Something's brewing in Chantilly. Beer distributor Oglethorpe Ltd. Partnership wants to expand its beverage-distribution facility there, but it first needs a special-exception permit from Fairfax County.
The company's business increased to the point where things came to a head and officials realized they needed more space. On Tuesday night, attorney Bob Lawrence gave details to members of the West Fairfax County Citizens Association (WFCCA) Land-Use Committee.
And, no, he didn't bring any samples with him, but he did present a clear case, sans suds. Oglethorpe is at the northeast corner of Braddock and Old Lee roads in the Westfields Corporate Center.
The land for which it needs the permit is 7 1/2 acres in an industrially zoned district designated I-3. According to the county's Comprehensive Plan, Oglethorpe may operate by right, where it is now — on land designated I-4. But because part of the building expansion would spill over into the I-3 area, it needs a special permit.
The facility has some 130 employees and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, Lawrence said the business' trucks would only enter from Northridge Drive and would not be allowed on Conference Center Drive.
But Gil Kesser of Centreville's nearby Sully Station community said commercial trucks are already a problem in that area. He said things are especially bad during the afternoon rush hour when trucks are coming back to this facility.
"At Route 28 north, turning left onto Westfields Boulevard, they're slow, and only two [trucks] get through the light at a time," he said. "Until that [planned] cloverleaf interchange is built [there], this [plant expansion] will make it a heavier impact on that intersection."
WFCCA members asked about parking, and architect Jim McCormick of Chantilly firm Burgess & Niple replied that Oglethorpe has 145 parking spaces now — because 30-40 trucks are parked there at a time — and more spaces would be added with the business' expansion.
However, said McCormick, the increase in the building's size shouldn't really result in more trucks on the road. "Deliveries to stores used to be made by small trucks," he explained. "But it's now larger deliveries going out to larger grocery stores in larger trucks."