Planning Commission Meeting

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Leesburg Planning Commission 1h 12m 6 speakers 4 agenda items transcribed 7 days ago official recording ↗

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Did the commission approve the July 17 minutes and what were the motions?

Gigi Robinson 0:00

So if you annotate that, I would appreciate it. Then we go to the minutes of July 17th. And does anybody have a motion to approve these?

Unknown 0:17

Second.

Gigi Robinson 0:19

Second. Any alterations? Any changes? Anything to add or not to these minutes?

Gigi Robinson 0:39

Okay. All those who would be in favor of approval, say aye. Aye. That is with the exception of Candace, you were out. Okay. The others were remote. All right. Are there any disclosures? Candace, start with you. No, ma'am. No. Brian? No. Me neither. No. Okay. Do we have any petitioners that are signed up?

Jennifer Canton 1:12

No one signed up.

Gigi Robinson 1:14

Is there anyone out in the audience who would like to say something? Okay, then we will skip the petitioner section. And let's go right into our work session. Zoning ordinance read, write. Article seven, non-conformities. Article eight, enforcement. Article nine, word usage. Director David, Mike Watkins is here, and begin.

David (Director David) 1:43

All right. Well, thank you, Madam Chair, and good evening, members of the Planning Commission. Tonight's work session item, we continue with our review of the first draft of the zoning ordinance rewrite. And tonight, if we get through Articles 7, 8, and 9, we'll have made it through one pass of the draft, and we'll consider it a success as we head into our break for the next meeting. Just a quick recap for those members in the audience, maybe online or at home. We started this project back in summer of 2023. We hired a consultant by the name of Kendi Keist Collaborative that helped us with a code audit in the first draft. And then there's been various presentations to the commission and council about the concepts that you see in the draft.

David (Director David) 2:33

That happened in February and September of 24. And then the first draft was released March 6, 2025, and there was a 60-day public comment period of that draft. So anybody that would like to see these materials that I mentioned, you can visit the project page, which is leesburgva.gov forward slash zoning ordinance rewrite. So tonight we discuss Article 7, nonconformities, Article 8, enforcement violations and penalties, and Article 9, word usage. Article 8, nonconformities. It addresses nonconformities which are uses, structures, lots, or site features that were lawful when established but no longer conform to the current zoning regulations due to changes in the ordinance. So this article seeks to balance the property rights with long-term planning goals by allowing limited continuation of nonconformities while encouraging gradual alignment with current zoning standards.

David (Director David) 3:35

So another goal is to encourage reuse and rehab of older properties, but still balancing and limiting expansion of nonconformities that could negatively affect the surrounding area. So some examples of nonconformities. A nonconforming use could be a business that was operating in a residential zone currently that maybe was once legal in the past. A nonconforming structure, an example there is maybe a building that doesn't meet today's height or setback requirements, but was lawful when it was built. A legal nonconforming lot could be a lot that was smaller than current minimum lot size rules, but at the time of subdivision or creation of that lot, it conformed. And a non-conforming sign could be a larger sign that has lawfully existed but no longer conforms to current sign regulations.

David (Director David) 4:25

And then a non-conforming site feature could be something like off-street parking lighting or landscaping that lawfully existed but no longer conforms. So... If the used structure lot or sign existed before the current zoning code or became nonconforming due to a zoning amendment, it may continue to exist. That's that legal protection. However, if there's ever a dispute, the property owner has the burden of proof to bring forth evidence that the nonconformity was lawful. So a few key points that you'll see in these sections. As I mentioned, if a use was legal when it created, it's a nonconforming use. And even if special approval wasn't previously required, it is not automatically nonconforming simply because we changed the procedures.

David (Director David) 5:17

Any expansions or enlargements have to meet current requirements.