A group of 25 western Loudoun landowners have entered the fray over the Virginia Supreme Court decision that threw out the slow-growth measures on their land in March.
The group, which collectively owns about 4,000 acres, has requested to be named as a defendant in the case. The announcement was made Monday among some time pressure: the Loudoun County Circuit Court has yet to execute the Supreme Court's order but will do so on April 15.
In executing the Supreme Court's order, the circuit court could revert the zoning in the west to one house per 3 acres — a drastic change from the current zoning, which allows only one house per 20 or 50 acres, and could potentially open the door to 58,000 new homes.
According to the group's attorney, Philip C. Strother of Strother Law Offices in Richmond, the group has requested a meeting to become scheduled on the court docket this Monday.
SHEEP FARMER Martha Polkey, of Lovettsville, joined the group of landowners because of her alarm over the Supreme Court ruling.
The court ruled unanimously that the county had failed to properly notify landowners of the pending rezoning, despite the fact that the county sent 64,000 letters four separate times to landowners.
"When the county sends me a letter about my land, I read it," Polkey said. "I got several and so did my neighbors."
The board's inaction so far on the case — the deadline to file an intent to appeal came and went weeks ago — spurred Polkey to action.
"We are not confident that the Board of Supervisors will protect ... the interests of its residents," she said.
Fellow Lovettsville sheep farmer Malcolm Baldwin recently planted the first seedlings in his vineyard. He's part of a booming rural economy in the western portion of the county — an economy he fears is threatened by the potential addition of thousands of new homes.
Baldwin harvests his hay with the help of a neighbor's expensive equipment. With a subdivision next door instead of a farm, he said, his own farm could not survive.
"Our sheep raising business depends on neighboring farms," Baldwin said. "This business will die if we have 3-acre zoning subdivisions."
What's Next?
Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Horne will execute the Virginia Supreme Court's order on April 15. What exactly he will require the county to do is unknown. The Board of Supervisors has completed its closed sessions to discuss the litigation and will publicly discuss as a whole, for the first time, the court's decision at its business meeting on April 19. The board will also address the desires of the western Loudoun citizens who wish to intervene at that time. The meeting will be held in the County Government Center on 1 Harrison St., S.E., Leesburg.