Last Saturday morning, a major explosion at the Storm Distillery in downtown Inverness, FL caused a structure fire that injured three people and damaged nearby businesses. The Courthouse Square area of town was shut down for hours.

Let’s think back to December 6, 2022, the Village Council voted 3-2 to approve a major conditional use to convert a bank into the Crooked Palm Cabana Brewery & Distillery.

Thankfully only one of the Council members who voted to approve this still remains on council. 

Several months of meetings and debates had already debated this project.  There were many concerns, as to density, proximity of a bar/distillery to two schools, two churches, a residential neighborhood heavily populated with families with young children.

Other critical concerns:

1.  There are seven affordable housing units on the second floor of the Crooked Palm Distillery. This is a key concern.

Their safety is protected by the provisions of the Federal Alcoholic Administrative Act, Title 27 USC 19.52 which states that “a distilled spirits facility cannot be located in a structure connected to a residence.”

The Village Attorney instructed council that the Village does not consider State and Federal regulations when determining whether a project adheres to legal requirements, only Village regulations. The attorney defended the Village’s right to  ignore Federal provisions and leave it up to the Federal government to regulate their own rules. 

I do not agree with the opinion of our Village Attorney. And neither Key West Attorney David Paul Horan, who practiced law in the Keys for 50 years and testified that Federal law must prevail.

The Village should absolutely assure state and Federal compliance. Throughout the Comp Plan and land development regulations we see the words “must comply with all local, county, state and Federal regulations” In fact between the Village Comp Plan and the LDRs there are 143 references to Federal regulation.

Do these Federal Regulations apply? Of course they do.

Distilleries require unique licenses. They have specific regulations at the state and Federal level for a reason. Regulations pertaining to a distillery assure public safety.

Distilleries also impact water supply - with extreme water consumption and more intense wastewater treatment.

1. Another critical issue - In Village Center zoning, where the distillery is located, there is a long and thorough list of legal uses - 76 in fact! Distillery or craft distillery is not one of the legal uses in Village Center or any other Village zoning classification. 

Why wasn’t this noted by Council, Attorney and staff?

We don’t know if Crooked Palm Distillery actually distills but it has been approved by the Village to do so. The point is it was mistakenly approved.

There is also a Distillery (same owner) located on Upper Matecumbe. The Village never had a public hearing to have the distilling approved as a use there. Why not?

Anyone paying attention?  Another inside job?

While issues of life and safety were not addressed by the Council when approving the Crooked Palm Distillery when they voted 3-2 to approve at 11:30 PM December 6, 2022, other concerns voiced were and 19 conditions were approved to assure the Crooked Palm Cabana would not be a detriment to the neighborhood:  landscape requirements, hours of operation, noise limitations, outdoor seating and other conditions were imposed.

In 2025, the current Village Council removed six of the conditions that perhaps promoted some “good neighborly behavior.”

We were told that the Crooked Palm Distillery was not making a profit under these conditions and needed them removed. Is ensuring profitability a factor in imposing or removing conditions placed on any establishment in order to protect the public good?

Of course not. Makes no sense and sets horrible precedents.

Since the removal of the conditions, neighbors complain that the noise has increased with the increase in outdoor events.“This weekend was the first time that it wasn’t keys music. It was EDM and loud DJ music.  I was disappointed ... it’s going in the wrong direction.”

So much for the residents’ quality of life, not to mention traffic and parking problems.

In summary:

To ignore Federal and local statues imposed to ensure the safety and lifestyle of the residents is unacceptable and illegal. This puts Village government in a precarious position.

I question why these bad decisions were made and ask for their immediate review.

Those responsible should be reminded that helping their friends should not supersede their sworn duties to the Village and its residents. If that clouds their vision, they should leave their position of trust.

Residents! Pay attention!

 Yours,

Tom