In Brief: Planning Board Approves Preliminary Plans for Eton Street Brewery

A brewery and beer garden may be on its way to Birmingham, after the city's planning board approved preliminary site plans for the Griffin Claw Brewing Company at its Wednesday night meeting.

The brewery is proposed for 563 and 575 S. Eton St. Norman LePage, who currently co-owns the , is proposing to build an 11,970 square-foot brewery, tasting room, beer garden, restaurant and parking lot on the site. The space has been designed by Birmingham architect, Ron Rea of Ron & Roman LLC.

The planning board, however, did not vote to approve a special land use permit (SLUP) Wednesday, which is needed due to the scale of the project. Board member Bryan Williams said he didn't feel comfortable approving a SLUP without information on the hours of operation or the impact on local traffic, noting they should revisit the SLUP when the applicant returns for their final site plan review.

The board sent the project back to designers with several recommendations for the final proposal. In addition, several members from the surrounding neighborhoods voiced their concerns over the project, saying the brewery is too close to residential property and noise and odors could become a problem.

LePage said he was open to talking with any members of the community who have potential issues with the project.

Stay tuned to Patch for a complete report on the Griffin Claw Brewery project.