If Monday's public input meeting on western Loudoun zoning is any indication, the majority of citizens want to keep low-density zoning in the western portion of the county.
While a few speakers asked for zoning that would allow more density, the majority urged the protection of open space in Loudoun's rural expanses.
There are currently two supervisor-initiated proposals before the county on western Loudoun zoning.
One, sponsored by supervisors Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) and Jim Clem (R-Leesburg) would allow one house per 20 or 40 acres with a one house per 7.5 or 15 acres rezoning option.
The other, sponsored by supervisors Bruce Tulloch (R-Potomac) and Mick Staton (R-Sugarland Run), would allow one house per 10 or 20 acres with a clustering option.
In an attempt to decrease the already-rampant politicizing of the issue, the proposals were simply known as Option 1 and Option 2, but many speakers Monday still referred to them by the supervisors who had initiated them.
Earlier this year, the Virginia Supreme Court threw out the slow-growth measures in the west that allowed one house per 20 to 50 acres. The low-density zoning, enacted in 2003, had initiated a slew of lawsuits from developers who wanted building rights on their land, as well as local landowners who wanted to sell parts of their land.
Supervisors have indicated that a final decision on what will happen in the west may not be made until next year.
THE FIRST public input session on western Loudoun zoning saw a packed auditorium in Loudoun Valley High School last week, with the vast majority speaking in favor of low-density zoning.
The Ashburn meeting, held at Stone Bridge High School Monday evening, saw less of a turnout and a less definitive voice for low density, but the majority still spoke out against high density.
The big concerns about more building that have echoed in recent years through the county, one of the country's fastest growing, popped up again Monday night.
Linda Singer, who owns a bookstore in Purcellville, expressed concern about water availability.
"In Round Hill now, without building any houses, if there were a fire on either end of town, there wouldn't be enough [water] to save both," she said.
Anthony Fasolo moved to Leesburg in 1994 and worried about traffic.
"We already have a rush hour in Leesburg, which we didn't have when we moved here 10 years ago," he said.
Jean Brown, a bed and breakfast and cattle farm owner near Lincoln, said agricultural businesses would suffer in the face of suburbanization.
"Housing density and agriculture just do not mix," she said. "It's like oil and water."
SOME actual eastern Loudouners showed up to speak as well, even as the issue has promoted the already-piquant divide between suburban eastern and rural western Loudoun.
Nancy Taylor, a Sugarland Run resident, wondered about the increased taxes that come with increased population needing increased services such as schools and law enforcement.
"I can only conclude that some people are being greedy and are out to make a lot of money at the huge expense of the Loudoun County taxpayers," she said.
Stevens Miller is an Ashburn resident and member of the county's ad-hoc Zoning Review Committee, so he abstained from outright support of either proposal. But he admitted being troubled by increased growth.
"If you build more homes out west, traffic is going to flow through where I live now," he said.
"I'm not opposed to development," he added, but encouraged supervisors to investigate the possibility of a "phased" plan.
A few speakers encouraged a return to A-3 zoning, which would allow one house per three acres. It was that zoning that was eliminated in the 2003 rezoning of the west, sparking the lawsuits.
William Lay's family has farmed in Loudoun County for five generations. He now has 40 acres and wants to sell some of it to fund his retirement.
"Sure, I'd like to have three-acre zoning," he said. "No question about it. I could be satisfied with the five acres."
The Board of Supervisors held a work session to discuss the public input sessions on Wednesday night, after The Connection's press time.
To read the two proposals currently under consideration, visit http://www.loudoun.gov/b&d/zoning.