Planning Commission recommends approval of commissary kitchen at 615 34th Street, 5-3; case goes to City Council

The Newport News Planning Commission voted 5-3 on May 6 to recommend approval of a conditional use permit (CU-2020) allowing a food preparation, storage and distribution facility at 615 34th Street, sending the matter to City Council on May 26, 2026.

Staff had recommended denial of the permit, citing concerns about a proposed 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week operation directly adjacent to a single-family home. In presenting the case, staff detailed the site(0.11 acre) and nearby uses, and said 24/7 operations with continuous food-truck activity would be inappropriate at that location; staff proposed an alternative set of conditions, including limits on outdoor activity and a proposed hours window intended to reduce neighborhood impacts.

The commission's discussion centered on balancing the city's need for commissary kitchen capacity (used by food trucks, caterers and shipyard-serving vendors) with the adjacent homeowner's concerns about early-morning noise and pests. Commissioner Williams moved to recommend approval with the conditions recommended by staff; the motion was seconded and passed on a recorded vote, 5-3. Chairperson Shook and Commissioner Black were explicitly recorded as opposed; the transcript does not fully record the names of every individual yes vote in the excerpt, but the clerk announced the motion carried 5 to 3.

Applicant Sharon Owens Clark, owner of World Class Solutions, told the commission she had not agreed to the narrower 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. schedule that staff had included as a condition and said she had expected more flexibility (she described an earlier conversation in which earlier hours were discussed). Sharon Owens Clark said the kitchen would be a membership-based, scheduled facility with online reservations and contractual rules, and she described plans for safety measures such as indoor and outdoor cameras and pest control; she said estimated equipment costs were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and that she had already invested in the building.

An adjacent resident, Carol McIntosh Cotton of 619 34th Street, said she was concerned about noise and pests and that the neighborhood is typically quiet; she told commissioners she leaves for work early and expressed worry about early-morning vehicle activity and truck movements near her home. Commissioners repeatedly returned to the hours question as the primary mitigation tool, with some members saying the use is needed citywide but that the 615 34th Street location may be inappropriate for an unbuffered 24/7 operation.

Staff emphasized that if the commission recommended approval, the approval would carry the conditions reflected in the staff report (which were to be forwarded to City Council). The commission recorded the 5-3 recommendation and the chair announced the item will be heard by City Council on May 26, 2026.

The commission's action was procedural: it is a recommendation to City Council, not a final zoning decision. Council consideration will determine whether the permit is granted, amended or denied under the city's conditional-use criteria.