Planning and Zoning

PEC believes in smart growth planning and decision-making that enhances communities, reduces vehicle miles traveled, and protects natural, cultural and historic resources.

Facts about the Opal Gateway Project

The day before the Board of Supervisors November 14th public hearing the applicant proposed changes that were only made available to the public hours before the hearing. The changes are peripheral in nature. Although the amount of land being added to the service district and rezoned commercial has decreased, the project layout is the same. Instead of the RV Park being a part of the service district and the commercial rezoning, the rural agricultural (RA) zoning will be modified to allow a travel trailer park with water and sewer still being supplied from the service district public infrastructure.

Orange County Considers Major Changes to its Comprehensive Plan

The draft being considered is a severe departure from Orange’s current Comprehensive Plan, creating brand new classifications such as Town Suburban Residential and recommending expanded commercial activities both south of Orange on Route 15 and along most of the Route 3 corridor (including lands within the Wilderness Battlefield National Park along Route 20).

Busy October — Including an Important Comp Plan Rewrite

Happy Friday! It's officially fall, and there's a lot going on throughout the region and in Fauquier County in particular. There are rezonings and zoning amendments under consideration, we've also got tabling at Fauquier Heritage Day in Warrenton this weekend, Outer Beltway public hearings next week, and PEC's Meeting at Galemont on October 12th (the online registration is up!), as well as the 15th Anniversary of the Warrenton Branch Greenway. This text was taken from an email alert sent out on September 27th, 2013.

School Location Matters

Building a new school, like any major construction project, requires a lot of thought and planning. And with that planning comes the need to address the concerns citizens in the nearby area might have about its impacts — traffic, noise and lights, just to name a few. Which is why it's concerning to hear that Loudoun County is considering changes to the Zoning Ordinance that would allow public schools to be built 'By-Right', pretty much anywhere — removing the public's ability to give input. This text was taken from an email alert sent out on May 21st, 2013:

Orange County Unveils Sprawling Vision

Just last week, the County Planning Commission put out a pretty shocking map. The maps and accompanying lays out what Orange would look like in 2025 — including major development along Route 20 and increased residential and commercial development in agriculturally zoned land, among other things. This text is from an email alert sent out on March 29th, 2013.

County Discusses Ordinance and Comprehensive Plan Overhaul

The Orange County Circuit Court ruled that the County does not have the authority to enact a subdivision ordinance with time-phased divisions of land. This invalidates the current ordinance and allows for the immediate division of all agricultural lands into 2 acre lots unless the Board takes action immediately to establish protections of the rural area. Please speak at the Oct. 4th public comment period on proposed changes and send your concerns to the Planning Commission and your representative on the Board of Supervisors.