Commission sets Leesburg annexation review, extends report deadline to July 7

The Virginia Commission on Local Government voted to set a multi-day review of the Town-initiated annexation of Leesburg and Loudoun County and unanimously extended the Commissionreport deadline to July 7, 2023.

Greg Haley of Gentry Locke presented the town's case and Andrew McRoberts of Sans Anderson introduced the county's participation. Loudoun County Supervisor Kristen Umstattd gave an overview of the county's involvement. The parties proposed presentations on May 17 and 18, 2023, an evening public hearing on May 18, and closing arguments with a site visit. The county will file its response by Feb. 1 and the town will file any reply by March 20.

Commissioner Stephanie Davis proposed, and the Commission approved, moving the site visit to Tuesday, May 16, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., and changing the Friday commission meeting start time to 11:00 a.m. Commissioner Edwin S. Rosado moved, and Commissioner Ceasor T. Johnson seconded, a motion to extend the statutory deadline for the Commissionreport to July 7 to accommodate the agreed review schedule; the motion passed unanimously.

The Commission then voted to approve the review schedules as presented and amended. No individual roll-call votes were recorded in the meeting transcript; the minutes record the outcomes as unanimous approvals.

Next steps: the Commission will host the parties' presentations and the public hearing in mid-May, accept the county and town filings by the deadlines noted, and issue its report following the review schedule concluded by the July 7 date.