Residents urge protections as Purcellville planners take public comment on zoning rewrite

Purcellville’s Planning Commission on July 25 opened a public hearing on a comprehensive rewrite of the town zoning ordinance and heard more than two dozen residents raise concerns that the draft would make long-established homes ‘nonconforming,’ limit rebuilding rights and reduce housing options.

Summer Wilkes, the town’s director of planning and community development and zoning administrator, told the meeting the rewrite implements the 2030 comprehensive plan and follows a consultant delivery of a draft in May 2023. “The Planning Commission does plan to vote on this document next Wednesday at a special meeting here at 06:30 p.m.,” Wilkes said, and staff will compile tonight’s comments into the record for the commission to review.

Why it matters: dozens of commenters said the draft’s removal of cluster-subdivision provisions and changes to R3/R3A dimensional standards would reclassify many existing lots as nonconforming. Residents said that could affect routine repairs, rebuilding after a catastrophe, insurance and resale. Multiple speakers urged the commission to adopt a grandfathering or ‘legacy’ approach for neighborhoods built under older cluster rules.

At the microphone, Linda Erbs, speaking for the Stupor Property land trust, raised detailed objections to proposed overlay rules for her parcel in the Hurst East subdistrict, saying the draft’s lot-size and setback requirements are “too specific and prescriptive” and risked creating spot zoning. “The overlay…dictates that the lot area cannot exceed 5 acres in size,” she said, and warned that combined buffer and setback standards (a 100-foot planted buffer plus an additional 200-foot setback, as described by the speaker) would be excessive for her property.

Other frequent themes included the proposed removal or restriction of duplexes, the elimination of the R3A classification and limits on accessory dwelling units (ADUs). William Hombach and Lee Corey, both R3A property owners, said they would lose permitted uses — including bed-and-breakfast operations — if their zoning were changed. “I would be a legal noncompliant property,” Hombach said, describing the financial and practical impacts.

Several speakers defended duplexes as a source of affordable housing. Daniel Reed, who owns multiple duplexes, said they have housed teachers, police and other workers and urged the commission to protect existing duplexes while the town considers broader policy choices. Others — including Gina Blue, representing the Old Dominion Valley HOA — asked explicitly for grandfathering language that would prevent existing lots from becoming nonconforming.

Commissioners and staff acknowledged the turnout and the concerns raised. One commissioner said the cluster issue will be revisited: “I hear you strongly. And we're gonna go back and revisit that,” the commissioner told the audience. Commissioners noted the draft is intended to reflect the 2030 comprehensive plan and to sustain the town’s character, but several said they would examine legacy protections, rebuild/reconstruction language, and duplex rules before the July 31 meeting.

What was not decided: the commission did not vote on the zoning ordinance at this meeting. Chair Joseph closed the public hearing after reading written comments into the record and said the Planning Commission will consider edits and forward a recommendation and the public record to the Town Council, which will hold its own public hearing before any adoption.

Next steps: staff will compile tonight’s oral and written comments into the written record for the commission’s July 31 special meeting, when the commission plans to consider a vote on the draft and any edits. After that the town council will review and hold at least one public hearing before any adoption.

— Reporting by the Planning Commission public hearing record; direct quotes and attributions are taken from the hearing transcript.