Dozens come out to support farm brewery

By David Tyler

Publisher

Residents of the town of Pompey came out in droves on the evening of Jan. 21 to voice their full-throated support for the Heritage Hill Brewhouse & Kitchen, which came before the town planning board to request a revision to its acceptable hours of operation.

The hours of operation became an issue prior to New Year’s Eve, when the town forced owner Dan Palladino to cancel a ticketed New Year’s Eve party because it would have occurred outside of his normal hours and days of operation, which are Wednesday through Sunday. New Year’s Eve fell on a Monday this year.

Prior to the beginning of the public hearing, planning board attorney Jeff Brown told the board that because Palladino has been issued a liquor license for his farm brewery, his hours of operation are regulated by the state, not the town. The liquor license, “fundamentally alters” the ability of the board to regulate Heritage Hill’s hours, he said.

Heritage Hill, therefore, can be open to 2 a.m., seven days a week. Palladino said he doesn’t have any intention of being open that late, but he does want the ability to alter his hours for special events like New Year’s Eve and the Superbowl.

Palladino said he didn’t really know the business when he filed the original application with the town.

“I do know that I want to have an awesome place back in this town and keep it safe,” he said. “I sort of expected a little more flexibility with that.”

At least one board member expressed frustration that the planners no longer had authority over the hours of operation.

“I feel like you’ve done an end around on us,” said Bob Neufang. “You’re just taking advantage of the system.”

Neufang’s comments were met with groans from the standing-room-only crowd, which was there almost universally to support Palladino’s operation.

With the issue of the hours of operation out of the way, some members of the board began to question Palladino about the safety of the parking lot and traffic along Sweet Road, which is notorious for high speeds and dangerous drifting snow.

Neufang said he had been told that people parked across the street at Holbrook Heating and crossed the street over to Heritage Hill, which Palladino vehemently denied. Palladino said he has increased the size of the parking lot from 32 to 68 spaces and placed no parking signs at Holbrook Heating. In addition, he said, when Heritage Hill hosts larger events he hires the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department to help manage traffic flow.

When the public hearing portion of the meeting began, the overflow crowd came to Palladino’s defense, praising the community focus of the new establishment and encouraging the board to give Heritage Hill its support. Two residents from nearby, both of whom credited Heritage Hill and Palladino for responding to potential noise issues, voiced concern that the 2 a.m. closing time could lead to noise issues in the future, should the business be sold to another proprietor.

Palladino responded that he is committed to this business for the long haul and has no intention of leaving the community or farm that he loves. He joked that his “next address will be on Cemetery Road,” which caused the crowd of more than 70 to erupt in laughter.

At the end of the meeting, the board passed a largely symbolic motion to change the hours of operation to those permitted by Heritage Hill’s state farm brewery liquor license. The planners also encouraged the town board to request a speed reduction on Sweet Road and investigate the installation of a flashing yellow light in front of the business.