Breweries and distilleries used to be considered a nuisance by the Indianapolis government, but that changed when the city council voted to take them off the list of nuisance businesses. Under the old law, breweries and distilleries could not be built within 1,000 feet of a slew of public buildings and land, as well as some residential areas, but this rule no longer stands. It does not address how breweries are zoned, however, which a proposed ordinance called Indy ReZone aims to help resolve for breweries large and small. It would categorize small craft or microbrewers as “Artisan Food and Beverage” and larger bottling plants would be “Processing and Packaging of Food and Beverages,” fitting each under its own set of zoning rules.
Councilor Ben Hunter, who sponsored the new nuisance legislation, said he proposed the laws because breweries and distilleries are more environmentally friendly now than when the old nuisance list was made, and that one existing area brewery, Black Acre, has had a positive impact on the city, reports Nuvo Magazine. Full Story
