Way Too Much
Neighbors of the old Middleburg Barn on Route 50 came to Council in June about plans for a 40-room inn with a restaurant and an events barn on the site, outside town but drawing on the same groundwater the Town's wells depend on. With well levels falling, Council asked residents to save water. It also voted to appeal a court ruling in Sheila Johnson's short-term-rental lawsuit, and the Planning Commission leaned toward allowing rooftop dining by permit.
Council met June 11, with Councilmembers Kevin Daly and Darlene Kirk absent, and June 25 with all members present. Danny Davis is gone; Interim Town Manager Bryan Foster is aboard, and Deputy Town Manager Will Moore served as acting town manager at both meetings. Mayor Bridge Littleton votes only to break a tie.
Way Too Much
Deborah Collins, who lives a mile east of town near the site, listed the plan: a 40-room inn for about 100 guests, a 99-seat restaurant, a 17,000-square-foot banquet facility and more than 320 parking spaces, over 53,000 square feet in all ▶ video. "The question before Council is not whether growth should occur. The question is whether growth of this scale is consistent with the vision residents have long had for Middleburg." Dean Fjelstul of Chase Hollow Lane, a neighbor, raised water and Route 50 traffic. "I try to water those trees to keep them alive and my well goes dry," he said.
The property is in the County, not the Town, so Council has no vote. Littleton said the plan doesn't fit "the character of the community, especially right there on Route 50," and named traffic and water as his other worries. Years ago a proposal behind the Cider Barn wanted about 30 rooms, he recalled; this is double that. He called the plan "way too much, way too much" ▶ video. Council agreed he and staff would write to the Board of Supervisors, enlist Supervisor Laura TeKrony and the Coalition of Loudoun Towns, and speak at County meetings.
At the Planning Commission on June 22, Moore explained why that may not be enough ▶ video. The restaurant is kept at 100 seats or fewer, which he said keeps it by-right under County rules. If the whole plan is by-right, the Supervisors can't stop it, only urge County reviewers, including the Health Department on wells and septic, to be thorough. Read as a layperson, Moore said, the County rules would allow events of up to 100 people daily, more twenty times a year, and outdoor music until midnight. Councilmember Chris Hersh estimated the inn alone would use as much water as 25 to 35 three-bedroom houses.
Under a new state law taking effect July 1, Council will no longer be able to act the same night on an item raised at the meeting itself, as it did with the Manor letter. Council added the rule to its procedures, 7-0, and Town Clerk Rhonda North asked residents to raise issues early.
Save Water, Please
On June 11 Council declared voluntary water conservation, 5-0, starting June 12 ▶ video. Moore showed the whole state under a drought warning and Northern Virginia at emergency level. Wells 4, L and P all declined through May. "May wasn't that hot. And I don't think people were doing a lot of watering yet," Littleton said. "The trend is in the wrong direction."
By June 25, Well 4's resting level had dropped almost 50 feet in May, Well P was falling faster as it ran harder, and Well L wasn't recovering even when shut off ▶ video. Turning on Well 3 helped. Asked about mandatory measures, Vince Gugliotta of IES said, "I would definitely consider it," and named lawn irrigation the biggest offender. Council will decide in July with June's numbers.
"We have a finite number of wells. It has a finite amount of water," Littleton said. A long-term fix, a new well or something else, will take years. The Well 3 treatment plant in the Town's federal request would make it a full producing well.
Rain barrels sold at a Town discount are coming back for discussion. The Sustainability Committee meets July 7 on conservation tips, and Littleton asked for ideas for businesses too, like serving water only on request.
The Appeal
On May 18, Circuit Judge James Plowman sent Sheila Johnson's application for short-term rentals of a home she built on the resort property back to Council for another look (Loudoun Now). Council denied it in April 2024. Moore told the Planning Commission the judge denied the Town's motion to dismiss and remanded on the count about how the Town reads residential use, without deciding who was right. After a closed session on June 25, Council voted 7-0 to appeal.
Meanwhile staff are rewriting the comprehensive plan's short-term-rental language. The ordinance allows up to 180 nights a year, but Council has never again approved anything near that, and state law means the Town can't amend the ordinance without risking it entirely. The draft plan suggests 60 nights or fewer and no more than a quarter of the homes in any neighborhood. The intent since 2016, Moore said, is that no home be used mainly for short-term rentals.
Rooftops, by Permit
The Planning Commission on June 22 heard from the chairs of two Town committees ▶ video:
- EDAC's Vickie Bendure recommended case-by-case review with rules on lighting, sound and hours.
- HDRC's Tim Clites said the committee would approve the Fun Shop rooftop only if nothing about it could be seen from the street. Leesburg told him sound is the hardest thing to regulate. If in 20 or 30 years there are "multiple places where people are above us looking down" at Christmas in Middleburg, he said, "that feels urban to me."
- Councilmember Cindy Pearson favors a permit with strict limits; no pools or pickleball.
Megan Gallagher disagreed at public comment. "I think this is an urban fad that does not belong in communities, rural villages," she said. "You're trying to push it away so you don't see it, but you could hear it." Chair Bud Jacobs recalled Billy Mitchell's aerial photos of the town, in which Middleburg is still easy to recognize today.
The Commission settled on rooftop dining by special use permit only, with standards, and ground-level dining by-right with simple standards on noise and lighting. Planner Amy Rogers will draft the text for July.
Also This Month
- Asbury Church: Council hired Convergent Nonprofit Solutions for $25,000 plus expenses to plan the capital campaign, 7-0. Work starts in September, after the state's grant decision, so the campaign can reach donors before year-end giving. The goal is $1 million to $2 million for construction, depending on the grant, plus $2 million for an endowment. Cash donations are just under $20,000 and pledges $135,000. North submitted the 1,100-page, $1 million state grant application; construction plans go to Council July 23. The oral histories were nominated for a VML award. - Parking: the Methodist church takes back its lot from the Town July 1. Linda Taylor said zoning doesn't let the church offer paid short-term parking, and if that can't change, the lot will close on weekends. The Commission asked staff for the simplest fix. - Crosswalk: Jane Covington asked the Commission to back a crosswalk at Federal and South Pendleton for The Hill School path. It's VDOT's call. - The old Fun Shop: a site plan for 115 West Washington Street, with a restaurant and three apartments, came in with multiple deficiencies, including fire access. - Comprehensive plan: Gallagher and Nancy Gardner of North Hamilton Street backed keeping the historic houses on East Marshall Street residential on the future land use map. Commissioner Carolyn Hersh said area wells have grown from 900 to over 18,000, and she wants water in the plan. - Staff: - Jennifer Bell, formerly of Harrisonburg tourism, Winchester's downtown and Salem, Massachusetts' Main Street program, became Director of Community Engagement June 29. - Planner Amy Rogers was appointed deputy zoning administrator. - Jessica Davis joined the Arts & Cultural Events Committee. - Other business: - Trash and recycling rates rise 8 percent, 7-0, after fuel costs rose 44 percent. - Sewer repairs began June 25 on West Washington Street, with a look at the water main underneath. - Council cancelled its first August meeting. - The volunteer reception is October 29. - The Museum invited everyone to Levin Powell's birthday on July 19. - A closed session covered a lawsuit by Cooper Building Services. - The County special use permit for the Mickie Gordon Park renovation has been refiled. Moore said the plans match the concept the public preferred.
Public Comment
June 11 ▶ video
- Deborah Collins, who lives near the proposed Middleburg Manor east of town, objected to its scale.
- Dean Fjelstul, Chase Hollow Lane, raised water, wastewater and Route 50 safety.
June 25 ▶ video
- Merley Lewis, of the Middleburg Museum, invited Council to Levin Powell's birthday and the Fourth of July reading of the Declaration.
Tips & Wags (opinion)
Tip of the Hat to the neighbors who came to Town Hall about a project outside the Town's lines. The groundwater doesn't stop at the town limits either.
Tip of the Hat to Rhonda North, for an 1,100-page grant application on top of everything else.
Wag of the Finger to a County rule that lets a 99-seat restaurant skip the review a 101-seat one gets. One chair shouldn't decide whether the public is heard.
Coming Up
- July 4: Independence Day, with the new Community Center grill.
- July 7: Sustainability Committee on water conservation.
- July (first meeting): Council decides on mandatory water conservation.
- July 19: Levin Powell's birthday at the Museum.
- July 23: Asbury construction plans to Council.
- July 27: Planning Commission on rooftop dining and parking.
- September: state grant decision for the Asbury Church.
Sources: the meeting videos (June 11, Planning Commission, June 22, June 25), the Town's minutes (pending approval) and the transcripts attached to them, and Loudoun Now for the court ruling. Quotes come from the Town contractor's transcripts; each ▶ link opens the video at the start of that agenda item.