Homebrewer Seeks Approval For Village Tasting Room
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The yet-to-open Six Harbors Brewing Company is located at 243 New York Ave., Huntington village. Long Islander News photo/Andrew Wroblewski
By Andrew Wroblewski
awroblewski@longislandergroup.com
A Huntington homebrewer’s plan to open the village’s first brewery and tasting room is set to go back before the town’s zoning board tonight.
Mark Heuwetter, co-founder with his wife Karen of Six Harbors Brewing Company, has already gotten the board’s approval to open a 422-square-foot brewery and sell beer for off-site consumption.
He also wants to serve the beer in a 1,092-square-foot tasting room, but needs further approval, including from the zoning board.
The board previously raised concerns over parking and asked for an additional traffic study to be completed.
Huntington-based attorney Michael McCarthy, who is representing Heuwetter, said Wednesday the study was conducted by RMS Engineering, which looked at four other microbreweries, including Sand City Brewing Co. in Northport Village.
The study found that the Six Harbors site has enough parking – 13 on-site, and five street stalls – to satisfy peek demands of similarly-sized breweries, McCarthy said.
The Six Harbors building spans 2,533-square-feet of the 13,387-square-foot parcel at 243 New York Ave., next to Burger King.
Parking requirements, per town code, could vary depending on the zoning board’s assessment of the brewery’s use.
Board Chairman Chris Modelewski previously said the board would weigh whether it’s considered “retail” or a “bar/tavern.” The latter assessment would significantly up parking requirements and require board approval of a parking variance.
McCarthy said, in some instances, he views breweries in a similar light as bakeries, where patrons stop by to taste a product, buy it and then leave.
“It’s not like a bar where you’re there for several hours,” he added.
Tonight’s hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Huntington Town Hall (100 Main St.).
A similar, sudsy situation in Northport Village
Another Northport Village-based brewery, Harbor Head Brewing Company, went through a similar opening process last year. The brewery first opened in late May 2017, but only with village approval to sell beer for off-site consumption. Then, in December, the village zoning board granted approval for Harbor Head to serve beer for on-site consumption in its sampling room, which has been open on weekends for the past month.
