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On October 16, 2007, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors adopted the draft amendments to the county's Zoning Ordinance, as proposed by the Zoning Ordinance Review Committee (ZORC) and the Loudoun County Planning Commission. The effective date of the amendments is December 3, 2007. The draft amendments, related items prepared for the October 16 meeting, and the Copy Teste are online. The text of the newly adopted amendments may be found in Attachments 2 and 4: The draft amendments were forwarded to the October 16 meeting following a Board of Supervisors Committee of the Whole worksession on September 25, 2007. A summary of the September 25 worksession is online, along with documents prepared for the worksessions on September 12 and 25. The worksessions followed a Board public hearing on the amendments held on Tuesday, July 31, 2007. Documents for the public hearing are online. The 07-11-07 Addendum to ZORC Redline Draft is also available online as a separate file: Planning Commission Worksession Held June 27 The Loudoun County Planning Commission held a worksession on draft amendments to the county's Zoning Ordinance, as proposed by the Zoning Ordinance Review Committee (ZORC) on Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. in the Purcellville Room on the first floor of the county government center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E. in Leesburg. Documents for the meeting are online: The Commission held a public hearing on the draft amendments on May 21, 2007. The Commission then forwarded the amendments to a Committee of the Whole worksession held on June 11, 2007. Documents for the June 11 meeting are online: The staff report for the May 21 public hearing also is online: The Planning Commission held worksessions on the draft amendments in March and April 2007. Documents for those worksessions are online. The draft amendments proposed by ZORC deal generally with the Suburban and Transition Policy Areas. The ZORC's draft amendments to the Agricultural Rural zoning districts and related regulations for rural uses in Section 5-600 are not being considered, as these recommendations were considered with the recently adopted amendments to the county Zoning Ordinance in relation to the Rural Policy Area. For a working draft, the Planning Commission has been using the ZORC red line draft updated with text for three zoning ordinance amendments that were adopted after the red line draft was issued. The text is available online: In 2004, the Board of Supervisors appointed an Ad Hoc Zoning Ordinance Review Committee to assist county staff in the review process. An annual review of the Zoning Ordinance typically addresses conflicts between the ordinance and (1) changes in State Code provisions; (2) other county land use policies; (3) technical application of ordinance provisions, and (4) editorial clarifications. Meeting Documents Meeting summaries through April 20, 2005, as well as other documents relating to those meetings, are online. Robert M. Gordon served as chairman and Pat Quante as vice chairman of the Zoning Ordinance Review Committee. Public Input In seeking public comment on the Zoning Ordinance review, the committee held a public input session on February 2, 2005, during which 31 citizens expressed concerns on a variety of issues related to the Zoning Ordinance review. Written submissions were accepted through February 28, 2005. Matrices of the spoken and written comments are online: Comments about the review may also be sent by e-mail to zorc@loudoun.gov. Rural Zoning Background The Board of Supervisors established the Ad Hoc Zoning Ordinance Review Committee to assist staff with the review of the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance. The review is designed to address conflicts between the ordinance and changes in state code provisions, other county land use policies, technical application of ordinance provisions, and editorial consistency and clarity. The panel includes six members who were selected for their experience with zoning-related issues. They are: Brian Cullen, development consultant; Sarah Howard-O'Brien, land planner; Joe Paciulli, surveyor; Patrick Quante, engineer; William Soltesz, owner, real estate firm; and John Whitmore, former Planning Commissioner. Terry Titus, a former Planning Commissioner, was originally selected for the panel, but resigned, due to his work schedule, in mid-January 2005. Michael Banzhaf was later appointed to fill that vacancy. Two slots were given to two members of the general public who are not necessarily zoning experts. They are: Franklin Hyatt, owner and manager, Woodland Assisted Living, Lovettsville; and Stevens R. Miller, founder, CEO and counsel for Data Forensic Labs of Northern Virginia.
In addition, Ava Abramowitz is serving as the representative of the Rural Economic Development Council, and Robert (Bob) Gordon is the Economic Development Commission representative.
The committee's first meeting was held December 13, 2004, and Bob Gordon was elected chairman. Pat Quante was elected vice chairman at a subsequent meeting. A December 14, 2004, memo from the chairman is available online. Suggested AmendmentsIn preparation for the review, Zoning Administrator Melinda Artman and her staff identified possible amendments to the Zoning Ordinance. The original staff recommendations made in September 2004 and an updated January 2005 version are available online as are other suggested amendments made since that list was compiled. Rural Policy Area Issues On September 8, 2005, the Zoning Ordinance Review Committee (ZORC) submitted to the Board of Supervisors a report addressing the Board's "Option 1" for the AR-1 and AR-2 Zoning Districts. The report and all associated materials submitted therewith are available online: For More Information For more information about the annual review of the Zoning Ordinance, contact the Zoning Administration Division at 703-777-0397 or send an e-mail to zorc@loudoun.gov.
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