Jefferson County Foundation, a local non-profit, presented a 121 page briefing binder (above, right) to the Planning Commission during the public workshop to outline its case for rejecting the Sidewinder water bottling project.
Sidewinder LLC, a California-based investment company, purchased the former 3M/Kodak property in Middleway in 2021. In October 2024, The Observer published the first story about the company’s plan to construct a large water bottling factory on the site. In early March 2025, Sidewinder presented a concept plan for the project to the Jefferson County Planning Commission. Following the public workshop, which lasted almost 7 hours, the Planning Commission voted to reject the concept plan that was presented.
The Jefferson County Planning Commission met on April 8 2025 and voted to approve “Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law” for the project, related to the decision it made at the March meeting.
In the Findings, the Commission notes that the “zoning review” authored by the former [acting] zoning administrator concluded that the Sidewinder project was permissible under the county’s zoning ordinance. The Findings section of the document also notes that the “zoning review” did not address other issues relevant to the county’s ordinance, including “historic issues, health, safety and welfare, and purposes of the Ordinance.” — issues referenced by the Planning Commission when it rejected the Sidewinder concept plan after these issues were presented to the Commission during the March public workshop.
On April 10, 2025, Sidewinder filed a petition in Circuit Court, asking the Court to 1) vacate the Planning Commission decision to reject the plan and 2) to order the Planning Commission to provide direction on the concept plan so that Sidewinder can proceed with the project.
Update on Litigation
The Circuit Court sheduled a hearing on July 15, 2025 to consider a petition from several local property owners along with the Jefferson County Foundation to be recognized as interveners to the case. After two hours of argument, Circuit Court Judge Bridget Cohee ruled that both the landowners and Jefferson County Foundation would be included as interveners in the litigation. Judge Cohee also set a schedule for the parties to submit briefs, with a trial date set for November 10, 2025.
Published 2025 Apr 17. Updated 2025 Jul 16 (litigation update).
By Steve Pearson