Planning Commission debates where breweries, distilleries and tasting rooms should be allowed

Planning staff returned to the Lakewood Planning Commission with a second review of proposed zoning and definition changes for breweries, distilleries, tasting rooms and eating-and-drinking establishments after City Council requested more detailed discussion about where such uses should be allowed. Staff said the draft updates replace older terms (such as “brewery production” and “small craft distillery”) with definitions aligned with state licensing and regulatory practice, add parking standards tied to production uses, and propose allowing breweries broadly from NC-1 through Industrial-2 zones; wine production facilities would remain concentrated in industrial zones. The key open question for the commission, staff said, is whether bars and taverns should be allowed in Neighborhood Commercial zones and the Transit-Oriented Commercial (TOC) station-district subarea, or remain limited to the Central Business District (CBD) and other commercial/industrial zones. “What we can regulate at a local level is really the allowed use and where it is appropriate in certain zones,” Angie Silva, assistant director for Planning & Public Works, told the commission while explaining state licensing sits with the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Control Board and local government regulates land use. Commissioners expressed a range of views. Commissioner Lynn Larson said the proposal “looks to be really, really well thought through” and recommended treating bars and taverns as a permitted use in the CBD while keeping other types as conditional uses. Several commissioners favored permitting tasting rooms and production-related uses more broadly — including in industrial and downtown zones — while reserving bars and taverns for a conditional-use review in neighborhood areas to allow neighborhood input and mitigation of adverse impacts. Multiple commissioners also underscored the distinction between a tasting room or brewery production with retail and a bar or tavern that sells alcohol primarily for on-site consumption; staff agreed to refine definitions and bring back clearer examples. Staff also agreed to return with a more detailed packet, maps and real-world examples and to provide the materials at least a week in advance of the next discussion. The commission did not take a formal recommendation or vote; staff proposed returning with revised materials for the October 15 meeting and to schedule public hearings later in the process.