What would be Tulsa’s third brewery takes a step toward reality.
Glenn Hall plans to open Renaissance Brewing at 12th Street and Lewis Avenue, but the area is zoned commercial and breweries are restricted to industrial. The planning commission had to recommend rezoning the area and a planned unit development specifically for the brewery. Hall says the next hurdle is the city council.
"I have met with Blake Ewing, our city councilor, and he sees no problem with it and he's a big backer of ours," Hall said. "So hopefully it'll go on through. Being this far, we're two-thirds of the way there, and we're trying to get across the finish line."
The planning commission raised concerns about a lack of parking but unanimously approved Hall's application.
Hall is encountering an old problem, though. Decades-old zoning laws forced him to apply for variances, and Prairie Artisan Ales owner Chase Healey and Marshall Brewing owner Eric Marshall faced the same challenges when they opened.
"They had breweries, really, identified just the same way they would, like, an oil refinery or a cotton mill," Healey said.
"Industrial medium [zoning], there's not a ton of properties available," Marshall said. "That was probably the hardest thing for us, was finding a facility."
It's not yet known when the rezoning recommendation will be on the city council's agenda.
