No New Smuttynose?
Local City Council denies zoning change
A proposal by Smuttynose Brewing Co. to construct a new brewery and restaurant appears to be dead after the local City Council denied a proposed zoning change that would have been the first step in the process.
The zoning amendment would have allowed light industrial uses in an office research zone. Other business owners in the area of the proposed new brewery site in Portsmouth, NH expressed fears that the project would bring excess traffic, noise, and unwelcome odors to the neighborhood.
Tim Ellis, a nearby resident, worried about odors. “How do I live in my house if it smells. You can go by the brewery right now and it smells,” he said.
Peter Egelston, owner of Smuttynose said he invested in Portsmouth downtown in the late 1980s when he was told it was foolish to do so. He said there was a thorough traffic study completed last month and he would follow the recommendations. He also took offense to the notion that drunks would be staggering out of his facility at all hours of the night.
