Application Question: Tract of Land by using directions and distances:

[MagisterBibendi]

Hi everyone,

I am filling out federal application and got confused on this question:

Describe each Tract of Land by using directions and distances

1.What information do I put here if my DSP will be occupied in one room of a larger warehouse complex, that consists of many business and interconnected building with one physical address.

2. Where do I look for answers, how do I answer this question?

Thank you

Alex

[KRS]

Although it's months since you published your questions, and I hope you moved right along with your application, I have to commiserate. I found the requirement to describe the physical distances within the distillery itself to be the most stupid, irrational requirement of the entire application process--actually much of it was quite reasonable, but this was a pound your head against a wall one.

1. Regarding how to place your distillery in the business park, it's really just literally locating your site as you would for a singularly direction-challenged individual who wanted to visit. West of the 210 Freeway, South of Washington Blvd, East of Lincoln Avenue, North of Hammond. In the center of the Business Park of Pasadena, which consists of 5 distinct buildings, on the interior south side of the most central building, shaped like a U, east of the central private access road. The legal details of the Tract are found usually in the landlord's office, but also at the County assessors, which will give you the name of the tract and the lot number.

2. The lie down and die laughing requirement was the requirement to describe the physical boundaries of the distillery plant by compass directions in a continuous, contiguous perimeter. It turned out to hilarious. Every time a wall ended and a corner needed to be turned, the change in direction needed to be stated, together with the distance traveled until another corner was reached. For instance, the office and the restroom share a common wall, facing east from within the office, facing west within the restroom. The distance from the open office door, which created a corner to the change in direction of the outside corner of the abutting restroom wall was 39 inches south, turning east and traveling 3 inches to the open restroom door and proceeding 36 inches east to the opening of the restroom door. Exiting the restroom, continuing the uninterrupted perimeter, travel was 12 inches east, then 12 inches north, then 3.5 inches east... When the reviewer told me that, yes, indeed, it was an actual requirement, I was stunned, incredulous, pissed off and now amused for a lifetime. Good luck to you Alex!

[James Niekamp]

Hi Alex,

Great question - I hope that you have a resolution on this by now, but if not I will try to offer my experience on the matter.

In general, what KRS said above is fairly accurate; TTB's requirements can be surprisingly strict. I suggest getting a copy of the blueprints of the property - this should show the exact distances from wall to wall to aid you in the description. I usually begin at a corner of the building and lead the reader around the perimeter (e.g. "Starting at SW corner of building, proceed West 150 feet").

The legal description of the property can be complicated as well as TTB has gotten very strict about this lately. I usually obtain this information from the County Recorder's office, as the deed should have the legal description in it.

Hope that helps. If interested, I can connect you to some great consultants that I work with in the industry. Best of luck in your new endeavor!

Thanks,

James Niekamp

Niekamp & Associates, LLC

[KRS]

Master Bibendi & James--my reviewer required me to record every single change in direction, in inches/feet, including any permanent structure in the distillery that would continue to be there should we vacate. The perimeter of the facility was not acceptable. For us this included an 8 foot high, 17 linear foot L-shaped wall that separates the boiler from the still area, the interior of the restroom and the footage around a 3 1/2 foot projecting section of the wall separating the east wall of the restroom from the west wall behind the line-up of sinks. As I mentioned, an amusing anecdote...eventually.

[HedgeBird]

If I recall when I submitted my application I interpreted that question to mean the parcel of land my building was located on, and not the specific building or portion of a building my DSP would occupy. Fortunately deeds typically describe tracts of land in the manner requested (direction and distance) so it was easy enough to copy this info from the deed into my application. The hardest part was having to re-type it all by hand as I only had a .PDF of the deed that was not copy and paste-able.

The question is after all "Describe each Tract of Land" not "Describe each room or area"

[James Niekamp]

Interesting to hear your guys' experiences. Unfortunately I have found that what is required by TTB can depend heavily on the TTB specialist assigned to your permit application.

Nowadays they generally focus on three main different types of descriptions; 1) legal description of the lot (usually found on the deed), 2) Bonded Premises, and 3) General Premises. For the Bonded and General premises TTB can be very particular. I typically write the description to cover the perimeter of the Bonded and General areas matching the diagram and they usually are ok with that.

Hope that helps.

James Niekamp

Niekamp & Associates, LLC

[KRS]

The reason I had to go into such excruciating detail was the requirement to "describe the physical layout of the plant," although it's been long enough for me to have forgotten the actual terminology. It was particularly annoying because our application was returned or whatever because of it, and the timing put us right through the entire government shutdown.