May 2019 – South Riding Board of Driectors response to the BOS can be found HERE.
Planning Commission Certifies Draft Loudoun 2040 Comprehensive Plan; Board of Supervisors to Begin Review
During its March 26, 2019, public hearing, the Loudoun County Planning Commission voted 8 to 1, with Leesburg District Commissioner Ad Barnes opposed, to formally certify the draft Loudoun 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The commission adopted a resolution to approve and recommend the draft plan to the Board of Supervisors, which will now begin a thorough review of the draft plan. The Board’s review period will include a series of work sessions and two public hearings:
• Work Sessions – April, May, and June 2019: Beginning Wednesday, April 3, 2019, the Board of Supervisors will hold a series of work sessions to review the plan. The complete list of work session dates are posted on the Loudoun County Government Master Calendar and at www.loudoun.gov/Loudoun2040.
• Tentative Adoption – June 20, 2019: The Board of Supervisors tentatively is scheduled to consider adoption of the Loudoun 2040 Comprehensive Plan at the Thursday, June 20, 2019, business meeting. The tentative adoption time frame is based on a 90-day statutory requirement under the Code of Virginia.
Members of the public are encouraged to participate in the official process for the revising of the county’s comprehensive plan by sharing input directly with Board members. In addition to speaking at the Board of Supervisors’ public hearings, members of the community may email the Board at bos@loudoun.gov or call the Board’s comment line at 703-777-0115.
Meetings of the Board of Supervisors are held at the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, SE, in Leesburg. Board business meetings, public hearings and work sessions are televised live on Comcast Government Channel 23, Open Band Channel 40 and Verizon FiOS Channel 40. They also are live streamed at www.loudoun.gov/webcast. Archived videos of Board meetings are posted online at www.loudoun.gov/meetings.
About the Loudoun 2040 Comprehensive Plan
Once adopted, the Loudoun 2040 Comprehensive Plan will serve as the county government’s guide for land use and transportation policy that will provide a flexible framework and implementation strategy to meet the county’s future priorities and needs. The plan covers a broad range of existing and new policies and addresses various issues important to the community.
The draft plan covers a broad range of existing and new policy areas and addresses various issues that are important to the community, including:
• Urban Policy Area: The draft plan establishes a new Urban Policy Area to support growth, offer housing choices to meet changing housing needs and allow for innovation and changing market demands over time. The proposed Urban Policy Area is located around the Silver Line Metro stations. The draft plan emphasizes appropriate density and walkable or transit-oriented, mixed-use development in these areas, shaping urban communities near Metro.
• Natural and Heritage Resources: The draft plan recognizes Loudoun’s desire to protect the unique network of natural and heritage resources in the county. Draft polices focus on preserving and enhancing this network, protecting the rural economy and agricultural uses, as well as creating high-quality, publicly accessible open spaces and connecting new and existing trails.
• Housing Choices and Diversity: A complete, inclusive and enduring community requires a wide range of housing types and costs. In Loudoun County, demand is increasing for housing that is affordable across a wide range of incomes. Draft policies support increasing residential density in targeted areas and encouraging a greater diversity of housing types near jobs and transportation facilities.
• Transition Policy Area: Development in the county’s Transition Policy Area has been discussed at length during the process. Draft policies call for increases in density in certain targeted areas, while preserving a minimum of 50 percent open space. The draft plan calls for any new development in the transition area to be located near existing roads, service amenities and public facilities, and defers over half of the proposed residential units until such time that certain transportation improvements are in place. The draft polices also provide for light industrial uses along the Sycolin Road corridor where power and fiber is available to service these uses.
The draft Loudoun 2040 Comprehensive Plan also provides for revitalization in the Suburban Policy Area. In addition, the draft plan does not propose changes to existing policies in the Rural Policy Area that would allow for any more residential development than is already planned for in the county’s current comprehensive plan, the Revised General Plan.
The revision of the Loudoun County Comprehensive Plan has been nearly three years in the making. Known as Envision Loudoun, the process involved input from thousands of community members, and included deliberations of a Stakeholders Committee and an extensive review by the Planning Commission. Once adopted by the Board of Supervisors, scheduled updates to the plan will occur on a regular basis as implementation priorities are identified.
Loudoun County Government is the official source of information about the revised comprehensive plan. The county posts information on its website to ensure the public has access to the current information that the Board of Supervisors will consider in the coming months. The current draft of the plan and related documents are posted at www.loudoun.gov/Loudoun2040. Agendas and related documents for the Board’s meetings are posted in advance of meetings at www.loudoun.gov/bosdocuments.