A Buford-based company got Oakwood’s preliminary OK Monday night to build a plant that makes sneeze guards, the see-through shields that protect food in restaurant buffet lines from germ-carrying patrons.

Versa-Gard wants to build the 15,000-square-foot plant on Southland Drive in the Fairground Business Center off Atlanta Highway/Ga. 13.

The company is seeking the city’s approval to rezone a 2.4-acre vacant site from highway business to heavy industrial.

The request is being made because current zoning doesn’t allow for assembly line production, Versa-Gard’s application states.

The Oakwood Planning Commission voted Nov. 19 to recommend approval. The matter now goes before the Oakwood City Council for final approval.

With the new plant’s approval, the business park “is close to buildout,” said B.R. White, Oakwood’s community development director.

“We’re pleased with that,” White said. “This (Versa-Gard) site has been on the books for a while. I hope (development) will move very rapidly.”

The park, which is west of Wallis Road and across from Cresthill Drive, has a mixture of commercial buildings, including restaurants.