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Middleburg Town Council Report

Johnson v. Middleburg

· By Jay Hubbard
The staff's timeline for new R-2 zoning rules, shown to Council May 23, 2024. (Town of Middleburg meeting video)
The staff's timeline for new R-2 zoning rules, shown to Council May 23, 2024. (Town of Middleburg meeting video)

A month after Council turned down her short-term rental permit, Sheila Johnson took the Town to court. The month's two Council meetings were quieter: a budget adopted, a consultant hired to ask the town what the Asbury Church should become, new rules for Ridgeview's houses put on a calendar, and a confession from the water operator. It ended with a party: the first Middleburg Day and the ribbon cutting for the new Town Hall on May 31.

Council met May 9 and May 23 with all members present. Mayor Bridge Littleton votes only to break a tie.

Johnson v. Middleburg

On Friday, May 24, Ms. Johnson filed a 44-page, seven-count lawsuit in Loudoun County Circuit Court asking a judge to reverse the April 25 denial of a short-term rental permit for her house at 800 Old Saddle Drive in the Residences at Salamander (Loudoun Now, May 29). It argues the Town misreads "residential": a short-term rental is a residential use, the suit says, and a house intended for residential use stays residential even while it sits empty. It also claims the ordinance violates the federal Commerce Clause, that Council treated her differently from the applicants it approved, and that its reasons were vague and its reliance on the Comprehensive Plan unreasonable.

The Town answered with a statement: its rules allow a short-term rental only "as a secondary use of a dwelling that is primarily occupied as a residence," and "the Town Council is confident that its decision was made fairly and in accordance with the law." Salamander President Prem Devadas said the suit should not affect "an excellent relationship" between the resort and the town. Council had met in closed session May 23, the day before the suit was filed, for a staff briefing on actual or probable litigation over zoning matters.

Meanwhile Town Attorney Martin Crim warned that the Governor's amendments to SB 544, the new state short-term rental law, bar localities from adopting new permit requirements for owner-occupied rentals or amending their existing ones. Middleburg's ordinance stands, he said, but the Town should be careful about touching it.

Three Hundred Days for Asbury

Council hired Commonwealth Preservation Group for $29,228 to run the public conversation about the future of the Asbury Church, 7-0 ▶ video. The firm, chosen unanimously by a review team including Councilmembers Bud Jacobs and Cindy Pearson and former Mayor Betsy Davis, has done this work for other African American churches and was the cheapest of the two finalists. But it proposed 300 days, not the 120 the Town asked for, to avoid surveying people in summer. Littleton balked: "we asked for 120 and they propose 300." The Town has done community outreach before, he said, "and it didn't take 300 days," and he pointed out that 300 people turned out for Mickie Gordon Park in June. Jacobs said the church had taken this long because Council tried twice to do it right, and the 120 days was "an arbitrary number." Staff later negotiated a report by December.

Ridgeview's Rules, on a Calendar

After a joint session with the Planning Commission on May 20, Deputy Town Manager Will Moore brought Council a schedule for new R-2 rules: drafts in June and July, Planning Commission hearings in the fall, adoption by October ▶ video. The likely changes: no more going above 25 feet in exchange for wider side yards, wider minimum side yards than today's 7.5 feet, a floor-area ratio to cap size, and garages pushed behind the house, since "one of the biggest takeaways from community input was the opposition to the front-loaded garages." An architectural control district would come later, if at all. Councilmember Kevin Daly asked what stops a builder from putting up a four-bay garage in the meantime. Nothing, Moore said: he had just issued two permits for new houses on Martin Avenue. Councilmember Pam Curran asked what would keep builders from going tall and skinny, or flat-roofed. Zoning, Moore said, can't regulate design.

The Water Operator Takes the Blame

Mark Inboden of IES, the Town's utility operator, reported that the sewer plant violated its permit limits for suspended solids and nitrogen in early April after a filter failed ▶ video. The violation was reported to the state, the filter restored by April 11, and repairs found along the way. Councilmember Peter Leonard-Morgan, the Council's utilities liaison, blamed "a member of staff that I think we all realize didn't have enough oversight" and thanked IES for taking responsibility and covering the costs. Inboden also explained the new federal limits on PFAS, the "forever chemicals": four parts per trillion, "about a teaspoon in an Olympic size swimming pool." Testing will run from late 2024 into 2025, at a cost nobody knows yet.

Also This Month

  • The budget: Council adopted the FY '25 budget, 7-0: general fund revenue just over $5 million, spending about $4.7 million, nearly $400,000 unallocated; real estate tax 12.36 cents; water and sewer rates up 3 percent, adopted 7-0 on May 9. Visit Loudoun got a $5,000 increase rather than the $20,000 a year it asked for. The Beautification Committee's planting care, $36,000 a year, goes in.
  • Strategic plan: Council adopted its 2024–25 priorities from the April retreat, after debating whether to "preserve and promote genuine community" or "strong community." It chose strong.
  • Mickie Gordon: the County still won't move the cricket players off the main field this season, so the Legion's new baseball team, now seven players with tryouts coming, will play at The Hill School and Cornerstone, Mike Meredith reported. Littleton wants County Parks Director Steve Torpy at the June meeting.
  • Town Hall: the contractor sent a new superintendent; it took three weeks to get a meeting. The front fountain is still on its side, waiting for a slab. The building's ribbon cutting was set for May 31, with or without it.
  • Middleburg Day drew 350 to 400 RSVPs; Bowa and Northwest Federal Credit Union sponsored it. Art in the Burg drew about 2,000 people, Curran reported. The Farmers Market likes its new home on the Town Green.
  • People: Angela Fletcher, from Strasburg, is the new Finance Director and Treasurer. Council thanked Terry Cooke, Planning Commission chair for four of his eight years, and Mike Kilian of EDAC. Business Development Director Ali MacIntyre was nominated as Visit Loudoun's tourism ambassador of the year. New Police Administrative Specialist Sue Foote started; police applicants are coming in through Indeed.
  • Business: Nomad, a food-focused successor to Old Ox, hopes to open in the old brewery space by summer, permits permitting. AT&T won a lease to add a generator at the Stonewall Avenue water tower. The Historic District Review Committee wants to talk about the entrance corridors into town.

Public Comment

May 9 ▶ video

  • Megan Gallagher, East Marshall Street, thanked Council for its April 25 votes.
  • Public hearings on the FY '25 budget and the water and sewer rates: no one spoke.

May 23 ▶ video

  • Terry Cooke, West Washington Street, thanked Council for his years on the Planning Commission and said he'll keep following the R-2 and short-term rental discussions.
  • Mike Meredith of Upperville, for the American Legion, reported that the youth baseball team will play at The Hill School and Cornerstone this year and hopes to be at Mickie Gordon next year.
  • Councilmember Kevin Daly, speaking as a resident before Memorial Day and the 80th anniversary of D-Day, said that whatever the casualty rates, "for those families that represents 100%."
  • Public hearing on the AT&T lease: no one spoke.

Tips & Wags (opinion)

Tip of the Hat to Mark Inboden, who stood up at the microphone, said what went wrong at the sewer plant, and paid to fix it.

Tip of the Hat to The Hill School, for lending a ballfield to a team the County wouldn't.

Wag of the Finger to a Town Hall contractor who needed three weeks to schedule a meeting about a building that's months late.

Coming Up

  • May 31: Middleburg Day and the Town Hall ribbon cutting, 4 p.m.
  • June: County Parks Director Steve Torpy at Council on Mickie Gordon Park; first draft of the R-2 rules; new Planning Commission chair.
  • July 1: the FY '25 budget takes effect.
  • August: FOIA training for Council from the Virginia FOIA Council.
  • Later: Johnson v. Town of Middleburg in Loudoun County Circuit Court; no hearing date yet.

Sources: the meeting videos (May 9, May 23), the Town's minutes (pending approval) and the transcripts attached to them. Quotes from Council meetings come from the Town contractor's transcripts; quotes from the lawsuit and the Town's statement are from Loudoun Now. Each ▶ link opens the video at the start of that agenda item.

Other sources cited: