Town Council Approves MacDowell Brew Kitchen 'Beachfront' Lot

Leesburg Town Council voted unanimously last week to approve MacDowell Brew Kitchen’s rezoning application, which will allow the “beachfront” restaurant to operate its business on a parcel previously designated for residential use.

MacDowell Brew Kitchen, Leesburg’s “beachfront” restaurant and nanobrewery, had built a 1,100-square-foot sandy patio on a small tract of land purchased from the city for $24,000 in July.

The parcel of land became the subject of a dispute after an anonymous resident filed a complaint alleging that MacDowell had not received proper approval from the town’s Board of Architectural Review to build on the lot. Town zoning inspectors later determined the restaurant was built on a residential lot and part of the “beach” area was zoned as a public right-of-way, barring the sale of alcohol on the property, according to a report by The Washington Post.

The complaints prompted MacDowell to launch a “Save Our Beach” petition that gathered more than 2,300 online signatures. Leesburg officials agreed to amend the town code to allow the sale of alcohol on the property.

Now that the brewpub’s rezoning application is no longer pending, the application will go before the Board of Architectural Review for approval, according to the brewpub’s co-owner Gordon MacDowell.