Loudoun County Transportation and Land Use Committee Meeting - January 22, 2026
Loudoun County Transportation and Land Use Committee Meeting - January 22, 2026
The Transportation and Land Use Committee met to discuss and vote on several items including attainable housing on public land, the 2026 Countywide Transportation Plan (CTP) review, and extensive revisions to Western Loudoun rural uses and standards, particularly the Mountainside Overlay District (MOD). The meeting included public input, adoption of a consent agenda, and multiple votes on action items.
Consent Calendar
- Adopted 5-0. Items included: Environment and Energy Work Plan Quarterly Update, Loudoun’s Trails and Waterways Update, Agricultural and Forestal District 2025 Annual Report, Agricultural District Advisory Committee Bylaws Amendments, Heritage Commission 2025 Annual Report and Bylaws Amendments, Historic District Review Committee 2025 Annual Report and Bylaws Amendments, and Loudoun County Invasive Plant Species Management Program Guidelines.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Peter Weeks opposed the Paris Mountain Resort complex, arguing that permitted uses in the MOD must be sharply restricted to prevent monetization of the mountains.
- Todd Henkel (owner, Lost Creek Winery) expressed concern that proposed MOD land disturbance limits (600 sq ft) are too low for agricultural businesses, urging flexible, realistic regulations.
- Tia Earman (Piedmont Environmental Council) supported strong MOD protections including 300-foot spring buffers, county oversight for all but minor construction, tree conservation, and an end to non-residential development in the MOD.
Discussion Items
- Attainable Housing on Public Land: Staff presented a suitability analysis of 256 county-owned parcels and 114 school-owned parcels. None were classified as suitable; 54% were potentially suitable. The committee discussed enabling legislation for public employee preference, housing authority study, and adaptive reuse of existing facilities.
- 2026 Countywide Transportation Plan Review: Staff presented a phased project plan (Phase I: spring 2027; Phase II: spring 2029). The committee approved the plan after multiple motions addressing crosswalks, bicycle infrastructure, road segments, transit corridors, and traffic calming.
- Western Loudoun Rural Uses and Standards: Extensive discussion covered proactive enforcement, MOD regulations (minor encroachments, feature protections, tree coverage, grading permits), signage, food service, and food trucks. Stakeholder input was cited throughout.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda adopted 5-0.
- CTP Project Plan approved 5-0.
- CTP Motions: Four motions from Supervisor Glass and Chair Randall (on behalf of Supervisor Sainz) passed 5-0, including crosswalk policy, road segment changes, transit corridor evaluation, and lighting standards. A motion to limit Route 7 BRT scope failed 0-5.
- Proactive Enforcement: Motion for proactive enforcement for all non-residential uses in Western Loudoun, with full compliance with zoning and permit requirements, passed 3-1-1 (one abstention).
- Analysis of Non-Residential Properties: Motion to conduct a one-time analysis to support proactive enforcement passed 3-0-2.
- MOD Issue 3 (Minor Encroachments): Allow 600 sq ft of land disturbance for non-habitable residential accessory structures in highly sensitive MOD areas by administrative approval passed 5-0.
- MOD Issue 4 (Non-Habitable Accessory Structures): Allow such structures in MOD feature protection areas by administrative approval passed 5-0.
- MOD Issue 5 (Spring Feature Protection): Revised setback from 300 ft to 100 ft, applying uniformly regardless of MOD boundary, passed 5-0.
- MOD Tree Coverage Threshold: Expand minimum threshold to 250 sq ft of land disturbance in highly sensitive areas (for unforested, low-slope) passed 4-1.
- MOD Fences and Driveways: Allow fences and driveway repairs without grading permit under set standards passed 5-0 each.
- MOD Tree Cover Table: Combine and simplify restrictions passed 5-0.
- Residential Driveway in MOD: Staff to explore permissions for new residential driveway in highly sensitive areas without special exception passed 4-1.
- Special Exception for Non-Residential MOD: Motion to require special exception for all non-residential covered activities in sensitive and somewhat sensitive MOD areas failed 2-3.
- 50% Tree Retention for Non-Residential MOD: Motion to require 50% retention of existing forested areas passed (3-2, unclear but recorded as passed).
- Signage: No revisions to existing sign regulations passed 5-0.
- Food Service: Develop clear definition of accessory food sales aligned with VDACS passed 5-0.
- Mobile Vendors: Remove daily removal requirement if health department approvals obtained passed 5-0.
- Permanent Food Trucks: Distinguish temporary vs. permanent, require permanent trucks to meet setback/noise/acreage of principal use, limit to one (with friendly to allow more based on property size) passed 5-0.
- Rural Restaurant: Revise sourcing requirements (minimum percentage of local ingredients) and expand menu limitations passed 5-0 each.
- High-Intensity Uses: Motion to expand scope to review high-intensity uses (200+ attendees) was withdrawn.
- Conservation Farm Plans: Motion to ensure Soil and Water Conservation District approval is advisory only passed 5-0.
Meeting Transcript
Evening everyone, I'd like to call to order the January twenty-six twenty-second, twenty twenty-six transportation and land use committee meeting. This room has a hearing loop. If you need hearing assistance, switch your hearing aids to telecoil mode. If you need a headset, we have those available as well. Please see the clerk to request one. So we'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance. Okay, so we're gonna start with uh public input session, and we have three speakers. See if I am hot on this status. Okay. Um so we have three advanced speakers for our public input portion of the meeting. If there is anybody in the boardroom that would like to address the committee and has not already signed up to speak, please see the clerk. Members of the public who wish to speak will be allotted two minutes, and we change that in the new year, so it's two minutes, not two and a half. When your name is called, please state your name for the public record. When your time has expired, please leave yield the floor to the next speaker. And we limit public input just so everybody knows to fifteen minutes, so we can get on with our agenda. Okay, so the first speaker is uh Mr. Peter Weeks. Since our last TLUC meeting, the entire MOD landscape has changed with the Paris Mountain Resort Complex. Now we are a witness to the consequences of the decision to postpone what type of uses were permitted in the MOD. Investors purchased a hundred and forty-seven acres along the ridgeline of the Blue Ridge adjacent to Sky Meadow State Park and the Appalachian Trail along Route 50. Their proposal is to bring build a resort complex which would include a restaurant, spa, event center, and two hotel structures. A country restaurant is currently a permitted use, and they are initially arguing that they can build their resort by right. So this this development is going to have a very set of very bad precedent. And we've stated from the beginning that permitted uses in the MOD must be sharply restricted. Tree houses, zip lines, wedding centers seem innoculous at first glance, but they create the slippery slope that leads to the monetization of our mountains. We have before us potential threats to change our rural landscape forever. Recommendations you propose regarding the MOD will impact generations that follow. Thank you very much for listening. Thank you, Mr. Weeks. Next, we have Tia Earman. Is she here? I don't think she is. I don't see her. Okay. Next, we have uh Todd Henkel. Uh good evening. Uh my name is Todd Hinkle, and my wife uh Amy and I have owned and operated Lost Creek Winery since 2012. I've spoken to this forum before regarding my concerns about the MMOD, and tonight I'd like to offer some additional comments on the draft motions related to encroachments and grading, specifically uh 3, 4a, and 5A addressing minor encroachments. As I've said previously, the MOD contains some of the most pristine, highest quality vineyard land in our region. Because of that, there will naturally be continued interest in developing these properties into working farms and sustainable agricultural businesses. My concern is that these draft motions, as currently written, will unfairly and unnecessarily restrict the kinds of projects that can responsibly succeed in the MOD. One of the proposals would restrict land disturbance in the MOD to less than 600 square feet. And I respectfully submit that this threshold is far too low to be considered agricultural business friendly. To put this into real world perspective, my operation in Blue Mont is quite small and focused entirely on producing high quality wine. We have no tasting room, we have no event space. Our goal is simple. Grow great fruit and produce great wine. Even at that modest scale, our facilities require space. And next to that is a 50 foot by 25 foot farm building which supports uh which houses equipment to support the farm.
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