MainStrasse brewery nixed Cosmo's owner vows to appeal tie vote on request
By Mike Rutledge Enquirer staff writer
COVINGTON - A tie vote Wednesday night killed a MainStrasse bar owner's proposal to open a restaurant and small-batch brewery at the edge of Goebel Park. But his lawyer promised to appeal to Kenton Circuit Court.
After hours of testimony for and against - mostly by residents in opposition and supporters of Cosmo's Grille Pub owner Gerald Blaschke in favor - the Board of Adjustment deadlocked 2-2.
"The motion fails," city Solicitor Frank Warnock announced. The board has seven members, three of whom were absent Wednesday.
Board members Tom West and Steve Casper, who voted against the proposed Moody River Brewing Co. & Brownstone Grille, did not offer another motion, and the proposed business lacked the necessary conditional-use permit to open.
"I do not think another bar is needed in an already bar-ridden area," Dalton Street resident James Vaughan said. He and others said they had already seen beer vats being taken into the building, the former Northern Kentucky Visitors Center, 605 Philadelphia St. They questioned whether the decision had already been made.
Residents said they have seen bar patrons urinate in yards, smoke marijuana openly and tear down a local house's wrought-iron fence.
The debate was punctuated by occasional disagreements among board members. Member Patrick Lance, who supported the brewery, occasionally grilled residents who testified against it, and was called to task by West.
"He attacked everyone, including myself, who stepped to the podium in opposition," Short Pershing Avenue resident Sandy Arnold said. "He was trying to undermine people's testimony."
The board at one point called a 10-minute recess to discuss Lance's actions, but after an objection from the audience, Warnock told the board that it could not discuss public matters during the recess.
"We will appeal," Covington lawyer Walter Hornbeck, representing Blaschke, said after the meeting.
Residents complained that Cosmo's for months has had a portable toilet in its alley, although Blaschke said it was for construction workers, and to keep people from using area yards to relieve themselves.
The bathrooms at Cosmo's have never been closed, Blaschke said.
A motion by Lance - and amended by other members - would have allowed the restaurant and brewery to open, but with several conditions.
The conditions included no music outside and no outdoor dining after 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday.
Other conditions were no beer sales for off-premises consumption; at least 50 percent of the business' revenues would have to be food; and an off-duty police officer would have to be on the property from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday nights.
"The more I hear from the residents, this is a message that's been resonating for a long time," West said, shortly before the vote. "Is this use - at this location - is it necessary or desirable?"
The MainStrasse Village Association in July wrote the city, expressing its opposition. "We have surveyed a large number of residents and area businesses and found an overwhelming number of them feel we have enough or too many restaurants and/or bars in the area," Association President Jeffrey Snyder wrote.
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