Saturday would typically be a busy night for three Dallas brewery taprooms.
Instead, their doors are locked after being ordered by city officials to temporarily close their taproom operations.
“Tonight, I mean look,” said Michael Peticolas looking around his taproom. “It’s dead. It’s quiet. You can hear a pin drop. We have absolutely nothing going on.”
They’re brewing up the latest batch of beer at Peticolas Brewing Company in Dallas.
But there’s no one to serve it to.
Peticolas’ new taproom was ordered to cease operations by the Dallas Fire Rescue Fire Prevention and Inspections Office just before New Year’s Eve.
“I’m losing a ton,” said Peticolas. “Every day that this is not open is a day that is difficult for me and all of our employees and all of our employees’ family and I’m doing everything I can to get it back open.”
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He is not alone.
At least two other taprooms are closed and it may be because they are too popular for the permit they currently hold.
The Cidercade along Irving Boulevard in Dallas posted on its website that due to the increased number of people coming through their doors, upgrades are required before they can re-open for business.
Noble Rey Brewing Company informed its nearly 10,000 followers on Facebook that they were issued a notice that effected ceased taproom operations and added that they are working to address the issues with the city.
“We don’t want business owners to feel frustrated with us at the city of Dallas and so we must accept responsibility when things don’t go right,” said Philip Kingston, Dallas city council member. “I am committed to working with these operators to make sure they get open and stay open.”
Kingston believes when the taproom operators were issued permits to operate in the city of Dallas, the permits did not match the intended use.
“I’m almost certain that they went down to apply for permits and the building inspection people were like ‘oh yeah, it’s a taproom, you’re fine,’” he said. “What the places are actually opening are not tap rooms. They are full on very vibrant bars.”
Perfectly fine, adds Kingston.
“But there needed to be more communication of that with building inspections,” he said. “I don’t believe they were hiding it at all.”
Kingston says he does not believe the affected taprooms were trying to cut corners when getting permits to operate.
What complicates matters more is that Dallas building inspectors do not personally inspect the properties.
That job is up to fire inspectors.
“So the fire inspector goes and lays eyes on [the taproom] and says this use doesn’t match the certificate of occupancy and more importantly isn’t safe for the number of people who are here,” said Kingston. “You need to go back to building inspections and get this worked out.”
The fire inspector will not inform taproom operators what issues need to be addressed, said Kingston.
“That’s freaking frustrating if you’re a business owner [when] somebody comes to your place, tells you to closes your doors but won’t tell you how to get them back open,” he said. “And it’s not the fire inspector’s job to tell you that.”
Kingston says the city has been working to integrate the work of building inspection and fire marshal’s offices.
Currently, any significant changes would have to be sent to a committee in the city council.
Peticolas says he doesn’t know what he would need to change or address in order to re-open.
“Not exactly. No,” he said. “It’s just one of the obstacles that’s been placed before us in the six years that we’ve been operating and we’ll overcome this one as well.”
The closure of at least one of the taprooms came before a big event planned for New Years.
“I really don’t understand what the motivation is to come in on a holiday weekend on a Saturday night at 8 o’clock,” said Peticolas. “I don’t understand what the motivation is to come in at that time, a local city department and shut us down.”
Kingston responded to that concern by saying “When’s a better time to shut him down? If there’s a fire safety problem before the New Year’s Eve party is the right time to shut him down.”
The spokesman for Dallas Fire Rescue released the following statement to NBC 5:
Dallas Fire-Rescue is aware of the recent shut downs, of taproom operations, at the referenced breweries. While we would rather our actions had not impacted their planned events, please understand that we are 100% committed to ensuring that life-safety is the first priority everywhere. Dallas Fire-Rescue and the City of Dallas are committed to fostering a productive working relationship with all businesses operating in the City, and are more than willing to work with anyone who needs guidance in acquiring the appropriate permitting. If anyone has questions, they can always call the DFR Fire Prevention and Inspections Office, at (214) 670-4319.
