Showers and scattered thunderstorms. Low 66F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..
Showers and scattered thunderstorms. Low 66F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Members of the New Braunfels City Council listen to comments during the meeting held at City Hall on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022.
Members of the New Braunfels City Council listen to comments during the meeting held at City Hall on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022.
A Gruene business owner was successful in her bid to expand the operation after New Braunfels City Council members on Monday unanimously gave final approval to a rezoning and special use permit request allowing the addition of coffee roasting and warehousing on the property.
The rezoning of the property from residential to commercial with a special use permit allowing the addition of coffee roasting and construction of a 3,500 square-foot, single-story metal building at Gruene Coffee Haus at 1720 Hunter Road in Gruene required a supermajority of approval votes from council members — six votes out of seven members — to pass the item, as the city received opposition declarations from landowners representing more than 20% of the properties within 200 feet of the subject property.
Kelly Hall, owner and manager of Gruene Coffee Haus, told council members that along with the new building, the plan calls for the usage of a maximum of two roasters on the site, a 5-kilo roaster currently in use and a new 35-kilo roaster that Hall said could roast 270 to 300 pounds of coffee beans per hour.
Hall’s plans have drawn significant opposition from neighbors, citing concerns ranging from the potential of increased traffic in an area that already sees a considerable amount of tourists and visitors to the noise generated by heavy vehicles and the emission of byproducts from the facility.
She told council members that the new roaster would be equipped with the latest technology to block the roaster’s emissions during the roasting process. She added that the business also uses a 12-kilo roaster off-site.
“We’ve answered everyone’s questions,” Hall said. “We’ve tried to ease their minds that this will not become a huge manufacturing plant, and I assure those concerned that this will not negatively affect them in any way. I am aware that some of the neighbors do hate the fact that I do not live in New Braunfels. That is one of the major things that’s going around right now, and it makes me sad. I still can’t figure out why any of that is relevant…but regardless, my small business is extremely involved in this community.”
Hall added that the business employs local women.
“I’ve lost count as to how many women have worked on our team in the past 15 years,” she said. “We will, no doubt, employ many more women as the years ago.”
During an average month, according to Hall, the shop sells about 600 to 800 bags of retail coffee and manufactures about 400 pounds of coffee for beverages. She added that a 35-kilo roaster could roast 1,200 pounds of coffee beans needed to serve her customers per month in about 4 1/2 hours compared to the 30 hours required to roast the same amount of coffee in a 5-kilo roaster.
The requested special use permit to allow coffee roasting with related warehousing is necessary because those uses are not allowed in the “C-1A” commercial zoning category.
Some of the comments from neighbors opposing the roasting expansion were personal.
“You claim to be a good neighbor, but what you’ve done to this neighborhood is anything but this,” said Craig Hall, no relation to Kelly. “You have divided this neighborhood that I’m not sure can ever be corrected. People who used to walk by and talk to me cordially over the days and weeks and months are non-existent anymore.”
Then he addressed council members.
“What gives you all the right to potentially affect my property value?” he said.
In response to concerns regarding food processing activities and associated state licensing requirements, city staffers conducted additional research on the state’s food processing permits and discovered that any business that prepares and packages food or drink products to be sold in individual containers to the public must have a state food processing permit.
According to city staffers, there are about 125 food processing permits for existing businesses operating all over the city, including Gruene. They include every store that sells bagged ice or bottled water on the premises; any restaurant, bakery, gift shop, grocery store, or meat market that bottles, packages and sells edible or drinkable goods to the public; and a home occupation packaging seasonings.
The special use permit would come with several requirements, which include the number of times oversized vehicles could access the building each week and the type of exhaust system needed to reduce or eliminate smoke and smells emitted from the establishment to reduce possible disturbances to nearby residents.
The permit would also dictate that coffee roasting within the facility could only take place between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays and that the facility may not be used for any other type of manufacturing or production or used to store products, materials, machinery or tools unrelated to the coffee shop or coffee roasting use.
In other action during Monday’s meeting, council members:
• Approved a recommendation of the New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation to provide financial incentives of up to $1.5 million to Detex Corporation for the retention and creation of primary jobs.
• Approved amending the interlocal agreement with the Alamo Area Council of Governments for demand response transit services. Net cost to the city is $419,380.
• Approved setting a public hearing to take place during the City Council meeting on Nov. 14 to consider amendments to roadway impact fees.
• Adopted the investment policy for the city, including the broker/dealer and counterparties list.
• Authorized the city to enter into a cost-sharing interlocal agreement with Comal County to pursue National Register of Historic Places district nomination of the New Braunfels downtown area. If awarded the grant, the city and Comal County will each contribute $10,000 toward the nomination.
• Ratified the submission of an application to the Office of the Governor, Public Safety Office, Criminal Justice Division’s Bullet-Resistant Shield Grant Program requesting funding for ballistic shields for school resource officers.
• Approval of a resolution designating the investment officers for the city: Director of Finance Sandy Paulos, Assistant Director of Finance Angie Harris and Treasury Supervisor Carren Ridge.
• Ratified the submission of a grant application to the U.S. Department of Justice fiscal year 2022 Bulletproof Vest Partnership program and approved a $69,623 purchase with Angel Armor, LLC for bulletproof vests for the New Braunfels Police Department.
• Approved a $192,631 purchase of supplemental furniture for the new Police Headquarters with Core Office Interiors with funding from the 2019 bond program.
• Approved a $64,118 contract with ARC Document Solutions for document preparation, scanning and indexing of various platting, permitting and zoning documents.
• Approved the issuance of an invitation for competitive sealed proposals for two projects: County Line Road and Klein Road Phase 2.
• Approved a three-year contract with two one-year options to renew with United Rentals for service and rental of portable toilets at a cost of $30,000.
• Approved annual routine recurring expenditures for fiscal year 2023
• Approval to amend the number of full-time equivalent employees as adopted in the fiscal year 2022-2023 budget for Das Rec from 100.25 FTE to 99.25 FTE.
• Approved the second and final reading of a proposed rezoning and special use permit request allowing short-term rental of a residence in the “C-3” Commercial District at 220 Perryman Street.
• Approved the second and final reading of a proposed rezoning from “R-2” Single and Two-Family District to “C-1A” Neighborhood Commercial District at 257 E. South Street.
• Approved the second and final reading of an ordinance regarding a proposed rezoning from “APD” Agricultural Predevelopment District to “MU-A” Mixed Use Low-Intensity District at 409 Franks Road.
• Approved the second and final reading of a proposed rezoning from “M-1” Light Industrial District to “R-2A” Single-Family and Two-Family District at 1039 Seidel Street.
• After a closed executive session, voted to increase Municipal Court Judge Rose Zamora’s salary to $136,278.
In a rare move, New Braunfels City Council members on Monday approved the first reading of a rezoning and special use permit request for a pla…
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Being a local shouldn't be a qualifier to what makes a good business and neighbor. They have my full support and best wishes for a successful business! Hope the neighbors see the value in wonderful people more than that of property.
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