Council closed out 2022 at its December 8 regular meeting with a new set of rules for short-term rentals, $50,500 for local charities, a firm "not yet" for a visitor shopping app, and a lingering standoff with the company hired to put electric vehicle chargers in town parking lots.

Vice Mayor Peter Leonard-Morgan arrived at 8:00 p.m., during the closed session, so the evening's first six votes were 6-0 with him absent. Mayor Bridge Littleton votes only to break a tie.

Short-Term Rentals

Council adopted Zoning Text Amendment 22-02 without dissent after a public hearing at which no one spoke ▶ video. Deputy Town Manager Will Moore explained that the ordinance renames "limited residential lodging" as "short-term rentals," bars the use in accessory dwelling units, counts "nights" rather than "days," and requires owners to hold a business license and collect and remit the Town's transient occupancy tax. The Planning Commission had recommended approval.

Littleton, who sits on the County's Zoning Ordinance Committee, said the County is wrestling with the same question. Communities across the region are finding that rentals are "taking away affordable housing stock," he said, and one committee member had suggested that renting a house out for as little as "40 days will justify" buying it.

"We are authorizing 180 days," the Mayor noted ▶ video. "Like in the Ridgeview area, we don't want to become a rental community."

Councilmember Darlene Kirk recalled that Ridgeview went through just that in the 1970s and 1980s. More amendments, ones the Planning Commission did not take up, return to Council in January.

Mid-Year Budget, and a Thank-You to Congress

Council approved Town Manager Danny Davis' FY '23 mid-year budget amendments 6-0 after a public hearing at which no one spoke. They cover employee merit increases, the Windy Hill grant, more money for Christmas in Middleburg, a placeholder for the planned Rural Preservation Summit, and formal recognition of the $2 million federal grant for the Town Hall Project. Davis stressed that the grant does not change the project's cost.

Littleton credited Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton's office, whose staff "worked really, really hard, especially going through the HUD process" ▶ video. A resolution of appreciation will follow in January.

Asbury Church Clears a Hurdle

Jane Covington brought news from Richmond: earlier that day the Virginia Department of Historic Resources had found Asbury Church eligible for the National Register of Historic Places ▶ video. The nomination itself must now be written. Covington asked to file a non-binding letter of intent, due December 19, for a grant from the National Trust's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. Council agreed to review her draft, with the Mayor and Town Manager helping her finish it.

A structural engineer's first look at the building found nothing critical, Moore reported, though he will return in January with his team, pay extra attention to the flooring, and has recommended a pest inspection.

Danny's Windows

The new Town Hall's windows arrived the day of the meeting, and Town Clerk Rhonda North reported that about 18 of roughly 50 were already in. Once the EIFS exterior goes on, the building will be watertight, "a huge milestone for us" ▶ video. Washington Gas connected the site that day, Dominion was due the next morning to build out permanent power, and the Town was racing to lay the base coat of asphalt before the plants close for the season. Without it there is no certificate of occupancy.

The Mayor could not resist noting which office got its windows first: "It was Danny's windows" ▶ video.

Not So Fast

A year after Council hired Blink Charging to put Level 2 chargers in six spaces around town, Davis reported slow progress, difficult communication, and, in three weeks, "zero response" to his request to release the Town from Blink's exclusivity clause ▶ video. A start-up called X Charge has offered to provide a DC fast charger at Town Hall at no cost, but the Town cannot accept while the clause stands. Council had earlier declined to buy a fast charger outright for $100,000.

Councilmember Bud Jacobs wanted to know "what the relationship is between this startup and any entity connected with the People's Republic of China" ▶ video. Davis said the firm describes itself as a separate U.S. company and promised more information. Councilmember Kevin Daly was "uncomfortable" with Blink's silence and asked whether the Town should keep working with it at all.

The consensus, in Councilmember Philip Miller's words: keep talking to Blink and ask out of exclusivity "for the town hall spaces while we continue to investigate X Charge." Davis will report back in January.

An App for That? Not Yet

Business Development & Community Partnerships Director Ali MacIntyre, with the Economic Development Advisory Committee's endorsement, proposed a contract with Bandwango, a points-and-prizes visitor app that would take over the staff-heavy Foxes Trail swag-bag program, run year-round and include any business that wants in.

Council liked the idea and balked at the contract. "We don't even have requirements document," Littleton said. "We don't even have what we want out of this thing" ▶ video. Miller agreed "completely" that the request was "premature." Members want other vendors' demonstrations, clarity on who owns the data, including the merchants', and a sense of how many businesses would take part. No vote was taken.

Christmas in Middleburg, by the Numbers

The Town estimated 7,000 to 8,000 visitors, fewer than last year but, Council observed, easier to get around, with plenty of shopping bags in evidence. MacIntyre reported "an increase in sales" from the businesses she heard from, and 116 parking spaces donated back for business employees. Police Lieutenant Shaun Jones reported no incidents at the Hunt or the parade: "We had a few hiccups, but nobody could really tell" ▶ video.

On the eve of this year's parade, Middleburg Life profiled the merchants who make the day work, among them a Washington Street shopkeeper who widens her aisles for the winter-coated crowds and recalled the year the Middleburg Hunt's hounds came through her front door (Middleburg Life, Dec. 2). The holiday season was not over: a Dickens-themed celebration followed, opening with "A Dickens of a Dog Show" on December 10, a costumed parade of dogs and their people from the National Sporting Library & Museum to Brick and Mortar Mercantile (Middleburg Life, Dec. 9).

Charity and Old Signs

Council approved $50,500 in Health Center Fund donations as recommended by the Health Center Advisory Board, led by Councilmembers Kirk and Miller. Kirk reported that the IRS had approved 501(c)(3) status for the new Middleburg Charitable Foundation, thanks to Eric Scheps' work on the application. The sale of the Town's old street signs, "108 to date," was pushing $3,000 for the same fund, Davis reported ▶ video.

Pipes, Old and Older

Davis thanked utility staff for restoring service by 9 p.m. after a water main break on Chestnut Street, and suggested that main for the replacement list. He also described an 80-year-old sewer main under 408 East Washington Street where the concrete was gone, leaving only an old liner carrying the flow. A private sewer lateral replacement will close West Federal Street completely for several days in January.

Educating the East

Littleton laid out plans for a Rural Preservation Summit, now set for April 11 at Salamander, which is donating the room. Its aim is "educating the East as to why preserving the West is actually in their best interest," and it still needs a better name than his working title, the "Destruction of Loudoun County unless we do something summit" ▶ video. Council asked that educators, the School Board included, be invited.

Also

Council accepted Mvix's donation of an interactive display and three years of programming for the new Town Hall, with a plaque to recognize the gift. On the consent agenda: November's minutes, and acceptance of a USDA loan and grant for the Well 4 Clearwell Project. After a closed session on the Town Hall contract, committee appointments and the Town Manager's review, Council reappointed, 7-0, Terry Cooke to the Planning Commission; Punkin Lee and Linda Wright to the HDRC; Suzi Molak and Beth Erickson to the Cultural & Community Events Committee; and Bob Dale and Childs Burden to the Strategic Finance Committee. Other seats remain open: two weeks later the Council put out a call for volunteers to fill vacancies on several of its citizen advisory panels, Loudoun Now reported (Loudoun Now, Dec. 22). The meeting adjourned at 9:36 p.m. Council met once more, in a December 22 special meeting held entirely in closed session, on the Town Hall contract and the Town Manager's performance review; it took no action (minutes).

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Public Comment

December 8 ▶ video

• Gary Nickelson, Commander of American Legion Post 295, thanked Council for the grant that removed the Legion's old oil tank and built its accessible ramp, and described the Legion's request to the Health Center Fund for veterans' outreach and Boys & Girls State.
• Jane Covington reported that the state Department of Historic Resources had found Asbury Church eligible for the National Register that day, and asked Council's approval to send a letter of intent for a National Trust grant to pay for the nomination.
• Public hearings on the mid-year budget amendments and the short-term rental amendment: no one spoke.

December 22: a special meeting, closed session only; no public comment.

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Sources: the meeting video, the approved minutes and the Town's transcript. Quotes are from the Town contractor's transcript attached to the minutes; each ▶ link opens the video at the start of that agenda item.

Other sources cited:

• Loudoun Now, Dec. 22, 2022: "Middleburg Seeks Volunteers to Fill Advisory Panel Seats"
• Middleburg Life, Dec. 2, 2022: "The People Behind The Parade"
• Middleburg Life, Dec. 9, 2022: "The Town of Middleburg to Host Dickens-Themed Holiday Celebration"