Leesburg planning commission begins in-depth review of draft zoning ordinance rewrite

Leesburg — The Leesburg Planning Commission on April 3 began a line-by-line review of a draft rewrite of the townzoning ordinance that staff and a consultant released on March 6 and opened to public comment through May 5.

Director James David opened the presentation by describing the project timeline and scope. "Happy to be here tonight to begin our our long and detailed review of the draft zoning ordinance, which we're calling the zoning ordinance rewrite," he said, noting the rewrite was intended to align the ordinance with the town plan and to modernize use definitions, measurement rules and the online presentation of the code.

The draft reduces the number of base zoning districts, streamlines use categories and consolidates standards; staff said the proposal compresses about 24 existing districts into 12 base districts and then adds three new districts for a total of 15 proposed districts. Staff emphasized the project began in summer 2023, included multiple rounds of outreach and is intended to move to council recommendation by the end of 2025 if the commission is ready.

Why it matters: The rewrite changes how the town defines and permits uses, calculates density and prescribes dimensional standards. Those details will influence redevelopment, housing types, where commercial activity may be allowed and how the town evaluates infrastructure needs associated with new development.

Key points from the meeting

- Uses approach: Staff said the draft moves from an exhaustive list-of-uses model to a "use category" approach. Director David explained that for each use category the draft provides a list of primary example uses plus a statement permitting "other uses meeting the characteristics of the [use] category," allowing the zoning administrator to interpret whether new, previously unanticipated uses fit the category.

- Article 1 (general provisions): Staff highlighted measurement rules (building…