Review Bainbridge Island
FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2014 | Vol. 114, No. 15 | www.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.com | 75¢
Cheers!
A new addition to Bainbridge beer culture
Council rejects call for public vote on marijuana growing BY CECILIA GARZA Bainbridge Island Review
Cecilia Garza | Bainbridge Island Review
Part-owner of the Ale House on Winslow, Travis Samson describes where a mobile L-shaped bar will be set up during the summer on the bar’s rooftop patio.
Ale House on Winslow to open this summer BY CECILIA GARZA Bainbridge Island Review
Sixteen taps and an additional 20- to 30-bottle beer selection. A rooftop patio in the summer and cozy haven in the winter. Communal seating in the front and booths in the back. In a few short months, Ale House on Winslow will become the new over-21 hangout and a corner for beer lovers and beer enjoyers. “It’ll be a pretty unique beer experience for the island and for Seattle in general,” said part-owner Travis Samson. “We’re hoping to make it kind of a landmark in the state for having great beer.” Located next door to the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Ale House on Winslow is expected to be the ultimate beer sampler. Whether it’s an unfamiliar
Image courtesy of 2atara Design.Build
Ale House on Winslow is located next door to the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art and is projected to open by late June. craft beer brewed at an up-andcoming brewery in Seattle or a trusty Rainier, Samson said, the alehouse will find something you like. “A lot of guys don’t drink craft beer,” Samson said. “My philosophy has always been, any body in the world, unless you’re allergic, I can find a beer that you’ll like and we’ll have
it.” Samson is a longtime brewer. After spending most of his college career as a home brewer, he entered the Master Brewer Program at the World Brewing Academy. This took him first to the Siebel Institute in Chicago then to the Doemens Academy in Munich, Germany. When he returned from brewing school in 2012, it wasn’t long before he joined Silver City Brewery’s crew of brewers. That was his working life up until six months ago when he was approached by college friend Michael Camden and Zach Eller. “The guys literally approached me at the brewery,” Samson said. “They were like, ‘Hey, do you mind giving turn to ale house | A20
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The Bainbridge Island City Council passed Monday on the idea of having a public vote to decide where marijuanagrowing businesses should be located. Still, council members said the decisions they face on creating rules for legal pot are difficult, and they need more time to discuss potential regulations before scheduling a public hearing. The council began wrestling this week with recommendations made by the city’s Planning Commission for new marijuana regulations. Late last month, the commission approved by a slim 4-3 vote proposed rules that would allow marijuana growing in one type of residential zone on the island. In response to public feedback, though, the council voted this week to continue the discussion at its next study session before scheduling a final public hearing. “I’m conflicted in terms of the difference between a formal vote where people said they want to legalize marijuana and the comments that we’re receiving that said, ‘Not in my backyard,’” said Councilman Steve Bonkowski. The commission’s conditions for marijuana-growing businesses on Bainbridge limit such production to Residential-0.4 zoned property (which allows one home on 2.5 acres) and on a minimum lot size of one acre. The production area will also be limited to 2,000 square feet of plant canopy or 15 to 20 plants. Growing, the commissioners decided, must also be done outdoors or in greenhouses. The remaining three conditions forwarded by the commission follow state-mandated conditions, which include setbacks, buffers and screening for grow areas, and a site plan review and city permit. During Monday’s council meeting, Bonkowski said that while the community did vote to legalize marijuana, they did not get a chance to vote where marijuana businesses should be put. Because of this, he said the way the ordinance is currently written may benefit from a community vote before
MORE INSIDE Planning commission issues dissenting report on proposed pot rules: A10 the council moves forward. An advisory ballot measure, however, would push the process for approving marijuana business regulations into next fall during the November election period and further stall business applicants. “I’m not suggesting that it’s an easy decision or that I’ve made up my mind,” said Councilman Val Tollefson in response to Bonkowski’s concerns. “But my view is that this [decision] is our job,” he said. Mayor Anne Blair agreed. “I think this is hard, and it is exactly why we were elected,” Blair said. “I don’t think that we get to choose not to deal with something that’s hard and something that we don’t necessarily know the answer clearly right now,” Blair said. “I think we can work our way toward that, and we have an obligation to do that.” Before the council took a vote on whether to schedule a public hearing or table the discussion for a second study session, a bit of community feedback echoed Bonkowski’s reservations on where growing should be allowed. “Setbacks and screenings, the attempts to round off some of the square corners of this, do not address the security and safety concerns and basic odors and environmental issues associated with a narcotic production facility in a family neighborhood,” said Susan Wilmot, an Old Mill Road resident. In the months leading to the commission’s recent decision, Wilmot has been outspoken against marijuana growing in her neighborhood, which has under Residential-0.4 zoning. “I’ve worked for 30 years on my feet as a grocery checker to buy and fix up my dream home here,” Wilmot said. “If this ordinance is applied my property value will decline and my enjoyment of my own property turn to marijuana | A24