Craft beer retail store gets approval from City Council

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, February 20, 2019

SALISBURY — The Salisbury City Council on Tuesday agreed to grant a special use permit for a downtown craft beer bottle shop to be located at 116 W. Innes St.

The shop would be the second location of Bottle & Can, owned by Shannon Bergland. The first location is in Asheboro. It’s a retail store that offers a selection of craft beer by the bottle and can and on draft. Before it can open, the shop also has to get approval from the ABC Board.

The Salisbury Planning Board gave its approval for the permit in January.

Council members on Tuesday got into a lengthy discussion about having a condition in the permit related to operating hours for the shop.

Bergland said she wants the shop to be a place customers have a drink and make a purchase, not a place for people to get drunk. The permit, though, is connected to the property and not the owner. Several council members were concerned whether the next owner would want to use the space as a nightclub and would not be required to go before the city.

Council members Karen Alexander and Brian Miller said they would like to have a time restriction on the special use permit.

The council, along with Bergland, decided the operating hours could not be extended past 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and past midnight Friday and Saturday. Though Bergland said the store would be closed an hour before those times, the times would allow for extended hours for a company holiday party or other special events, she said.

Rodney Queen, a Realtor, spoke on the impact the potential bottle shop would have on West Innes, saying he thinks it will be an asset to the street and will draw more people to the area.

In other business:

• The City Council on Tuesday heard from three nonprofit groups about their needs ahead of allocations from the Community Development Block Grant and HOME program.

For the 2019-20 fiscal year, the city is projected to receive a total of about $410,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for community development.

Krista Woolly, executive director of Community Care Clinic; Renee Bradshaw, executive director of the Family Crisis Council; and Sherry Smith, director of client services at Rowan Helping Ministries, advocated for their organizations and asked to be considered for block grant funding.

“I hope that you continue to help us help those that are most vulnerable,” Smith said, asking for $25,000 to be set aside for Rowan Helping Ministries and thanking the council for previous grant money.

The Community Development Block Grant can be used for housing, infrastructure and supporting some community service agencies, said Brian Hiatt, the city’s interim planning director.

With the HOME program, Hiatt said, funding has to be used for affordable housing, which includes rehabilitation of existing homes, constructing new housing and assisting with other types of housing that may come from the private sector.

The Community Development Block Grant is estimated to provide $271,203, and the HOME Program would provide $108,834. Hiatt said the numbers are estimates, and it’s possible the city may receive more money from the federal government.

The council did not take any action at the meeting.

• The council updated the Downtown Salisbury Revitalization Incentives Program to be no more than $99,364 — a decrease from the $142,204 awarded in July.

• The council agreed on a memorandum of understanding for a Vietnam Veteran memorial in City Park. The agreement would include the location and support of as much as $5,000 to raise the elevation of the memorial and enter into a partnership with the county regarding the memorial.

• The council moved the time of the next City Council meeting to 3 p.m. March 5 to accommodate a scheduling conflict.

• The council received a second-quarter financial report for fiscal year 2018-19.