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Rural Policy Area Zoning Amendments
The changes to the Rural Policy Area adopted by the Board of Supervisors in September and December 2006 involve amendments to the Zoning Ordinance, Zoning Map, Land Subdivision and Development Ordinance and the Comprehensive Plan. Some of the documents require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, which may be downloaded here.
Board Adopts Rural Zoning Amendments and New Zoning Map
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted December 5, 2006, to adopt amendments to the county's zoning and subdivision ordinances and zoning map as they relate to the Rural Policy Area.
The new zoning classifications, effective December 6, 2006, affect allowable uses and densities of property in the Rural Policy Area. They are designed to implement recently adopted amendments to the rural policies of the county's Comprehensive Plan, which support the development of the rural economy and a variety of residential development options including conventional subdivision, spin-off lots and rural clusters.
The December 5 vote came after a lengthy review of the county's rural land use policies which included input from hundreds of people who attended public input sessions and public hearings held by the Board and Planning Commission. The Board's review began following a March 2005 Virginia Supreme Court decision, which overturned the January 2003 remapping of Loudoun's Rural Policy Area.
Loudoun County has four policy areas: Suburban, Transition, Rural and Towns-Joint Land Management Areas. The Rural Policy Area extends west of the Transition Policy Area to the county boundaries, encompassing 227,904 acres, which represents about 67 percent of Loudoun County's total land.
Property owners who have questions about rural zoning may call the Zoning Administration Division at 703-737-8915.
Documents Online
The copy teste and a summary of the Board's actions on the Rural Policy Area taken on December 5, 2006, are online as is the amended text and zoning map adopted by the Board, and the webcast of the meeting.
Attachment 2, Part 1: Section 2-100 - 2-1000 Amended Text
Attachment 2: Part 2: Section 2-100 - 2-1000 Amended Text
Attachment 2, Part 3: Section 2-1600 - 4-2000 Amended Text
Attachment 2, Part 4: Section 4-2000 - 5-600 Amended Text
Attachment 2, Part 5: Section 5-600 - 5-700 Amended Text
Attachment 2, Part 6: Section 5-700 - 5-1400 Amended Text
Attachment 2, Part 7: Section 5-1414 - Article 8
Attachment 3: Amended Text of Land Subdivision & Development Ordinance
Adopted Zoning Map as Amended (See Copy Teste)
Webcast of 12-05-06 meeting
Memo Regarding Scrivener's Error
An inadvertent scrivener's error occurred in Section 2-203 (B) (1) (b) in the draft zoning ordinance text presented at the Board of Supervisors meeting on December 5, 2006. A memo with the attached text is online:
Documents prepared for the December 5 meeting are online.
The webcast of the Board of Supervisors' public hearing on November 29, 2006, is available for viewing and documents prepared for the public hearing, during which 116 members of the public provided comments, are online:
Also online is the proposed zoning map and a document highlighting the proposed zoning ordinance changes.
The county sent letters notifying affected property owners of the public hearing and the proposed new zoning classifications that would affect allowable uses and densities of their property. A sample letter and attachments sent with the letter are online:
On September 6, 2006, the Board of Supervisors approved amendments to the rural policies of the county's Comprehensive Plan (CPAM). The CPAM establishes policies to guide development in the Rural Policy Area. The adopted policies support the development of the rural economy and a variety of residential development options including conventional subdivision, spin-off lots and rural clusters. The adopted amendment language is online:
The September 6 meeting is available for viewing on the webcast system here.
Earlier Meetings
An outline of the amendments proposed by Supervisor Mick Staton on Tuesday, September 5, 2006, is online:
The action items prepared for the September 5 business meeting, including draft language of proposed amendments and attachments, are online. The draft proposed zoning map is also available online. (Note: Some of the files below are large and may take a little longer than expected to open.)
Memos to the Planning Commission related to the August 28 worksession are online.
The Commission's vote to send the proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan (CPAM) back to a worksession came on Monday, July 24, 2006. Following that vote, the Board of Supervisors canceled its special meeting that had been scheduled for Thursday, July 27, 2006. The Board was to consider the CPAM as well as other proposed changes to the zoning and subdivision ordinances as they relate to Loudoun's Rural Policy Area.
The staff report and related attachments prepared for the canceled July 27 meeting concerning proposed changes to the zoning and subdivision ordinances are online:
The Planning Commission's action followed the July 24 joint public hearing with the Board of Supervisors on the rural CPAM. One-hundred-and-two members of the public provided comments at the July 24 public hearing. The staff report for the public hearing and the most recent draft of the proposed amendments are online:
The Board held several worksessions prior to the July 24 joint public hearing with the Planning Commission. The webcasts of the worksessions and the joint public hearing can be viewed here.
Documents for the June 20, June 26 and July 5 worksessions are online:
The worksessions followed a Board public hearing held over three days on the Comprehensive Plan amendment as well as proposed changes to the Zoning Ordinance and the Land Subdivision and Development Ordinance. That public hearing featured more than 200 members of the public providing comments on Wednesday, June 7, and Saturday, June 10. The Board reconvened the public hearing on Friday, June 16, and then decided to move the discussion to the worksession on June 20. The webcasts of the public hearing sessions and the worksession are archived and available for online viewing here.
The staff report for the public hearing, including attachments, and a presentation by staff are online.
The proposed amendments considered by the Board also are online here.
The Board of Supervisors sent nearly 15,000 letters, dated May 18, 2006, to property owners who would be affected by the proposed changes. The letters notified property owners of the proposed new zoning classification that will affect allowable uses and densities of their property. The letters included attachments that summarizes the proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance and Comprehensive Plan. The letters also notified property owners of the Board of Supervisors public hearing on the proposals.
Answers to frequently asked questions prompted by the notification letters are online as is a sample notification letter and the attachments:
The Board of Supervisors voted in April to hold a public hearing to consider both the recommendations it sent to the Planning Commission in 2005 as well as the related Planning Commission recommendations which were delivered to the Board in March 2006.
Planning Commission Makes Recommendations to Board
The Loudoun County Planning Commission delivered its recommendations on proposed zoning, subdivision and Comprehensive Plan changes in rural Loudoun to the Board of Supervisors. A cover memo, dated March 21, 2006, from Zoning Administrator Melinda Artman and a summary of the Commission's report is available online:
On February 21, 2006, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors approved a request by the Planning Commission for a two-week extension of the original March 6, 2006, deadline for the Commission to make its recommendations on proposed land use changes for the Rural Policy Area of the county.
The Board extended the deadline to March 20, 2006, for the Commission to deliver its recommendations to the Board on proposed zoning, subdivision and Comprehensive Plan changes in rural Loudoun.
Planning Commission Worksession Held February 13
The Planning Commission held a worksession on February 13, 2006. An issues matrix handed out at that worksession is online:
Planning Commission Public Hearing Held February 9 & 11
The Loudoun County Planning Commission held the second session of its public hearing on proposed rural zoning changes Saturday, February 11, 2006, at the government center, where between 65 and 70 people provided comments, either by speaking directly to the commissioners or recording their comments. The first session was held the evening of Thursday, February 9, 2006, at Loudoun County High School in Leesburg, where about 70 people provided comments.
A staff report prepared for the public hearing is online as are other documents, including revisions to the proposed amendments as of January 24, 2006, previously published documents of December 16, and a matrix of Planning Commission issues prepared for the Commission's worksession on February 6, 2006.
The Planning Commission mailed about 15,000 letters, dated January 23, 2006, notifying property owners in the Rural Policy Area of the proposed changes and of the upcoming public hearing. A sample letter is online.
Public Input Session
The Planning Commission heard from 39 members of the public who spoke during a public input session on Saturday, January 21, 2006, on the proposed zoning, subdivision and Comprehensive Plan changes regarding the Rural Policy Area of the county. The handouts available at the session are available online:
The proposed amendments would restore the Agricultural Rural zoning designation to the areas predominately zoned A-3 Agricultural Residential. The proposed amendments would allow a property owner to create a subdivision one lot at a time or as a cluster subdivision or as a conventional subdivision. Many uses that are currently allowed by a special exception process in the A-3 district are proposed to be permitted by-right pursuant to a number of performance standards within the Agricultural Rural zoning districts.
A packet of materials about the proposed amendment was distributed to the Planning Commission on January 14, 2006, and those documents are online:
Links to the proposed amendments are available below. Copies of the proposed amendments also are available at the government center at the public counters in the Department of Building and Development and the Department of Planning.
The information packet below includes elements of the proposed zoning amendments and proposed policy changes as well as summaries of the action taken by the Board on December 7 and 10, 2005.
Also, the staff report on the project prepared for the December 6 Board meeting is online as is the meeting packet, which includes the agenda and other relevant documents:
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors referred proposed land use changes for the Rural Policy Area to the Loudoun County Planning Commission for review and directed the Planning Commission to make its recommendations to the Board by March 20, 2006.
On November 17, 2005, the Board adopted a resolution of intent to amend the Zoning Ordinance and zoning map to initiate the process of adopting new zoning districts and a new map for the Rural Policy Area. The adopted resolution is online:
The staff proposals to revise the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance to implement the Board's zoning proposal for the Rural Policy Area are online. The package of information distributed October 19, 2005, to the Zoning Ordinance Review Committee includes the proposed revisions as well as a memo from Zoning Administrator Melinda Artman and Rural Planner Michelle Lohr, and a matrix of major elements of the Board's proposal and where they were included in the drafts:
Comments from Rural Economic Development Council are Online
The Loudoun County Rural Economic Development Council (REDC) has issued its comments on the staff proposals to revise the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance to implement the Board of Supervisors' zoning proposal for the Rural Policy Area. The REDC comments are online:
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted in July 2005 to move ahead with a zoning proposal for the Rural Policy Area. The proposal and other related documents are online:
In voting to move ahead with the proposal on July 20, 2005, the Board also directed county staff to begin drafting proposed policy and ordinance amendments to be presented to the Board with a Resolution of Intent to Amend.
The vote came after several weeks of public discussion on zoning options for the Rural Policy Area. The Board held several worksessions in May and June to discuss the zoning options, and held two public input sessions in July, followed by another worksession.
Background
In a March 3, 2005, Virginia Supreme Court decision, the January 2003 remapping of Loudoun's Rural Policy Area was overturned. As a result of this decision, the mapping of the Rural Policy Area reverted to its pre-January 2003 classification. The Board of Supervisors then undertook a review of various matters related to rural land use policies.
Loudoun County has four policy areas: Suburban, Transition, Rural and Towns-Joint Land Management Areas (JLMAs). The Rural Policy Area extends and includes all areas west of the Transition Policy Area to the county boundaries, excluding the incorporated towns and the Joint Land Management Areas around certain towns.
The Rural Policy Area encompasses 227,904 acres, representing about 67 percent of Loudoun County's total land (333,558 acres). Six of the county's seven incorporated Towns are located completely in the Rural Policy Area. They are Hamilton, Hillsboro, Lovettsville, Middleburg, Purcellville and Round Hill.
For More Information
For more information about Rural Policy Area zoning, you may contact Zoning Administrator Melinda Artman at martman@loudoun.gov or 703-777-0397.
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