Historic District Review Committee Meeting – 2026-10-22

The Loudoun County Historic District Review Committee (HDRC) met on 2026-10-22 in the Purcellville Room of the Loudoun County Government Building in Leesburg, Virginia. The agenda and raw transcript are dated October 19, 2026, and call the meeting to order on that date; this summary follows the supplied meeting date of 2026-10-22. Members present were Elizabeth Ellis, Madeline Skinner, Amanda Ruckman, Lucas Berger, Ed Good, Cochrane, and Carl Riew. The committee considered one certificate of appropriateness application and approved the September 14, 2026 Action Summary.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Kristen O'Rourke, a neighbor on Sands Road adjacent to 18464 Foundry Road, submitted written comments because she could not attend. She requested that the county and HDRC defer the application until revised drawings reflecting her requested changes and material selections were shared with the community. She said the house is visible from her property, surrounding properties, and Taylor Road, especially after the trees lose their leaves. She asked for clarification of the proposed roofline, deck materials, and stair tower, and estimated the proposal could be 24.25 feet of enclosed deck addition plus a 13.7-foot-wide stair tower.
• A resident who said he had lived in the area for 46 years attended; he later expressed support, saying he was familiar with the property and applauded what the applicant was trying to do.
• Commenters also raised notification concerns: a roadway placard for the application was down, the neighboring Lincoln community was not notified in a timely way, and the public online packet omitted red-line revisions, so the community did not have the same drawings as the committee.

Discussion Items

• Staff presented CAPP-2026-0017 for 18464 Foundry Road in the Goose Creek Historic District. The property is an 11-acre landlocked lot with a contemporary two-story house built in 1977 and a large addition in 1989; neither phase had received a certificate of appropriateness. The house is non-contributing and about one-third of a mile from nearby roads, with only a distant view of its roofline from Taylor Road. The application originally proposed a low-slope shed roof rear addition, a rear deck with stairs, and a minor front addition; staff described the additions as minor and roughly 150 square feet at most.
• Staff explained that the applicant revised the rear addition after a septic-tank inspection placed the tank near the originally proposed work, but final architectural drawings were not submitted. The applicant provided marked-up drawings instead. Staff presented options: defer the application; impose specific form, massing, and material details; or approve with a condition that the certificate not be issued until final drawings are approved.
• Applicant Waleed Arabshahi stated that he submitted plans on June 16, 2026, was not initially aware of HDRC review, and could not get updated drawings because his architect was unavailable. He said the health department's septic inspection changed the plan, and he moved the addition setback from 10 feet to 13 feet from the septic tank. He proposed steel columns with concrete footings instead of a full foundation. He said he bought the property for his parents, who live in California, and wanted a 10-foot kitchen bump-out, a 15-foot dining-room extension, and a 13-by-15-foot deck. He said he was willing to reduce the proposal to the kitchen and bathroom front addition and set aside the roof, deck, rear, and other work to avoid further delay. He also said he was under time pressure because a loan related to the property matures on December 1.
• Committee members expressed conflicting views. Some said they could not approve the application because the drawings were incomplete and the public and committee had received different packets. One member said, "I'm not gonna support moving forward because I just don't feel like everybody has the information." Another argued that holding up the applicant for the kitchen portion "seems a travesty" and proposed approving only that portion. A third questioned how much authority the committee should exercise over a non-contributing 1977 house that is not visible from a public right-of-way.

Key Outcomes

• The transcript records a voice vote approving a certificate of appropriateness for CAPP-2026-0017 as amended, limited to the kitchen and bathroom addition on the north/front elevation of the house at 18464 Foundry Road (PIN 455-20-3268-000), in accordance with the Goose Creek Historic District Guidelines and the findings in the staff report. No tally was read. The rear addition, rear deck, stairs, roof changes, and other proposed work were not included and would require a future application.
• The committee approved the September 14, 2026 Action Summary as submitted by voice vote; no tally was read.
• The chair noted that the next meeting is November 9, 2026, with three applications and one informational item, including a potentially controversial application in Bluemont.