It’s the same thing he hopes to bring to his Indian River rum distillery, Gibson said.įor county commissioners, the concept is an unmarried use of farmland, anything other than subdivision. Bahkta’s plan to grow his own ingredients in the cultivar and create the whiskey on the spot, and then invite shoppers to look, he said. It will take something new,” Gibson said. “(Bahkta) learned that if he wanted to run his farm, he wouldn’t be able to do it as a rancher. The company’s owner, Raj Bhakta, who with a distillery on a bankrupt Vermont dairy farm called WhistlePig Farm, aimed to turn the rye whiskey market from a “low-end product” to a luxury alcoholic beverage, Gibson said. The operation will remain small, about 7,000 square feet, allowing for a dozen visitors at a time, Gibson said. He’s planting fruit trees and corn to make brandy and bourbon, he said. Sugarcane has already been planted on the property, GIbson said, and “we can do a lot of things if we put that in place. Opening of Treasure Coast’s First Distillery: A Vero Beach Couple will Open Treasure Coast’s First Distillery, Featuring Ingredients Native to Floridaįlorida Distillery Trail: Top 2 Treasure Coast Distilleries Put the Area on the Tourist MapĬan Seltz’s hard water bring Vero’s economy to life?The new distillery in downtown Vero Beach plans to notice it The county also granted a required permit for agricultural industries. Site plans for the Bahkta Farms distillery won unanimously on June 7 from the County Commission.

“They to know that they can hint at the product in the bottle to anything in the field. They to see where the crops are grown,” Gibson said. “People to see where their food and beverages are made. The hotel would come with bed and breakfast, which would make the progression a destination where visitors can simply and revel in the way rum is made, Leo Gibson, an attorney for Bhakta Farms, told the County Commission on June 7. The court reporter was a way to get a clean record of what was said at the meeting, Turner said.The rum distillery at Bahkta Farms, east of Avenue and north of State Road 60, will grow ingredients, create the rum, then bottle it and buy it on-site, according to county records. One idea is for the Indian River municipalities to work together on changing the county's mind on allowing municipalities to apply for tourism tax grants, he said. The city wants to partner with the county to replace the existing Humiston Park tower, which has mold and structural damage, Turner said. 'We're exploring all of our options,' Turner said. Vero Beach has no plans to sue over the issue, despite the presence of a court reporter at Tuesday's meeting, Turner said after the meeting. But Vero Beach City Attorney John Turner on Tuesday argued that requests grant money from cities and towns should be allowed, not automatically removed from consideration.

Vero Beach's grant request for a $450,000, two-story tower was denied, on the grounds that municipalities are ineligible to apply for tourism tax grants. The County Commission last week approved the Tourist Development Council's recommendations to give grants to agencies such as the Indian River and Sebastian River areas chambers of commerce, the Cultural Council and the Treasure Coast Sports Commission. Before the pandemic, it historically generated about $3 million annually. The tourism tax, also known as the bed tax, adds 4% to hotel stays.

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