OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Western Loudoun Rural Uses and Standards Ad Hoc Committee Orientation – August 14, 2026

Commissions & Advisory Boards — Friday, August 14, 2026
BodyLoudoun County, Virginia
SessionCommissions & Advisory Boards
DateFriday, August 14, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:30:45

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

So just to give everybody a bit of a rundown on what we're gonna be doing this evening.

0:06

Um staff will provide opening remarks, which is really kind of why we're here to get familiar with what's common, um, followed by committee member introductions and staff interruptions.

0:17

Um staff is gonna do their introductory presentation on the scope of this project, the background, the timeline, all those fun details that I think a lot of us know.

0:25

Um following the presentation, the ad hoc members will ask questions of staff, have time to ask questions of staff.

0:31

Um committee will adopt the meeting schedule.

0:34

Uh and following that, uh staff can provide a presentation on committee meetings, committee responsibilities, and the order of operations.

0:43

Um following staff presentation, the ad hoc members will be able to ask questions on that as well.

0:48

So back to the board.

0:50

Um that's good.

0:54

So I'm I guess uh Judy, if you'd like to start with opening remarks, that'd be great.

1:01

Thank you.

1:01

Of course.

1:02

I'm pleased to welcome each of you to the Western Loudon Rural Uses and Standards APOT community.

1:07

That's a really long name.

1:09

But as you're aware, the board creates this committee by merging two decision-making bodies, the planning commission and the zoning ordinance committee.

1:17

And the goal is to expedite review of the zoning text for the Western Loudon Rural Uses and Standards project.

1:24

Uh Brian will be walking you through the project time, the project timeline in a few moments, but the board's goal is to adopt the zoning ordinance amendments by July of next year.

1:36

Over the next three months, you'll be discussing and making recommendations on topics that have divergent views and ultimately the text amendments and the recommendations we made could impact families, livelihoods, quality of life for residents, farmers, and small business owners.

1:55

So for these reasons, it's important that we all work together to maintain a positive and collaborative dialogue.

2:03

I encourage everyone on the committee and staff to approach each issue with fairness and a solution-oriented mindset, but treat each other with courtesy and respect and value everyone's contribution, whether it's a majority opinion or minority view.

2:21

And also just ask you to prepare for each meeting.

2:24

Read your packet, bring your questions, and that way we can have the most productive use of our time.

2:32

I do realize this is a significant commitment, and we are working within a condensed timeline.

2:40

And I also recognize you are all very busy.

2:43

In fact, finding meeting dates and times for this meeting and our upcoming meetings is very challenging.

2:49

And based on the polls, not everyone's going to be able to attend every meeting, but staff's happy to work with you to bring you up to speed if you are unable to attend a meeting.

3:00

So as we move forward, if you see that you're not going to be able to attend, please contact our clerk, Joy.

3:07

We just let her know that you will not be joining us.

3:11

But with that, I just want to thank you for your dedication and your commitment.

3:15

And myself, as long as all the staff look forward to working together with you and achieving meaningful progress on this project.

3:24

Thank you.

3:27

Brian, I think you have the introductory presentation.

3:30

Yes, so thank you.

3:32

Uh good evening, everyone.

3:33

Good afternoon, everyone, I should say.

3:36

Before we get started, uh, obviously a lot of you have all worked with each other before.

3:41

A lot of you have worked with us as well.

3:43

However, a lot of you have not.

3:45

So I think it would be uh appropriate to if uh at least from for the committee to start with, if each one of you could go around and introduce yourselves and uh let us know why Western Loudoun is interesting or important to you and what you hope to get out of this uh script.

4:03

Any particular order?

4:05

Let's start with Tia.

4:06

Okay.

4:08

All right.

4:09

Um well, I moved to Western Loudoun from New Mexico in 2006, and then bought my farm in 2012.

4:16

And I've been farming sheep and a variety of other things these days.

4:20

We have a lot of poultry thanks to my 16-year-old is raising uh geese and chickens a lot uh these days, but and obviously very involved with the I community and have been on the Farm Bureau board for a number of years on the most recent past president of the members of board as well.

4:36

Um and then my day job, I work with the Piedmont Environmental Council covering Louden, primarily Western Louden and Clark County support.

4:44

Work and volunteer and life.

4:49

So for Christ here next.

4:51

Uh Eric Combs.

4:52

Um I've been a resident of Western Loudon for 15 years or so.

4:56

I'm on the planning commission.

5:00

been on the farm bureau board for a number of years on the the most recent past president of um and then my day job i worked with the piedmont environmental council covering loudoin primarily western louden and clerk county support work and volunteer and life so go for it price here next uh eric combs um i've been a resident of western loud for 15 years or so i'm on the planning commission um i feel responsible in part for this subcommittee um it's your fault we started to address uh uses in in western louden during the zoning ordinance rewrite um realized we didn't have enough time so yes that it get picked up after the zoning ordinance was adopted and i think i'm here in large part because of that uh but anyway i am very interested in in um uses and standards in western loud since i live and work there and uh looking forward to not gonna miss all out i'm lauren alone i'm a member of the zoning ordinance committee i am point into the zoning ordinance committee is what's called one of two subject matter experts my supposed expertise is land use planning um i've been a resident of um loudo county since uh for about 12 years now they also in personal and um love love living here we moved here from reston and it is such a wonderful place i i favorite story is we moved here as we were getting ready to move here we hadn't quite moved i made a call to one of the local stores and i wanted to know are you are how late are you open on sunday afternoon and the woman said well we're normally open till five is that all right would you like us to stay open later that's that's what happens everywhere just like that hours of operation that's right thank you um i'm gonna full myers i actually never decided to move here i'm fifth generation right here in loudoin county um even though i'm from ashburn ashburn when i was growing up is really what most of us would consider almost part of western loudo i grew up on a dairy farm we milked 125 head of cattle at our most we were um operating five farms at one time and believe it or not in the Ashburn area I've always had a love for Western Laden I've spent probably two thirds of my life out there which I'll take just a minute to explain like back in the 50s and 60s if you wanted to do anything you went to Western Louden whether it was the movie theater you then went to Leesbury you went to Percival you wanted to go to roller rank you went to Persabel.

7:20

Most of the farmers had their we all had our own what did anybody call co-op but what we called it was simply partnership sharing when you needed help you went and helped the other person and then that person returned came and helped you and you needed the help.

7:32

There wasn't any rules or regulations or processing that told you to do it or not to do it.

7:36

You just did it to help your neighbor um so Western Laden has always I grew up on the in the dairy program I was a 4H.

7:43

I was a 4 H all star I was a 4 H leader.

7:46

I taught um kids in this elementary school we did long tour for them they were amazed that there wasn't a cow that gave them chocolate milk parsing we had to have to understand um and so Western Laden has always been very important to me I've been on the planning commission from 91 to 95 I was on the board from 96 to 2000 I've done various committees since 1989 here.

8:09

One of the things I do want to bring back being a Flintstone member um is you know Louden did when I was on the board we did a 200 acre south solution for Western Loudoun and we spent years doing this and it came up with a lot of ideas of what we needed to do and I haven't heard anybody really talk about going back and really looking at that but I will tell you Helen Martin who was served as a chair of that who was one of the most active farmers at that time in Loudoun County she used to always say if you want to save the farm you have to save the farmer if you don't save the farm all you've done is save a bunch of land for development.

8:43

So I hope as we go through this process we continue to think about the regulations we create the problem sometime we create with overregulation and we try to look for partnerships to make sure that we keep those farms going we remember that there is in Virginia a right to farm act we also remember in the gentleman's already current legislation that talks about how wineries can operate and we use those as building blocks instead of ignoring them and I'm the coordinate with everybody and I am really thank you Dale my name's Bill Hatch and uh I'm on the zoning ordinance committee my parents discovered loudon county after World War II my dad was a young naval officer and decided they really wanted to raise in family here.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural██████████████████████████████████████38%
Zoning Ordinance██████████████████████████26%
Public Engagement██████████████████████22%
Zoning Regulations████████8%
Personnel Matters████4%
Agricultural Operations██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Western Loudoun Rural Uses and Standards Ad Hoc Committee Orientation – August 14, 2026

The Western Loudoun Rural Uses and Standards Planning Commission/Zoning Ordinance Committee Ad Hoc Committee held an orientation meeting on August 14, 2026, to launch its work reviewing zoning text amendments for rural uses and standards in western Loudoun County. Staff presented the project’s scope, background, timeline, meeting schedule, and proposed operating procedures. The committee adopted a revised meeting time for future sessions and set ground rules for questions and public input. The printed agenda listed the meeting date as August 11, 2026, while the event date supplied with the transcript is August 14, 2026; no formal minutes were available.

Opening Remarks and Introductions

  • Judy Burkett, Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning, welcomed members and explained that the Board of Supervisors created the committee by merging the Planning Commission and Zoning Ordinance Committee to expedite review of the Western Loudoun Rural Uses and Standards zoning text. She said the Board’s goal is to adopt zoning ordinance amendments by July of next year and urged members to maintain a positive, collaborative, and solution-oriented dialogue.
  • Committee members introduced themselves and described their backgrounds in farming, equestrian activities, planning, tourism, and rural land use. Several members stated goals for the process: Dale Myers, a former Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors member, cautioned against overregulation, cited the Virginia Right to Farm Act and winery legislation, and urged the committee to remember that “if you want to save the farm, you have to save the farmer.” Bill Hatch, a Zoning Ordinance Committee member, said his goal was to preserve his farm without dividing the countryside into tiny house lots. Mark Miller, a Planning Commission member, said farmland preservation depends on allowing landowners to keep farming, because the alternative is housing. Beth Merrick, a Zoning Ordinance Committee member, said she hoped to bring forward information from the earlier TLUC process.
  • Staff introduced themselves, including project managers Brian Wilson and Dave Schmidtenberg, Deputy County Administrator Danny Davis, and staff from Planning and Zoning, Building and Development, the County Attorney’s Office, and Public Affairs.

Staff Presentation: Scope, Background, and Timeline

  • Staff described the project scope as focused on zoning text amendments for western Loudoun rural uses, with comprehensive plan amendments limited to clarifying language that avoids conflicts with the zoning text; staff said they are not seeking to change the general policy of western Loudoun in the comprehensive plan.
  • The project timeline began officially in March 2024. Staff said the TLUC facilitated public input, with nine stakeholders, eight stakeholder meetings, and subject matter experts in business/tourism, agricultural conservation, and residents. TLUC later held formal direction meetings and made recommendations to the Board of Supervisors in May. Staff cited a master board-direction worksheet containing 55 motions, and noted the Board altered the project plan in June by creating this ad hoc committee.
  • The schedule calls for two meetings per month, with the first substantive meeting on August 24 covering equestrian uses, rural restaurants, and mobile vendors, and completion of recommendations before Thanksgiving. The Planning Commission public hearing is anticipated in January, and the Board of Supervisors public hearing is expected by early summer.
  • Staff said meeting packets will be distributed electronically one week before each meeting, posted to the public the same day, and will include the agenda, draft meeting summaries, staff report, draft text, and public comments. Kimley Horn will prepare meeting summaries to serve as minutes.

Meeting Schedule and Procedural Decisions

  • The committee voted to change all upcoming meeting times from 3:00–7:00 p.m. to 5:00–9:00 p.m.; the motion carried with one abstention. Meetings will be held in the Dulles Room, with dinner provided and a hybrid option available.
  • Staff presented a meeting model based on the TLUC process: a staff presentation, committee questions, topic-by-topic discussion, and votes on motions. Each committee member would have two minutes for questions, followed by a 20-minute topic discussion with a two-minute timer per member, and recommendations would be approved by a simple majority of members present.
  • After debate, the committee voted to keep the two-minute question limit for committee members but to allow staff response time not to count against the member’s two minutes.

Transparency, Stakeholder Contact, and Public Input

  • Staff said the committee meetings will not be live-streamed and that they are working with Public Affairs on the logistics of recording. A committee member raised transparency concerns about the lack of live streaming and the frequency of staff meetings with stakeholders.
  • The committee discussed whether members and staff should disclose stakeholder meetings at the beginning of each meeting. Planning Commission members noted that disclosure is their regular practice. No formal vote was taken, but staff indicated disclosures could be accommodated.
  • Staff said there will be no public speaking session at committee meetings, but the public is invited to attend and may submit comments through the county’s online public comment form. Comments will be compiled into meeting packets. Because packets are prepared a week in advance, the committee agreed that supplemental public comments would be provided by noon on the day of each meeting.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved a revised meeting schedule with all upcoming meetings from 5:00–9:00 p.m., with one abstention.
  • Adopted a two-minute committee question limit with staff response time excluded from the member’s two minutes.
  • Confirmed the seven-meeting topic schedule beginning August 24 and targeting completion before Thanksgiving.
  • Confirmed the Planning Commission public hearing is anticipated in January and the Board of Supervisors public hearing is expected by early summer.
  • Agreed to use the existing online public comment form as the central channel for public input, with supplemental comments provided by noon on meeting day.
  • Discussed, but did not formally vote on, stakeholder meeting disclosure procedures.

Meeting Transcript

So just to give everybody a bit of a rundown on what we're gonna be doing this evening. Um staff will provide opening remarks, which is really kind of why we're here to get familiar with what's common, um, followed by committee member introductions and staff interruptions. Um staff is gonna do their introductory presentation on the scope of this project, the background, the timeline, all those fun details that I think a lot of us know. Um following the presentation, the ad hoc members will ask questions of staff, have time to ask questions of staff. Um committee will adopt the meeting schedule. Uh and following that, uh staff can provide a presentation on committee meetings, committee responsibilities, and the order of operations. Um following staff presentation, the ad hoc members will be able to ask questions on that as well. So back to the board. Um that's good. So I'm I guess uh Judy, if you'd like to start with opening remarks, that'd be great. Thank you. Of course. I'm pleased to welcome each of you to the Western Loudon Rural Uses and Standards APOT community. That's a really long name. But as you're aware, the board creates this committee by merging two decision-making bodies, the planning commission and the zoning ordinance committee. And the goal is to expedite review of the zoning text for the Western Loudon Rural Uses and Standards project. Uh Brian will be walking you through the project time, the project timeline in a few moments, but the board's goal is to adopt the zoning ordinance amendments by July of next year. Over the next three months, you'll be discussing and making recommendations on topics that have divergent views and ultimately the text amendments and the recommendations we made could impact families, livelihoods, quality of life for residents, farmers, and small business owners. So for these reasons, it's important that we all work together to maintain a positive and collaborative dialogue. I encourage everyone on the committee and staff to approach each issue with fairness and a solution-oriented mindset, but treat each other with courtesy and respect and value everyone's contribution, whether it's a majority opinion or minority view. And also just ask you to prepare for each meeting. Read your packet, bring your questions, and that way we can have the most productive use of our time. I do realize this is a significant commitment, and we are working within a condensed timeline. And I also recognize you are all very busy. In fact, finding meeting dates and times for this meeting and our upcoming meetings is very challenging. And based on the polls, not everyone's going to be able to attend every meeting, but staff's happy to work with you to bring you up to speed if you are unable to attend a meeting. So as we move forward, if you see that you're not going to be able to attend, please contact our clerk, Joy. We just let her know that you will not be joining us. But with that, I just want to thank you for your dedication and your commitment. And myself, as long as all the staff look forward to working together with you and achieving meaningful progress on this project. Thank you. Brian, I think you have the introductory presentation. Yes, so thank you. Uh good evening, everyone. Good afternoon, everyone, I should say. Before we get started, uh, obviously a lot of you have all worked with each other before. A lot of you have worked with us as well. However, a lot of you have not. So I think it would be uh appropriate to if uh at least from for the committee to start with, if each one of you could go around and introduce yourselves and uh let us know why Western Loudoun is interesting or important to you and what you hope to get out of this uh script. Any particular order? Let's start with Tia. Okay. All right. Um well, I moved to Western Loudoun from New Mexico in 2006, and then bought my farm in 2012. And I've been farming sheep and a variety of other things these days. We have a lot of poultry thanks to my 16-year-old is raising uh geese and chickens a lot uh these days, but and obviously very involved with the I community and have been on the Farm Bureau board for a number of years on the most recent past president of the members of board as well. Um and then my day job, I work with the Piedmont Environmental Council covering Louden, primarily Western Louden and Clark County support. Work and volunteer and life. So for Christ here next. Uh Eric Combs.

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