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Austin severely restricts barbeque restaurant smoke

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Botch
Botch Posts: 15,487
in EggHead Forum
The scrubbers required by this new Austin Law will likely put most smaller joints out of business, where the best 'que is...
_____________

"Pro-Life" would be twenty students graduating from Sandy Hook next month  


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  • apinion
    apinion Posts: 470
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    There has been huge backlash around the city by a good bit of people.  That's like Boston limiting the amount of clams you can put in your chowder.
    Louisianian by birth, Louisianian by death. Austinite for now...
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  • jtcBoynton
    jtcBoynton Posts: 2,814
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    Anyone local that can confirm this?  Last I heard, I thought that the subject was "under review" until summer.
    Southeast Florida - LBGE
    In cooking, often we implement steps for which we have no explanations other than ‘that’s what everybody else does’ or ‘that’s what I have been told.’  Dare to think for yourself.
     
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  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
    edited April 2015
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    I guess these guys would be ran out of Austin as well. 

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sTCBOOvt4w8
    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
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  • FearlessTheEggNoob
    FearlessTheEggNoob Posts: 888
    edited April 2015
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    There's been some public outcry to that proposal.

    I believe that particular council member recently tailored his proposal to focus more on BBQ food trucks, and thus avoid affecting Franklin's location.

    Which is ironically how Aaron started his business.

    Apparently he knows better than to run off Austin's newest favorite son.
    Gittin' there...
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  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
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    So, they are effectively trying to pigeonhole the little guy starting out and Aaron Franklin supports this? @FearlessTheEggNoob
    If that's a fact it's pretty damn smarmy!  But, I would certainly hope he wouldn't stand behind this. 
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
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  • FearlessTheEggNoob
    FearlessTheEggNoob Posts: 888
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    No, I don't believe Aaron has any say in the matter or any nefarious intent.

    I just see it as he will be getting a pass because some politician recognized he was going to lose a lot of votes if he didn't amend his proposal.
    Gittin' there...
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  • jimithing
    jimithing Posts: 254
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    Franklin has said he's opposed to this ordinance.  Check his twitter from March 28th and March 30th.  https://twitter.com/franklinbbq

    XL BGE
    Plano, TX
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  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 17,186
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    I bet Franklin's is just over the distance requirement....
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,970
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    Yeah- it started as 800 feet from a residence but got negotiated down to 100 feet. Franklin is like 101 feet from several residences. Don't think that is a coincidence. They did fast track it for approval but it's not officialy passed yet. It will though. I really hate the way it's written. It does not provide for the differences in a guy running a hot dog cart with a hibachi and the big BBQ joints the burn a cord of wood a week. I'll be interested to see how it's enforced. My buddy said that his neighborhood is trying to pass a residential backyard BBQ smoke ordinance too. Not sure when BBQ became the enemy... IN AUSTIN TEXAS! 
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,385
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    @The_ Cen_ Tex Smoker- Clean this up and weave it into the "Devastated" thread.  May become global overnight :peace: 
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,970
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    lousubcap said:
    @The_ Cen_ Tex Smoker- Clean this up and weave it into the "Devastated" thread.  May become global overnight :peace: 
    That thing is off the rails. Hilarious. Did you see that other poor dude who tried to appeal to goodness of the forum to buy him a new egg? 
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
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    From the referenced "news" article:

    "

    Of course, these regulations are par for the course for a liberal city. Liberals claim to hate big business and love small businesses, but then they love to place so many regulations on the little guy that the environment becomes toxic to entry level entrepreneurs. The ultimate consequence of these policies is that large corporations and governments are the only entities permitted to operate.

    I suggest you get your barbecue from Austin as soon as possible so you can tell your descendants how good it was before communism took over.

    Chime in below with your comments!

    "

    From comments section:

    "This article’s headline is completely false. Why these people are allowed to do this, I don’t know. We’ve just gotten so many bar-b-cue places that the neighbors are complaining about the never ending smoke. They’re figuring out a way to make the restaurants stop the heavy smoke. That’s it. Nobody is closing down anything!
    What a pitiful excuse for a news company."



    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
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    Note - if this was Salt Lake City or some so called "conservative" city, you might see the same political spin on the story from liberals.  It's a quality of life in a densely populated urban area issue.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
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  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
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    nolaegghead said:
    Note - if this was Salt Lake City or some so called "conservative" city, you might see the same political spin on the story from liberals.  It's a quality of life in a densely populated urban area issue.
    Yep
    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,970
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    I love how everyone refers to austin as a "liberal city". We may be liberal compared to our sister cities here in TX but I've lived all over and it's still fairly conservative compared to say Madison, WI, LA, NYC,Ann Arbor MI. We definitely have our share of dirty hippies but you really have to search for the seedy underbelly these days. Sad. Every time a mega church pops up, a hippie loses his beard. 



    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
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    government has gone over the top with nanny laws.  Our liberties are eroding as fast as you can spit.  What do you all think of the research on self driving cars?  You know where this is headed.  someday, only the rich and politically connected elite will be able to own and drive cars that require a drivers license.
    There will come the day, when most people will get in automated driving machines and leave the control to a computer to take them to work, the grocery store, school, etc.  Gas guzzling hot rods will not be something the average middle class person will be able to afford.  It is only a matter of time before home BBQing is outlawed "for the sake of the children", air quality control.
    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
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  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 14,627
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    +1 what @The Cen-Tex Smoker said.  I spent 30+ years in and around San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose and I've been in Austin for 13ish years.  I still chuckle when I see a 'Keep Austin Weird' bumper sticker or tshirt.  Weird is relative.
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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    edited April 2015
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    @Zmokin ...upside is you can drink on the way to work. Legally. 
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,350
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    I think this sort of problem falls under the "too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing rule".

    I don't think most folks/neighborhoods would mind the occasional whiff of smoke but when you get too many operators trying to cook in a densely populated area then it shouldn't be a surprise when nearby residents object to being covered in smoke for many hours of every day.

    If the ordinance was trying to stop wandering bands of folks running old tire burning furnaces would it be considered controversial to try and address/limit the emissions of such an operation? Why should wood smoke emissions be any different?

    This isn't too much different from the problems many densely developed cities had to address with wood burning fireplaces many years ago. My city banned open burning of autumn leaves many decades ago mainly because of complaints about the smoke. I'm sure that upset a lot of the avid autumn leaf burning contingent at the time but nobody would even consider setting their piles of autumn leaves ablaze anymore.

    Rather than trying to limit the emissions from these operations perhaps the Austin city council could just try to limit where/how many can operate a given area through their existing zoning laws. Of course, even trying that will lead some folks to complain about how we're losing our liberty, jack booted government, yadda-yadda-yadda.

    When this issue was first posted here in another thread a week or so ago I came across this site that had a bit of insight into the issue which might be of interest to some:

    http://austin.eater.com/2015/3/30/8309059/barbecue-master-aaron-franklin-slams-proposed-city-smoke-limits


    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,487
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    nolaegghead said:
    Note - if this was Salt Lake City or some so called "conservative" city, you might see the same political spin on the story from liberals.  It's a quality of life in a densely populated urban area issue.
    Ironically SLC just tried to ban wood-burning fireplaces in February, and the uproar shut the idea down (we DO have some serious pollution levels here because of the bowl geography).  
    _____________

    "Pro-Life" would be twenty students graduating from Sandy Hook next month  


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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    Legume said:
    +1 what @The Cen-Tex Smoker said.  I spent 30+ years in and around San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose and I've been in Austin for 13ish years.  I still chuckle when I see a 'Keep Austin Weird' bumper sticker or tshirt.  Weird is relative.
    My relatives are weird. 
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • st¡ke
    st¡ke Posts: 276
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    Thanks OBAMA!!
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  • anton
    anton Posts: 1,813
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    Oh man, and everybody was just bashing Cal not too long ago for the EPA study regarding backyard smoke, and bbq's. So Texas, doesn't feel good, does it?
     Using a MBGE,woo/w stone,livin' in  Hayward California," The Heart Of The Bay "
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
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    Thanks a lot, lung breathing humans.  Go fvck yurselves for aerobic respiration. 
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
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  • st¡ke
    st¡ke Posts: 276
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    As opposed to anaerobic respiration, of course
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  • onedbguru
    onedbguru Posts: 1,647
    edited April 2015
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    That's what happens when those commyfornia liberal morons move into a new area.  It sad those idiots can't see that they have been so wrong on the whole global warming thing.  It was quite ironic that last week in Canada, they were protesting global warming... in several inches of new April snow. Apparently they are a product of our current public school systems and brainwashed by Socialist Environmental drivel being put forth as fact when the REAL facts is that the Earth goes through a 30-35yr warming/cooling cycle and we have actually started in the cooling cycle.  The ice pack in the north may be melting, but the ice pack in Antarctica is bigger than ever - or "ever" that we know of.  Oh - one thing they seem to forget is that ALL PLANT LIFE "BREATHS" Co2 and generates ... wait for it ... oxygen. According to scientific resources, the atmosphere is only comprised of .039% CO2... I guess they think that the smoke from a couple of bbq grills is going change that to a significant enough ratio that it might somehow change the atmosphere with the "atmosphere" having a mass of about 5.15×10 to the 18 kg, three quarters of which is within about 11 km (6.8 mi; 36,000 ft) of the surface.  The average grill might put out .00001 grams of Co2 into the air.  Pardon my "french" but, they are the definition of  stupid morons. 
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  • st¡ke
    st¡ke Posts: 276
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    Yeah. Um. That's not what happened. But cool diatribe, bro
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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    Here comes chicken little. I always ask liberals 2 things...
    Did you send extra $ in on your tax return? 
    Why do you have 3 cars, a boat and cub cadet mower?
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • st¡ke
    st¡ke Posts: 276
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    i always ask conservatives, did you put 10% into the basket so the Vatican can paint another ceiling? And why do you pray to a god who tells you to love your fellow man while you make decisions about people based on their skin color?
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