Put Down the Hose

July 31, 2024 · By Jay Hubbard

Town Manager Danny Davis briefs Council on the drought and the wells, July 11, 2024. (Town of Middleburg meeting video)

The drought arrived in Middleburg's wells in July, and Council banned the garden hose. It also did the two things it had spent the spring talking about: it lowered the speed limit downtown to 20 miles an hour, and it sent new rules for Ridgeview's houses, including a cap on their size, to the Planning Commission. In between it took on the sandwich boards crowding the sidewalks.

Council met July 11 and July 25 with all members present. Mayor Bridge Littleton votes only to break a tie.

Put Down the Hose

On July 11 Town Manager Danny Davis laid out the numbers ▶ video. Most of Loudoun was in severe or extreme drought. With Well 4 out of service until the week before, the Town had leaned on Wells L and P, which feed the Stonewall plant. Well L's water "dropped down to a level above the pump of somewhere between 20 to 40ft," Davis said, against a normal 80 to 120. Well P was still deep but had fallen 25 to 40 feet in five weeks. Daniel Boyd of IES, the Town's operator, agreed: "It's better to be proactive with that than to wait until we have a serious problem." Only a long, soaking rain, a tropical storm, would really refill the aquifer, he said; a summer downpour runs off.

Councilmember Bud Jacobs put it bluntly: "Everybody in this town knows that if our wells suffer or go away, this town dries up and goes away as well." Council voted 7-0 for Level B conservation starting July 18: no outdoor use of Town water at all, residential or commercial, except plants watered by hand from a container. No hoses.

By July 25 the picture explained itself ▶ video. In June the Town pumped nearly five million gallons but treated only three million gallons of sewage; the difference went on lawns. The latest billing, 8.6 million gallons, was "the largest billing cycle we've ever done here at the town," Davis said, and he pointed to the irrigation systems at the new houses in the Residences at Salamander. Since the ban, residents have complied, Well 4 has been shutting off at night because the towers are full, and the wells are resting. But 86 percent of the county was in extreme drought, and Well L still sinks to 20 feet above the pump as soon as it runs. If a good soaking doesn't bring it back, Davis said, the Town may need a new well. Sensors going into the wells this summer will give hourly readings for the first time. The restrictions will stay until real rain comes, likely into September; Council asked staff not to promise a date.

Twenty Downtown

On July 11 Council adopted the new speed limits, 7-0 ▶ video. Chief Shaun Jones tried driving 15 and found it hard to hold, so the recommendation became 20 everywhere: on Washington Street from roughly the National Sporting Library to just past the Exxon, and on Federal, Madison, Marshall and Stonewall Streets and The Plains Road. Council also asked VDOT to move the 25 zone on West Washington Street out past Windy Hill Road. Chestnut and Reed Streets, the routes to the Salamander residences, and the short side streets may follow once staff works out the signs, which state law requires before anyone can be ticketed.

Residents had made the enforcement case at the lectern. John Pittman said that without enforcement, "this is just a symbolic solution to the problem." Jilann Brunett said that in years on Main Street she had watched drivers speed, make U-turns and pass into oncoming traffic, "and I have never seen one ticket given." Littleton noted the officers issue twice as many warnings as tickets, and suggested flipping that. Jones promised to take traffic enforcement on personally, add part-time officers and seek grants for overtime. The full-time vacancy is still open; applicants keep failing background checks.

Thirty Percent

On July 25 Council voted 7-0 to send the R-2 amendments to the Planning Commission, with a floor-area ratio of 0.30 ▶ video. Deputy Town Manager Will Moore's survey of every house in R-2 made the case: the 17 newest average 4,678 square feet and a ratio of 0.53; the rest average 2,454 square feet and 0.20. The draft also widens side yards to 10 feet, caps height at 25 feet, cuts lot coverage to 25 percent, bans front-loading garages, and puts detached garages behind the house.

Residents disagreed on the cap. Bonnie Burns of Walnut Street, whose own small house has a ratio of 0.37, asked Council to wait on it and see whether the other changes are enough. Megan Gallagher asked for 0.35 and every other tool. Councilmember Pam Curran wondered whether it was needed. Littleton said the other tools had been tried: "we did lot, we did side yard, we did front yard, we did height and they failed," and "seven out of ten residents want this tear down and rebuild and this development pattern stopped." Tearing down a 2,000-square-foot house to build a 5,000-square-foot one, he said, "it's the business model," and one developer at the October meeting had since split a lot and started two houses with front-loading garages. The Planning Commission holds its hearing in August; Council could adopt in October.

Sidewalk Signs

Littleton asked Council to rein in sandwich boards, including the Town's own ▶ video. "Some of the signs are so wide you actually can't get a wheelchair past," he said, and with about 150 businesses downtown, "if it's open for one, it's open for all." Councilmember Peter Leonard-Morgan called them "a bit of an eyesore and a danger." Town Attorney Martin Crim pointed to Culpeper's permit program; Moore, who said he'd once been told to back off enforcing the sidewalk rules, will bring a permit proposal in August or September.

Also This Month

The lawsuit: the Town's insurer appointed a defense attorney for Salamander Farms' suit, who asked the court to make the full record of Council's decision part of the case. By July 25 motions had been filed; no hearing date yet.
Richmond: Council agreed to spend up to $2,000 for Crim to draft fixes to SB 544, the state's short-term rental law, for the Coalition of Loudoun Towns to take to Delegate Gary Higgins and Senator Russet Perry, both of whom voted against it; the other towns will be asked to chip in. Council declined to let its advisory committees meet entirely online under a new state law, after Town Clerk Rhonda North said the rules would burden volunteers.
Money: preliminary FY '24 numbers beat the budget in both funds, mostly on interest earnings at about 5.5 percent. Council will ask the County for capital money for the Asbury Church, first, and South Madison Street.
Asbury Church: a 3D scan now lets anyone tour the church online; the community survey went out July 25 by mail and online. A structural engineer is checking the building.
Water: Well 4 came back July 2, filtering out iron and manganese; the new clear well should be running in a month, after a fix for leaking concrete that came with a 15-year warranty. Sewer main inspections go out to bid.
Calendar: the Citizens Academy is postponed to fall after only two people applied. The Volunteer Appreciation Reception is October 29, theme "You're Our Heroes." Donna Strama said a car left the road near spectators on Marshall Street at the Fourth of July, and asked that the street be closed next year. Three streetlights knocked down by a suspected impaired driver are on order. Megan Tuttle joins the Sustainability Committee. Intern Landon Allmond finished his summer.

Public Comment

July 11 ▶ video

Bonnie Burns, Walnut Street, supported the R-2 changes but asked Council to hold off on a floor-area ratio until it sees what the others do.
Donna Strama, Orange Drive, asked that Marshall Street be closed during the Fourth of July after a car left the road near spectators, and that the town throw a party for Mark Metzger, who is closing Highcliffe Clothiers and retiring.
John Pittman, Piedmont Drive, supported 20 miles an hour, starting at the east edge of town, with speed strips and enforcement; he suggested speed cameras if the law ever allows them.
Jilann Brunett, Foxcroft Road, said lower limits mean nothing without tickets, and that the west end and The Plains and Lincoln Roads need protecting too.
Megan Gallagher, East Marshall Street, supported the speed limits and water restrictions and asked Council to send every R-2 tool, including a 0.35 floor-area ratio, to the Planning Commission.

July 25: no one spoke.

Tips & Wags (opinion)

Tip of the Hat to everyone who let the lawn go brown in July. The wells noticed.

Tip of the Hat to Jilann Brunett, who has been telling the Town for years to measure its wells, and who will finally get hourly readings.

Wag of the Finger to irrigation systems running in a drought. Eight point six million gallons is a record nobody should want.

Coming Up

July 18: mandatory water restrictions take effect, until further notice.
August: Planning Commission briefing and public hearing on the R-2 amendments; Council's only August meeting; the sandwich-board permit proposal; the Summer Sidewalk Sale.
September 5: County meeting on Mickie Gordon Park. September 11: Asbury Church community meeting. September 21: Oktoberfest.
October: Council hearing and possible adoption of the R-2 rules. October 29: Volunteer Appreciation Reception.

Sources: the meeting videos (July 11, July 25), 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.