Hanover’s Perspective
Hanover is Brewing Ordinance Changes
Hanover has brewed a more favorable ordinance to allow craft breweries in more zoning districts. The board of supervisors unanimously approved changes to the zoning ordinance aimed at tapping into the region’s growing craft brew industry.
“There has been tremendous growth in the popularity of microbreweries within the past several years,” said David Maloney, Hanover County director of planning. “It has become apparent through research that the Hanover’s previous ordinances did not sufficiently address the operational and locational trends of the craft brewery industry.”
Under the revised zoning ordinance, a craft brewery is defined as a brewery producing and selling no more than 15,000 barrels of beer per year. Craft breweries with a restaurant are now permitted in B-1, Neighborhood Business, B-2, Community Business, and B-3 General Business districts as well as in light and heavy industrial districts. Stand-alone craft brewery owners must apply for a conditional use permit to open in B-1 districts, but they are permitted by-right in the B-2 and B-3 districts. Breweries which produce and sell more than 15,000 barrels per year are now allowed in the M-2 district as well as the M-3 zoning district.
More than 80 craft breweries have opened in Virginia in recent years, yet the Center of the Universe Brewery (COTU) is the only microbrewery located in Hanover County. COTU opened in 2012 in the Hanover Industrial Air Park.
“Revising the ordinance is a good step,” said Chris Ray, co-founder of COTU. “Adding new breweries would help spark more interest in visitors coming to Hanover and there’s still plenty of market share here to go around.”
Before the amendments to the ordinance, it allowed a microbrewery in Hanover if it also included a restaurant. The law also defined a brewery as a distillery and required them to be zoned M-3, heavy industrial.
The changes immediately went into effect following the board’s vote.