(Tampa, FL) – This alert was originally posted on the Cigar City Brewing blog late this morning…
[11/10 Update: From Cigar City Magazine Owner, Lisa Figueredo, as commented on the Mike Loves Beer blog…
I just spoke to Charlie Miranda’s office and they say Charlie voted for the zoning last time, and did not have a problem with it, they are aware there has been no problems and cannot see why the three people on the council said NO, Charlie was in Cuba and they are waiting for his return to let him know about the vote…but they thought it was only for the extension of hours on Friday & Sat from 11 to midnight, either way I expressed my dislike on the 3 no votes, they also told me they are getting bombarded with emails…so keep it going.
*Note: I confirmed with Mike that the comment came from a CigarCityMagazine.com email address.]
[11/10 Update: You may help mobilize a Twitter campaign by hitting the ‘Tweet’ button above on Twitter with the hashtag, #saveccb. Must be a Twitter user.]
Click over to the Cigar City blog for the links to the representatives.
Last Thursday we went to get our temporary wet-zoning made permanent and to extend our hours of operation. Since we have operated for two years without incident this should have been a rubber stamp. But, due to politics, a willful lack of understanding and what I personally believe is just a downright embracing of unfair practices, we got a 3-3 vote (you need 4 yes votes) and had to reschedule.
Our next trip in front of the Tampa City Council will be December 2nd. My birthday. We need 4 votes at this meeting and a following one or we lose our wet-zoning on the 16th of December. This means no more Tasting Room, no more special events, no more limited release parties, no beer for sell, at all, at the Tasting Room.
We have had no incidents at the Tasting Room. There has never been a police call for the brewery. We have never been cited for any violations. In short, we have shown, through our actions not our words, that we are a responsible business and neighbor. And oh by the way, while the economy has been stumbling along we have gone from 2 employees to 22. And some of those employees are in danger of losing their jobs because some members on the city council lack leadership and critical reasoning skills.
I don’t know if we can change any minds. Some bias runs too deep. But I am humbly asking of everyone that supports craft beer in the Bay Area to help us. If you ever wondered why Florida is often considered a beer wasteland, dealing with provincial politicians and unfair laws is one of the reasons. And we have run headlong into that fact many times. This is just another iteration of the climate breweries have to operate in here.
This is what you can do to try to help. Contact ALL of the members of City Council. If you live in the city and vote, tell them so. If you live outside the city or the state, tell them Cigar City Brewing is one of the reasons you come into the city to spend money. In short, let the council know that Tampa having a craft beer scene is important to you. Handwritten letters (addresses are int he links) are always more personal, but if you simply do not have time there is an online contact for each member. And there is a phone # for each member as well. Feel free to call and let the members know that CCB and craft beer are important to you.
These are the three members of Council who voted against us.
Gwen Miller
Thomas Scott
Curtis Stokes
These are those Council members who voted for us, let them know that you appreciate that they looked at evidence and fact and were not swayed by unsubstantiated claims.
Mary Mulhern
Yvonne Yoli Capin
Joseph Caetano
Finally, the member who was absent. Let Charlie Miranda know you support CCB and craft beer and are counting on his yes vote on December 2nd.
Charlie Miranda
I want to thank everyone for their support. When I look back at the last two years and see the growth we have had it both amazes and humbles me. And I know that any success we have had is due to our loyal supporters who buy our beer and spread the word to others. We appreciate and value that support and regret that we must lean on you again, but we truly do need your help again desperately.
Cheers,
The CCB Staff and Joey Redner
Here’s the letter I sent to each of the members that voted against the zoning change:
———-
Hi [COUNCIL MEMBER NAME],
I’m a former resident of Tampa, since moved to North Carolina. When I had to make a trip to Citrus County for a wedding last month, instead of driving from TPA straight to the place I was staying up in Pasco County, I stuck around and ate lunch with a friend at the Green Iguana and then went with him to the Cigar City Brewing tasting room. We spent money in the city of Tampa because the CCB tasting room was there. If CCB had not had a tasting room, I probably wouldn’t have spent any money in Tampa except the car rental at the airport.
As a former Hillsborough County resident, occasional visitor, and craft beer lover/enthusiast, I beg you to reconsider your vote against the Cigar City Brewing tasting room. I believe that the tasting room only benefits the community in terms of jobs, revenue, and culture. They’ve proven themselves over time with zero incidents at the tasting room or directly resulting from the tasting room.
I had the opportunity to speak with a few of the employees there while I spent over 2 hours at the tasting room last month. They’re stand-up members of the community and have a passion for what they do. Please don’t put them out of a job by denying this re-zoning request.
Again, I urge you to reconsider your vote against the zoning change and cast your vote FOR Cigar City Brewing at the next hearing on December 2nd.
I sent a collective email to them at [email protected] and reposted it on their web contact page:
————–
Dear Council Members Miller, Scott, Mulhern, Capin, Caetano, and Miranda:
I am not a resident of Tampa, but I enjoy visiting Tampa several times a year.
Two things in particular keep me coming back to your city:
my family members who live there and the wonderful craft beer establishments in the area, one of which is Cigar City Brewing.
On my last visit, I made it a point to visit Cigar City Brewing — a venue that had gotten my attention via its growing national stellar reputation for a quality product. (Tampa in particular and Florida in general certainly stand to benefit from businesses which offer quality products.) It was a wonderful visit and I was so impressed that I bought several growlers of their beer to bring home with me to share with other craft beer loving friends and family, all of whom expressed delight and were eager to visit CCB in the future for themselves. I noticed in the notes that council member Caetano has visited CCB and was also impressed.
In the council meeting notes, I saw that Thomas Scott cites a concern about CCB being “put almost right in the backyard of this neighborhood”.
During my visit, I stayed at a hotel less than a mile away. This hotel was surrounded by many other businesses. In fact, when I look at the satellite image of Cigar City’s address on a google map, the entire neighborhood that is supposedly objecting to CCB’s wet-license status is surrounded by businesses, a plethora of which are wet-licensed.
Also in the meeting notes, Gwen Miller states, “Lincoln Gardens and Carver City has been coming down here every time this has come before us. I guess this time they are tired of coming because you have disrespected their neighborhood. Every time they come in droves, everybody voted against them. They didn’t think it was fair, so they had the attorney send a letter. They’re stating since the conditional one year license has been in place, we have found that the increase in traffic and crime, based upon the neighborhood observations, the activities at the establishment. So they’re saying they are opposing this again. They do not want this 2(COP) in their neighborhood so I’m asking Council please respect this neighborhood. They have been disrespected two or three times they have been down here. So I’m asking for your support this time.”
I’m a bit confused. Are the other times that the neighborhood has visited in “droves and been disrespected” connected to all of the other hundreds of businesses that the neighborhood is surrounded by or just CCB? If just CCB, why only them and why only now? Certainly I see a mention of traffic/crime increase, but I didn’t see any proof of this objection being provided. In fact, it’s just the opposite. I read in the notes that a representative of the Tampa Police Department testified that they had no reports of incidents of crime connected to CCB and had no objections to this business obtaining a permanent wet license.
Cigar City Brewing is a wonderful business, providing much-needed jobs in your area. There is no crime associated with this business and given the highways in the area in which neighborhood is located (I-275, Dale Mabry, Veterans Highway), I can’t see how the sole blame for any traffic concerns could be blamed on this one single business.
As a frequent visitor to the Tampa area, I urge you look at the FACTS and to reconsider any NO votes against CCB.
Thank you
ooops, just realized i left Stokes’ name out of my greeting — oh well, he’ll still get the message. hopefully figuratively as well as literally.
i’ve been doing some research regarding the “droves” of “disrespected” people from the carver
city/lincoln gardens neighborhood that gwen miller refers to in the meeting notes. it looks like there were four people at the first CCB vote meeting and “about a dozen” at the next one.
regarding CCB’s may 2008 wet-zoning request, there is an online petition authored by iris patten (tucson,arizona) and signed by two people: herself and maurice harvey (now president of the
carver city neighborhood’s civic association).
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/no-to-specialty-malls-inc-wet-zoning-permit/sign.html
some more background re CCB’s 2008 vote meeting:
(not all the council members were at THIS meeting either – and again miller and scott voted no)
http://www.wmnf.org/news_stories/microbrewery-on-tap-for-redner
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/16/me-redner-has-new-idea-brewing-beer-venture-with-s/news-metro
in dec 2009, neighborhood homeowners’ association president cites concerns about selling alcohol
http://www.wmnf.org/news_stories/microbrewery-approved-to-sell-alcohol-in-west-tampa
what about total wine and more? whole foods? all of the hundreds of other restaurants and bars this neighborhood is surrounded by???
here are just a few of the past wet zone requests for carver city that i found in a cursory search — were these approved or denied???
WZ07-59
Rocky Point Village
2500 Rocky Point Dr.
4-COP-X
Carver City/
Lincoln Gardens
05/17/2007
WZ08-101
Tampa Westshore Associates Limited Partnership
2223 Westshore Blvd. #B210
4-COP-R
Carver City/
Lincoln Gardens
05/15/2008
V09-06
Hardage Hotels
3075 N. Rocky Point Dr.
4-COP-X
Carver City/
Lincoln Gardens
TBD
and here is CCB’s:
WZ08-82
Specials Mall, Inc. 3924 W. Spruce Street
2-COP
Carver City/
Lincoln Gardens
05/15/2008
i’d like to provide one more tidbit of specific information regarding the businesses that look like (per google map) they are as close to or closer to the carver city neighborhood than CCB:
leroy selmons sports bar
flemings prime steakhouse and wine bar
roys
charley’s steak house
boizao steak house
AND the steak house at the corner of west shore /spruce that features a bit more than steak, the penthouse club.
not to mention, directly across from the neighborhood over boyscout blvd is the international plaza mall.
just sayin’.
one last thing — take a moment to sign one of the online petitions to try and help save the CCB tasting room from any new ignorant, misinformed and/or just plain biased (sins of the father, anyone?) tampa city council votes on dec. 2nd.
i found two petitions started by two different people — one had 344 votes when i looked and when i signed the other one it was at 650.
compare this level of support to the “droves” of carver city / lincoln garden neighbors who are supposedly so against keeping the CCB tasting room open…
http://www.petitiononline.com/ccb2010/petition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?CCB2010
Excellent sleuthwork, Alicia! You should be a campaign manager or something like that 🙂