The Whaling Company was set to serve its last regular meal at 494 McLaws Circle on August 28 after more than 40 years. The next tenants have already been named. A Sheetz gas station and convenience store is proposed for the restaurant site. A Dutch Bros. Coffee drive-through is planned for the old SunTrust bank next door at 496 McLaws Circle.
Most coverage makes the two sound like a package deal. The county records show something else. The pieces of this corner are moving through James City County review on separate tracks. The coffee shop was approved first. The gas station still hasn't had a public hearing, but it came up again and again while the county was debating the coffee shop's conditions.
Where each address stands this October
| Address | What was there | What's planned | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 494 McLaws Circle | The Whaling Company | Sheetz convenience store with gas | Conceptual review, no public hearing or vote found |
| 496 McLaws Circle | Former SunTrust bank | Dutch Bros. Coffee drive-through | Special use permit approved Sept. 8, no opening date |
| 438 McLaws Circle | Office building | The Arc of Greater Williamsburg | Open, ribbon-cutting in September |
The Sheetz row is the one to watch. The Dutch Bros. row is the one that's settled, at least on paper.
The last weeks of a 40-year run
The Whaling Company's closing wasn't sudden from the inside. Owner Stephen York told WYDaily that the property's new owners had made their plans clear years earlier.
"The group that bought the property made it clear that they wanted to develop the site. And this was three years ago, so we knew it was coming," York said. "So not my decision, not any of our decisions."
The restaurant had staff who had worked there more than 25 years, and several generations of the same families had worked there over its run. An employee fundraiser was scheduled for August 29, the day after regular service ended, with food served until it ran out. Tickets were $100 for food or $200 with alcohol. The kitchen equipment went up for auction through Fred Wilson Auction, with bidding closing August 28.
York said he's unlikely to reopen somewhere else, though he hasn't ruled it out. For now he's finishing a book about running the restaurant through the pandemic and the six years since.
That three-year lead time matters for what comes next. Sheetz started its conceptual plan and its special use permit request in 2025, according to the Daily Press. That was well before the closing date was public. Dutch Bros. filed its own application in March 2026. Sheetz was in the system first, but the coffee shop reached a vote first.
The coffee shop permit was argued around a gas station that isn't approved yet
The James City County Planning Commission heard the Dutch Bros. case, SUP-26-0006, on August 5. The unapproved minutes of that meeting show how much the Sheetz project next door weighed on the discussion.
County staff had proposed two conditions for the coffee shop: a right-turn taper on McLaws Circle and a cross-access connection to the 494 parcel. Commissioner Passero asked why a coffee shop should pay for a turn taper when a busier gas station next door might not face the same requirement. Planning staff declined to discuss the Sheetz property because its review was still underway.
Staff made the case for cross-access. They said connections between neighboring lots help walkability and local business in mixed-use and commercial areas, and pointed to the 7-Eleven on Pocahontas Trail as a local example that works. Staff also noted that Dutch Bros. would only build its own half of the connection. If the neighboring property never built the other half, the two lots would never link up.
The Commission recommended approval 7-0 and recommended dropping both conditions. The Board of Supervisors approved the permit September 8, and the adopted resolution contains neither a cross-access requirement nor a turn taper.
The final permit differs from some news summaries. WAVY's September 15 story said Dutch Bros. must provide a connection to the neighboring property and make traffic improvements. The resolution the Board adopted doesn't include those conditions. Under the Dutch Bros. permit as adopted, nothing requires the two lots to connect.
What the county did write into the Dutch Bros. permit
These conditions are what people living or driving nearby will notice. Under the adopted resolution:
- Signs. No more than one freestanding sign per street frontage. Any freestanding sign on the James City County side must be a monument sign no taller than 8 feet, lit from outside, with a base at least 3 feet tall built of brick or a matching material.
- Drive-through screening. The menu board and pickup window must be screened from Pocahontas Trail with landscaping, fencing or both.
- Noise. Intercoms and speakers can't be audible from adjacent properties.
- Lighting. Fixtures must be recessed, light poles can't exceed 20 feet, and light can't spill past the property lines.
- Landscaping. At least half of the new plants must be native to southeast Virginia, and the screening plants must go in within 12 months of site plan approval.
- No outdoor merchandise. Nothing displayed, sold or stored outside.
The permit allows a coffee shop expected to generate 100 or more trips during its busiest hour. The staff traffic analysis estimated 120 trips in the morning peak hour and 68 in the evening peak. After subtracting drivers who would already be passing by, staff estimated just 12 net new morning trips and two net new evening trips. In other words, the county expects the drive-through mostly to catch commuters who already use Pocahontas Trail, not to draw much new traffic. The adopted conditions don't limit operating hours.
The site also sits on a county line. James City County handled the application, but a triangle of the parcel along Pocahontas Trail lies in York County, including part of the frontage and part of the drive-through area.
Approved is not the same as opening soon
The resolution gives the applicant 24 months from the permit's issuance to show an approved site plan, or the permit expires. The Board approved the permit September 8, 2026, so that window runs into the fall of 2028. As of WAVY's September 15 report, final site plan approval and the county's other requirements were still outstanding, and no opening date had been announced for Williamsburg.
Here's the order of events so far:
- 2025: Sheetz starts its conceptual plan and special use permit request for 494 McLaws Circle.
- March 2026: Dutch Bros. applies for a special use permit at 496 McLaws Circle.
- August 5, 2026: The Planning Commission recommends the Dutch Bros. permit 7-0.
- August 28, 2026: The Whaling Company's announced last day.
- September 8, 2026: The Board of Supervisors approves the Dutch Bros. permit.
- Next: Dutch Bros. site plan approval, and a Sheetz hearing that hasn't been scheduled.
The Daily Press described the Dutch Bros. project as reusing a 2,100-square-foot former bank building with a drive-through. The company, which started in Oregon in 1992, is also planning a location in Grafton on George Washington Memorial Highway.
The Sheetz half is still a concept
At the August meeting, Commissioner Polster explained that the Development Review Committee had looked at Sheetz only as a conceptual layout. The applicant had proposed a right-turn-only entrance, and there was concern about drivers trying to leave through that same entrance. He said again that the application was still under review. I couldn't find a public Sheetz case number, hearing date, staff report or vote. Questions like hours, entrances and traffic changes are still open.
Sheetz is a family-owned chain from Pennsylvania with more than 750 stores across the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. It has been expanding into Hampton Roads. In January the York County Board of Supervisors approved a Sheetz on Route 17 near Fort Eustis, and stores are also planned in Gloucester and Smithfield. McLaws Circle would be one of several new locations in the region. That's a reason to expect the application to keep moving, but it doesn't tell you when it will come up for a vote.
When Sheetz does reach the Planning Commission, it will be a public hearing like the Dutch Bros. one, with a staff report posted ahead of time. James City County posts Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors agendas on its CivicClerk portal. Searching the agendas for "McLaws" is the fastest way to see when the 494 case is scheduled.
One block over, a building already found its next use
Not every change on the circle is waiting on a permit. The Arc of Greater Williamsburg bought the office building at 438 McLaws Circle for $1.8 million, according to a WYDaily brief from December 2025. The same brief noted new leases at 300–328 McLaws Circle and at 461 McLaws Circle. The nonprofit held a ribbon-cutting in September for its new 10,000-square-foot facility.
The Arc's building is already open. The coffee shop next to the Whaling Company site has up to two years just to get its site plan approved, and the Sheetz plan hasn't had a hearing. The corner people know best is turning over slowly, one county decision at a time.
If you own a home near McLaws Circle and want to know how changes on this corner could affect your value down the road, I'm happy to talk it through. I'll keep watching the county agendas for the Sheetz hearing too. Angie Archibald is here when you're ready. Let's make your big move: start your search or get a free home valuation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
