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YORKVILLE – A plan for a mead production facility and tap room in a downtown Yorkville building has prompted aldermen to amend the city’s liquor code to accommodate the new business.
The Yorkville City Council on April 12 approved the change by adding micro-winery and winery to the current liquor license class now used for microbreweries and brewpubs.
The action comes as plans move ahead for the redevelopment of the Investor Tools building at 101 S. Bridge St. (Route 47).
Foxes Den Meadery will use the building’s basement for production and the first floor for a taproom to serve the fermented beverage.
Mead has been produced and consumed since ancient times. The alcoholic beverage is made by fermenting honey mixed with water and often with additional ingredients including fruits or grains. The drink is often described as a honey wine.
While adding micro-wineries and wineries to the liquor license class used by microbreweries and brewpubs, the council also amended to classification to eliminate the requirement for such establishments to sell food.
“We are proposing to remove the restaurant requirement due to feedback that breweries and wineries do not want to have a food component in order to apply for this license class,” City Administrator Bart Olson told the council.
The Class M liquor license allows for the production of less than 155,000 gallons of beer or 50,000 gallons of wine per year for sale on the premises for consumption either at the business or off-site.
The license further allows for patrons to take one unsealed partially consumed bottle for consumption off the premises.
“A partially consumed bottle of wine that is to be removed from the premises shall be securely sealed by the licensee or an agent of the licensee prior to removal from the premises and placed in a transparent onetime use tamperproof bag,” under the city ordinance.
Under the Class M license, the meadery’s tap room will be allowed to sell alcoholic beverages from other manufacturers, provided these comprise less than 50% of the business’s sales.
Olson said the requirement will ensure that the establishment remains a craft facility, “so they don’t turn into a bar,” Olson told aldermen.
The meadery is one of several uses being slated for the downtown building, which is being developed by the Williams Group.
Two other retail uses also would occupy first floor space, while the second floor would be the home to two residential apartments.
The city and the Williams Group have been working on an incentive deal for the $1.6 million redevelopment project, which includes the cost of acquiring the building property and making both interior and exterior improvements.
The improvements will be eligible for reimbursement of up to 25% of the total from the city’s tax increment financing district fund, Olson said. As a further incentive, the city is waiving some building permit fees.
In exchange, the agreement calls for the development to grant property easements to the city.
One of the easements would stretch along the south bank of the Fox River from the bridge west to a point near the former post office building now occupied by the Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department.
The city already owns and operates Riverfront Park on the south bank of the river just east of the bridge.
The other easement would be near the northwest corner of West Hydraulic and South Bridge streets next to the building.
The highly visible location is one the city has had its eye on for the installation of a sculpture or another form of artwork.
The city does not yet have concept plans for the park or how wide the easement will be for the linear stretch of shoreline property.
However, the deal requires that the easements be agreed upon no later than the end of 2023 in order for the development to begin receiving TIF district funds, Olson said.