Our Region

PEC focuses on nine counties and one city in the northern Piedmont of Virginia: Albemarle, Charlottesville, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock.

We also team with local organizations to promote thriving communities and healthy natural resources in a much larger region, including the Shenandoah Valley, the central Piedmont, and the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Corridor. In addition, we are proud to serve as fiscal sponsor of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, an organization that focuses on land use and policy in the greater Washington D.C. area.

Important Comp Plan Chapters Up for Discussion in Greene

Posted on March 15, 2021March 18, 2021 by Adam Gillenwater

I hope this finds you well and looking forward to a fast-approaching spring! As we move deeper into 2021, I am writing to highlight another opportunity to learn about and engage with the ongoing review of Greene County’s comprehensive plan.

As I wrote earlier this year, Greene County is currently undertaking a review of its comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan is a critically important document that represents the community’s vision for its future and guides all decisions and regulations regarding growth and development.

President’s Letter – Spring 2021

Posted on March 13, 2021April 2, 2021 by Chris Miller

The arrival of Spring 2021 brings with it a special sense of rebirth and reopening as we emerge from the incredible challenges we faced together in 2020. As the weather warms, the spring ephemerals emerge, the amphibians meet in cool pools, and bird migrations begin, we are also hopeful for the return to the places, people and events that confirm our sense of community and shared mission.

On the Ground Updates – March 2020

Posted on March 13, 2021April 15, 2021 by Bri West

A series of short updates from around the PEC region – Albemarle & Charlottesville, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange & Rappahannock.

The Long Road to Waterloo Bridge

Posted on March 13, 2021April 15, 2021 by Julie Bolthouse

When I saw “replacement” of the circa 1878 Waterloo Bridge—the oldest metal truss bridge still in service in Virginia at the time—on the Fauquier County Transportation Committee agenda back in October 2013, I knew exactly who to turn to.

A Final Wish Granted

Posted on March 13, 2021February 1, 2023 by Cindy Sabato

Carl and Elise Siebentritt’s 29-acre “mountain oasis,” two miles west of Lucketts along the Catoctin ridge and 3.5 miles northeast of Waterford in Loudoun County, was the hub and the heart of their large family for more than 30 years. Daughter Heidi and her husband held their wedding party there. Eldest son Carl III was married there and made it “home base” between overseas assignments with the State Department. Two other siblings, in Maryland and Georgia, moved their families in for a few years to help care for Elise and Carl in the years before each passed away. All 13 grandchildren and one great grandchild knew the woods like the backs of their hands from years of hiking, foraging, and camping.

History at the Top of Bull Run Mountain

Posted on March 13, 2021January 31, 2023 by Cindy Sabato

Stretching 15 miles from the village of Aldie in Loudoun County south to New Baltimore in Fauquier County, the Bull Run Mountains have stories to tell. The mountain range is home to 10 unique plant, forest and woodland ecosystems supporting uncommon and threatened plant and animal species. Its hills were the scene of the Battle at Thoroughfare Gap during the Civil War. The rocky ridges and quartzite cliffs on its western side, along with the shadow of its eastern toe and its hollows, are said to have once guided slaves fleeing bondage via the Underground Railroad.

2021 General Assembly Update

Posted on March 13, 2021April 30, 2021 by Dan Holmes

The last six months has been a whirlwind of legislative action. The 2020 special session extended into mid-October, creating a mad scramble at its conclusion to prepare for the 2021 regular session. PEC was busy drafting bills and budget amendments, finding sponsors and having the conversations necessary to set up our initiatives for success before the new session began on January 13. The 2021 regular session was eventually extended into a special session that concluded on March 1.

Catoctin Creek Conservation Fund

Posted on March 12, 2021February 18, 2025 by PEC

The Piedmont Environmental Council’s Catoctin Creek Conservation Fund assists with the costs of conservation easements and land purchase transactions to protect the agricultural, historic, rural, and scenic character of the Catoctin Creek watershed in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Loudoun Board to Reconsider Goose Creek Overlook Approval

Posted on March 10, 2021March 24, 2021 by Gem Bingol

Goose Creek is a premier natural resource in eastern Loudoun, but it is under threat from development. The Goose Creek Overlook application, proposes to rezone a group of properties located just south of the Greenway, on the eastern slope of Goose Creek for intense residential development.

Week Ahead for March 8, 2021: Charlottesville PC to take up New Hill’s vision for Starr Hill

Posted on March 9, 2021March 9, 2021 by Sean Tubbs

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the “before times” when meetings were held in person in greater Charlottesville. We still don’t when we’ll be able to return to administrative buildings, but for now, many have adjusted to a new normal where meetings can be attended with relative ease — as long as you have the Internet.