The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore can move ahead with plans to build a new warehouse and distribution center in Virginia Beach that will help expand efforts to fight hunger.
The Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday approved a conditional rezoning request by the regional charity to convert 24 acres along Dam Neck Road from agricultural zoning to a light industrial use.
It allows the Foodbank to build a 103,000-square-foot facility that will have more loading docks, office space and capacity to store food. The site will also feature raised gardens and some on-site farming.
The regional charity plans to move into the new facility within the next two to three years.
It’s outgrown its existing center, a converted tire warehouse in Norfolk, according to Chris Tan, president and CEO of the Foodbank. He said a new facility will help it receive, store and distribute more food — and ultimately provide more meals.
“This facility will double our storage capacity as far as dry goods and triple our storage capacity as far as healthy foods like produce, in particular,” he told WHRO. “So we’re looking to be able (to) service our community for the next 50 to 100 years in this facility.”
The Foodbank is raising $25 million to build its distribution center and warehouse facility in Virginia Beach. Tan said the charity has raised about $9.5 million so far. It hopes to reach 75% of its goal before breaking ground.
Two speakers who live near the site spoke about their concerns regarding the facility during a public hearing, including the loss of forested areas near the neighborhood and potential truck traffic.
Eddie Bourdon, an attorney representing the Foodbank, said the organization has worked with neighbors and is preserving a large amount of wooded area on the property, including a buffer near the neighborhood.
The public will not come in and out of the new center, he added. Rather, the Foodbank will serve as a central hub for gathering donations by the truckload and sorting and storing the goods. Items are delivered to people through more than 200 partner organizations throughout the region, not from the distribution center itself.
Though zoned for agriculture, the largely wooded acreage isn’t farmed, said City Councilmember Barbara Henley, whose district includes the project area.
Henley said she was concerned about this project because it was close to a residential neighborhood. She said the Foodbank overcame issues because the property is largely wooded and provided buffers between residents and the future warehouse.
Bourdon said there are about 3.5 acres of wooded area that will be preserved near residences, including a 140-foot buffer near adjacent homes. Bourdon said the Foodbank would have relatively few truck deliveries, perhaps five to eight per week.
“This is the opposite of Amazon,” he told the council. “This is not going to be the fulfillment center at the other end of Dam Neck Road by any stretch of the imagination.”
The Foodbank’s ask passed unanimously.
Councilmember Worth Remick called it a huge project for the Foodbank and the region. In an interview, Councilmember Amelia Ross-Hammond said the Foodbank’s relocation is an opportunity for the city and shows the impact of the organization’s work.
Tan said the Foodbank will still have a strong presence in Norfolk, its longtime home. Three of the four community food hubs the organization manages are in Norfolk, and it provides food for 40 partner organizations within the city.
“That’s where our neighbors get food, and that commitment will not change,” he said.
