The Campbell County Planning and Zoning commission approved the stage two plans for a single-story, 55,000 square foot barrel storage building (Rickhouse) and a 360 square foot office building built on 10 acres in Silver Grove.
A Rickhouse is a building designed for storing and aging distilled spirits. The proposed warehouse will be able to keep 41,000 barrels, according to staff comments made at the Planning and Zoning meeting last week.
New Riff Distilling is located in Newport and was established in 2014. New Riff crafts a range of whiskeys—Bourbon, Rye and Kentucky Wild Gin. Most recently, the distillery earned 10 medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition as reported by LINK nky. As the company continues to grow, they need to expand.
The proposed site is at Mary Ingles Highway (KY8) at the intersection of Kay Wright Lane. The site is currently undeveloped and falls within the Industrial Park Zone. The storage and office facility proposed by New Riff falls within the light industrial zone and falls within the comprehensive plan.
One component of the design is an earthen berm encircling the building, which is a moat-like structure to contain the contents of a container should it spill. It is being utilized as a safety precaution in case of a failure in the facility. The top of the berm is specified to be at 508’ ASL (above mean sea level.) The base flood elevation at this site is 502’ ASL.
The office space is a 360 square-foot (12’ X 30’) modular office and is a premanufactured trailer. Campbell County Planning and Zoning Director Cindy Minter said it is not uncommon in an industrial area to have a premanufactured structure for an office facility.
Silver Grove asked for a public hearing for this development, according to Minter, but she said Silver Grove is in favor of the plans. Though the Planning and Zoning commission held a public hearing, no public comments were made by residents for, against, or neutral to the project.
The Planning and Zoning board unanimously passed the Stage two plans for the Rickhouse and office space.
