NORFOLK, Va. — The controversial Armed Forces Brewing Company is cleared to open next month.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Norfolk City Council voted 6-1 to approve the business’s conditional use permits.
"A brewery was there, a brewery was going back there, it was the right decision legally," said the company's attorney Tim Anderson.
13News Now has reported before that the controversy surrounding this brewery comes from veteran and company stakeholder Robert O’Neill’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric on social media.
Although Anderson told media in November O'Neill is no longer a forward-facing component of the company, O'Neill still owns a small part of it. As of Wednesday, O'Neill appears on the company's website as a "Director and Advisor."
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Despite two Norfolk Civic Leagues and the Norfolk Planning Commission voting against them, Norfolk City Council had the final say.
But Tuesday held the outcome Armed Forces Brewing Company’s CEO Alan Beal was hoping for.
"We’re excited to be open, we’re excited to be part of the community, we’re excited to get our beer out there," he said after the vote.
The approval of their conditional use permits also avoids the lawsuit threatened by the company’s attorney.
"It’s a land use issue. You heard me argue that, you heard most of our supporters argue that," Anderson said.
An important part of the vote for most of the council members.
"This is a land use issue. I agree with the city attorney let the market decide their fate," said Councilman Tommy Smigiel.
"I cast this [yea] vote due to this being a land-use issue and knowing that I took an oath to uphold the right to free speech despite the fact I disagree with the speech," said Norfolk city councilwoman Courtney Doyle.
During the council meeting, Beal touted diversity in the company's ownership, which he said included members of the LGBTQ+ community and same-sex couples.
But for people like Andrew Coplon, who has spent months organizing people to speak out against the brewery and what he believes the company stands for, the vote was a blow.
"I’m definitely disappointed at the outcome last night. We fought really hard on this and it’s something a lot of us were passionate about," Coplon said Wednesday.
The Craft Beer Professionals founder said when it comes to land use, he doesn't feel it's fair to say it's just a brewery going into another brewery.
O'Connor Brewing previously held that building until they moved out earlier this year.
"When O'Connor's went to the neighborhood in 2014, no one lived on the block. Now, as we go into 2024, there's 127 housing units directly across the street," Coplon said.
That's a point Councilwoman Andrea McClellan echoed during the meeting Tuesday.
"The applicant publicly states on its website that it plans to brew up to 500,000 cases per year, far in excess of the 200,000 cases per year brewed by O'Connor," she said. "Therefore, while similar in nature to the previous business, the increase of intensity of use by 250% leads me to believe this is not a good fit for this location."
Coplon said even though the vote didn’t go the way he and many in the community hoped, he’s proud to see how many people spoke up.
"I just couldn’t sit back and let this place with anti-inclusive values come to our community," he said.
After the meeting, Beal told reporters everyone is welcome at the brewery.
"The LGBTQ community is welcome at Armed Forces Brewing Company. Let us get the doors open," he said.
Coplon also aired frustration towards city councilmembers who he said he felt were discouraging people from speaking out about what they're passionate about.
Councilman John Paige addressed the crowd speaking out against the brewery.
"You've learned to fight for yourselves. In doing so, you may have become the aggressors and you have marginalized someone who just wants to open up a business and all you have to do is not go," he said. "At the same time that emails came over this issue, there were plenty of young black children dying from gunshot wounds."
He went on to say he was fed up by what he called a lack of care towards gun violence, and said he told a fellow political leader he would vote for the brewery just to make a point.
"And stated if I get one more email, I'm voting in favor just for the fact that all of the emails I'm getting and not one person sent one email about the children that are being shot in our city," he said.
Coplon said it's statements like that could discourage people from speaking out.
"You would think they'd want to see this community engagement, so it is discouraging for so many of us who got involved for the first time that our representatives are telling us they don't want to hear from us, so that's very frustrating in itself," Coplon said.
Coplon also has concerns about the ongoing construction happening at the brewery, which McClellan brought up in the meeting.
"I can't support a conditional use permit for an applicant who has stop work orders issued for multiple violations at their property," Norfolk city councilwoman Andria McClellan said in part.
"They've been making some improvements on the property. Contractors have been doing the work. There were some permit issues the contractors have to fix. Those are getting resolved this week and they're moving on. So, those issues are between the contractors who are doing the work and the city, not Armed Forces," Anderson said in response.
Beal said the company currently employs 12 people nationwide and eight people at the Park Place location. Now, managers will sift through a pile of more than 200 applications.
Plans are to open in January, the CEO added.