Business

Eastern Front Brewing Co. submits site plan to reopen tasting room

Nearly four months after it abruptly closed, Eastern Front Brewing Co. in Mattituck is looking to reopen its Main Road tasting room.

The brewery’s owner appeared before the Southold Town Planning Board Monday, seeking the site plan approval it hadn’t received before opening in early March. It closed less than two weeks later for what it described as “unforeseen problems with permits.”

The proposed tasting space is 1,900 square feet on the ground level, in front of a building where two apartments already exist.  

The retail space was previously occupied by a fence company and a florist, but no site plan has ever been approved for this site, according to a planning staff report.

Twelve parking stalls are proposed, although only eight are required by town code. There are two driveway access points, one to the west, primarily for retail customers, and one to the east for the apartment residents.

While planning staff has found the site plan application incomplete, the brewery will have more time to submit information before a hearing is scheduled. The board asked the applicant to provide signage information and driveway and curb-cut widths.

Eastern Front will continue to brew its beer at a restored 70-by-31-foot storage building on Westphalia Road, where it has operated for several years and where the company had previously sought site plan approval.  

At Monday’s Planning Board work session, the fact that the Main Road tasting room had already been renovated and in operation was not discussed publicly. Over the past several months, Eastern Front products have continued to be sold in restaurants and at events like First Fridays on Love Lane.

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Photo caption: Inside the Mattituck tasting room when it briefly opened in March. (Cyndi Murray photo)