Board of Supervisors passes final draft zoning ordinance rewrite

By Audrey Carpenter

At its Dec. 13 meeting, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors passed the final draft zoning ordinance rewrite (ZOR), a 1,490 page document that controls land use and development in the County. The vote was 8-0-1 with Supervisor Sylvia Glass, D-Broad Run, absent.

It took Herculean efforts to get to this point, with Chair Phyllis Randall, D-At Large, calling the ZOR the “crowning achievement” of the board and those involved in the process, from County staff and Planning Commissioners to the public who time and again showed up to Board meetings to voice concerns. The new zoning ordinance repeals and replaces in its entirety the previously revised 1993 zoning ordinance, passed in 2003.

The zoning ordinance directs how much, where and what type of development can occur in the County. It controls how land is managed and natural and historic resources are protected. It establishes requirements for affordable housing and sustainability, and provides specific details on how the County can accomplish these and other land use objectives. Its key purpose is to regulate how development must occur to implement the vision outlined in the Comprehensive Plan, which was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2019 and can be viewed here:

https://www.loudoun.gov/4957/Loudoun-County-Comprehensive-Plan

After adoption of the Comprehensive Plan, the Board began its zoning ordinance rewrite process.
Drafts of the ordinance were reviewed in 40 Zoning Ordinance Committee meetings and 25
Planning Commission work sessions, as notated in the ZOR.

The Planning Commission held public hearings for the ZOR on Aug. 30, 2022 and Jan. 24, 2023, with 29 speakers at the August hearing and 55 speakers at the January hearing.

Speakers brought forward comments around the following themes:
1) the desire for more flexible regulations
2) the complexity of the open space regulations
3) ensuring regulations do not deter the development of attainable housing
4) mitigating impacts associated with data centers
5) minimizing impacts associated with signage
6) protecting natural resources, historic resources, and prime agricultural soils
7) mitigating impacts associated with high intensity uses in western Loudoun
8) more broadly allowing farmers markets, mobile vendors, larger scale solar projects, and
battery energy storage facilities.

At a June 8th work session, the Planning Commission stipulated it had concluded its work on the ZOR and recommended the Board of Supervisors vote to adopt it.

On July 26th, the Board then conducted a public hearing in which 56 speakers commented on a range of topics, including:
1) establishing grandfathering rules to inform the development community how the new zoning ordinance will impact pending applications
2) including more opportunities for modifications
3) ensuring regulations do not deter the development of attainable housing
4) mitigating impacts associated with data centers
5) easing use-specific standards for data centers regarding setbacks, step backs, and fenestration (openings in a building’s facade)
6) easing standards for the Village Conservation Overlay District
7) minimizing impacts associated with signage
8) supporting adaptive reuse and natural resource protection
9) addressing farms and rural economy uses in western Loudoun
10) protecting nonconforming uses and structures.

Integrating the public comments received, the final draft of the ZOR contained 12 chapters which included zoning districts, uses, use-specific standards, overlay districts, natural and environmental resources, development standards, signs, attainable housing, procedures, officials/boards/commissions, and definitions.

A copy can be seen here: https://www.loudoun.gov/5910/Final-Draft-Zoning-Ordinance

The Dec. 13 public meeting drew 53 speakers representing private homeowners, farmers, preservationists, conservationists and business owners. Many comments centered on data centers and transmission lines, though the focus of the meeting was zoning. The Blue Ridge Leader will update with additional coverage concerning the many comments offered at the meeting. Speakers were mostly supportive of the ZOR and encouraged the Board to adopt it.

Supervisor Kristen Umstattd, D-Leesburg, said she had some concerns with the ZOR emphasizing the need for additional amendments, but ultimately decided to support it after hearing both the business industry and citizens encourage the board to adopt the draft.

A copy of the ZOR is available here: https://loudoun.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=88&event_id=3621&meta_id=238213

A copy of the resolution to adopt is available here: https://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/178366/Ordinance-Approving-and-Adopting-
ZOR

If you missed the Dec. 13 meeting and want to watch it, archived meetings are generally available 12-24 hours after the meeting ends here: https://www.loudoun.gov/meetings