Austin may require Smoke Scrubbers

fljoemon

Aaron Franklin says he might shut down & move ... http://austin.eater.com/2015/3/30/8309059/barbecue-master-aaron-franklin-slams-proposed-city-smoke-limits

NPHuskerFL

We welcome Aaron Franklin to Florida.  We love the oppressive smell of BBQ

DMW

If he wants to relocate to PA, I wouldn't be opposed to that...

minniemoh

What a deal! I'm so thankful that I have great neighbors. 

JohnInCarolina

Come to NC Franklin - we have even outlawed climate change!

logchief

If the libs have their way it won't be long before we're eating BOILED brisket and ribeyes.  What a bunch of crap.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

It's not the libs. It's all the homeowners around him and terry blacks BBQ. They are both right in the middle of residential neighborhoods. I love Franklin's and would hate to lose him (we won't) but if someone opened a business that burned a cord of wood a week right next to your house, you wouldn't  like it either. 

He he was just on the news and he's pretty hot about it. He's already got it all watered down though so he's set and not going anywhere. It won't affect him but it will probably affect a lot of trailers and smaller guys trying to get going. 

Jeepster47

It's funny/sad that the man spearheading the new code is a Democrat ...

Legume

Funny, Franklin explains the concept of clean smoke discussed here so much.  Franklins is in an area of gentrification, trendy, up and coming.  Blacks moved into a very lib, high dollar neighborhood, FWIW.

This won't pass.

Legume

...and just my opinion, but Blacks is new there, within the last 12 months, so the city is culpable.

JohnInCarolina

Jeepster47 said:

It's funny/sad that the man spearheading the new code is a Democrat ...

So is Franklin.

I'm not sure party really matters here.  The guy is responding to constituents complaining about too much smoke coming into their homes.  

Ozzie_Isaac

As a member of my local zoning board I am pretty confident when I say this will not go anywhere.

This is a politico puffing his chest to get his name out there.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Ozzie_Isaac said:

As a member of my local zoning board I am pretty confident when I say this will not go anywhere.

This is a politico puffing his chest to get his name out there.

Oh it's going to pass. It just won't affect Franklin. He has already had them change the wording from 800 feet from a residential structure to 150 feet. I bet you he's 151 feet from the nearest structure. 

Jeepster47

@JohnInCarolina ... My funny/sad comment is aimed at "how" he is responding to the complaints.

He wants to pass a law/code that will essentially put all BBQ businesses out of business in the Austin area.  Nothing was said in the article about working with the businesses or focusing on the one business that is causing the complaints.  Just pass a new law that will strangle the good and the bad businesses alike.

The whole process is not unlike the recent decline in the coal business, the coal fired power generation business, drilling for oil on federal lands, shipping oil via pipeline, etc, etc, etc.  Right or wrong, one party does seem to be playing an inordinate part in the stifling of business initiatives.

Please understand that I live in Illinois which is a blue state.  We are one of the worst run states in the union.  We're so far in debt that we'll probably never see the light of day.  Down the road many government folks will most likely lose their pensions due to the lack of money to cover promises made.  We raised state taxes a few years ago (temporally raised them) to try to fix some of the mess.  What did our government folks do ... yep, they instituted new ways of spending that money and never payed down the dept.  So, I'm a little biased on how Democrats treat businesses.

caliking

I say Aaron should move to Houston.

Houston= no zoning. Anywhere. Gotta love it.

Foghorn

Please.  If he goes anywhere he's heading 80 miles south down I-35 to San Antonio. But Cen-Tex is probably right. There's no way they pass a law that runs Aaron out of town. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I just read the proposed ordinance. It sucks. It would subject a guy using a webber to grill on the weekends (commercially) to the same regulations as Franklin or LABBQ who'd run 3-4 1000 gallon pits 6 days a week. Those guys are going to get exempt and every lititle guy with a truck or trailer is going to get screwed. This can't stand. Looks like I'm headed downtown when they meet about it next month. 

gmbbs

I don't think the libs want us eating boiled brisket and ribs, I think they want us eating boiled Tofurkey, Tofuribs and tofubrisket!

cazzy

gmbbs said:

I don't think the libs want us eating boiled brisket and ribs, I think they want us eating boiled Tofurkey, Tofuribs and tofubrisket!

Not the libs...it's the peeps in the neighborhoods next to these spots.  I'm sure they've filed a ton of complaints.   

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I'm a lib. Anyone want to do a brisket throwdown?  

SoCalTim

I live a few miles away from Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. The airport has been there since the early 40's. When it was first built, the area was flat and empty. No homes, no business' ... no nothin'.

It was perfect!

Then progress happened, homes sprung up. Ton's of homes. The home owners complained about the constant noise from the jets, and won.

Now ... theres a curfew on when planes (jets) can take off and land.

To me, it just doesn't make sense, when you first bought the home did you not notice the airport?

I dare the city of Austin to force Mr Franklin to move, imagine the outlaying cities in the immediate who will welcome him with open arms?

DMW

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I'm a lib. Anyone want to do a brisket throwdown?  

Librarian or Libertarian?  

fishlessman

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

It's not the libs. It's all the homeowners around him and terry blacks BBQ. They are both right in the middle of residential neighborhoods. I love Franklin's and would hate to lose him (we won't) but if someone opened a business that burned a cord of wood a week right next to your house, you wouldn't  like it either. 

He he was just on the news and he's pretty hot about it. He's already got it all watered down though so he's set and not going anywhere. It won't affect him but it will probably affect a lot of trailers and smaller guys trying to get going. 

thats the problem right there, if you buy a home or move into a place that burns a chord of wood next door you should expect them to continue burning, not change for you. i watched for years as a neighborhood fought to close an old strip club in the area, eventually they lost their liquor license and everyone cheered as they replaced the 21 year and older sign with an 18 year or older sign and sold juice, business picked up

The Cen-Tex Smoker

fishlessman said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

It's not the libs. It's all the homeowners around him and terry blacks BBQ. They are both right in the middle of residential neighborhoods. I love Franklin's and would hate to lose him (we won't) but if someone opened a business that burned a cord of wood a week right next to your house, you wouldn't  like it either. 

He he was just on the news and he's pretty hot about it. He's already got it all watered down though so he's set and not going anywhere. It won't affect him but it will probably affect a lot of trailers and smaller guys trying to get going. 

thats the problem right there, if you buy a home or move into a place that burns a chord of wood next door you should expect them to continue burning, not change for you. i watched for years as a neighborhood fought to close an old strip club in the area, eventually they lost their liquor license and everyone cheered as they replaced the 21 year and older sign with an 18 year or older sign and sold juice, business picked up

He's only been there 3 years. The neighborhood is 150 years old. I don't want him to move. I'm just saying, he moved in to an established neighborhood, became wildly famous (he will be the first to tell you this is all beyond his wildest dreams) and now a small BBQ trailer is running 4x1000 gallon wood burning smokers right in the middle of thier neighborhood 6 days a week. If I had a house there I would be pissed. If I had a successful, iconic business get regulated like this, I would be pissed too. He's going to get grandfathered in; as a matter of fact, this will do nothing but protect him from the dozens of guys in trailers trying to do what he did. They can't set up anywhere. This will totally stifle the indie food scene here. It's a horrible deal. 

DoubleEgger

I think the crowds are the issue with the homeowners and not the smoke. They feel smoke has the best chance of getting the BBQ joints to relocate. I'd get sick of all the lines and cars every day in my 'hood.  The regulation states 150ft from residential areas. Why would Aaron Franklin put a BBQ place within 150ft of a residential area?That's asking for trouble. Dealing with homeowners is always a big PITA. 

grege345

Where I live they burn so many cords of wood it's unbelievable. It's a primary source of heat for a lot of people. Doesn't bother me one bit. I enjoy walking outside in the morning or evening to the fresh scent of burning wood. People complaining about bbq in Texas is pretty absurd. What's next????

The Cen-Tex Smoker

DoubleEgger said:

I think the crowds are the issue with the homeowners and not the smoke. They feel smoke has the best chance of getting the BBQ joints to relocate. I'd get sick of all the lines and cars every day in my 'hood.  The regulation states 150ft from residential areas. Why would Aaron Franklin put a BBQ place within 150ft of a residential area?That's asking for trouble. Dealing with homeowners is always a big PITA. 

It was an existing BBQ restaurant for many years. It was a small neighborhood joint and that's all he wanted. Remeber, this was a huge step up from The 1970's era tiny trailer he started in. He had no idea he was going to ever be more than a family BBQ joint. 

DoubleEgger

Oh how the times have changed....

Legume

I had to do some research at lunch, I hadn't been to Terry Black's BBQ yet, so I headed down there with a friend that was visiting from California.  I ordered one beef rib, just one.  It was close to 1 1/2 lbs and had a huge chuck of meet on the top of it (looked like a long version of some of the short ribs I've seen cooked here. This was the most amazing thing I've eaten in a long time.  Stupid me didn't take any pics, but this thing just melted, the fat content was amazing, the bark was amazing and the smoke ring was intense.  I will go back just for that rib, at least until they close the place.  Unlike the Schmidt Family place out in Bee Cave, they're definitely smoking all of the meat there.  There aren't a lot of houses around at all, but what are there are up the hill from it.  I can see how that would get annoying, but the approved a BBQ restaurant for that location, including all of the pits they have, so maybe the city should be kicking in for the smoke scrubbers.

Monaarts

Stupid law.  Politicians need to spend their time working on things more important than BBQ.  lol

SmokeyPitt

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. 

I don't disagree with him fighting this...but this caught my attention as it indicates he can't afford $15 - $20K.  Paleeeze.  That is probably a slow Tuesday lunch shift for him.