First farm brewery in Fairfax County makes application to state

Recently, an application was made to the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for the first farm brewery in Fairfax County. The farm brewery is proposed to be located on approximately 20 acres of land zoned to the Residential-Conservation (RC) District, located at the corner of Yates Ford and Clifton Road in the Clifton community.

Last year the General Assembly passed (almost unanimously) and the Governor signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 430, known as the Farm Brewery Bill, with an effective date of July 1, 2014.

This bill created a new limited brewery license for breweries that limits local regulation of farm breweries, similar to the farm winery bill that was passed by the Virginia Legislature and signed into law in 2006. You can read the approved law (Virginia Code§ 15.2-2288.3:1) here:

https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+15.2-2288.3C1

In response to this Farm Brewery proposal, a number of citizens in the Clifton community have expressed concerns regarding the proposed brewery, ranging from whether the use is permitted in the R-C District to environmental issues with regard to water usage, water quality, and septic controls, to other land use impacts such as traffic, noise and frequency of events which may impact the surrounding properties.

It appears that the Farm Brewery would be deemed an agriculture use under our Zoning Ordinance, and agriculture is a permitted use in the R-C District as well as other zoning districts available in several of our magisterial districts.

In light of this legislation and the concerns expressed by members of the Clifton community in response to the proposed farm brewery, I have directed the County Executive to prepare a memo for the Board on currently available and potential regulatory options to address farm breweries.

Farm breweries have also been added to the agenda for the next Development Process Committee meeting.

Within the authority provided by state law, I will work with County staff, residents and the landowners to protect the sensitive Occoquan Watershed which is the source of much of our drinking water and home to many County residents.

–From Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity’s April 28, 2015 e-newsletter to constituents