As a controversial brewery seeks conditional use permits to open in Norfolk, an area civic league has recommended denial of the permits, potentially setting up a clash as the business navigates the process to open a taproom.
Armed Forces Brewing Company announced it was setting up a headquarters, brewery and taproom at the former O’Connor Brewing Co. facility in the Park Place area of Norfolk earlier this year. The military-centric company’s marketing, and personal views espoused by a company leader and a brand ambassador on social media, have led some community members to push back against the company receiving the City Council approval it needs to open.
In September, the Park Place Civic League voted 11 to 6 to recommend denial of the business’s application, citing issues including poor community relationships and insinuations of violence, as well as a lack of clarity on operations such as trucking. The company is seeking three conditional use permits (CUPs): for brewing craft beer, a banquet hall and live entertainment.
Though the civic league’s vote alone will not prevent the brewery from obtaining the permits, civic league recommendations play a role in how another advisory board, the Norfolk Planning Commission, and the Norfolk City Council ultimately rule on applications. Civic league input is considered as part of the application process and Planning Commission reports often include details about an applicant’s outreach to neighbors and any issues brought up by civic leagues that represent the communities where businesses are located.
Armed Forces is currently brewing beer under the grandfathered conditional use permit for the property, which lasts through Nov. 21, according to a company spokesperson.
The Norfolk Planning Commission will consider the new permit applications at the board’s Nov. 16 meeting.
Kevin Murphy, chair of the Norfolk Planning Commission, declined to comment prior to the meeting.
But former long-time planning commission member Earl Fraley Jr. addressed the impact civic league input can have on consideration of a project, calling it an important public engagement that must be considered in balance with other positive and negative aspects.
“I always looked forward to the input from the community that’s going to be impacted by a project simply because we want to make sure their perspective is considered,” he said. “Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re gonna favor them if they deny or are in favor of something. It just means that you have another spoke in the wheel to be able to assess the validity and value of a potential application.”
Armed Forces Brewing Company has maintained that once open, people will see how accepting, welcoming and friendly their atmosphere, staff and customers are.
“We don’t believe the 11 people on the Park Place Civic League who voted to not recommend our application received a fair representation of our company,” an Armed Forces spokesperson said in a statement. “If they had, we believe many would have voted along with the six who did support our application.”
Joe Hamm, vice president of the Park Place Civic League, said it’s the basis for the opposition, not the number of people who voted against the CUP recommendation, that matters.
“One person can speak up against injustice or dangerous culture and that is just as important or just as powerful as if you had a million voices,” he said, adding be believes the company at its core isn’t selling beer, but a culture.
“There’s a difference between intentional city culture and basic land use,” Hamm said.
He said efforts by residents of the Park Place community to make it more desirable to live in and safer, especially over the last two decades, are not reflected by the company or its image.
“So a business that comes in and has insinuations of threats and violence, intimidation through guns in their marketing, does not align with our vision for having a healthy neighborhood and healthy city,” Hamm said.
Actions by brewery owners that some residents have flagged as aggressive and unwelcoming include public statements by brand ambassador, Rob O’Neill. O’Neill, who has publicly claimed credit for being the U.S. Navy Seal who shot and killed Osama bin Laden during a 2011 raid, has taken to Twitter to denounce the use of a drag queen in military recruitment and masking on airplanes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Company CEO Alan Beal previously told a conservative news outlet about the boon to business provided by Bud Light’s controversial marketing effort with a transgender influencer.
Andrew Coplon, who lives in a nearby Norfolk neighborhood, said in his years working and networking in the craft beer industry, he has not seen a company act so abrasively toward its potential neighbors. Coplon is the founder of Craft Beer Professionals, an organization with 16,000 members that started as a Facebook group in 2017.
Armed Forces Brewing Company has “done things that’ve created feelings of anti-inclusion, an unwelcoming space before they’ve even opened,” Coplon said.
Breweries “want their neighbors to call their taproom home,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to be the case for Armed Forces Brewing Company. They found a location they’re going to brew their beer there but it doesn’t seem like the taproom’s going to reflect the local community.”
Even if its taproom is ultimately approved but not heavily trafficked, Coplon said the location could sustain itself through it’s distribution plans, which includes grocery stores and military exchange stores.
Ian Munro, [email protected], 757-447-4097, @iamIanMunro
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