HomeMy WebLinkAboutSE202100024 Correspondence 2021-06-03bonumoczf ``
Narrative to Support Special Exception Application
FOR
PROPOSED WORK AT 1500 STATE FARM BLVD
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
DESIGN
DEVELOP
OEM
R.E.LEE
& SON, INC.
1
Bonumose Narrative to Support Special Exception Aoolication
This is a formal written request to accompany the Application for a Special Exception on behalf of
Bonumose, Inc. and regarding Section 23.2.1- By right (permitted uses within a Commercial Office
Zoning District), Item 16. This item states "Laboratories/Research and Development/Experimental
Testing; gross floor area of the establishment does not exceed 4,000 square feet per site; provided that
the gross floor area of the establishment may exceed 4,000 square feet per site by special exception
approved by the board of supervisors." This written request will cover (i.) who is Bonumose; (ii.) a
description of the proposed use / Bonumose's technology; and (iii.) compliance with Section 33.40 of
Albemarle County Zoning Code, the 2015 Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan, and the 2019 Pantops
Master Plan.
Bonumose's Strong Ties to Albemarle County
Bonumose's mission is to make healthy sugar affordable for the mass market.
Bonumose is a 5-year old food technology and enzyme technology research and development company
based in Albemarle County. Ed Rogers (U.Va. 1988; U.Va. Law 1991) and Dr. Daniel Wichelecki co-founded
Bonumose in Albemarle County in 2016. Mr. Rogers and Dr. Wichelecki co-founded Bonumose to
complete the R&D then commercialize Dr. Wichelecki's invention for producing Tagatose (a healthy
version of sugar) at low-cost. Since the time of formation, Bonumose has extended its technology
platform to enable production of additional healthy sugars for use as food ingredients, animal feed
nutrients, dietary supplements, crop protection inputs, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and
other uses.
For the company's first year, Mr. Rogers worked out of co -working space at the U.Va. Licensing &
Ventures Group, and Dr. Wichelecki worked in a lab in Blacksburg, VA, where he was living at the time. In
July 2017, Mr. Rogers and Dr. Wichelecki moved into the U.Va. Research Park on Seminole Trail.
Incidentally, the building (1725 Discovery Drive) was completely empty at the time but quickly became
fully occupied after Bonumose moved in.
After raising investment capital from two corporate strategic investors from Japan and Thailand,
Bonumose began hiring outside employees. Bonumose currently has 11 full-time employees, including 6
PhDs. Two employees of the PhDs were hired from U.Va.; another employee is a 2019 graduate of U.Va.
(undergraduate program); another was a trailing spouse of a U.Va. employee; and Mr. Rogers has two
degrees from U.Va. In addition, Bonumose has had 5 paid interns from U.Va. and would have hired more
but for the lack of space at its current location.
Bonumose has raised nearly $18 million in investment capital to date. Although less than 2% of the
investment has come from Virginia, Bonumose's leadership purposely has chosen to grow the business in
Central Virginia.
11. Bonumose's Technology
Bonumose's primary R&D focus is Tagatose. Tagatose is a naturally -occurring monosaccharide (sugar)
found in tiny quantities in some fruits, grains, and the cacao (cocoa) tree. It has nearly the exact same
sweetness level of regular sugar (sucrose). Tagatose closely matches the many other functions sucrose
performs in foods, such as: bulking and structure; caramelization; water activity reduction to reduce
microbial contamination; freezing point depression (e.g., for creamy ice cream); and many more.
Although Tagatose is nearly a drop -in replacement for regular sugar in food preparation, Tagatose does
not have the health detriments often associated with excess consumption of sugar.
• Tagatose does not cause tooth decay, and has even been proven to help remove dental
plaque.
• Tagatose does not cause an increase in blood glucose levels, and has even been proven to
reduce blood sugar levels— potentially as effectively as Metformine, the traditional first -line
treatment for diabetes.
• Tagatose is low -calorie. According to the FDA, Tagatose has only 40% of the calories of regular
sugar. Some research shows that because of the way tagatose blocks the absorption of sugar and
starch in the bloodstream, Tagatose arguably has less than zero calories.
• Tagatose is a prebiotic, which means the body treats it as soluble fiber. Tagatose mostly
by-passes the small intestine and goes into the large intestine where it feeds the good gut
bacteria, thus leading to gut health and all of the positive health outcomes associated with a
healthy gut.
• Tagatose potentially has a host of other health benefits, including anti -viral and anti -cancer
effects.
The problem, however, is that Tagatose currently is expensive. Its concentration in plants is too tiny to
harvest. Tagatose can be made from lactose (milk sugar), but the process is complicated, low -yielding,
and expensive. The current wholesale price for tagatose currently is around $25/pound, compared to
$0.40/pound for refined sugar and $0.45/pound for high -fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
Dr. Wichelecki invented a method of using enzymes to convert abundant, plant -based starch to pure
tagatose. The starch can come from corn, potatoes, pea protein by-product, and multiple other sources.
Bonumose's method for producing tagatose from starch involves fewer steps and potentially is lower
cost than the method corn refiners use to produce HFCS from starch. This is Bonumose's mission: to
make healthy sugar as inexpensive as traditional sugars — affordable for the mass market.
Bonumose's method is patented in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, China, and multiple other
countries. The global market for sugars and sweeteners is $120 billion per year. After Bonumose's
process has been optimized at the next stage of R&D, Bonumose will start building commercial -scale
manufacturing locations adjacent to large sources of starch supply. In partnership with well -established
food ingredient distributors such as American Sugar Refining (Domino Sugar), Bonumose will sell its
Tagatose to food & beverage manufacturers for use in their sweetened products. In addition, Bonumose
will introduce a consumer -branded version of Tagatose for sale in grocery stores and available at
sweetener stations in cafes and quick serve restaurants, making available to consumers of all income
levels a great -tasting, healthy, and affordable replacement for regular sugar.
Bonumose's potential recently attracted investment from (a) global leading confectionery company
Hershey's and (b) American Sugar Refining, the world's largest cane sugar refiner. Bonumose was
Hershey's first venture investment in a food ingredient company and Bonumose was ASR's first venture
investment ever.
Incredible as it sounds, Bonumose's technology was the victim of Chinese economic espionage. In early
2017, Bonumose learned about a Chinese patent application that was a copycat of Bonumose's then
unpublished Tagatose patent application. After an investigation, Bonumose filed a federal lawsuit against
a U.S. company and a U.S. individual it believed were responsible for misappropriating Bonumose's trade
secrets and providing them to their Chinese associates. In the course of the litigation, Bonumose
discovered its opponents' legal fees were being funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is
owned by the Chinese Communist government. According to records discovered by Bonumose, the
Chinese Communist government paid over $1 million to try to crush a young Bonumose. Refusing to
back down, Bonumose ultimately established its case so effectively that the counterparties agreed to a
favorable settlement after 2 years of litigation.
Additional products in Bonumose's R&D pipeline include Allulose (healthy sweetener), Allose (healthy
sweetener and potential anti -cancer API), Mannose (dietary supplement), Inositol (animal feed
supplement), and more. Furthermore, Bonumose has executed a Letter of Intent to supply Tagatose to a
European crop protection company that is registering bio-fungicides that use Tagatose as the active
ingredient against several harmful plant pathogens.
4
111. Bonumose's Growing Needs for R&D Space and the Need for a Special Exception
Figure 1 shows a diagram of Bonumose's process.
food -grade maltodextrin (aqueous solution)
1
column with immobilized
enzymatic cascade
1
D-tagatose syrup
1
filtration
1
ion exchange
1
evaporation to 60°Bx
1
SMB affini Ity purification
mother 1
liquor evaporation to 75°Bx
recycling
1
crystallization
1
spray drying
1
crystalline D-tagatose
Figure 1- Process Flow Diagram
removes potential en_ymes, bacteria
removes mineral, ions
removes residual sugars
For the past 5 years Bonumose has been operating the process at increasingly larger lab -scales at the
U.Va. Research Park (n/k/a North Fork).
From December 2019-February 2020, Bonumose operated a small pilot plant in an office park in Boca
Raton, Florida, in collaboration with ASR/Domino.
Now Bonumose needs to install and operate larger pilot -scale equipment to advance the development
leading to commercial -scale production. Bonumose needs approximately 10,000 SF for the equipment
shown in Figure 1. These are scaled -down versions of the equipment unit operations Bonumose will be
installing at commercial -scale facilities after successful demonstration in Virginia.
Using the larger R&D space, Bonumose will:
• Optimize Bonumose's process at larger than lab -scale so we can adjust operating conditions
and develop the data that will inform our construction of commercial -scale plants.
• Demonstrate the process for Bonumose's customers and investors.
• Provide samples for food product testing by food & beverage customer.
Bonumose is planning the first commercial -scale facility for either Idaho or North Dakota to start-up in
Q4 2022 or early 2023. At that time, Bonumose will start doing advanced R&D on the new products in
our development pipeline, as referenced above.
In addition to the 10,000 SF for experimental testing equipment, Bonumose needs:
• 2,000 SF for utilities to support the experimental testing equipment (e.g., air compressor,
boiler, reverse osmosis water purifier)
• 4,000 SF for wet lab space
• 10,000 SF for inventory storage
• 24,000 SF for offices (State Farm has indicated it would consider a sub -lease at a minimum of
50,000 SF in total. Although Bonumose's needs do not require this much space at this time,
Bonumose anticipates adding personnel in the future, thus increasing the required office space
needs.)
Herein lies the special exception request, which meets all the factors to be considered by the Board of
Supervisors while taking action on a special use permit (applied here to the special exception). These
factors are:
1. No substantial detriment to adjacent parcels.
Bonumose's process does not produce noise, light, smells, exhaust, or extraordinary liquid waste. The
process is all contained within the refining equipment, so there is no emitted dust, smoke, or off gassing.
Any processing / discharged water not reclaimed or recycled will go through an on -site wastewater
treatment process before discharging into existing sanitary sewers. Using Section 4.14 Performance
Standards for Industrial Use, we can assert there is no impact to adjacent parcels based on:
Noise (4.14.1) - Process is contained within the equipment, the equipment is contained
within the existing building. The process is not excessively noisy or intrusive.
- Vibration (4.14.1) - None of the equipment is able to produce significant or intrusive levels of
vibration. All equipment will be placed on skids or housekeep pads within the facility.
- 4.14.3 Glare and Heat (4.14.3) - All equipment will be contained indoors and will not
produce excessive glare or heat to adjacent parcels.
- Electrical Disturbance (4.14.4) - The equipment will use existing service to the State Farm
facility. Electrical loads will not be large enough to cause disturbance or disruption of service to
adjacent parcels.
Furthermore, traffic impact is minimal, as the anticipated use requires an average total of three trucks
per week for deliveries and pick-ups. The facility has existing surface parking lots that provide more than
the required amount of parking for Bonumose's use. Currently, Bonumose is anticipating 20-25 full time
research and development employees (present during a standard 9 AM - 5 PM work day), as well as
4-5 employees per shift for continuous process monitoring (anticipated "swing shift" schedule of 8 AM
- 8 PM and 8 PM - 8 AM, 7 days per week). Bonumose does not anticipate large amounts of visitors,
guests, or part-time employees that would generate any significant traffic onto adjacent roadways.
By being a lessee in a large facility, Bonumose is able to take advantage of existing and abundant
infrastructure already in place, including parking facilities, electrical service, sanitary sewer service,
natural gas, and mechanical systems. While some "re -working" of these systems for Bonumose's specific
use is anticipated, there is not an anticipated requirement to largely change, alter, or disrupt any of these
aforementioned services already on site.
2. Character of the nearby area is unchanged.
The process will be completely contained within the existing building, at the rear of the facility and not
within the viewshed from State Farm Blvd. No changes to the exterior are planned or desired. Any new
required mechanical equipment (condenser, chiller plant, boiler) will be contained within the existing
enclosed mechanical courtyard, immediately adjacent to the proposed Bonumose area of the State Farm
facility (see Figures 2, 3 4, and 5 below). Thus, there will be no change to the character of the nearby
area.
Figure 2 - Existing State Farm Operations and Proposed Bonumose Areas
Figure 3 - Existing State Farm Enclosed Mechanical Area and Loading Docks
Figure 4 - Proposed Breakdown of Use
i P
PROPOSED
BONUMOSE
AREA
FLOOR I �: �-i
PLAN . . . . . . .
Figure 5 - Overall facility
9
3. Harmony
Bonumose's role as a bioscience innovator is in keeping with the adjacent Sentara hospital and the
associated medical / professional offices found around the Pantops area. Bonumose will offer high-tech
and high paying careers in the food processing industry through a research and development laboratory
setting that fits well within the existing facility and is in harmony with adjacent facility users. The use is
not subject to any "Supplementary Regulations" found in Section 5 of the Albemarle County zoning
ordinance, nor will the proposed use have a negative impact on the public health, safety, and general
welfare.
4. Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan
Bonumose's request for a Special Exception is consistent with County planning:
• Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan (2015)
• Economic Development: Objective 3: Selected target industries include: "Bioscience
and Medical Devices" ... Agribusiness and Food Processing"
• "Strategy 3b: Continue to provide assistance to target industries and businesses that
provide jobs in bioscience and medical devices.... Typically, the industries are high-tech,
clean, and high paying."
• Pantops Master Plan (2019)
• State Farm building: "Office / R&D / Flex / Light Industrial"
• "Employment District": "Optimal target industries include: biosciences ...
In the Pantops Master Plan, the State Farm Operations Center is listed as one of the "two primary
employment anchors in the Employment District". As of October 2021, one of those two anchors will be
completely empty except for facilities management personnel. Bonumose will keep life in the building.
We believe Bonumose will attract other life sciences companies. We believe, too, that an insurer such as
State Farm subleasing to Bonumose, a healthy sugar company, would be a winning story for Albemarle
County to offset the sting of State Farm's closure.
Conclusion
Section 23.2.1- By right (permitted uses within a Commercial Office Zoning District), Item 16 allows for
Laboratories / Research and Development / and Experimental Testing exceeding 4,000 SF through the
approval of a Special Exception by the board of supervisors.
Because:
- This allowance for special exception is in this district per Section 23.2.1
- The proposed use satisfies all factors for consideration per Section 33.40
- The proposed use meets all "Performance Standards for Industrial Use" per Section 4.14
- The proposed use is consistent with the goals of the 2015 Albemarle County
Comprehensive Plan
- The proposed use is consistent with the 2019 Pantops Master Plan
We formally request for County staff to recommend approval of the Special Exception application, to be
considered by the Board of Supervisors at the earliest allowable meeting.
10