Loudoun Reopens Door to Growth

Planning Panel Advises Easing Limits in West

Loudoun County's still-bucolic west could be opened to the development of thousands of new homes after a Planning Commission decision to relax new rules intended to limit growth.

The commission voted 6 to 3 Monday night to permit virtually anyone starting a home-building project this spring in the western two-thirds of the county to be protected under older, less-restrictive rules that allow roughly one house for every three acres. Although it is up to the Board of Supervisors to make a final decision, the vote imperils the county's attempt to reduce the number of homes allowed in western Loudoun.

Booming growth around Dulles International Airport in eastern Loudoun has made the county one of the fastest-growing jurisdictions in the nation for several years. But the spread would have been even faster if local officials had allowed more building in the west. Just last week, new census figures showed that Washington's sprawl has reached as far south as King George and Caroline counties -- in part because development restrictions in closer-in communities such as Loudoun have pushed it there.

Loudoun supervisors took action three years ago to slow growth in a 300-square-mile area to the west by requiring homes to be built on parcels no smaller than 10, 20 or 50 acres. Last year, the state Supreme Court threw out those regulations after ruling that county officials had not given enough notice for the public hearings.

Responding to the court's decision, the supervisors instructed the Planning Commission last fall to write a new ordinance. Now, supervisors must decide whether to go along with the commission's recommendation to allow additional homes.

Republicans hold six seats on the nine-member Board of Supervisors. Some of them have close ties to development interests and tend to favor property rights. But the supervisors are also aware of a political shift underway in Loudoun, where Democrats -- including Gov. Timothy M. Kaine -- have won big in recent local and statewide elections on a message of controlling growth.

"It is a balancing act," said Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run). "We definitely want to be fair."

Supervisors are also mindful that more litigation is likely from developers, who tied up the previous ordinance in court for years and ultimately succeeded in striking it down, even if on a technicality.

"I guarantee you we will not pass this ordinance without getting sued," said Supervisor Mick Staton Jr. (R-Sugarland Run), who believes the board is better off treading cautiously than rushing toward greater restrictions that won't stand up in court.

The planning commissioners, by allowing developers to submit plans to build houses under the old rules, said they wanted to protect property owners who have already spent time and money preparing to put up new housing. Some of those are farming families with less means than corporate developers.

"It's reasonable to be fair to people who have been in the process for a while," said the commission's vice chairman, Robert J. Klancher, "but you don't want to open the floodgates."

Opponents said that's exactly what the changes would do -- rendering the new ordinance worthless and allowing even property owners who previously had not taken steps toward development to cash in.