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Lakewood council adopts 2025 development regulations package, removes brewery/tasting-room change
Summary
Council voted to adopt Ordinance 833 updating multiple municipal code titles for 2025 development regulations but removed amendment 6, which would have changed brewery/tasting‑room and bar/tavern land‑use treatment after extended debate.
On Aug. 18 the Lakewood City Council adopted Ordinance 8-33, a package of 2025 development-regulation amendments affecting multiple chapters of the Lakewood Municipal Code, after debate over how tasting rooms, breweries and bars should be defined and authorized in downtown and other commercial zones.
Tiffany Spear, the city’s planning manager, summarized the amendments and answered council questions about director interpretations, permit portal access, and specific language changes. She explained that a “formal interpretation” by the department carries a $250 fee and is published for future reference, while an “informal interpretation” is project-specific and handled without fee.
Amendment 6, as proposed in the packet, would have consolidated tasting-room and brewery permissions and adjusted how bars and taverns are allowed in the Central Business District (CBD) and other commercial zones. Council members raised concerns about conflating tasting rooms and traditional bars and taverns, and whether the CBD should treat those uses as permitted or conditional. Councilmember Pearson and others argued tasting rooms are a distinct, lower‑intensity use and urged retaining a separate tasting‑room authorization. After extended discussion the council voted to remove amendment 6 from Ordinance 8-33.
The sequence of formal actions recorded in the meeting transcript: a motion to adopt Ordinance 8-33 was made and seconded; an earlier proposed amendment to expand the bar/tavern permitted locations failed on a voice vote; Councilmember Brandstetter subsequently moved and the council approved an oral amendment to delete amendment 6 from the ordinance package. The council then adopted Ordinance 8-33 as amended (with amendment 6 removed).
Planning staff advised the council that keeping a distinct tasting-room line in the land-use table would preserve a separate regulatory path for tasting rooms, and that further refinements could be sent back to the Planning Commission if the council wanted a more detailed reworking. Tiffany Spear said the ordinance language largely mirrors definitions used by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.
No changes to the city’s fee schedule or immediate permit approvals were enacted beyond adoption of the ordinance package; the Council and staff discussed sending the tasting-room topic back to the Planning Commission for a more deliberate subsequent review if the council wishes further refinements.
Ordinance adopted: Ordinance No. 8-33, 2025 amendments to Lakewood Municipal Code (titles 1, 2, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18A, 18B and 18C), adopted Aug. 18, 2025 (amendment 6 removed).
