Birmingham pub's parking spills into neighborhood

Sales of alcohol by the glass, hordes of evening customers and a parking squeeze that spill into residential neighborhoods — it's a familiar kind of booze brawl.

The latest skirmish is in Birmingham, where the bustling 18-month-old Griffin Claw Brewing is packing in beer fans to taste the 16 house microbrews on tap. It's also packing a few customers' cars on residential streets nearby, an echo of similar issues with Berkley's Vinsetta Garage restaurant, the Atwater Park Brewery in Grosse Pointe Park and numerous other drink-and-dining destinations across metro Detroit.

In Birmingham, "on any given Thursday through Saturday night, we already have Griffin Claw patrons parked up and down our streets," said Brian Renner, 29, a resident of Bowers Street near the microbrewery on South Eton.

Renner said the parking squeeze will grow worse if the city allows an expansion at Griffin Claw, which sits a block south of the same owners' Big Rock Chop House restaurant on Birmingham's border with Troy.

At 7:30 tonight, the Birmingham City Commission is to hold a public hearing at City Hall, 151 Martin, to consider letting the microbrewery "construct an accessory building, expand the outdoor dining area, build a canopy over the loading dock and add a new entrance feature to the back of the building," according to city documents.

The proposal was approved by the Planning Commission last month, so it now awaits only final approval by the elected City Commission.

"We're just trying to capitalize on our success, but we're always trying to be good neighbors — in fact, a lot of the people here in our tap room walk in from the neighborhood," said Brandon Wright, general manager of Griffin Claw Brewing.

To smooth relations with residents, the microbrewery agreed at the outset to close earlier than most bars — at 11 p.m. on weeknights and at midnight on weekends, Wright said.

The microbrewery serves a full complement of food for its 130-seat restaurant, and in warm weather the outdoor beer garden opens to add 60 seats, he said.

Wright said he was unsure how many more seats the planned expansion would add, but city documents show it would entail four long "beer hall-style" tables that seat at least eight each and two bistro tables that seat at least two apiece for patrons who can order a glass of El Rojo Red ale for $6 a glass and a Pickle Fries appetizer for $8.

The expansion will eliminate 18 of the bar's parking spaces, yet the business still will have 78 spaces — six more than the city requires for a bar and brewery business of its size, according to the city's planning department. Moreover, "no additional parking is required for any of the outdoor dining areas," a planning document states.

Last spring and summer, Griffin Claw patrons monopolized parking on nearby residential streets, said Barb McIntosh, a retired talent scout who lives four doors from the bar.

"When you have friends over, they can't park anywhere near your house," McIntosh said.

The two sides — a business wanting to expand, neighbors battling to preserve neighborhood values — is a classic confrontation found in every community, Birmingham Mayor Stuart Sherman said.

"We're always trying to find the right balance between residents and commercial needs," Sherman said.

In this case, "we'll hear from both sides and figure out what's in the best interest of the city as a whole," he said.

Contact Bill Laitner: 313-223-4485 or blaitner@freepress.com