The Fairfax County Planning Commission last week gave a Chantilly beer distributor the go-ahead to expand its plant. Although a disagreement about trail was brewing for awhile, that matter has now been resolved.
Located at the northeast corner of Braddock and Old Lee roads in the Westfields Corporate Center, Oglethorpe Ltd. Partnership wants to expand its operation onto 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 Planning Commission held a public hearing on the proposal, on May 7, but deferred its decision until last Wednesday, May 21. A county trail is earmarked to be built nearby, and at issue was the question of who would build it — Oglethorpe or the county. In the end, said Sully District Planning Commissioner Ron Koch, Oglethorpe agreed to do the deed.
"[It won't be] in the Cub Run Stream Valley, where they were originally going to put it, but along Braddock Road on a segment that the Park Authority's going to be building, early next year," he said. "The Park Authority's going to build a bridge over the creek, and Oglethorpe will build approximately 936 feet of trail."
The matter goes before the Board of Supervisors on July 7.