November 2, 2015

"Everyone else can barbeque but us - and we're a barbecue restaurant."

"Our business model is based on BBQ, and [they're] constraining my business."
The Plan Commission will decide the smoker's fate at a Monday night meeting - but many in the Monroe-Vilas community... say a smoker would impact their quality of living. The Vilas Neighborhood Association declined an interview but said in a statement it opposed a conditional use permit "for numerous reasons that are incongruent with the neighborhood and the close proximity... to the surrounding residential neighborhood."

32 comments:

MadisonMan said...

Their BBQ is really really good. I went there the week it opened.

I hope that Fear of the Unknown is driving many of the opponents of the smoker. In any event, I think it wrong to control what your neighbors do, within reason, and I think smoking meat does not fall under the obnoxious category. Isn't Pizza Bruta's pizza oven doing essentially the same thing?

damikesc said...

Hell, the smell of a smoker with good BBQ going is damned nice.

Ann Althouse said...

"Hell, the smell of a smoker with good BBQ going is damned nice."

Would you like to smell it all the time in your home and be unable to turn it off?

Big Mike said...

I think I'd enjoy the aroma of a barbeque smoker for precisely one afternoon. After that it would be a nuisance and detriment to my property values.

William said...

It's very hard to lose weight when you live within olfactory range of a BBQ joint.

rehajm said...

In the video the neighbors look like they're directly across the backstreet. I'm going to dare suggest there's some prudence here by the planning board.

David said...

"They add most neighbors within 200 feet of the cooker location have signed off in support."

Birkel said...

I think if you want to live where nothing and nobody impacts your senses, you should be able to do so. And imposing on your neighbors is a small price to pay.

/sarc

Gusty Winds said...

Who would put the state of Texas on a business sign in liberal Madison? They're doomed.

Thorley Winston said...

If having an outdoor smoke is integral to their business, why didn’t they get the necessary permits or make sure that it was otherwise allowed in that area before opening a restaurant in that location?

mikee said...

BBQ joints from Texas have successfully invaded such liberal enclaves as Fort Collins, Colorado, with great success. Madison would be shocked, shocked I say, to discover how good Texas BBQ really is.

Good Texas BBQ crosses political lines with ease, and a side of slaw.

Good Texas BBQ can make vegans weep, which is to be applauded and repeated whenever possible.

The only thing Texas BBQ can't do is make a pulled pork sammich (with the vinegar/pepper sauce) as good as those of my childhood in eastern NC. But I forgive Texas for that lapse, as it makes visits back to my homeland all the more delightful.

Rusty said...

It's for their own good, really.
I mean. Who want's the aroma of BBQ wafting around the neighborhood?
The zoning board is just saving the community from unwanted savory odors.
Like brisket.
Or ribs.
Now I'[m hungery.

Michael K said...

Why would anyone expect a leftist zone like Madison would allow a Texas themed business ?

Gusty Winds said...

Michael K said...Why would anyone expect a leftist zone like Madison would allow a Texas themed business?

Right. They should have picked a minority theme for the BBQ and the libs would be falling all over themselves writing rave reviews about sweet smell of diversity.



Mark said...

I thought this same place was fine with the lack of a smoker when they moved in less than a year ago.

Now that they have moved in, there is a problem with the rules?

Shouldn't they have known they were unlikely to get a smoker in the first place?

walter said...

Michael,
I thought that immediately when I saw the Texas outline in the sign. Might explain why they are singled out.
It sounds like the neighbors it would affect are ok with it, no?

But the Altparse nugget here is the use of the term "smoker"

ndspinelli said...

You are seeing the white, elitist racism @ work here. For those not familiar w/ Madison, this is near the university where many professors live!! Elitist, racist professors who have contempt for business.

walter said...

True Mark,
I could see after being there for some time trying to renegotiate the terms..but a few weeks in? Unless enforcement/interpretation of the rules has been selective, they need to deal.

Peter said...

I recall passing an apartment building that was downwind of a restaurant exhaust fan. Its windows had become translucent due to the thick coating of grease that had accumulated on them, and everything else.

That grease may have smelled good when it was fresh, but it did not smell so good after it became rancid.

walter said...

I used to live in a 2nd level apartment at 612 University ave. 2nd apartment and my roommate and I were pretty green to things. Our little kitchen window overlooked the roof line next door. Although it wasn't active when we evaluated the place, once moved in..we learned the metal vent pointing at our window was from the fryer vats of the infamous Shanghai Minnie's restaurant. That window rarely opened. The roaches were pretty much trapped in our place.

Gordon Scott said...

I was helping out a friend by smoking 100 pounds of pork shoulder. I had my smoker set up at her house. It was running on its own and I wasn't there when she called me. "I could smell it from six blocks away!" Did it smell good? "Oh God yes. I can only imagine what the neighbors think."

The funny thing is that I can't smell it from 10 feet away, when I'm cooking. I can't taste it, not properly, either. The next day, after my nose has cleared, I can. I can smell and taste someone else's Q just fine.

Diamondhead said...

They're imagining much more smoke than there actually would be. If the people within 200 feet of it are okay with it, then there shouldn't be a problem. I seriously doubt anyone further away than that would ever even notice it aside from a very occasional whiff. And even inside the 200 foot zone, the smell of BBQ is not going to permeate homes.

damikesc said...

Would you like to smell it all the time in your home and be unable to turn it off?

There's plenty of unpleasant smells I have to deal with regularly. Smokers don't really give off that much smoke.

Hell, you want joy? Eat a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving.

BBQ joints from Texas have successfully invaded such liberal enclaves as Fort Collins, Colorado, with great success. Madison would be shocked, shocked I say, to discover how good Texas BBQ really is.

Most Southern cooking would do that. Most people think Cracker Barrel is good. Tragic.

Larry J said...

Mark said...
I thought this same place was fine with the lack of a smoker when they moved in less than a year ago.

Now that they have moved in, there is a problem with the rules?


I think their complaint is that they're being discriminated against. It could also be that, especially on college game days, they need to cook more food than they can under the existing arrangement. They claim other businesses in the area are allowed to cook outdoors but they aren't. If that's the case, it sounds like they have the grounds for a successful lawsuit.

LordSomber said...

Before I even clicked through I knew this wasn't a story from the South.

Guildofcannonballs said...

"liberal enclaves as Fort Collins, Colorado,"

My bias is one of the anchor variety (and/or one of a variety anchored) but compared to Boulder and Denver and Aspen and many small mountain towns in Colorado calling Fort Collins a liberal enclave is an unjust slur.

Guildofcannonballs said...

"Shouldn't they have known they were unlikely to get a smoker in the first place?"

Indeed not, and you should know that.

Who knows what evil lies in the hearts of women, especially powerful Justices and jurists?

Guildofcannonballs said...

"Hell, you want joy? Eat a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving."

Yeah, because everyone has the same taste (in food) and likes "good" food and dislikes "bad" food and smoked turkey, for Thankgiving (at minimum?) provides everyone joy and is therefore good. That is why I have proposed a national day of Turkey Joy as I have settled the science and treat deniers as the incurious apes they are.

This goes ultra-double-turbo if somebody smells differently and tastes food differently, to an extent they might overcompensate their lack of smelling by being overly sensitive to the "average" smeller's smells. Like the blind hearing better than the seeing, but without ironic subtext suggesting other than the literal point.

Guildofcannonballs said...

"If the people within 200 feet of it are okay with it, then there shouldn't be a problem."

Okay, how about 201 feet?

Or, how about 202 feet?

Or, how about 199 feet, wouldn't that maybe show a reasonable attitude of someone you can work with?

Larry J said...

Guildofcannonballs said...
"liberal enclaves as Fort Collins, Colorado,"

My bias is one of the anchor variety (and/or one of a variety anchored) but compared to Boulder and Denver and Aspen and many small mountain towns in Colorado calling Fort Collins a liberal enclave is an unjust slur.


Being a college town, Ft. Collins certainly has its share of liberals. However, it was also the site of Dan's Bake Sale back in 1993. It was like a conservative Woodstock featuring Rush Limbaugh as the main attraction.

SGT Ted said...

Cry Baby Nation.

A BBQ smoker will not impact their quality of life. They don't produce that much smoke. The complaint is just standard whiner, boilerplate to claim harm where none really exists. It's bullshit on stilts.

Shawn Levasseur said...

For work I used to visit a customer that was in the same industrial park as a snack food company that made white cheddar popcorn.

A couple of times a day you can smell the popcorn. Wonderful.