Bang the Drum brewery, SLO church told to move after building declared ‘unsafe’
Tucked away in a perpetually under-construction warehouse in San Luis Obispo, Bang the Drum has spent the past few years carving a niche amid disorder.
Against a backdrop of secondhand armchairs and cozy sofas, the popular brewery hosts a slew of events, from silent book clubs and trivia nights to “tavern guild” days and queer gogo dance parties — all while the larger building remained in a state of disarray.
But now potential safety violations at the property seem to have become too big for the city to ignore — and its tenants could pay the price.
On March 10, Bang the Drum and other residents of the property at 1150 Laurel Lane — including SLO City Church, Cal Fire and coworking space Office Hours — were given notice they would have 30 days to vacate the building because it had been deemed “unsafe, unlawful, unfit for human occupancy and declared dangerous.”
The order came as a shock to Bang the Drum owner Noelle Dubois, who likened it to “being adrift in the ocean.”
“This is our space,” Dubois told The Tribune on March 19. “I put my whole everything into this. This is my life. I wouldn’t even know what to do without it.”
“It feels crazy that this might be an end to it,” she said.
Why was SLO property deemed unsafe and tenants told to vacate?
Spokesperson Whitney Szentesi said the city has been working with the property owner Laurel Creek LLC for five years to renovate the property from a warehouse into a mixed-use building.
“The city proactively worked to facilitate the construction that is required to be done by the owner that would ensure the safety of the current tenants in the interim,” she told The Tribune on March 20. “Unfortunately, the property owner has not completed this required work and has allowed the state of the property to deteriorate.”
According to the city’s public documents portal, the property at 1150 Laurel Lane was listed “in violation” of code enforcement as of Jan. 22.
On a recent visit to the property, wrappers adorned the top unfinished portion of the building where apartments are slated to go.
The partially asphalt, partially gravel driveway off Laurel Lane sported a growing collection of potholes after recent rains. And massive stacks of lumber sat in a field just behind the building, seeming to await construction.
In a notice posted on the window of one of the building’s suites, the city said it issued temporary certificates of occupancy for five units in the building in January 2024.
Occupancy was dependent on the completion of permitted work at the site, however. And that work has not been completed, according to Szentesi.
“Safety is our top priority, and the building at 1150 Laurel Lane is dangerous in its current condition, because there are building and fire code violations that leave the tenants vulnerable to unnecessary fire risks,” Szentesi said. “Unfortunately, the building owner has failed to complete required permitted construction that would make the building safe to occupy, despite repeated efforts on the city’s part to facilitate the construction.”
Szentesi said over the past 18 months, the city has ramped up its efforts, meeting with the property owner “multiple times,” visiting the site for inspections, providing lists of needed improvements and continuing to urge the owner to complete the work.
“The property owner was aware that the city had concerns about the lack of progress on the project,” she said.
She added that it was unclear whether the owners notified the tenants of the city’s concerns prior to it being deemed unsafe, and that it is “up to the property owner to inform the tenants of any building issues.”
According to Szentesi, the property owner must now “close, vacate and secure the building within 30 days of the order and can only reopen it when it’s safe to occupy.” If they don’t do this by April 9, the city could close the building at the owner’s expense.
Commercial tenants will be allowed back into the building once it has been brought into compliance with building and fire codes, she said.
Szentesi on Tuesday confirmed the property owner had filed an appeal of the city’s decision, but details of that appeal were not immediately available to The Tribune.
Multiple Tribune requests for comment from Laurel Creek LLC were not returned as of Tuesday.
SLO City Church pastor working on eviction ‘contingency plans’
So what happens next for the tenants of 1150 Laurel Lane?
Szentesi said the city is making its economic development team available to tenants to connect them with “legal professionals, commercial property brokers and property owners” among other resources.
“We understand that this can be a difficult and stressful experience for the tenants, which is why the city offered to connect the tenants with community partners that support small businesses,” she said.
Meanwhile, representatives of both Bang the Drum and SLO City Church told The Tribune they were concerned what potential evictions could mean for them.
Lead Pastor Brent Bramer said SLO City Church moved into its office and ministry space at the property in 2021, but held outdoor services until they were allowed to occupy their new worship venue in 2023.
Through that time, the church — which serves a congregation of about 2,300 people — has worked to make sure the venue is “a safe environment for congregants and visitors to the property,” despite some concerns about the slow pace of construction, Bramer told The Tribune.
Then came the March 10 notice.
“We were shocked at receiving the notice, the time frame explained in the letter and the urgency it seemed to require,” he said, noting they were unaware of any potential code violation investigations at the property.
Now, the church’s leadership team is busy working with the city to try to come up with solutions that keep them in the space — and a plan if that’s not possible.
“We’re intentionally seeking any solution that could remedy the issues that may cause the city concern,” Bramer said. “Our team is working on contingency plans and exploring other venues — this is proving difficult because in order to maintain the work/ministry we’ve committed to ... we’d need adequate space, committed funds for moving, tenant improvements and potentially expedited permits in order to gather in a new facility.”
He added: “We’re praying and hopeful that there’s a reasonable path forward — or for the Lord to open a door and that we’d have the courage to step through it.”
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Bang the Drum owner says moving SLO brewery is ‘not an option’
Dubois similarly went into fix-it mode soon after hearing about the eviction notices on March 12. Bang the Drum was closed the Monday and Tuesday after the notice was first posted on the building, so it didn’t receive the notice until it opened that Wednesday.
“Everyone who’s been here knows the construction has been forever,” she told The Tribune as she curled her legs beneath her in one of the brewery’s well-worn armchairs. “So it’s funny now that all of a sudden it’s like, it’s unsafe, apparently, because it’s been open to the elements — which I’m not an expert in all that stuff.”
As she spoke, a handful of people lingered throughout the space enjoying a mid-afternoon pint and snack or working on laptops. The view outside of the space’s floor-to-ceiling windows showed a decked-out patio with tables, fire pits and chairs, all standing ready to host a nearly sold-out crowd for trivia later that night.
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“It’s not easy to move,” she said looking around the room. “It’s not cheap to make it feel like a space you want to be. It takes a lot of love or money or both. It’s all of it together.”
And she should know.
The popular brewery moved into its current space in August 2020 after it left its previous location on Orcutt Road in 2019. The business was forced to move from its original home, where it had opened in 2014, to make way for a mixed-use development in that area.
Now Dubois said it feels like history is repeating itself — but she’s even more worried what the future might hold for the business.
“You can’t just pop somewhere else,” she said. “It really feels like it’s not an option to us right now because there’s so much to it.”
Dubois said instead the business is “trying every avenue” it can to get the situation figured out and the building up to code so it can stay where it is.
It is running against a time crunch, however.
Dubois said if things go unchanged, she doesn’t plan to vacate the property right at the 30-day mark, and instead is potentially willing to pay the penalties to stay in the space up to 30 days after the deadline.
According to the notice posted on the property, daily fines of $100 per violation could be assessed for each unit occupied or improperly secured starting April 9. That goes up to $1,000 a day beginning May 1.
That leaves the brewery until roughly the second week of May to figure out its next steps, she said.
Permanent closure is a worst-case scenario, of course, but one that Dubois said she’s become increasingly aware is a possibility.
“If we have to leave here on May 9, we’re gonna f---ing party,” she said, leaning in with a grin. “Because I want to have every chance to have all the parties in a short amount of time to celebrate what this place has been.”
In the meantime, she’s urging fans of the business to stick with them as they do everything they can to stay open.
“It’s not like this place is raking in a ton of money or we’re going to the bank just laughing,” Dubois said. “It’s a labor of love. It’s a space for that. So it is meaningful in that sense.
“It’s more meaningful in the sense of community than anything else.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 12:18 PM.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly indicated Bang the Drum was one of the businesses at the site operating under a temporary occupancy permit.
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