Loudoun County Facility Standards Manual Public Review Committee Meeting – October 9, 2026

The Facility Standards Manual (FSM) Public Review Committee met on October 9, 2026, to review proposed cultural-resources text changes, discuss draft gabion-basket standards for stormwater facilities, and preview the FSM's transition into the ENCODE platform. The provided meeting timestamp is October 9, 2026, although the chair's opening words in the transcript say 'October 1st, 2026.' The committee was not quite at a quorum at the start; no remote members participated.

Administrative Items

• The committee reviewed the draft minutes from the prior meeting and discussed one suggested edit to the fourth-to-last bullet on stormwater pond treatment. Formal approval was deferred to the next meeting.
• Members discussed the 2027 meeting calendar and generally agreed to propose first and third Thursdays from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., alternating months with two meetings and one meeting, with additional meetings if urgent items arise.
• Staff noted the work plan is awaiting a comprehensive plan amendment related to the 'Quick Fix' items, with an update to the Board scheduled for the October 20 board meeting. Sidewalk/shared-path work was mentioned as a possible future topic.

Discussion: Cultural Resources and Archaeology Amendments

• Staff walked through track changes intended to prepare for the October 27 Planning Commission public hearing. Edits were largely structural: an introductory sentence explaining that cultural resources include the phase one survey and reconnaissance survey described below; reorganized provisions for preliminary plats and record plats; and a change from 'structure plan' to 'sketch plan.' The requirement for phase one cultural-resources testing on residential lots two acres or less was retained. During discussion, a member noted the FSM uses the word 'recommend' about 26 times.
• Members debated the existing statement that a phase one survey is 'recommended for the entire property.' Some members objected to using 'recommended' in a regulatory document, while staff explained it puts applicants on notice that additional testing may be needed if limits of disturbance change. The committee ultimately agreed to keep the original formulation with minor wording changes.
• The committee agreed to add a 'digital submission' requirement in Chapter 7 for digital files—DWG, DXF, KML, KMZ, or shapefile—of the phase one and reconnaissance survey boundaries, provided with the initial submission. The equivalent digital-file language was removed from the preliminary-plat, CPAP, and site-plan sections in Chapter 8. Staff will continue to send approved survey boundaries and reports to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and maintain the countywide GIS survey layer.
• A footnote reference to 'section 7800 archaeology' will be updated to 'cultural resources.'

Discussion: Gabion Baskets in Stormwater Facilities

• Stormwater staff Chris Stone and BMP reviewer Alex Morgan presented draft FSM text and discussed a study on gabion baskets in wet environments. The study estimated PVC-coated gabion baskets could last about 16 years before corrosion, while county maintenance representatives reported seeing some baskets corroding within about two years.
• County maintenance representatives explained that Loudoun County, not homeowners associations, maintains wet ponds subject to easements and wet-pond agreements, so a landowner replacement/maintenance scheme would not fit the current structure. The idea of a replacement fund was discussed but not decided.
• The original draft proposed allowing PVC-coated gabions in detention and extended-detention ponds while prohibiting them in retention ponds or completely submerged environments. Several members found the text too restrictive or confusing. Discussion moved toward a simpler rule: gabion baskets installed in stormwater facilities where any part is subject to inundation must be PVC-coated, and gabion baskets should not be used where they would be completely submerged in a permanent pool.
• Staff are developing a riprap/stacked-stone alternative, likely with graded riprap on a roughly 2:1 slope, and will bring the gabion language back for further review.

Discussion: ENCODE Migration and DOAM Request

• Staff reported that the FSM and LSD standards will be moved into ENCODE, with all 32 FSM figures recreated in AutoCAD-based, downloadable, searchable format and an AI search feature.
• Because minor formatting changes require a DOAM, staff plan to ask the Board at the October 20 business meeting to authorize a non-substantive cleanup. Examples shown included bolding subsection labels, restructuring water-system definitions, placing chapter figures at the end with titles, updating cross-references, and correcting small figure and text inconsistencies.
• Committee members indicated support for proceeding with the ENCODE formatting work, understanding that substantive FSM changes would come back separately.

Key Outcomes

• Minutes approval was postponed to the next meeting.
• The archaeology/cultural-resources edits were accepted for further drafting, with the digital-file requirement moved into Chapter 7 and removed from Chapter 8.
• Gabion-basket language was not finalized; staff will continue work on a riprap/stacked-stone alternative and return with revised text.
• The committee supported taking a DOAM to the October 20 Board meeting for minor ENCODE-related FSM formatting changes.
• No formal counted votes were recorded; the committee was without a full quorum at the beginning of the meeting.