Thunder Island Brewing Co. has been approved to keep doing business at their riverside locale for another two years, pending their move onto WaNaPa Street.
Cascade Locks City Planning Commission on Thursday night approved a conditional use permit for the craft brewery, effective until Jan. 1, 2019.
The permit — which allows the brewing facility and taproom to operate at 515 Portage Road in the Port of Cascade Locks’ riverside Marine Park — was set to expire this coming January. However, owners Dave Lipps and Caroline Park requested an extension.
The city granted it, deciding the extension would allow Thunder Island to meet requirements in their move and stay open in the meantime.
“It’s been a very successful business. It’s been on the map for beer (drinkers),” City Administrator Gordon Zimmerman said. “We wanted to give them some time to purchase the property on WaNaPa,” as well as to design the building and submit site plans, he explained.
Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the permit, he said, with one commissioner absent.
Dozens gathered at City Hall, with most speakers encouraging commissioners to okay Thunder Island’s permit request.
“We are so touched by the outpouring of support,” Lipps and Park said in a Nov. 11 Facebook post. “Yes, this means that we will eventually leave our current home and during these next two years we will be working on developing a larger brewery space here in Cascade Locks while still slingin’ beers and making the most of our current location.”
Permitting marks a step forward for Thunder Island’s move. The port required the brewery to meet city land use requirements before signing off on the WaNaPa land purchase.
“We were able to request a two-year extension, and we will be closing on our property next week,” Park explained in an email.
The brewery plans to relocate and expand onto a vacant port-owned commercial property next to Jumpin’ Jax Java, working with O’Brien and Company to design and build a new 7,500 square-foot building. Earlier in 2016, the brewery entered into an early purchase agreement with the port.
The Cascade Locks Port Commission meets at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17 at City Hall, and Thunder Island’s lease is scheduled to come up as an executive session item, termed “real property negations.” If commissioners decide to take action, they will re-open the general meeting following the discussion, according to the agenda.
Thunder Island has rented space in the port’s riverside Marine Park since 2013. The business represents one of Cascade Locks’ largest employers, with 20-30 staff. The company has made several internal expansions since they set up shop. The port considers the brewery’s Portage Road location a temporary “incubator space.”
Likewise, Thunder Island feels they’ve outgrown their digs.
“It is 2,000 square feet of love, community, great beer and food. (The move) is bittersweet, because as much as we hate to leave this special place, we are so very excited for our future,” Thunder Island said on social media last week.
They explained the new location will also sport views of the Columbia River, as well as the iconic Bridge of the Gods.
Zimmerman explained Thunder Island will need to come back to the city with site plans and designs for their new development. A bevy of land use requirements await, such as parking and downtown design guidelines. The project will also need to address Oregon Department of Transportation rules for state highway access, because WaNaPa is a segment of U.S. Route 30.
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