Loudoun County Board of Zoning Appeals Business Meeting - December 19, 2025

The Loudoun County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) met on December 19, 2025, in the Dulles Room of the Government Center. One member, Mr. Kramer, participated remotely from Round Hill, Virginia, because his spouse was having surgery; a physical quorum was present. The agenda listed no public hearing items, so the meeting was devoted to administrative reports and a detailed staff briefing on the county's rewritten online zoning ordinance. The board adjourned without taking action on any application.

Note on date discrepancy: The agenda in the meeting packet lists this meeting as Thursday, November 20, 2025, and the transcript refers to 'December 18' as the next meeting. These conflict with the supplied meeting date of December 19, 2025; this summary uses the supplied date.

Preliminary Matters

• Remote participation: Mr. Kramer's request was accepted under Virginia Code Section 2.2-3708.2 and the BZA participation policy. The board recorded the reason, surgery of his spouse, and his remote location, Round Hill, Virginia.
• Assistant County Attorney report: None was given; the attorney indicated an item may be reported next month.
• Zoning Administrator report: Upcoming BZA hearings were listed as December 18, 2025, and January 22, 2026; the January agenda includes an appeal of a notice of violation and a possible signed development plan, and the January meeting will start at 5:00 p.m. These scheduling references conflict with the supplied meeting date.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public hearing items were on the agenda, and no public comments were presented.

Discussion Items: New Online Zoning Ordinance

• Chapter-by-chapter overview: The Zoning Administrator explained that the revised ordinance, adopted December 13, 2023, is organized differently from the previous code. The official zoning map is now online only. All zoning districts are consolidated into one chapter, grouped by urban, suburban, transition, and rural categories, including legacy districts that cannot be remapped.
• New districts and PUDs: New residential districts, such as suburban neighborhood and suburban compact neighborhood, replace older categories such as R8 and R16. A new planned unit development district is the most flexible district and allows applicants to create their own district for innovative proposals. PUDs are geographically limited to urban and suburban policy areas, limited in the transition policy area, and only within the Leesburg area of the JLMA. They require planning commission recommendation and Board of Supervisors approval. The Dulles Town Center revitalization was cited as an example under review.
• Use tables and definitions: Uses are now shown in centralized tables with markers such as P, S, P/S, or P/M/S; use-specific standards determine when a special exception is required. Staff consolidated similar uses, such as wholesale, distribution, and warehousing, and added uses such as freestanding dog parks. Definitions are in Chapter 12.
• Adaptive reuse: The ordinance includes limited adaptive reuse provisions aimed at historic structures, with criteria such as age, registration, and conservation overlay. It is not designed for large commercial-to-residential conversions; those would require rezoning or a planned unit development.
• Data centers: Staff said the current ordinance has no adaptive-reuse or decommissioning standards for data centers. The Board of Supervisors is in phase two of a data center zoning amendment covering distances, noise, electricity, and water use; phase one made data centers a special exception in all districts. A board member expressed concern that data centers may become obsolete and urged that future reuse be considered at the time of approval.
• Overlay districts: Existing overlay districts remain, but a floodplain zoning ordinance amendment is proposed to move floodplain regulations from Chapter 5 to Chapter 6 so boundary updates can be made without separate board action. The mountainside overlay was renamed, a ridgeline feature was added, and spring protection was expanded from 100 feet to 300 feet.
• Environmental and parking standards: Staff noted new river and stream corridor resources; Loudoun's floodplain map was last comprehensively remapped in 2017. Development standards now include parking minimums and maximums, with garage spaces counted as half a parking space. New requirements cover bicycle parking, electric vehicle parking, compact walkable communities, and parking placement. Sign regulations are content-neutral, sign measurement includes the whole structure, and standalone comprehensive sign plans come to the BZA.
• Attainable housing: Requirements for affordable and attainable housing were extended beyond rezoning approvals to some by-right residential developments, generally those with more than 24 dwelling units.
• Procedures and implementation: Chapter 10 covers permits and roles; Chapter 12 contains definitions; appendices include an acronym table, land development fees, and flexible regulations. Staff described implementation as good and bad, with a cleanup package planned for summer or fall and a commitment to periodic reviews. A board member praised the new format as a significant improvement.
• Timelines and process improvements: A board member raised concern that applicants can wait nine months or longer for decisions after investing significant sums. Staff noted a current county-industry effort to improve the review process, based on a consultant's 60 recommendations.
• Western Loudoun and rural policy area: A separate effort for the rural policy area, including AR1 and AR2 districts, is underway, with stakeholder meetings continuing and a target of late 2026 or early 2027. Public sewer is generally not available in rural areas outside towns and JLMA districts.

Key Outcomes

• No applications were heard and no substantive motions were considered; the only vote was to adjourn, which was seconded and passed by voice vote.
• Remote participation was accepted for Mr. Kramer, with reasons and location to be recorded in the minutes.
• Staff reports were received; no board decision items were scheduled.
• Next steps: BZA hearings were stated as December 18, 2025, and January 22, 2026, with the January meeting at 5:00 p.m., and staff plan to bring zoning ordinance cleanup items to the Board of Supervisors in summer or fall.