Oneida County votes to shut down Minocqua Brewing Co

MINOCQUA, Wis. (WSAW) - The Oneida County Planning & Development Committee has officially revoked Minocqua Brewing Co, and Kirk Bangstad’s administrative review permit to operate following a public meeting Wednesday.

That means the Minocqua Brewing Company can’t do business right now. Owner Kirk Bangstad’s permit was under review after he violated some of the terms of his ARP.

“It’s been a long, drawn-out process, and unfortunately this is where it ended up,” said Mike Timmons, committee member, Oneida County Planning and Development.

“We’re going to fight this,” Bangstad said. “We’re going to fight this in court and keep on fighting it up the ladder of the Oneida County chain of command.”

On July 26, a public hearing took place in which the County was to decide on Bangstad’s permit to operate. It got cut short, however, after the county claimed he was straying too far from the topic at hand, pushing it to Aug. 2.

Unlike the hearing last week, this one was less heated but still emotional.

In the original hearing rules schedule set for Wednesday, Bangstad was only going to be allowed to answer questions. During the hearing, he ultimately was allowed to speak and got 15 minutes to defend himself, but it didn’t change the committee members’ minds.

The public was also allowed to comment, with both people for and against Bangstad’s permit speaking.

In addition to the delayed ARP decision, the hearing also considered his application for a conditional use permit that would allow him to expand and build his beer garden. The decision on that has now been delayed. The committee chairman told Bangstad to come back with a different plan that would better work with his property.

A temporary restraining order was filed on Tuesday, Aug. 1 by Bangstad and the Minocqua Brewing Company against Oneida County supervisors.

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