What a big year! We are still a ways off from brewing professionally, but the last twelve months have been very productive. Here's a recap of how twenty thirteen shook out:
Early this year, we had the brewery conceptually approved by the Santa Ana Design Review Committee (DRC). The DRC reviewed the proposal and compared our brewery plans to the California Building Code. There was a lot of back and forth, tweaks and redlines, but we arrived at a plan that was worthy of approval. The plans were then referred to the Zoning Administrator (ZA).
Because breweries don't pop up all the time, and we were the first to ever propose a brewery in the City of Santa Ana, the ZA had very little experience with permitting a brewery. Our proposal includes production brewing, tasting room and retail sales, in addition to the existing office use, a combination you might not find in your average neighborhood brewery. Also, the Phillips Block Building that we are moving into was built in the 1880's. The building was a livery back then, housing horses and their feed. There is a gigantic gear/pulley that used to be mounted in the rafters of the building. The gear was used to lift bails of hay to the second floor for storage. So the combination of a new brewery, pairing of production, tasting and office uses, and a historical building posed a small-but-not-insurmountable puzzle.
With a puzzling proposal, the ZA had little choice to refer the proposal to the Planning Commission (PC). The PC is an elected commission that reviews zoning and permitting proposals. Up for approval was our Conditional Use Permit (CUP). I gave a presentation to the PC, showing images of local breweries and their tasting rooms, in case the PC had the same questions as the ZA. But, the PC had some experience with breweries and our proposal was approved with staff-recommended conditions unanimously.
Once our CUP was approved, we began developing plans for the building permit submittal. That's when an email fell into my lap - a used 15-barrel brewhouse was for sale in San Diego. I immediately expressed my interest and drove to San Diego as quickly as possible to see the system. The brewhouse is arranged in a two vessel layout - one direct-fired kettle and a "combi-tank," which features a hot liquor tank and mash tun that visually appear to be one tank but function independently. The combi-tank layout is ideal for small brewpubs where space is at a premium. We ended up purchasing and moving the system, but the bonus was that the seller also had four 15-barrel glycol-jacketed conical fermenters, a grain mill, grist case, auger, and a couple pumps. It's almost every piece of equipment that a brewer needs to turn sacks of grain, hops, yeast, and water into delicious local craft beer. What's missing? A glycol chiller and glycol distribution system, heat exchanger and a cellar package (hoses, valves, etc.). It was a deal we couldn't pass up.
So, with a majority of our equipment purchased and moved to storage, it was time to shift focus back to obtaining a building permit. With the help of my dad (he's an architect), I began developing the architectural drawings. We hired an engineering firm to design the electrical and plumbing improvements. That's when we hit a major hurdle. Our electrical capacity was grossly undersized for the proposed brewery. More back and forth ensued - this time, between me, the electrical engineer, and the glycol chiller manufacturer. The chiller is the biggest electrical consumer in my brewery proposal, so manipulating the chiller size is the easiest way to adjust our electrical loads.
Then my engineer quit. See ya later, I can't do this, your f------ed. I quit. Blown away, we were. I basically had to start all over with a brand new engineer. I searched for a while to find an MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineer) that had experience in downtown, with old buildings, and with the City of Santa Ana. The new MEP reassured me that the proposal would work without any major manipulation. We tweaked a few things, brought on a structural engineer to distribute the load of the roof mounted, finalized the plan sets, and submitted drawings to the Santa Ana Building Department in October. There were four separate reviews - (1) architectural and structural, (2) mechanical, (3) electrical, and (4) plumbing. I also submitted the revised plan sets to the Orange County Health Agency - that approval came a few weeks later.
It took the Building Department several weeks to get around to reviewing the plans. And in early December, I received comments and redlined architectural and structural plans. There were a few adjustments that needed to be made and some elements of the proposal that needed to be justified using the California Building Code. We made the necessary adjustments and resubmitted to the Building Department. I spent a few hours with the plan checker going over the changes, a meeting that concluded with a big fat "APPROVED" stamp. The approval was contingent on approvals by the Planning Department, Fire Authority, Police Department, Public Works, and Orange County Health Agency.
That brings us to where we are today: Last week I received planning department and public works approvals. The necessity of the Fire Authority review is dependent upon the Building Department review, and with Building Department approval of our proposal, the Fire Authority review is no longer necessary. According to an exchange with the City's Fire Authority plan checker, we should receive a refund of our prepaid inspection fees. That leaves the PD. I was unable to cross paths with the PD plan checker last week, so that approval is still outstanding. We are that close to approval of our architectural and structural plans!
There are still mechanical, electrical and plumbing approvals outstanding. We received electrical comments, but it doesn't make much sense to proceed with those changes without knowing the mechanical and plumbing comments.
We started cleaning out the space recently, and it feels good to see some physical progress made.
