USA, NY: Threes Brewing East beer production facility site plan approved by Southold Town Planning Board

The Southold Town Planning Board on December 19 unanimously approved the site plan for a Threes Brewing East beer production facility in Cutchogue, Suffolk Times reported.

The Brooklyn-based brewery intends to lease a proposed steel building at the Cutchogue Business Center on Cox Lane for production purposes only. The company has a 1,000-square-foot production space in Brooklyn, but wanted to increase its space for barreling and bottling.

“I’m happy they finally approved our application,” Greg Doroski, a part owner of the business and Mattituck native, said after the board announced its determination. The next step for the brewery is to secure approval from the Suffolk County Department of Health.

“We’re hoping to break ground before it freezes,” Mr. Doroski said. “We’re obviously much more delayed than we hoped we would be. It’s still kind of frustrating that we had to wait eight months and spend tens of thousands of dollars for an application that seemed like it should have been approved right off the bat.”

The approved site plan application calls for the construction of a 6,500-square-foot building for production, office space and storage. The plans do not include a spot for tasting or sales.

At a public hearing in September, Cutchogue residents raised concerns that the production-only facility would become open to the public and create traffic on Oregon Road.

“From the beginning, the application, as we told people, if you look at our layout, there’s no place for a tasting room,” Mr. Doroski said.

Mr. Doroski had also expressed concern about a moratorium on new winery, brewery and distillery applications suggested by Southold Supervisor Scott Russell.

“It seemed like everyone was much more cautious moving this application forward,” he said. “I realize the Planning Board and planning department have to do their job. It just seems like the process itself could be cleaned up so applications that are clearly allowed within the existing code are allowed to move forward.”

19 December, 2016