Board to Vote on Western Loudoun Rural Zoning Amendment on May 4
This text was taken from an email sent out on April 29, 2026 Sign up for email alerts →
Dear Supporter,
On Monday, May 4, the full Board of Supervisors will hold a special session to vote to support or reject the recommendations of the Transportation and Land Use Committee (TLUC) on the Western Loudoun Rural Uses and Standards (WLRUS) Zoning Ordinance Amendment (ZOAM). The committee’s recommendations are the culmination of a series of stakeholder sessions it has held over the last eight months.
The Board’s vote will determine the direction of the zoning amendment, guiding staff as they begin to draft language. Any changes will be extremely difficult to make once this direction is set, so now is the time to speak, submit comments and make your concerns known!
What’s At Stake: A Balance of Interests
In January, county staff proposed several recommendations for TLUC to adopt and guide staff’s draft language for the Western Loudoun Rural Use zoning amendments. Referencing specific Comprehensive Plan Rural policies, staff noted, “these specific policies highlight the importance of balancing interests when creating a regulatory framework for future development. The regulations should encourage development that is supportive of the rural economy, while at the same time ensuring that development is compatible with its surroundings and the available infrastructure of the area.”
As I shared in a previous email, some of the motions the TLUC adopted were in opposition to staff’s advice. These motions — which largely exempt businesses from county oversight and infringe on the rights of surrounding property owners to fully enjoy their properties — ignore the past six years of public input and instead favor influential event-based businesses.
The Comprehensive Plan envisions western Loudoun as an agricultural area, preserving farming and the rural landscape. However, due to an influx of event-based businesses to the area, neighbors must endure ongoing disruptions, including noise, large crowds, trespassers and overflow parking and traffic on residential roads, often late into the night. Because of a lack of standardized regulations, some event-based businesses are given far more leeway than the agricultural businesses the Comprehensive Plan aims to prioritize and support.
Despite the many concerns property owners expressed during the input process for the zoning ordinance rewrite, the TLUC adopted motions that continue to favor the event-based businesses, effectively compounding existing problems instead of prioritizing residents’ safety and quality of life.
We support staff’s recommendations to take a tiered approach to regulating these businesses based on parcel size, activity level and setting — an approach the county already uses to address numerous other uses, including Banquet and Event Facilities.
Because the May 4 Board of Supervisors meeting is a Special Session, only 90 minutes will be allotted for public comment, with each speaker given just two minutes.
Sign up now to speak!
This is your last chance to have a meaningful impact on the new zoning ordinance for Western Loudoun. As members of the community, it is critical that you make your voices heard at this special meeting!
We expect event-based businesses to show up in full force to push their priorities — which often conflict with the needs of residents and less impactful agricultural businesses that are held to far more stringent regulations — so it is important that you sign up early to ensure your concerns are heard— spots will fill up quickly.
Sign Up to Speak
Starting Friday, May 1 at 8:30 a.m.!
What: Board of Supervisors Special Meeting
When: Monday, May 4 at 6 p.m.
Where: Loudoun County Government Center – Board Room – First floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg
How: Call 703-777-0200 to sign up for a speaking slot starting this Friday, May 1 at 8:30 am.
Submit Comments: If speaking spots fill up or you’re unable to attend the Board meeting, please submit comments on the record via the county website.
This is the time for changes and to make sure the Board knows how some of the more radical motions will impact your quality of life. Please come speak! We’ve outlined the most concerning votes below that will have the greatest negative impact to residents and the environment.
Support Positive Votes
Thank the committee for these votes!
On the positive side, TLUC has backed proactive enforcement, specifically targeting those commercial businesses known for code violations. This approach addresses a long-standing issue with complaint-based zoning, in which residents who wanted to file a simple complaint could not do so without potentially becoming directly involved in legal proceedings against violators. With no other option, residents have had to put up with the disruptions and have had to actively engage in enforcing county zoning requirements just to live in peace.
TLUC also supported a county inventory of current businesses’ approved and actual uses to ensure all permits are in order.
Other positive adjustments have removed undue obstacles for agricultural and farming businesses to be successful.
For the zoning ordinance to truly be balanced, it must take resident and business needs into account and not overly favor events without constraints or prioritize one type of business over another.
If you share our concerns, we encourage you to take action and speak up at the Special Board Meeting on May 4.
Thank you for your continued engagement on this critical issue. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Sincerely,
Tia Earman
Senior Land Use Field Representative
Loudoun and Clarke Counties
[email protected]
