After an hours-long discussion, the York Planning Board on Thursday night voted down a distillery’s application to expand over concerns about “whiskey fungus.”
Whiskey fungus has been a hot topic for the neighborhood in York. Many residents are concerned over the black, sticky fungus on their properties.
Whiskey fungus has no known health risks, but it can damage homes and trees.
It feeds off ethanol fumes that most distilleries emit, but Wiggly Bridge Distillery said there is no emission reading outside its property line.
The distillery’s representatives claimed you can’t blame them, because separate studies show whiskey fungus, or baudoinia, was found scattered throughout town.
But the Planning Board’s main issue was it couldn’t explain why whiskey fungus was in the neighborhood for any reason other than the distillery.
Essentially, the Planning Board said because there wasn’t proof the whiskey fungus in town didn’t come from the distillery, it voted against the expansion.
The owner of the Wiggly Bridge Distillery, David Woods, said the business is struggling due to the delay in expanding.