Twenty on Washington Street

June 30, 2024 · By Jay Hubbard

Council reviews draft R-2 zoning rules, June 27, 2024. (Town of Middleburg meeting video)

In January VDOT told Middleburg that slowing Washington Street to 20 miles an hour would cost drivers 16 seconds and hurt "livability." In June the town got the power to do it anyway, and the Police Chief brought a map. Council also saw the first numbers for capping the size of new houses in Ridgeview, heard from the County's parks director that Pop Gordon Field will go back to baseball, while the staff worked through two large public-records requests and Council met with its lawyers on the Salamander lawsuit.

Council met June 13 without Mayor Bridge Littleton, Vice Mayor Chris Bernard presiding, and June 27 with everyone. The Mayor votes only to break a tie.

Twenty on Washington Street

HB 1071 became law after the House rejected the Governor's amendments, and it lets towns like Middleburg lower speed limits to as little as 15 miles an hour on their own streets. On June 27 Chief Shaun Jones proposed 20 on Washington Street from The Plains Road to Jay Street, and 15 on Marshall, Federal, and Madison Streets from The Hill School to Salamander Lane, narrow streets with few sidewalks where he gets the most speeding complaints ▶ video. Leesburg did the same in its historic district this spring.

Littleton read the chief's numbers: "you have a 90% survival rate if you're hit at 18 miles an hour," 70 percent at 25, 20 percent at 30. "It's the 20 to 30 mile an hour speed where you go from way more likely to live to way more likely to dying." Drivers run about five over whatever is posted, he said, so a 20 sign keeps them near 25. He credited Scott Kasprowicz with getting the law through Richmond.

Not everyone wanted to go that slow. "If you go to 15, you're going to be crawling," said Councilmember Cindy Pearson, who suggested Council members drive Leesburg's 20 zone first. Councilmember Kevin Daly would make every residential street 15 and wants tickets, not just signs; he suggested Council members walk the town instead. Councilmember Bud Jacobs wants 20 to run west to the fire station and lower limits on The Plains Road. Councilmember Pam Curran said Chestnut Street has become a speedway since it opened to the Residences at Salamander. Bernard warned that a patchwork would leave drivers hunting for signs instead of watching for pedestrians. Staff will come back with a recommendation and an ordinance after July 1. Limits above 25, west of town, still need VDOT.

How Big Is Too Big

Deputy Town Manager Will Moore brought the first draft of the new R-2 rules ▶ video: side yards widened from 7.5 to 10 feet; no more building above 25 feet in exchange for wider side yards; lot coverage cut from 30 to 25 percent; no more five-foot side yards on small, nonconforming lots, where one owner can't get a lawn mower to the back yard without crossing the neighbor's; detached garages in the rear yard; and front-loaded garages banned. Bernard thought banning attached garages was "a little overkill" so long as the doors don't face the street; Councilmember Darlene Kirk said corner lots will need case-by-case judgment.

The big new idea is a floor-area ratio, capping a house's size in proportion to its lot. Moore offered four options from 0.40 to 0.25. Of the last 17 houses built or permitted in R-2, he said, "there's only one home on this list of 17 that would comply under any of those scenarios": a 2,600-square-foot house at 3 Reed Street. Even at 0.25, a large Ridgeview lot could hold a 5,700-square-foot house; the typical older Ridgeview house is about 2,000. Lots over 12,500 square feet would be treated as 12,500, so no house could exceed 5,000 square feet at 0.40. Curran asked whether caps would cut property values; Littleton and Jacobs said appraisers value what's there and the land, and staff will ask a local appraiser. Council agreed to pursue a floor-area ratio. Littleton also asked where the water goes: Ridgeview has no real stormwater system, and every new driveway and patio sends more downhill. Council aims to send the draft to the Planning Commission July 25.

Mickie Gordon: Three Plans in September

County Parks Director Steve Torpy told Council on June 13 that his consultant started over and will bring three concept plans to a community meeting September 5 ▶ video. The list he gave the designer: "Pop Gordon Field going back to baseball," the lights, open space for unorganized play, real restrooms, gravel roads and parking, the recycling center moved, a bigger pavilion, the old farmstead and the park's African American history. Bernard, presiding, asked for the plans a month early so residents could study them: "We don't want to slow this thing down, but we got to get it right." Torpy said he'd try (Loudoun Now, June 17). The Asbury Church meeting, also set for September 5, moved to September 11.

Also This Month

The lawsuit and the records requests: Council met in closed session June 13 and 27 with counsel on the lawsuit filed by Salamander Farms, LLC. Town Clerk Rhonda North and Moore both reported that two large FOIA requests were taking much of their time.
Richmond: besides the speed law, the General Assembly fixed last year's FOIA ruling on what counts as a meeting, standardized public hearing notices, and let councils set expiration dates on special use permits. Littleton asked Delegate Gary Higgins to try to repeal or rewrite SB 544, the short-term rental law, next session.
Middleburg Day is now official: the Friday after Memorial Day, every year, by proclamation, 7-0. Council members heard nothing but praise for the first one and for the Town Hall ribbon cutting.
Juneteenth: Donna Strama said the town wasn't marking the holiday; the third annual Town celebration, run by Chief Jones and Ali MacIntyre, drew about 60 people at Town Hall on the following weekend. Davis hopes to hold it on the day itself next year.
Water: Well 4 should be back in service July 1 or 2, with the clear well tank going in soon. The region is in drought again, though there are no restrictions yet; a state health grant will put sensors in the wells for hourly readings and pay to inspect the water and sewer mains. Pearson asked for notice next time a contractor drains a water tower at dawn.
Asbury Church: a County building official raised possible structural concerns; the Painter Lewis study 15 months ago found none, but took no photographs. A structural engineer will look.
Staff and money: new Finance Director Angela Fletcher reports revenues running ahead of spending. Officer Hinegardner helped get a lost dementia patient home. Sandwich-board signs are multiplying, and a permit proposal is coming. Only one person had signed up for the August Citizens Academy.
People: Dev Roszel is the Planning Commission's new chair. Pearson noted the death of Jimmy Hatcher, "one of our local icons." The August 8 meeting is canceled.

Public Comment

June 13 ▶ video

Megan Gallagher, East Marshall Street, thanked the Town for Middleburg Day and asked Council to press the County for details of its Mickie Gordon plans: baseball and soccer restored, the lights, the open space along Route 50, little new construction.
Donna Strama, Orange Drive, asked the Town to republish its articles on ivy killing trees and buildings, and said the Town wasn't recognizing Juneteenth; she suggested free tickets to a local Juneteenth dinner that cost $93.
Gary Nickelson, Commander of American Legion Post 295, reviewed the Legion's year, including its new baseball team and $4,000 raised to help 40 veterans.

June 27 ▶ video

Mike Morency, who owns five lots on Reed Street, supported the R-2 draft and the garage ban and asked for three off-street parking spaces instead of two, since narrow streets like Reed fill up with work vans.

Tips & Wags (opinion)

Tip of the Hat to Will Moore, whose spreadsheet of the last 17 houses showed in one page what years of complaints about Ridgeview couldn't.

Tip of the Hat to Scott Kasprowicz, who got a bill through Richmond that VDOT said the Town didn't need.

Wag of the Finger to the water-tower contractor who started draining it at dawn without telling anyone.

Coming Up

July 1–2: Well 4 back in service, if all goes well. July 4: fireworks at the Charter School; Salamander Lane and North Pendleton Street close around the show.
July 11 and 25: second R-2 draft and the floor-area ratio decision; possible referral to the Planning Commission. A speed-limit ordinance.
August 8: meeting canceled.
September 5: County community meeting on Mickie Gordon Park's three plans. September 11: Asbury Church community meeting. September 21: Oktoberfest.

Sources: the meeting videos (June 13, June 27), the Town's minutes (pending approval) and the transcripts attached to them. Quotes come from the Town contractor's transcripts; each ▶ link opens the video at the start of that agenda item.

Other sources cited:

Loudoun Now, June 17, 2024: "Planning Continues for Mickie Gordon Park Renovations"