Posts Tagged ‘Franklin Barbecue’

Austin City Council Punts on Anti-BBQ Ordinance

Friday, April 3rd, 2015

After a huge outcry over a proposed ordinance to limit BBQ smoke in residential areas, the Austin City Council has decided to punt:

A proposed resolution that could have forced barbecue restaurants in the city of Austin to install smoke scrubbers on their smoke stacks will come before the full city council this summer. That’s what council members approved during Friday’s meeting, after hearing from restaurant owners and neighbors who say the smoke is ruining their quality of life.

Snip.

The resolution now goes through a stakeholder process, meaning the city will hear from people who have a direct stake in the issue. Then it will go to the economic development and health and human services committees before coming before the full council again. That’s scheduled to happen after July 31.

So they could still kill the golden goose and fulfill Dwight’s longing to see an entire city council tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail. But the delay also gives them time to quietly kill the proposal after realizing how many orders of magnitude more BBQ-eating voters there are than people supporting the ordinance…

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Posted in Austin, Regulation | 1 Comment »

Austin Getting Ready To Declare War on BBQ

Tuesday, March 31st, 2015

Austin has one of the nation’s best barbecue joints in Franklin Barbecue. So how does the city celebrate that fact? If you’re the People’s Republic of Austin, you see if you can kill the goose that lays the golden eggs through over-regulation!

A proposed city council resolution could threaten Austin’s continued status as an international destination for Texas barbecue. District 3 council member Sabino “Pio” Renteria is spearheading a code change to limit barbecue smoke in residential areas, as reported by KUT. Pitmaster Aaron Franklin tells Eater if such a code were to pass, it could force Franklin Barbecue and many other barbecue joints in Austin to go out of business.

The proposed code change would require any restaurant or food truck using “a wood or charcoal burning stove or grill” within one hundred and fifty feet of residential zoning to install an exhaust system known as smoke scrubbers. Franklin estimates the cost of such a system would run between $15,000 and $20,000, which he says is not an option for even his hyper-successful business. “Cost aside, the barbecue would not be the same—it would modify how the cooker smokes,” Franklin says. “If this resolution passes, we would be forced to close or move. It would destroy Austin barbecue.”

Yes, because so many normal people (as opposed to radical vegetarians) hate the smell of barbecue.

Franklin has threatened to move if the ordinance passes. Mr. Franklin should feel free to move up to Williamson County, where people appreciate barbecue and he won’t be hassled by The Man…

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Posted in Austin, Regulation, Texas | 2 Comments »