MILTON, Del. - A rezoning approval will allow a Sussex County brewery to expand.
On Monday night, the Milton Town Council unanimously approved the request to rezone about 40 acres of land off Chestnut Street for Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.
The move changes the zoning from residential to light industrial.
The company plans to build a roughly 75,000-square-foot warehouse on the parcel. Chief operating officer Nick Benz said the brewery has outgrown its current facility.
But neighbors, many from the nearby Cannery Village development, opposed the change. Nearby homeowners worried about increased truck traffic and future use of the land if the brewery were to move or go out of business.
In a December interview, Benz said some of the frustrations expressed by homeowners should be directed at the community's developer, not Dogfish.
Council members tabled the issue after a public hearing in December that lasted nearly four hours.
Dogfish Head is owned by relatives of WBOC-TV owner Thomas Draper.
The company said it is unclear when work on the land will begin.
The brewery plans to invest nearly $50 million at the new location over the next three years, Benz said.
