Greenwood’s Yonder Cider to stay open after Seattle Metropolis Council approves microbusiness invoice

Yonder Bar in Greenwood will keep its garage doors open for at least another year after the Seattle City Council passed a bill easing restrictions on domestic micro-businesses in the city.

The “Bringing Businesses Home” bill was passed 8: 1 on Monday, with Councilor Alex Pedersen alone against.

Sponsored by Council members Dan Strauss and Teresa Mosqueda and President Lorena Gonzalez, the law will relax citywide restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic for one year and lift these regulations for domestic businesses:

– Customer visits are only possible by appointment

– There is no evidence that the home business is visible from the outside of the structure

– No more than two people who do not live in the building are allowed to work in a home business

– The home business must not cause a significant increase in street parking congestion or a significant increase in traffic in the immediate vicinity.

“We know the land use code was not written for living in a pandemic and the land use code has not kept pace with our changing environment, especially when we are working from home more than ever,” Strauss said on Monday.

Following the vote, Yonder Cider’s founder Caitlin Braam expressed hope that the bill would lead to more businesses being based in the neighborhood.

“I’m so hopeful to go to a different garage like Yonder Bar in the next two weeks, three weeks, two months and see another small business that has started and hopefully can grow and dream into a bigger space, just like we did, “said Braam.

Yonder Bar hit the headlines in early February when it was forced to close its walk-through retail facility due to complaints from a neighbor that the store was operating too close to a school and church. The female-owned cidery didn’t open until July 2020, and the window was selling growler fillings and cans to be consumed off-site.

These walk-in window models, which limit guest and staff contact, were successful during the food restrictions, and the owners of Yonder claimed the model was best for their business as over 90 bars and restaurants in town were permanently closed during the pandemic were.

While the angry neighbor got his wish when he saw the garage bar lock, the forced closure proved extremely unpopular with neighbors and residents. Over 4,100 residents signed a petition to the city to allow Yonder to reopen and bring the legality of these domestic businesses into the jurisdiction of the city council.

“We need to ensure that our land use code is able to respond to the crisis that small businesses are facing as a result of COVID-19,” Strauss said during a committee meeting. “That legislation recognized that our code had not kept up with the business owner’s creativity and drive.”

Domestic businesses would continue to be regulated by other agencies such as the Department of Health and Alcohol Control.

While the closure of Yonder’s garage bar may have triggered the bill, Strauss said there are other businesses in his own district that are not currently home.

Pedersen expressed concerns that the possibility of more private businesses failing to comply with city regulations would create competition with pre-existing small businesses that are forced to comply with city regulations.

“The proposed changes will allow retail, food and beverage businesses to multiply across the city, with, in my opinion, the impact on existing small businesses that are struggling to reopen and shut down in our many neighborhood business districts too little consideration. ” Said Pedersen.

Strauss said the Phinney Neighborhood Association, Yonder’s neighboring business district, supported the bill.

While Yonder has reopened its retail space, they’re soon to get bigger and better too: Embroidery announced it will open a new taproom in Ballard later in 2021 in partnership with Yakima’s Bale Breaker Brewing.