AROUND Town

Council Aide Plan Lacks Support

In May, the Town Council agreed to explore options for hiring legislative aides to support their work. On Monday, that issue came up for discussion, but quickly—and quietly— died.

A brief staff report by Town Manager Kaj Dentler noted that the town had not previously provided aides to council members or the mayor. Instead, that type of support is provided on an as-needed basis by the Town Manager’s Office, indirect support that he noted had increased in recent years.

To create staff aide positions, Dentler said the council would need to define the roles and responsibilities and create job descriptions, as well as to create a budget for the new employees.

When asked to begin the debate on the issue, none of the five members attending the work session opted to do so and the work session was adjourned.

Town Launches Zoning Ordinance Overhaul

The Town of Leesburg is kicking off a comprehensive rewrite of its Zoning Ordinance, with initial presentations from the consultant hired to lead the project planned next week.

a special annexation court appointed by the state Supreme Court in early 2024.

The town in September notified the county of its plans to annex the remaining 403 acres of Compass Creek south of the town boundaries after talks with county leaders on a potential deal to share tax revenues from the Microsoft data centers broke off.

In its filing, the town cited decades-long county planning policies that delineated a growth area around Leesburg where the town would provide public utilities and eventually incorporate land within the service area. The filing argues that the town invested in its utility system based on that concept, that property owners within the targeted annexation area would benefit from other municipal services, and that the town needs land for economic development opportunities.

The county’s response denies there is a commitment to support annexation of the utility service area and characterizes the town’s expansion efforts as seeking to impose “additional and burdensome municipal taxes” on the property owners without providing “any meaningful benefit” to them. The town has no demonstrated need for additional tax revenue or additional land for commercial or industrial development, the filing states.

The town and county previously agreed on two cooperative boundary line adjustments covering portions of Compass Creek, although only one has been completed. The second expansion, which would bring land that includes the Super Walmart and the At Home stores into the town limits, was never finalized in Circuit Court. n

Representatives from Kendig Keast Collaborative will make presentations to the Board of Architectural Review on July 19 and the Planning Commission July 20 explaining the project’s timeline and milestones.

“The consultant’s kickoff meetings are just the beginning of community engagement and noticing, and there will be many opportunities for the public to review draft text and discuss the details as the process moves forward,” stated Planning and Zoning Department Director James David.

The project is an implementation step for the policies included in the Legacy Leesburg Town Plan, adopted by the Town Council in March. The last comprehensive update of the Zoning Ordinance was adopted in 2003.

The rewrite project is expected to take two years to complete. Learn more at leesburgva.gov/ zoningordinancerewrite. n