Three cheers for the new zoning ordinance

Dear Editor:

Congratulations! Loudoun County has a new zoning ordinance – adopted by the Board of Supervisors on December 13. Everyone involved should be proud – the County Planning Staff, the Planning Commission, the Board of Supervisors and the hundreds of organizations, businesses and individual citizens that invested the time and energy to follow, understand and comment on the intricacies of an exceedingly complex ordinance.

It is not a perfect document, and many organizations, businesses and citizens feel that their interests are not adequately reflected, but almost all agree it is a significant improvement over the previous ordinance adopted in 1993.  

As with any ordinance of this complexity and scope there will be many attempts to amend it in the coming years. Undoubtedly, the new County Board of Supervisors will authorize several Zoning Ordinance Amendment studies.

In 2024 and beyond Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains will be joining with many other organizations to strengthen the zoning protections against over-development in the Mountain Overlay District. Specifically, we will be concentrating on three objectives:

1)      Prohibits new commercial development in the Mountain Overlay District. While zoning ordinance imposes many welcome restrictions on commercial development in the MOD, the ordinance will still permit new commercial development such as sit-down and fast-food restaurants, rural retreats, amphitheaters. These types of new commercial development are inappropriate for the steep slopes, thin soils, and heavily forested areas of the MOD. 
2)      Strengthen zoning enforcement. Require that zoning violations resulting in substantial environmental damage must be corrected by returning the land to its condition before the violation. It is not sufficient to stop the violation. In addition, the county must accept direct responsibility for Identifying zoning violations. It is not sufficient to leave identifying violations solely as responsibility of citizens and neighbors.
3)      Incorporate consideration of the impact of development on greenhouse gases. CO 2  is a major component of greenhouse gases which contribute significantly to climate change. Trees are a CO 2  sink and there is considerable data regarding the ability of different tree species of various sizes and age to capture CO 2  gases. Applications for tree clearing should be required to specifically include data regarding the impact on CO 2  gases.

Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains recognizes and applauds the tremendous work that has gone into the new zoning ordinance. Over the next several years we will be working with many other citizens’ groups to make it even better.

Peter Weeks
President, Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains