Loudoun’s Future urges zoning re-write on cluster developments

Dear Editor:

There’s a unique charm and tranquility to Loudoun County. For many of us – whether we were
born here or moved here later in life – Loudoun offers a stark difference between the
urbanization of Washington and its immediate suburbs. We chose this area for its rural
landscapes, farming, and unique developments.

Our way of life and our rural landscapes are constantly under threat, and now, more so than ever,
by cluster developments.

A cluster development is an option that can be used by a developer as he decides where to put
the houses on a property. In exchange for grouping the houses together to preserve open space
and farmable lots the developer is given a higher lot yield, i.e., he can build more houses then
allowed under the base density of the area.

For example, in the northern part of Loudoun the base density is one house per twenty acres. If
clustered, however, the developer is allowed to build four times as many houses. This incentive
is much higher than any other county in Virginia.

This perverse incentive, inserted at the last minute in a previous zoning ordinance update, has
allowed thousands of houses and overcrowding in Western Loudoun. These developments
overwhelm Loudoun’s roads, schools and landscapes as thousands of newcomers move here.

The time is now to eliminate this giveaway to developers, and stop paying the extra costs of
sprawl, higher taxes, increased congestion, crowded schools, and loss of farms and scenery.
Loudoun’s Future urges the Board of Supervisors to pass a zoning rewrite this year but defer new
zoning regulations regarding clusters and intense uses, among other sensitive things, until next
year when there is time for thoughtful and meaningful discussions between the Board and the
citizens of Loudoun County.

To continue allowing cluster developments while also preserving Loudoun’s beauty and rural
charm, Loudoun’s Future argues that clusters should be allowed equal to the base density of 20
acres per lot in the north of the county (AR-1 area) and 40 acres per lot in the south of the county
(AR-2). State code requires zoning ordinances to provide for clusters, but it does not mandate
density bonuses.

Removing those density bonuses would still allow clusters, but at densities that preserve open
countryside and prime farmland and would drastically reduce the number of homes and limit
growth to a manageable level.

By advocating to protect natural resources and Loudoun’s rural landscape, Loudoun’s Future
seeks to ensure that future generations can continue to enjoy the distinct beauty and charm for
which Loudoun is known. That requires much better cluster zoning.

John Lovegrove, Chairman of Loudoun’s Future