MANASSAS — The Manassas city council on Monday night approved a special-use permit for Micron to build its expanded facility higher than the city’s current ordinances allow.
The council voted 5-1 to increase the city’s maximum building height from 75 feet to 120 feet in the case of Micron’s expansion.
Steve Silberstein, site director of Micron, told the council that the extra height is necessary for Micron’s new $3 billion expanded facility, which will house crucial technology and equipment.
Typically, changes to city ordinances require two readings at two separate city council meetings, but the council moved to expedite the process and grant the special-use permit (SUP) to Micron after one reading.
The city’s planning and zoning manager, Matthew Arcieri, urged the council to accommodate Micron’s tight schedule and confirmed the recommendation and unanimous approval of the city’s economic development department.
“The SUP can be approved, conditional on the approval of the second reading,” said city clerk Andrea Madden. “It saves processing time for staff and the applicant if there’s no objections or citizen comment.”
“Micron has an exceptionally tight schedule, and literally losing a week or two puts their schedule in jeopardy,” councilmember Mark Wolfe said.
More details on the progression of the project and other items such as utilities will be presented to the council for approval as the Micron expansion moves forward.
The taller facility will be visible from Nokesville Road and Godwin Drive and is expected to visually impact nearby industrial and business zones.
Silberstein told the council that the new Micron facility is groundbreaking in a variety of ways.
“We are not only building a manufacturing facility, but Micron has also determined that we will have worldwide basis as an R&D [Research and Development] center,” he said. “This center will really be part of the automotive center of the world,” said Silberstein. He estimated that two out of three cars produced in the world today come out of the Virginia plant, and the new facility is primed to have global prominence.
John Schafer, Micron’s engineering and construction manager, added that the additional height will allow full use of the first floor for chemicals and other hazardous equipment. He said that the original facility, built in the 1990s, is too cramped and small for Micron’s expanded needs.
Councilmember Marc Aveni was the only one to vote against the approval and noted that two other ordinance requests for telecommunication towers were not similarly expedited.
Micron’s schedule aims to start production on the new facility in the first half of 2020. The new facility comes after the company announced a $3 billion expansion — the largest ever in Virginia — in August.
The chip maker says it will bring in 1,100 new scientists to develop new technologies for self-driving cars.
Micron is located at 9600 Godwin Drive in Manassas.
