Leesburg commission reviews draft zoning-ordinance changes for decisionmaking, review procedures

The Leesburg Planning Commission used a July 17 work session to continue review of a draft zoning-ordinance rewrite, focusing on Article 5 (roles, responsibilities and administrative officials) and Article 6 (common review and approval procedures).

What the draft covers: Article 5 organizes decisionmakers and administrative roles — the Planning Commission, Board of Architectural Review, Board of Zoning Appeals, the zoning administrator and the floodplain administrator. Article 6 lays out standard procedures for application submittal, completeness review, neighborhood meetings, public-notice requirements and timelines for legislative and administrative reviews.

Commission discussion and key clarifications: Commissioners and staff discussed several specific operational items: - Planning-commission budget and consultant use: Commissioners asked for explicit authority to use a commission-controlled budget to pay for training…