Leesburg opens public review of zoning ordinance rewrite; staff asks commissioners to post comments in EncodePlus

Town of Leesburg planning staff announced the public review draft of a comprehensive zoning ordinance rewrite is available online and urged the planning commission and the public to post comments to the EncodePlus platform during the 60-day comment period.

At the work session, a staff presenter walked commissioners through how to use the EncodePlus site to view the draft ordinance, compare it with the existing ordinance, and comment by section. "If you click on this link, it takes you to this page... put your name, your email address, and then right in here indicate the conventional development type really needs to say this or we should think more about whether or not we even want that described here," a staff member said, explaining how comments are tracked to specific sections.

Why it matters: the rewrite reorganizes and reduces the number of zoning districts, introduces new district names and an updated zoning map, and moves or updates standards that affect building form, environmental overlays, and development review processes. Staff asked commissioners to focus on Article II (zoning districts and dimensional standards) and to submit comments in a routine schedule so staff can compile comment reports for meeting packets.

Key details and timeline Staff said the draft was made public March 6 and that the online comment period remains open through May 5 (a 60-day window). Commission staff requested that commissioners submit comments by the Tuesday before packet compilation to allow staff time to consolidate feedback for the commission packet; staff said comments provided after that Tuesday would still be accepted but would appear in a subsequent packet.

The EncodePlus interface includes the draft zoning ordinance text, the existing ordinance for comparison, the town plan, the DCSM and subdivision/land development regulations. The platform also provides an interactive map layer showing the proposed new zoning boundaries, downtown and gateway overlays, floodplains and other environmental layers. Staff asked commissioners to raise map-specific comments in writing because the platform does not accept map comments via the same in-line comment tool.

Outstanding sections and public outreach Staff noted several sections were held as placeholders in this release and will be added later: the Crescent District regulations, sign regulations, tree-preservation language (updated to reflect recent state code changes), and the affordable-housing provisions (which require coordination with county programs and state enabling legislation). Staff said the planning commission would continue detailed article-by-article review at upcoming work sessions and that the planning commission will hold a final public hearing before recommending a draft to the town council.

Commissioner guidance and public notification Staff told commissioners how to submit comments and said the system will flag the section being commented on. The staff presenter urged commissioners to use their Leesburg email addresses when commenting to facilitate follow-up and to paste long comment sets directly into the comment box if preferred. The mapping and other materials will be used to prepare a compiled public-comment report for future packets.

Ending: Staff asked commissioners to review Article I and II ahead of the next work session and to use the EncodePlus link (Encodeplus.com/regs/leesburg) to submit comments; staff will produce consolidated comment reports for commission review and later town-council consideration.