Opinions were mixed during an Oct. 16 public hearing before the Oxford Village Planning Commission regarding a request to allow a proposed microbrewery to operate a tap room in an industrially-zoned area.

“It’s just not a good place for this activity,” said Charles Hubbard, president and owner of M.D. Hubbard Spring Co., located at 595 S. Lapeer Rd. “Normally, these kinds of places are in well-lit (areas) like downtown . . . We object a great deal to having it there.”

“I’m excited about the prospect and the possibility of another tap room coming to Oxford,” said Rev. Matt Schuler, pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church at 136 S. Washington St. “I think it’s a great experience to have a pint with a friend and be able to talk about life and faith and all that, together.”

One Drop Brewing Co., owned by Addison residents Ben Schnurle and Morganne Matheis, is proposing to operate a microbrewery inside a 3,600-square-foot building at 130 Oakdell Dr., just east of M-24. The building, which is 150 feet long and 24 feet wide, is on the north side of where Oakdell deadends. It’s not visible from the highway.

The property is zoned industrial, which allows for breweries as a permitted use. But One Drop also wants to operate a tap room, or tasting room, where folks can purchase and imbibe the beers made there. Because a tap room would be considered a bar or lounge under the zoning ordinance, special land use approval from the planning commission is required.

Ken Matheis, Morganne’s father and the building’s owner, explained a tap room is needed to help “get the product out there” into “consumers’ hands,” so the business can “flourish.”

“We’re just trying to get this brewery off the ground,” he said.

Schnurle said One Drop wants to “start small” and “make sure people like our product” before increasing the size and scope of the business.

But surrounding property owners expressed concerns about the potential negative impact of people consuming alcohol in this area.

Hubbard, whose property abuts the One Drop site to the west, was concerned that “when people have had a little bit too much” to drink, it could lead to criminal activity, including trespassing, vandalism and break-ins. “There is very little lighting back there,” he said.

Brian Russell, who co-owns 575 S. Glaspie St., the property that abuts the One Drop site to the east, told commissioners it “doesn’t make sense” to him to have people consuming alcohol in “kind of a back-alley sort of situation” that’s not well-lit “when we have a nice town with other places available.”

“It’s not a wholesome place for that sort of thing,” he said.

In response, Ken Matheis said he’s “happy” to make whatever improvements are needed to “upgrade the area.”

“If you all need additional lighting, that’s not a problem. I’ll add that,” he said.

“I want the facility to be a positive attribute (of) the community, not a negative . . . We’re going to make sure this thing is an upstanding facility. We’re not in it to make people’s life miserable,” Matheis added.

Adjacent property owners also expressed concerns about what they view as a lack of parking for tap room patrons.

“There is very little parking back there,” said Hubbard, who fears customers will end up leaving their vehicles on his property.

The proposed site plan for One Drop Brewing shows 22 parking spaces.

Based on the zoning ordinance, four of those spaces would be required for the brewery and one space for the office, leaving 17 for tap room customers.

Given one space is required for every three customers, village planner Mario Ortega, of the Northville-based McKenna Associates, in his Oct. 11 site plan review letter, recommended the “maximum occupancy” of the tap room “should be no more than 51 persons.”

That fits in with One Drop’s plan for the tap room to accommodate 40 to 60 people, according to Schnurle.

Ken Matheis noted if One Drop starts getting more patrons than the facility can handle, “we would definitely move (the tap room) to another location” and use the Oakdell building just for brewing.

Despite the concerns, there was support for One Drop at the meeting.

“What they want to do is pretty much the new ‘in’ thing,” said Steve Prain, a Metamora resident who grew up in Oxford.

He told commissioners there are a number of communities, such as Hamtramck, that have businesses like this located in industrial areas.

“This is exactly where you’d want to do something like this,” Prain said.

With “so many businesses (along M-24) closing,” Prain told commissioners they “should welcome any business that wants to come to this town and pay taxes and thrive.”

“It’s kind of a no-brainer,” he said.

Schuler assured commissioners that microbreweries and tap rooms don’t attract the type of crowd that’s looking to drink to excess.

“You don’t go to a brewery in order to drink and drink and drink and drink and drink,” he explained. “You go to a brewery to have a beer, maybe a flight of beer(s), and take a growler home. It’s a different kind of culture. It’s not a bar-going culture.”

“I believe they’re going to be good neighbors. I’ve never known a brewery that wasn’t a good neighbor to the people around it,” Schuler added.

Following the hearing, planning commissioners voted 5-0 to set the special land use request aside and address it at the same time as the application for site plan approval, which was not part of the Oct. 16 agenda.

Both issues will be dealt with at a special planning commission meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30.