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Council adopts updated zoning ordinance and map with grandfathering resolution
Summary
After multi-year staff work and public review, the Purcellville Town Council approved a comprehensive zoning ordinance, a zoning map update and a resolution to grandfather permits in process, following debate about floodplain alignment and curb-cut (VDOT) standards.
Purcellville — The Town Council on April 8 adopted a major rewrite of the town zoning ordinance and the associated zoning map, along with a grandfathering resolution intended to protect projects already in the permitting pipeline.
Summer Wilkes, planning staff (speaker 12), summarized nearly three years of work on the rewrite and highlighted two staff-recommended edits: aligning the town’s floodplain language with the county’s ordinance and removing an 18-foot curb-cut suggestion that conflicted with VDOT's road design standards. "When a property is redeveloped... it's expected to adhere to the standards, the new standards at the time," Wilkes said, noting a 500-square-foot threshold for site-plan triggers.
Council members asked detailed questions about how redevelopment is defined and how variance procedures would work when lot configuration makes a standard difficult to meet. Town counsel explained that VDOT standards can preempt local requirements in certain cases and that variance or waiver procedures exist for hardship cases.
After debate, a motion to approve the ordinance (listed in the packet as ordinance 25-0302) and the accompanying grandfathering resolution (resolution 25-0301) was moved and seconded. Several council members voiced opposition to aspects of the rewrite and expressed concern that more staff recommendations had not been fully addressed; others urged adoption to finalize a multi-year update. The council recorded roll-call votes and then took a five-minute recess following the motion.
