Tourism Zone Claim Challenged, Then Later Downplayed as Terminology
By Valerie Cury
At the Jan. 13 Purcellville Town Council meeting, Council Member Erin Rayner spent much of her council comments citing what she described as a Tourism Zone in the Town of Leesburg, using it to justify retaining and expanding Purcellville’s own Tourism Zone. She said Leesburg had adopted such a zone “a couple years ago” and stated she had researched the issue and contacted Leesburg’s Town Council directly to ask why it had been enacted.
At the same meeting, Rayner emphasized her claim of precedent and challenged Mayor Chris Bertaut when he asked for clarification—“It’s a shame you didn’t come prepared knowing that Leesburg has one,” and added, “Why should I do your work for you?” Her statements framed the zone as a researched, verified policy used elsewhere, despite there being no Tourism Zone in the Town of Leesburg.
At the Feb. 10 Town Council meeting, Bertaut directly refuted those statements. “I researched this thoroughly.” He confirmed that Leesburg does not have a Tourism Zone, explaining that he reviewed their town code and zoning ordinances and consulted both the planning and economic development departments.
“I do not buy the argument that we need it as a tool in the tool kit,” Bertaut said, noting the Town of Purcellville Tourism Zone ordinance had been in place for 14 years without ever being used.
“I also spoke to their planning and zoning department—they do not have a Tourism Zone. The department told me to check with their economic development department and they said it is mentioned in their strategic plan but there is no real urgency to act on it,” Bertaut said.
The incentives, tax waivers, and regulatory flexibility often cited as necessary were not used and, according to the mayor’s review, never existed in Leesburg.
Bertaut said that Leesburg successfully brought in a boutique hotel without any special financial incentives, showing that the precedent cited did not exist. “It was brought in without a Tourism Zone, without incentives, because the people who wanted to build Hotel Burg knew it was a good business decision.”
Rayner later said, “I misspoke … it was more nomenclature.”
Purcellville’s Tourism Zone, enacted in 2012 under the Lazaro administration, applies to a limited number of parcels along North 21st Street, owned by the same owners, and was used for a single redevelopment project—a boutique hotel that was never built.
The ordinance allows for unusual regulatory flexibility and potential tax waivers, including utility fees, real estate taxes, meals taxes, and occupancy taxes, for up to nine years, contingent on a minimum private investment of $250,000.
During the Feb. 10 meeting, the council voted 4–3 to rescind the Tourism Zone ordinance. Mayor Bertaut, Vice Mayor Ben Nett, and Council Members Carol Luke and Susan Khalil voted to rescind it. Council Members Rayner, Kevin Wright, and Caleb Stought voted against.
The vote reflected the council’s desire to ensure that any future redevelopment complies with current zoning and fiscal responsibility, rather than rely on broad exceptions that could apply unevenly to different property owners.
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