Leesburg planning commission begins detailed review of draft zoning ordinance rewrite

The Leesburg Planning Commission on April 3 began an in-depth review of the town's draft zoning ordinance rewrite, focusing on Articles 1 and 2 that define general provisions, measurements, zoning districts and dimensional standards.

Director James David of the Department of Community Development told commissioners the rewrite project began in summer 2023, that the draft text and map were posted March 6, and that "there is a 60‑day public comment period for the draft...the public comment period does close May 5." He said staff hopes for a commission recommendation to the Town Council by the end of 2025 but that the commission can take more time if needed.

The draft—which staff demonstrated in the interactive ENCODE Plus platform—reorganizes district names and consolidates many legacy districts. Staff described the rewrite as a repeal‑and‑replace of the existing ordinance, maintaining previously proffered commitments tied to individual rezonings. The draft groups districts into residential (residential suburban, historic residential, residential medium and residential urban), nonresidential and mixed‑use (commercial neighborhood, commercial suburban, innovation center, industrial research park, mixed use, downtown), special purpose and overlay districts.

Commissioners and staff spent substantial time on how the rewrite treats land uses and the administrator's discretion. Staff said the new ordinance uses broad use categories with a list of primary example uses and a catch‑all clause: "other uses meeting the characteristics of [the] use category," allowing the zoning administrator to classify novel uses so long as they meet stated characteristics. Commissioners asked whether the ordinance includes an exclusivity…