ZOC

By Charles Houston

ZOC – pronounced “zock” – is the County’s new Zoning Ordinance Committee, which is charged with helping to write a new zoning ordinance for the county. It’s important to you and I’ll explain why.

Zoning Matters

Zoning is generally a vague concept for people. They might be totally unaware of Loudoun’s 1,025-page zoning ordinance until the beautiful pasture next door is attacked by the bulldozers of some creepy homebuilder. For him, it’s all about the Benjies and to heck with you. Often a small group of panicked neighbors will then start digging into things and find that the creepy homebuilder can build his lousy houses “by right,” essentially meaning that neighbors can do absolutely nothing to stop him. At that point you understand that zoning matters. 

Zoning has a mutuality. The homeowner next door can’t decide to turn his house into, say, an auto repair shop, and that protects you. However, you are similarly constrained – no auto shop for you, either. 

How Zoning Happens

Zoning ordinances are laws passed by a location’s governing authority. Here, Loudoun’s Board of Supervisors often passes amendments to the existing zoning ordinance (over 90 amendments to the current ordinance), and periodically passes an entire new ordinance. That’s what’s happening now and that’s why ZOC was established. 

Citizens elected a good Board of Supervisors in 2019. There are some very bright members and a lot of thoughtful ones. I initially thought it might be pro-conservation and against more growth, but it’s actually turned out to be pretty balanced on land use issues. Conservationists can live with that; it simply means that they must present solid data and logic to support their views.

Suppose you’re a Supervisor. You know the existing zoning ordinance – enacted in 1993 – needs replacing. You’re also covered up with regular county business and have no time. So, you do what the Board did: Assign the task to the Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ,) let them hire consultants, and at the same time give a citizens’ stakeholder committee the task of working with DPZ on the new ordinance.

Exit ZOAG, enter ZOC

Zoe-Ag, as it’s pronounced, was an existing committee dealing with zoning matters. Its charter called for its involvement in the new zoning process, and it began working with DPZ on the new ordinance.

Last fall the BOS dissolved ZOAG. I won’t speculate as to why, other than presuming that it was not doing what the Board wanted. Simultaneously the Board created ZOC. 

One key difference between ZOAG and ZOC is the make-up of stakeholder members. ZOC is more balanced, with a pretty equal mix of conservation representatives and development interests. ZOC also has two at-large members; I am one of them. ZOC has been directed to provide input to DPZ on the text of the proposed new zoning ordinance though no actual zoning text has yet been drafted.

Later on, ZOC may propose zoning amendments as part of an annual package that’s brought to the Board, and it may also be asked by the Planning Commission (to which ZOC reports) or by the Board to comment on other proposed amendments (such as regulations for outdoor shooting ranges. ZOC also has the authority to recommend new, individual amendments. This power could be critically helpful to protecting western Loudoun. 

Sandboxes

Merriam-Webster defines bureaucracy as “a body of nonelected government officials; an administrative policy-making group; government characterized by specialization of functions, adherence to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of authority and a system of administration marked by officialism, red tape, and proliferation.” We all know some: The IRS and the DMV quickly come to mind. Locally, Loudoun County Public Schools is a perfect example. 

Bureaucracies have many things in common. The first is that they are generally necessary. The other commonalities are mostly negative: Their primary goals are perpetual existence, accretion of power and size, and focus on process rather than results. 

Years ago, in Atlanta I was in a DMV line late in the afternoon, watching the wall clock’s hands move inexorably towards 5 p.m. I reached the clerk’s counter just as the minute hand signaled “quitting time.” The clerk simply turned around and left with neither word nor glance. I stood there steaming at that display of bureaucratic attitude. 

Our Department of Planning and Zoning is a bureaucracy. Thankfully it does not act like the Atlanta DMV. In fact, a well-run bureaucracy can be driven by goals, not process. It can be a good steward of citizens’ tax dollars. It can be efficient in its operations. Most pertinent to zoning, it should accept others – like ZOC – playing in its sandbox as colleagues working together to produce a new and improved zoning ordinance. The relationship between DPZ and ZOC is polite on the surface, but I sense that real collegiality is not there. My experience on other boards and committees has been that staffs generally see outsiders as interference that only has to be tolerated. My fear is that this is how the Department of Planning and Zoning sees ZOC.

ZOC Meets

Our first meeting was a briefing by DPZ’s head and by a County attorney, with emphasis on the Freedom of Information Act. It was disconcerting, since it felt to me that great importance was placed on ways to make sure that controversial topics would stay private. I will not participate in something like that – citizens have a right to know. The county belongs to its citizens, and so does the zoning ordinance. If I have comments, questions or complaints, I will present them in a way that clearly makes them available to the public when a FOIA request is filed. 

ZOC’s second meeting was a presentation by the County’s consultants of a “zoning audit” in which they had dissected our existing zoning ordinance and suggested improvements. It was a massive amount of good work, though many of the details warrant discussion. I have asked Staff and ZOC leadership to put on our next agenda enough time to share our thoughts on the code audit. Failure to provide a way to discuss the audit would be an abrogation of ZOC’s responsibilities. 

ZOC and Bureaucracy

Ironically, ZOC itself is a bureaucracy, albeit a tiny one. We need prescribed procedures. For example, ZOC is to “provide input” on zoning issues, but how? Do all 19 members vote on things? Will ZOC issue official statements? Will dissenting opinions be presented? Will any member be able to communicate directly with DPZ (If the answer to that one is no, I will go ballistic)? Will ZOC use committees or act as a committee-of-the-whole? I have faith that ZOC’s chairman and vice-chairman will present good solutions to these quibbles. 

ZOC, Zoning and You

Sad to see an old farm sprouting houses? Feeling hemmed in by data centers? Irate at illegal landfills? Later, there will be a number of public sessions where citizens may comment on drafts of the new zoning ordinance, which I’m sure will be posted online. I hope you will attend. If something’s bugging you and you want to bring up an issue now, your best bet is probably to email the head of DPZ, Mark.Stultz@loudoun.gov, or ZOC’s chairman, KevinRuediselizoc@gmail.com.