Leesburg council to hold fall Saturday meeting on downtown vision, historic preservation and parking

Leesburg town councilmembers agreed on July 7 to hold a fall Saturday meeting dedicated to downtown visioning and strategy, following a lengthy work-session discussion about a possible master plan, performance metrics and the town—s role in supporting downtown property upkeep.

Keith (town staff) and councilmembers discussed what a downtown strategic plan might cover and whether the council wants an active role in guiding private investment. "The downtown is your signature asset," Keith said, urging the council to define goals, measures and levels of government involvement before commissioning detailed studies.

Why it matters: councilmembers said parking, pedestrian improvements and building-maintenance incentives could all shape downtown economic vitality. Several members pressed for measurable indicators — such as meals-tax revenue and visitor counts — to inform policy decisions.

Council discussion and direction

Councilmembers described three near-term priorities for the downtown conversation: defining success and metrics, assessing building upkeep and incentives for repairs, and examining parking and pedestrian improvements.

- Master plan and timing: Town staff said the broader comprehensive plan (Legacy Leesburg) already addresses downtown themes but the council does not yet have a dedicated downtown master plan. Councilmember Steinberg and others supported a separate, focused meeting to continue the conversation; staff suggested that a full master plan and related zoning updates could take one to two years, with interim steps available to pursue sooner. The council agreed to schedule a Saturday meeting in the fall (after the federal fiscal year end) to work on downtown vision questions.

- Metrics and data: Staff confirmed the town codes meal-tax receipts to the downtown H-1 overlay so aggregated meal-tax data for the historic downtown can be reported. The town also uses cell-phone-based "dwell time" tracking products to measure visits (the vendor counts visitors who remain in the area longer than a threshold, typically 15 minutes), and the economic development team and Visit Loudoun can provide visitor metrics.

- Building upkeep and incentives: Councilmembers discussed ways to encourage exterior upkeep without direct cash grants to property owners. Ideas included expanding administrative approvals for routine work (staff noted some changes already allow more administrative approvals), fast-tracking small historic-preservation items, and creating targeted grant or matching programs that assist tenants or small business operators with building improvements. Councilmember Cummings suggested exploring a streamlined approval path for common, necessary repairs to reduce the time and cost burden on property owners.

- Trash and service levels: Members raised downtown trash collection frequency and the visibility of containers on sidewalks. Staff noted previous efforts to place shared dumpsters on private property had limited success and that Leesburg Movement (a local business organization) is exploring improvements to alley and trash management.

Next steps

Council asked staff to solicit stakeholder input from Main Street and business groups before the fall Saturday meeting, and to prepare a brief packet of baseline data (meals-tax revenue coded to H-1, aggregated visitation metrics, recent zoning and Crescent Design District planning materials and a summary of preservation review processes). The meeting will be scheduled after Sept. 30 and will focus on incremental actions the town can take while zoning and district master plans remain under development.

Ending

Councilmembers said they want regular, data-informed conversations about downtown outcomes and asked staff to coordinate outreach before the scheduled Saturday session so stakeholders can help frame the agenda.