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Officials anticipate influx of beer garden applications

Posted October 03, 2007 11:00 pm

John Sharp

Michael Petsas wants to be ahead of a coming trend by opening a beer garden in front of his popular tavern in Central Peoria.

As Jan. 1 - the date a statewide smoking ban goes into effect - approaches, the owner of American Pi on Knoxville Avenue wants to have a beer garden with a capacity of up to 50 people opened as an outlet for smokers.

But he's finding getting his plans approved is not an easy thing to do. Because of concerns about traffic circulation within American Pi's parking lot, the city's Planning and Growth Department recommends the zoning commission deny approval for the beer garden during a hearing at 1 p.m. today. The commission's recommendation will be voted on by City Council at a later time.

"I thought this would be a lot easier," Petsas said. "It seemed like we put in for a beer garden and opened a can of worms."

Tavern owners like Petsas are bracing for potential battles with neighborhood groups and City Hall as they look for ways to accommodate customers who smoke once the Smoke Free Illinois Act goes into effect.

While Peoria is not known as a hotbed for beer gardens or outdoor eateries, there could be a rise in applications for these features once the law prohibiting smoking inside public places like restaurants, taverns and private clubs is enacted. This law includes a smoking ban 15 feet outside the doors and windows of buildings.

At-large City Councilman Eric Turner, the city's deputy liquor commissioner, said he anticipates more beer garden requests some time after the new year begins, once tavern and restaurant owners get a handle on the new law's details.

"Every time I hear a bar's name, it's about planning a beer garden," Turner said Wednesday. "I bet I've heard from eight to nine that are planning on it and it's to get around the state (law) of no smoking (indoors)."

Pat Landes, director of planning and growth management, said her department anticipates seeing more beer garden applications. Issues like noise, impact on residential areas and on-site traffic will be considered with each application.

Schooner's restaurant manager Bob Caruso said he's waiting on details of the law before moving ahead with a roof addition to the tavern's beer garden.

"We plan on expanding our roof to Gebby's and putting more tarps down but if they don't allow smoking outside, I don't know what we'll do," he said. "There are bars trying to get information (about the law) so they can build beer gardens."

Meloney Arnold, a spokeswoman with the Illinois Department of Public Health, said a proposed draft of rules pertaining to outdoor beer gardens will be available for public comment for 45 days starting Friday. After that, it will go before the legislature's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules for approval.

In that plan, a tavern owner is prohibited from allowing smoking in areas where tobacco smoke might drift into an open window or door. But smoking is allowed in an outdoor facility as long as the area has a combination of open space and a permeable wall.

Turner said he anticipates the influx of requests for beer gardens by April, depending on how neighborhoods react to some of the plans. In the past, the reaction has been negative, especially for the request made for Crusen's on War Memorial Drive.

In 2002, neighbors opposed Don Crusen's plan to build a beer garden and even though it was given the go-ahead by the City Council, the feature never materialized. Crusen plans to construct it sometime in the near future.

"It's a place where people can sneak outside for a quick cigarette," Crusen said about the beer garden, the only one applied for and approved in the city within the past year.

Unlike Crusen's, neighborhood opposition is not the issue with American Pi. Concerns include an inability to maneuver public safety vehicles within the tavern's parking lot and a lack of proper landscaping.

Landes said the department's recommendation against American Pi's request "has nothing to do (with) its use as a beer garden," but is about its plan.

"It makes it real difficult for public safety vehicles and customers (to drive around)," she said.

John Sharp can be reached at (309) 686-3282 or jsharp@pjstar.com.

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