Furnace Mountain in Loudoun County. Photo credit Hugh Kenny/PEC. From the Blue Ridge to the Bull Run (and everything in-between) the mountains of Loudoun County are a place of scenic beauty, recreation and refuge. They also contain the headwaters to numerous public water resources, support groundwater recharge, and provide valuable ...
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Metro's Silver Line now includes a stop at Dulles International Airport. Photo credit Beyond DC, Flickr. This is worth celebrating! Metro’s six new Silver Line stops opened this week, including service to Dulles Airport and Loudoun County. This once-in-a-generation investment enables a more sustainable future in the D.C. region and ...
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The following text was sent out via email on August 26, 2022. Sign up for PEC email alerts → Village of Waterford. Photo by Marco Sanchez/PEC Dear Supporter, The next couple of months are a busy time for zoning updates! As I mentioned in my last alert, Loudoun is in ...
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The following text was sent out via email on July 11, 2022. Sign up for PEC email alerts → Village of Waterford. Credit Hugh Kenny/PEC Dear Supporter, Have you heard that Loudoun County is rewriting its zoning ordinance? It was last updated in 2003, and since then, a lot has ...
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The following text was sent out as a PEC email alert. To sign up for alerts visit pecva.org/signup. Local Land Use Update Dear Supporter, I can’t believe it is already May... it's been a busy spring! A number of important local land use processes are playing out simultaneously in Loudoun ...
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The following text was taken from an email alert sent out on September 10, 2021. Sign up for PEC email alerts >> Dear Supporter, As Loudoun County grows, the board of supervisors has recognized the need for improving environmental sustainability, health and resilience. Protecting natural resources, preserving energy and pivoting ...
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The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has been working on improvements to the safety and operations of Route 15 North of Leesburg since 2017. The county has held several public meetings and input sessions during the last four years. Right now, Loudoun residents have a chance to provide input on ...
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Outside the St. Louis public hearing. Credit: Hugh Kenny/PEC On Wednesday, June 9, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors held two important public hearings. The first was to listen to residents’ thoughts about how the county should address the Middleburg Preserve development and planning and zoning issues in St. Louis. The ...
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Aerial of St. Louis, looking south. Photo by Hugh Kenny, PEC. The signs at both entrances to the village of St. Louis proudly describe the hamlet as one of the oldest African American townships in Loudoun. It was built on land purchased by freed slaves for $20 an acre after ...
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Loudouners! An online comment period is open now through Friday, May 21, 2021 for residents to weigh in on design alternatives for the Route 15 South corridor (e.g. roundabout vs. turn lane at various intersections or preferred locations for multi-modal trails). There was a virtual public meeting in April to ...
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The Loudoun Board of Supervisors voted to reject an intensive development proposal along Goose Creek, reversing a decision from earlier in the month. It’s a win for the public, the creek and drinking water protection! Over 30 speakers, volumes of letters and a petition with over 4,500 signatures (including 3000 ...
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Aerial photo by Hugh Kenny, PEC. On Tuesday, March 2, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors approved the proposed Goose Creek Overlook development in a narrow 5-4 vote. The four Board members who voted ‘no’ offered strong arguments against the proposal, and those who voted ‘yes,’ noted how difficult the decision ...
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The following text was taken from an email alert sent out on January 15, 2021. Sign up for PEC email alerts >> PEC and Partners Stand With Aldie and St. Louis As Loudoun Considers Land Purchase/Exchange Deal Drone image of Aldie by Hugh Kenny. Map overlay created by PEC as ...
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Loudoun is considering trading too much residential development in one village for too much commercial development in another. Drone image by Hugh Kenny. Map overlay created by PEC as a reference. On Wednesday, January 13, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors will consider a developer’s proposed land deal that would potentially ...
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Marcus Howard (right) and Sharon Peterson (left) stand next to the historic Mt. Zion Baptist Church of St. Louis, an historic African American village originally settled by their ancestors after Emancipation. Photo by Marco Sánchez The signs at both entrances to the village of St. Louis proudly describe the hamlet ...
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The Middleburg Planning Commission conditionally approved the Banbury Cross Reserve project at their special meeting in August, citing the three conditions noted in Loudoun County staff’s final report. Per Middleburg regulations, the applicant has 90 days to fulfill the conditions. Local news media have reported a lawsuit challenging the title ...
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This text was taken from an email alert sent out on July 30, 2020. Sign up for email alerts >> Dear Supporter, I wanted to provide another quick update on an issue we wrote to you about two weeks ago: the Banbury Cross development before the Middleburg Planning Commission. First, ...
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This text was taken from an email alert sent out on July 16, 2020. Sign up for email alerts >> Dear Supporter, Today I wanted to give you an update about the proposed Banbury Cross residential development outside of Middleburg. This proposal was first submitted back in June, 2019 and ...
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Revised cover map from the site plan for Banbury Cross (6/23/2020). The Middleburg Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on July 27, 2020 for the Banbury Cross residential development application, which had its first public hearing in September 2019. The application is for 28 clustered lots that are between ...
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Loudoun County continues to be one of the fastest growing jurisdictions in the nation. Therefore, both the number and types of development applications filed each month can be overwhelming. In an effort to track development applications that could impact important natural, cultural and historic resources, as well as the quality ...
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These are certainly different times… Whether on issues pertaining to health and safety, economic fallout, or simply the operations of government, we are living through major changes and unprecedented experiences due to COVID-19. Here at PEC, we are doing our best to alert you to the ongoing changes to the ...
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Banbury Cross Reserve is the first major cluster subdivision application in at least 10 years in the AR-2 Rural Policy Area to move forward. It sets a precedent for other developers who may contemplate larger scale residential subdivision opportunities in the area. PEC remains concerned with the unnecessary impacts of ...
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This text was taken from an email alert sent out to nearby residents in Loudoun County. To sign up for PEC email alerts, visit pecva.org/signup. Dear Supporter,  Along Rt. 15 north of Leesburg, residents have consistently called for improved safety, an easier commute, protection of historic Lucketts, and ensuring the ...
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Loudoun’s Comprehensive Plan draft has been finalized for a June 20 vote, and it’s time for a quick PEC update. What’s left? The last work session on Saturday, June 15 was a wrap-up of chapters that had not yet been covered including Chapter 1--Introduction, Chapter 5--Economic Development, Chapter 7--Implementation, and ...
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The following text was pulled from an email alert sent out by PEC's Loudoun field representative Gem Bingol. To sign up for email alerts from PEC visit pecva.org/signup. Looking west over the Transition Policy Area. Dear Supporter, Time flies! It’s been about a month since the public hearings on the ...
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The following text was pulled from an email alert sent out by PEC's Loudoun field representative Gem Bingol. To sign up for email alerts from PEC visit pecva.org/signup. Dear Supporter, There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I want to thank everyone who took the time to ...
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The following text was pulled from an email alert sent out by PEC's Loudoun field representative Gem Bingol. To sign up for email alerts from PEC visit pecva.org/signup. A Plan for Residents or Speculative Developers? Dear Supporter, Late last month, the Loudoun Planning Commission voted to send the draft Comprehensive ...
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Gem Bingol, PEC's Loudoun field representative, delivered the following message at more than ten community meetings across Loudoun County held during February & March 2019. This blog post was developed from her presentation slides and notes: Loudoun 2040: More of the Same or a New Path Forward? from The Piedmont ...
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The following text was pulled from an email alert sent out by PEC's Loudoun field representative Gem Bingol. To sign up for email alerts from PEC visit pecva.org/signup. Dear Supporter, On Tuesday, the Loudoun Planning Commission voted to send the draft Comprehensive Plan (a.k.a. Loudoun 2040) to the Board of ...
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It’s been 18 months since the official start of the Loudoun Comprehensive Plan review and it’s been an interesting journey. Hopefully you were able to read my blog post from this past November, or caught the incredible editorial by the Loudoun Times Mirror in December: Current comprehensive plan draft would ...
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Residential development near the Beaverdam Reservoir Dear Supporter, Counting down the days... No, I’m not talking about Tuesday's national elections! Next Wednesday, November 7, is also an important opportunity for civic participation, because the Loudoun Planning Commission is holding a public hearing on the draft Comprehensive Plan. Since you’re on ...
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Image Source: Google Maps. Loudoun County has been studying alternatives for the future of Route 15, and while they’ve said they want to preserve the historic and rural character of the road, county documents show their intent is a four-lane divided expressway, which would attract more traffic. Here's what's being ...
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This paper was prepared by Ian Lockwood, PE, of the Toole Design Group, for the Catoctin Coalition, Journey Through Hallowed Ground, Piedmont Environmental Council, Coalition for Smarter Growth, and Southern Environmental Law Center. In it, he advocates for traffic calming along the critical stretch of roadway on Rt. 15 north ...
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How and where should Loudoun develop? Weigh in at envision-loudoun.org. The current draft Comprehensive Plan allows too much residential development, scattered in too many places. Photo of residential development north of Route. 7. The following text was sent out as an email alert on 05/15/18. Please read and take action! ...
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The following text was sent out as an email alert on 05/9/18. Please read and take action! If you would like to sign up for PEC alerts, visit pecva.org/signup. -- The County should consider adding a roundabout at White's Ferry instead of widening Rt.15 all the way to Montresor Road ...
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The following text was sent out as an email alert on 01/09/18. Links to prior alerts and additional details about the proposal are linked to at the bottom of the page. If you want to sign up for PEC alerts, visit pecva.org/signup. -- Dear Supporter, Last November, I wrote about ...
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Last week I wrote a post about Public Drinking Water Supply and the Loudoun Transition Area, but this time, I want to drill down into a specific development proposal that would impact water quality: the True North Data center application. This rezoning, just upstream of the Goose Creek reservoir, would ...
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When it comes to drinking water protection, I'd argue the question facing Loudoun today is this: How much are we willing to increase development in the environmentally sensitive Transition Area? Particularly when we know the result would be a long-term reduction in water quality and increased cost to taxpayers... In ...
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The following text was pulled from a PEC email alert that was sent out on November 11, 2017. A Precedent-Setting Decision for Loudoun County Dear Supporter, As you may have seen in the news, there is an application pending for another data center in Loudoun, this time between Sycolin Road ...
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During the summer of 2017, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors directed county staff to study and recommend potential Potomac bridge crossing sites between Goose Creek and the Fairfax County line. The new bridge has long been a dream of area real-estate interests, but has been rejected by residents and planners ...
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Speculative real estate developers are once again pushing for a new Potomac River bridge crossing. Photo by Ted Eytan, Flickr As their name implies, zombie projects have a way of coming back every few years. Proponents of these projects keep spending money, they gin up PR campaigns and they eventually ...
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The draft NVTA TransAction Plan is a wish list of over 350 projects being considered for funding. Though we strongly oppose the new Potomac River Bridge project (24) and the Bi-County Parkway (226), there are many good projects on the list that deserve consideration and support. Not surprisingly, these are ...
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This text was taken from an email alert we sent out on June 8, 2017: How & Where Loudoun Grows Dear Supporter, Loudoun County is continuing the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan, which guides all future growth and development in the County. After sitting through the Envision Loudoun public workshops ...
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This text was taken from an email alert we sent out on June 2, 2017: Your Environment and Quality of Life The second round of public input meetings about future growth in Loudoun County will begin on June 5. Photo from Envision Loudoun. Learn more >> Dear Supporter, Remember taking ...
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The Comprehensive Plan Stakeholder Committee has been on a semi-monthly schedule of meetings since March, in an effort to be prepared for the next round of Envision Loudoun workshops for resident input scheduled for the first half of June. Find a meeting and register! The stakeholders have worked with staff ...
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Loudoun has the opportunity to provide clear and coherent direction on future investment. That is why in a spring 2017 letter to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, The Piedmont Environmental Council joined with the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Potomac Conservancy, the Audubon Naturalist Society in recommending: The County’s first priority ...
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The answers to this question and two follow-up questions posed during the Envision Loudoun “Listening and Learning” round of public input have been tallied and categorized by theme. More than 1,400 people provided over 5,000 comments through 6 live meetings, online participation and phone input. 8 primary themes and many ...
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The following email was sent out January 5, 2017 to engage with PEC followers on the subject of growth and planning in Loudoun County: A few days left to weigh in Now that the holidays are behind us, I want to remind you to weigh in on the Envision Loudoun ...
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The following email was sent out to engage with PEC followers on the subject of growth and planning in Loudoun County: Residents Have a Chance to Weigh in this November Dear Supporter, Loudoun County is beginning the critical (but arduous) task of revising its Comprehensive Plan. The plan represents the ...
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Developers pushed Loudoun Board of Supervisors for more houses in the Transition Area and the Loudoun community pushed back! In Loudoun, there’s an important stretch of land between the heavily suburban development in the east and the rural area to the west. And this less dense section of the county, ...
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