Beers will return to a Boise B&B’s backyard despite neighbors’ objections. With limits
It’s European in style. It’s a favorite gathering spot for travelers and new residents. And, starting in March, it will be able to serve you a beer once again.
Franklin House, a business in the residential part of Boise’s North End neighborhood at 1502 W. Franklin St., will be able to serve alcohol again after the Boise City Council approved a conditional use permit.
The business is a bed-and-breakfast, but owners Jennifer Bury and Gavin O’Neal had also been operating a beer garden in the backyard. That was in violation of the property’s residential zoning. The city’s Office of Code Compliance told the owners last July that they could no longer operate the business like that.
Bury and O’Neal initially offered to limit gathering sizes and use special speakers to try to cut down on how the beer garden would affect others. They would also do annual check-ins with neighbors.
But the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that the city deny the owners’ request for a permit to operate the beer garden as a tavern, a classification owners say was a mischaracterization but also the best description available in the city code. Commissioners were concerned the beer garden could change the character of the neighborhood.
The Boise City Council, asked to weigh in on it in December, listened to testimony from neighbors on both sides and then sent the request back to the city’s planning department to be reworked.
The applicants came back with several more suggestions building on their original ones. Those new restrictions include:
- Limiting hours to 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturdays.
- An operating season from March 15 to Oct. 15.
- Only one food truck on-site at a time and available only two days a week.
- Limiting the number of people to 35, down from the 50 once proposed.
- Requiring music to be only from two “outdoor residential speakers,” described as similar to those in private residences, and not after 9 p.m.
The annual review element stayed. A full-time “caretaker” in charge of making sure rules are followed for both the beer garden and the bed-and-breakfast would also be required.
Many neighbors showed up once again Tuesday night to tell the council that those restrictions were not enough.
Gillian Wigglesworth, who lives two blocks down from Franklin House, said she was “100% against a food truck that lures our kids down the alley ... to interact with patrons drinking alcohol and displaying impaired judgment.”
“Our children are coming of age and seeking independence,” she said. Without the beer garden, she said her neighborhood would continue to allow “ease of letting go as parents, as we allow our kids to venture out for their own experiences.”
Others argued that the beer garden did not meet the standards required to approve the permit, including one that requires a special exception to have “equal or reduced impact upon ... the neighborhood than would an allowed use.” Several residents said they felt the bar would have a greater impact than allowed uses would.
Ryan Doughty, who said he recently moved to Boise from Detroit, said he found that Franklin House fostered community and encouraged “lifelong friends.”
“The owners and patrons of the Franklin House are respectful of the neighborhood,” he said. “They provide a wonderful location for neighbors and residents to co-mingle and form a sense of community, which with Boise’s rapid growth, is really important for outsiders.”
Members of the council were split on whether the permit should be approved. Council Member Holli Woodings said she felt the owners of Franklin House “knew they were operating illegally.”
“They’re asking our forgiveness instead of our permission, which I think is a horrible place for us to be in,” Woodings said. “I think that this is a really cool establishment. I’ve wanted to go there since it was started, but I knew it was illegal so I didn’t go there, because I knew that it was not kosher.”
Woodings asked if the city would still take punitive action toward the owners if the council approved the permit. Mayor Lauren McLean said she thought it would be best if the city’s legal counsel didn’t weigh in during the meeting.
Council Member Lisa Sánchez said she didn’t know if the owners knew they were breaking the law and that she herself had fallen through loopholes before, but she still had concerns.
“I am leaning towards not supporting the motion simply because I do feel that we are setting a precedent for people to not do their due diligence to determine whether or not what they’re about to do fits within the confines of the law,” Sánchez said.
Council Member Patrick Bageant argued that he didn’t think this decision would open the door for anyone to “start selling beer in my backyard the City Council will be OK with it.”
The permit passed 5-1, with Woodings in the majority and Sánchez as the dissenting vote.
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 11:26 PM.
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