[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6667850,"mediaKeyId","2248933-0f940604cb59644629baed0b99b26fab","parentId",2248933,"title","Leesburg planners review draft zoning map; propose consolidation of districts and new —Innovation Center— category","audioSeconds",1511,"startMs",3789000,"endMs",5300000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2248933-0f940604cb59644629baed0b99b26fab&start=3789&end=5300","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2248933-0f940604cb59644629baed0b99b26fab/thumbnail_3789000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6667850/Leesburg/Loudoun-County/Virginia/Leesburg-planners-review-draft-zoning-map-propose-consolidation-of-districts-and-new-Innovation-Center-category","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6667850-619d8146da96b8d8c92f194930aecda9/orig.mp4?Expires=1775714821&Signature=lCa1Tq5em8kWWRCo0oT6PP7bjnijtOjqAwoz1x~7xA68rSCy31KtzGBvmI7U-DEJpEYv3pzSM1zNQdhLcYj~dNi-eBwCL6XPTKzBiIPCWYxZ7rSOTD3kMrpurLN6as29SUnz541DU~QA8Rr3b1W~FLe6r050QSC8NAWt4fh7xn4ZAwUwWYrtef8j~lc-kWW-dmAwSn3ESysZyLs8ZradT1JC8hR-1iKVzDu3aJImtfQitxqE3gzCyP4AeQEh2Lcy5JvWPvucVvEZZnKLM7uQFWIYAhcGxBTMVaCoIYOmjSOnu6jpotxtWV5RYkzsl1qkGUfOVFQsJb7Xtxp~476QsA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Leesburg","date","2025-02-06T00:00:00Z","article","Planning staff presented the first draft zoning map for Leesburg
s part of a zoning ordinance rewrite during the Feb. 6 Planning Commission meeting, laying out a framework that would consolidate many existing districts, create new district categories and align zoning with the Leesburg Legacy Town Plan and recent master plans.

Project manager Betsy Arnett and Zoning Administrator Mike Watkins walked commissioners through the approach: use the town plan\fharacter areas as the basis for base zoning districts, consolidate similar districts, and add new districts where the town plan envisions distinct outcomes. Arnett said the draft consolidates roughly 24 existing zoning districts into a proposed 15 base districts and adds three new categories, including a new Innovation Center district intended to accommodate mixed-use, employment-focused campuses, research and corporate headquarters.

The draft maps convert residential estate and several single-family categories into a proposed Residential Suburban district, while creating a Residential Urban district intended to accommodate multifamily housing. Commercial and retail categories would be consolidated into Commercial Suburban or Neighborhood Commercial districts. Staff also proposed recognizing open space and parks as an explicit base district to avoid treating parks as residential by default. Schools and similar public uses would be assigned to a Government Center district.

A substantive policy change on the table: staff recommended retiring the planned-development districts (PEC, PRC, PRN) for future rezonings and treating existing planned districts as legacy zones. Arnett said removing future use of those planned districts would reduce opportunities to deviate from town-plan objectives because the new base districts would better reflect the plan\fharacter areas; legacy planned districts would remain administratively for currently approved rezonings and proffers.

Commissioners expressed concerns and asked for refinements. Several members said the draft
s mapped
ppears to label large swaths of older neighborhoods and Loewenbach as downtown or downtown-related uses; one commissioner asked for clearer delineation to avoid unintentionally encouraging nonresidential conversion within long-established residential blocks. Commissioners recommended that the mapping and upcoming architectural survey be used to refine the downtown/historic-district overlay boundaries and that overlays and proffers be displayed as separate map layers so parcel-level constraints are visible to users.

Arnett and staff discussed implementation logistics: the draft zoning map does not negate existing proffers; staff intends to link proffer documents to parcels in the new online mapping platform so users can click a parcel and view applicable proffers. They also said overlays (historic district, floodplain, gateway zones and noise abatement areas) will be shown as separate layers in the online viewer even if not visible in the initial static draft map. The team plans to publish the full draft ordinance and interactive mapping on Feb. 20 for a 60-day public comment period and to bring a final ordinance to public hearing and possible adoption later this year.

Why it matters: the zoning rewrite will determine allowable uses, development intensity and design requirements across Leesburg. Commissioners and staff agreed that the draft is a first cut and that more work will be needed on district names, permitted-use lists and overlays before the document and maps are finalized.

Speakers quoted in this report appear in the official meeting record.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Leesburg - Planning Commission Meeting - Feb 06, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Planning staff presented a first draft zoning map on Feb. 6 that would consolidate about 24 existing districts into 15 base districts, add an Innovation Center district and make other changes intended to align zoning with the Leesburg Legacy Town Plan.","taxTitle","Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia","taxId",5641,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6667854,"Leesburg planning commissioners forward six-year capital improvements plan to council with revisions",3647,95000,3742000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2248933-0f940604cb59644629baed0b99b26fab&start=95&end=3742","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2248933-0f940604cb59644629baed0b99b26fab/thumbnail_95000.jpg","/articles/6667854/Leesburg/Loudoun-County/Virginia/Leesburg-planning-commissioners-forward-six-year-capital-improvements-plan-to-council-with-revisions","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6667854-99fb03df9cacdb2541966ae1598ef291/orig.mp4?Expires=1775714821&Signature=eDkPDiQwBzMKD7P5KAEf5pX5zoA55rAWYjYxbKsVQEKGJFXOObv0AGX4P7G5pwz6fHeu9tUHZInLxcYqf8ZJhTpJGjgjGl7r~kJw5qFyi199Gxxml2cXf6RuOVyAKLy0AQ-5ZPSbgs64rvufDEpwVxbiIC-v6s4KtcXEzHJ3bQbMt~ltYGyxUzHw1M-sBs9LvEkqLURt5~jor09FfILdEKfLCz-4MEmgpdrqhR9X12VqUyuX0lXkOrcfcNjCHLCVCF6qtSzvR6JkgABL4IvviBhy03dc0RDB4QunqHLXxMsGuYaYk7ua6u07aDBnMP3e6f47ZgwiFKYElnnlXHVikg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Leesburg Planning Commission on Feb. 6 held a public hearing on the town\fapital improvements program (CIP) for fiscal years 2026
nd 2027 through 2031 and voted to forward the draft plan to the Town Council with a set of recommended revisions.

Doug Wagner, assistant director of public works, presented the CIP and told commissioners that, by the plan\refinition, a capital improvement is \"construction, renovation, demolition, or acquisition of facilities or properties of more than $60,000 with a useful life of at least five years.\" Wagner said 54% of this year\fIP budget is for streets and highways and highlighted 13 newly proposed projects including electric vehicle chargers at miscellaneous town locations, the town hall roof replacement, Utley Park tennis-court and fence replacements, a new milling-and-paving program, townwide bridge maintenance and several stormwater and stream restoration projects. On utilities, staff flagged a review of the disinfection feeding control system and refurbishment of secondary clarifiers A and B.

Commissioners asked for more detail on unfunded requests and overall prioritization. Commissioner Campbell pressed staff on whether there is a consolidated list of department priority projects that did not fit into the six-year funded CIP. Wagner said there is a \"priority futures and potential future list\" used to track projects that did not make the active six-year schedule and that the capital asset replacement page captures prioritized maintenance items reviewed by facilities, IT and fleet staff. He said the funded document shows the highest-priority projects of those requests.

Commissioners also raised questions about funding timelines and contingency planning. Wagner and other staff described that some projects are scheduled to match outside funding spend-by dates (for example, VDOT revenue-sharing funds) and that when outside funding is at issue, the town coordinates with Loudoun County, VDOT and NVTA to reprioritize projects. He said the CIP includes escalation assumptions and contingencies by project type (horizontal construction contingencies in the 8\u00010% range; higher for building projects) and noted that council approval is required when project budgets must be increased beyond the amounts adopted in the CIP. He also noted that for contracts, change orders exceeding a roughly 25% threshold require council approval regardless of budget availability.

Commissioners questioned two specific items raised in the draft: electric vehicle charging and the town hall roof. Wagner said the initial EV-charger project for Lassiter Way would provide two ADA-compliant chargers; additional chargers for the parking garage and airport were not funded after a federal grant application failed, and the larger airport/Town Hall/Bridal Park project has been moved to future years until funding is identified. Wagner said a separate $120,000 operating-budget line item exists for related charging-station work this fiscal year. On the town hall roof, staff said facilities personnel determined the roof is in acceptable condition until about 2030 but recommended eventual replacement; Commissioner Barnes asked that the town hall roof project be moved earlier in the CIP schedule.

After discussion and several proposed revisions, the commission voted to forward the CIP to Town Council \"with a recommendation of approval on the basis that the projects listed in the capital improvement program are consistent with the objectives of the town plan,\" subject to eight changes the commission specified in a motion. The motion (as read into the record) requested these revisions: remove the Catoctin Circle/Edwards Ferry Road intersection improvements project from the future projects list; consider a new CIP project to install benches and trash cans with Leesburg branding on South King Street and North King Street; add a CIP policy statement supporting undergrounding utility and gas lines where project excavation will occur; add funding for land, planning, design and construction of transit infrastructure and structured parking to serve the Crescent District, Eastern Gateway District and B-1 Downtown Commercial District; move up the town hall roof maintenance project; prioritize safety-and-security projects in the early CIP years over community amenities; consider removal of the Liberty Lot resurfacing project given the uncertain future of the land; and consider removal of a utilities chlorine study unless additional background research is provided. The motion was seconded and the commission voted in favor (recorded in the meeting as \"Aye\").

Why it matters: the CIP is the town\u000budgetary road map for infrastructure investment and implements the Leesburg Legacy Town Plan. The commission's recommendations will be included in the staff report to council; the town manager presents the CIP to council on Feb. 11 and council will hold its public hearing March 11 with adoption expected in late March 2025.

What commissioners asked staff to follow up on: a compiled list of unfunded department priorities, updated EV-charger cost and quantity figures for council review, reconsideration of whether studies should remain in the CIP or be moved to operating or planning budgets, and clearer public outreach language for any utilities evaluations that would affect drinking-water treatment.

Speakers quoted in this report appear in the official meeting record. The commission closed the public hearing before making its recommendation to council.","The Leesburg Planning Commission on Feb. 6 held a public hearing on the town capital improvements program and voted to forward the six-year plan to Town Council with recommended revisions, including moving up the town hall roof project and asking council to prioritize safety-and-security projects in earlier years.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6667845,"Town director says council will consider Brooks Spears for council seat Feb. 11",145,6915000,7060000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2248933-0f940604cb59644629baed0b99b26fab&start=6915&end=7060","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2248933-0f940604cb59644629baed0b99b26fab/thumbnail_6915000.jpg","/articles/6667845/Leesburg/Loudoun-County/Virginia/Town-director-says-council-will-consider-Brooks-Spears-for-council-seat-Feb-11","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6667845-b0ba0333b66ff5e8579e8c93ceadd72f/orig.mp4?Expires=1775714821&Signature=KkNhO8KnzQlnw6r-nyO6n5WhzpJN1eJeRXKRyi4NcYXSP3E-kJNht6yz~zjkl-uC17CqEWc9psaBMz-JyKYuJhVhm~LegTKGTLrXAgxFd40moel3aJTsNKSJgzp0Cn9LQf0xJe0-dtoOkCi6NBIXGj9-uzFwL9RrBjP9InRFWMI291iDVPUJ6VDK02YOsS6LPBbCZW3oN2zPPM97uQzCm99YX6bh4FN365Ej38ryVGaU3WzNH5V-ktptkhpU7Jzm2knn~yfWrolKmLRSdPS9~TI6zJ6xDhntMgW3BDARv8aPSs4mBLourHVSftbIAyKXwTodxjuoEqv1BmEl5pdoZA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The planning director reported on Feb. 6 that Town Council Member Krakowski has nominated Brooks Spears to fill a council seat, and staff expect the nomination to be considered at the Town Council meeting on Feb. 11.

Staff told the commission that Spears is an attorney who practices in Tysons and resides in Leesburg and that he has familiarity with land development and land-use topics. The director said he had a preliminary phone conversation with Spears and provided orientation materials ahead of council confirmation.

If council confirms the nomination on Feb. 11, Spears would be expected to begin participating in planning- and council-related business following formal confirmation and orientation.","The planning director told commissioners that Council Member Krakowski nominated Brooks Spears to the Town Council; staff expects confirmation at the Feb. 11 council meeting. Spears is described in the briefing as an attorney who practices in Tysons and lives in Leesburg with experience in land development and land-use matters.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Leesburg planners review draft zoning map; propose consolidation of districts and new —Innovation Center— category

Leesburg planning commissioners forward six-year capital improvements plan to council with revisions

Town director says council will consider Brooks Spears for council seat Feb. 11