The right alchemy

The town’s Development Review Board, whose approval is needed before the Kimmichs can break ground, called off a hearing on the plan last week, at the Kimmichs’ request. But even before the Kimmichs present their plan next week to the board, grumbling has begun, some of it loud.

The concerns? A little of everything, but when it comes right down to it, the chief concerns are and will be traffic, and everything else that comes with having a busy brewery on sleepy, bucolic Cottage Club Road. Love the beer, wrote one commenter on our website, echoing others, but “(I) just don't know I want their new flagship production facility on my street.”

But several other Web comments express support for the Alchemist’s plans in Stowe, and a poll posted on the Stowe Reporter website showed that nearly 68 percent of respondents supported the Cottage Club Road location as of Wednesday afternoon.

“Bring in the Alchemist and work on the traffic problem as a separate issue. From my observation, that will take some innovative thinking outside the box,” one person commented.

The comments and concerns on both sides of the issue are entirely valid. And, although we have not asked the Kimmichs, we suspect they would agree.

The Cottage Club Road site is perfect in many ways, and imperfect in others. Its location near the growing Mountain Road village hub is a winner. The area will soon be interconnected by sidewalks that run from Cape Cod to Cottage Club roads, and already features another brewery within walking distance. The 4-plus-acre site is large enough so the Kimmichs can plant an orchard and grow some hops, both of which they plan to do. And the parcel is zoned for commercial and light industrial use, which means the retail brewery is the right zoning fit.

If a successful microbrewery driven by two community-minded entrepreneurs can’t be built there, what could?

There’s another elephant in the room: success itself. The Alchemist and its double IPA Heady Topper, around for a decade, are local, regional and international legend. Heady has been called the best beer in the world, and its brewers geniuses. It was cause for celebration when the Kimmichs announced they planned to locate their flagship hub in Stowe. Rumors had been flying as towns across the state lobbied the owners hard for the privilege of attracting the wildly popular brewers. With the Alchemist’s presence would come visitors (not to mention, young people), jobs, tax revenues, fun and more fun, and successful entrepreneurs who will give back in a million ways to their community.

To say Stowe, home of the Alchemist and home to an emerging microbrew industry (Trapps, Crop, Stowe Cider), would be a point of tremendous pride. That’s a big elephant.

Which gets back to the question at hand. The review board’s work is always important. But this time it is even more so. Once all the information is in, once the Kimmichs have made their presentation and neighbors have raised their concerns, the question is: What are the problems? The next step would be to address them. If traffic and noise are problems, as it appears they will be, they can be addressed through limits on the hours of operation, location of loading areas and parking, noise restrictions and other measures. And, state officials recommend a left-turn lane onto Cottage Club Road for southbound traffic on Mountain Road

A study of the project’s impact on traffic found that the business would generate about 60 visits during peak hours on weekdays and a bit more than 80 on the weekends. Based on those numbers, the engineers who conducted the study said the project would not cause “unreasonable congestion or unsafe conditions.” Quality of life is not measured in those terms. Which is where the push-and-pull of the review board clearly comes into play.

— Biddle Duke