery-related project not currently approved, part of an Industrial Revenue Bond issue, or already zoned industrial property.

AG ZONING CHANGES CIRCA 2015. In 2015, the planning commission voted to add bourbon warehouses as an approved use of land zoned agricultural on tracts of at least 100 acres in size. The changes also added restrictions on the warehouse sizes as well as other requirements.

The change was made after Heaven Hill Distillery asked to rezone 174 acres off Louisville Road from agriculture to I-2, heavy industry, which was the proper zoning classification for bourbon warehouses.

Rather than change the zoning classification of a large tract of farmland to heavy industry in a rural area, the planning commission moved to allow the warehouses to be a permitted use in an agricultural-zoned tract of land.

The change meant that the warehouses could be built on large tracts without a zoning change or public hearing. A later zoning change allowed smaller distilleries to place warehouses on tracts of 50 acres and more under the conditional use permit process.

MAYOR SUPPORT. Hutchins read a letter of support for the moratorium he received from Bardstown Mayor Dick Heaton into the record, drawing objections from Magistrate Keith Metcalfe.

Metcalfe argued that the mayor’s letter amounted to public input, and the audience was full of bourbon company representatives who wished to speak. He reminded Hutchins of his campaign promise of transparency.

County Attorney Chip McKay suggested to Metcafle that he could make a motion to table the first reading of the moratorium until next Tuesday’s meeting, which will allow public comment.

Metcalfe was also critical of the last-minute changes to the wording of the final version of the moratorium. The magistrates received three different versions of the moratorium before the meeting started more than five minutes late.

Heaton’s letter noted that Nelson County is at a crossroads when it comes to land use issues. The city and county have been trying to locate suitable industrial land for nearly three years without success. Heaton’s letter said the community needs to balance and diversify land use while allowing enough flexibility for the bourbon industry to continue to grow.

Hutchins denied an industry representative’s request to speak to the court, noting that the meeting agenda did not include a public comment period. He said that because the meeting was a special meeting, only topics on the agenda can be discussed.

The court voted 4-1 to approve the first reading of the 90-day moratorium, with Metcalfe voting against the measure.

In an on-camera interview with WAVE TV, Hutchins denied that the moratorium was “payback” or retribution for the General Assembly’s recent passage of legislation removing the barrel tax from distilled spirits aging in the county.

After the meeting, several members of the county’s bourbon industry voiced disappointment regarding the moratorium, and several took time to talk with Hutchins and magistrates once the meeting adjourned.

NEXT UP. Fiscal court next meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

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