Could a New Taproom Be Coming to Boise on Broadway?

Critty’s, a 25-tap watering hole looking for a green light from the city to open its doors on Broadway Avenue, hopes to “provide a comfortable, pub-style atmosphere where people can come to unwind and enjoy their favorite craft beers,” according to a letter to Boise Planning & Development Services.

Whether it will be able to do that is up to the City of Boise’s Planning & Zoning Commission. During its Monday, April 14, meeting, the commission will decide whether to grant Critty’s a conditional use permit exempting it from rules dictating how close a bar or taproom can be to a neighborhood.

According to its letter to PDS, Critty’s will serve craft ciders at two or three of its taps, and there will also be four wine taps. No beer will be served in pitchers, and the bar does not plan to serve food or liquor, though snack foods like popcorn, peanuts or pretzels will be offered.

The taproom, which would be located at 2139 S. Broadway Ave., is likely to get the go-ahead from P&Z: In supporting documents for the Monday meeting, city planners determined that although the business would be within 300 feet of a residential neighborhood, it meets other criteria from Boise’s comprehensive plan for the area. Those include encouraging a mixture of small-scale retail and commercial businesses to take root, as well as “active uses” like shopping and dining.

Planners also added that Critty’s design and nearby developments would “screen” the nearby neighborhood from possible nuisances like noise.

P&Z will make its ruling at City Hall in the City Council chambers on Monday evening at 6 p.m.