HomeMy Public PortalAbout2011_tcmin0426COUNCIL MEETING
April 26, 2011
Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Umstattd presiding.
Council Members Present: David Butler, Thomas Dunn, II, Katie Sheldon Hammler,
Kenneth "Ken" Reid, Kevin Wright and Mayor Umstattd.
Council Members Absent: Fernando "Marty" Martinez.
Staff Present: Town Manager John Wells, Town Attorney Jeanette Irby, Deputy Town
Manager Kaj Dentler, Director of Public Works Tom Mason, Library Director
Alexandra Gressitt, Chief of Police Joseph Price, Master Police Officer Christopher
Tidmore, Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning Brian Boucher, Zoning
Administrator Christopher Murphy, Environmental Planner Irish Grandfield, Director
of Finance Norm Butts, Land Acquisition Manager Keith Wilson, and Clerk of Council
Lee Ann Green
AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. INVOCATION: Council Member Dunn
3. SALUTE TO THE FLAG: Mayor Umstattd
4. ROLL CALL: Showing Council Member Martinez absent.
ITEMS
5. MINUTES
a. Work Session Minutes of April 11, 2011
On a motion by Council Member Hammler, seconded by Council
Member Butler, the minutes of the April 11 work session were approved as
presented.
b. Regular Session Minutes of April 12, 2011
On a motion by Council Member Hammler, seconded by Council
Member Butler, the minutes of the April 12 regular session were approved as
presented.
6. ADOPTING THE MEETING AGENDA
On a motion by vice Mayor Wright, seconded by Council Member Butler, the
meeting agenda was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Reid, Wright, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 6 -0 -1 (Martinez absent)
7. PRESENTATIONS
a. Certificates of Recognition Special Olympics
On a motion by Council Member Hammler, seconded by Council
Member Butler, Certificates of Recognition were presented to the following
participants and coaches in the 2011 Special Olympics Basketball Championships
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Coaches
William D. Brichoux
Jeff Erikson
Caitlin Marcotte
Participants
Phillip Coe
Joe Downs
Cassie Huston
Jared Leary
Bill Mahood
b. Certificates of Appreciation Cyber Security Forum
On a motion by Council Member Hammler, seconded by Council
Member Butler, Certificates of Appreciation were presented to the following
persons/ businesses for their support of the 2011 Cyber Security Forum held at
Ida Lee Recreation Center on February 5, 2011:
Leesburg Police and Explorers
MPO Christopher Tidmore
Cadet Sergeant Mark Trent
Cadet Ian Hallman
Best Buy /Geek Squad
Susan Berard, General Manager
Kenneth Spann, Jr.
Michael Bower
Ledo Pizza
Emory Dean
Technology and Communications Commission
J. B. Anderson
James Wynn
Dan Dillon
Audrey Wollett
Rebecca Hultin
Matt Davis
Adam Bell
Ashley Lyddane
Steven Bagot
Cadet Lieutenant Ezekiel Terryberry
Cadet Robert Garcia
Richard White, Jr.
Andrew Kirkendall
Saad Karimullah
Aaron Wenzel
Sandra Smallwood
April 26, 2011
c. Tolbert Awards
The Environmental Advisory Commission presented 2011 Tolbert
Awards to Natalie Pien and the Smart's Mil Middle School Ecology Club
d. Proclamation Preservation Week
On a motion by Council Member Hammler, seconded by Council
Member Butler, the folloing was proclaimed:
PROCLAMATION
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PRESERVATION WEEK
April 24 -30, 2011
Pass It On: Saving Heritage and Memories
April 26, 2011
WHEREAS, Across this country it is important to celebrate the role
history has contributed to our lives, shaping each one of us, and connecting us
with the diverse and unique heritage of our country's cities and states and
instilling community pride; and
WHEREAS, In 2005 the first comprehensive national survey of the
condition and preservation needs of the nation's collections reported that U.S.
institutions hold more than 4.8 billion items. Libraries alone hold 3 billion items
(63 percent of the whole).
WHEREAS, A treasure trove of uncounted additional items is held by
individuals, families, and communities including moving images and sound
recordings that capture performing arts, oral history, and other records of our
creativity and history; and
WHEREAS, Books, manuscripts, photographs, prints and drawings,
maps, textiles, paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, furniture, historic
landmarks, buildings, parks, and houses enhance quality of life, economic
development, education, and tourism; and
WHEREAS, Preserving these collection materials promotes democracy,
protects and chronicles the past, communicates the present, and helps shape the
future; and
WHEREAS, Natural disasters of recent years have taught us that
personal, family, and community collections are equally at risk and in jeopardy
should a disaster strike; and
WHEREAS, Preservation Week will begin to address preservation
concerns of the valuable collections of individuals, families, and collectors by
providing Web resources, success stories, and ideas for programs and projects,
focusing on libraries, like Thomas Balch Library, as a place for preserving our
rich heritage; and
WHEREAS, Individuals at all levels of government and in the private
sector must assume responsibility for providing the support that will allow these
collections to survive; and
NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Mayor and Council of the
Town of Leesburg in Virginia proclaim Preservation Week, April 24 -30, 2011
and encourage all residents of Leesburg, Virginia to visit Thomas Balch Library
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8. PETITIONERS
The petitioner's section was opened at 7:59 p.m.
There were no speakers.
The petitioner's section was closed at 8 p.m.
b. Substitute Performance Guarantee for Valley View Subdivision
April 26, 2011
this week to take advantage of preservation resources available at your library
and to enjoy the success of past preservation efforts.
e. Certificate of Appreciation Frank Holtz
On a motion by Council Member Hammler, seconded by Council
Member Butler, a Certificate of Appreciation was presented to Frank Holtz for
his service on the Standing Residential Traffic Committee.
9. APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA
On a motion by Vice Mayor Wright, seconded by Council Member Reid, the
following items were moved for approval as part of the Consent Agenda:
a. Performance Guarantee and Water and Sewer Extension Permits for
PMW Farms, Section 2
RESOLUTION 2011 046
Authorizing an Agreement and Approving a Performance Guarantee and
Water and Sewer Extension Permits for PMW Farms, Section 2
RESOLUTION 2011 047
Approving a Substitute Performance Guarantee for Valley View
Subdivision
c. Easements for the Route 15 (South King Street) Widening Phase I Project
RESOLUTION 2011 048
Declaring that a Public Necessity and Use Exists, and Authorizing an
Offer to Acquire Permanent and Temporary Easements for the Route 15
(South King Street) Widening Phase I Project
d. Initiating Changes to the Subdivision and Land Development Regulations
and Design and Construction Standards Manual
RESOLUTION 2011 049
Initiating Amendments to Various Articles and Sections of the Leesburg
Subdivision and Land Development Regulations and Design and
Construction Standards Manual to Make Changes Necessary to Comply
with Annual State Legislative Changes, Address Development
Application Types, Inactive Applications, and Sunset Provisions for
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Approved Site Plans and Provide Approval Authority for Capital
Improvement Plans
e. Supplemental Appropriation to the Parks and Recreation Department FY
2011 Budget for Private Tennis Lessions
RESOLUTION 2011 -050
Amending the FY 2011 General Fund Operating Budget and Making a
Supplemental Appropriation in the Amount of $100,000 to the Parks and
Recreation Department for the Tennis Center
f. Approval of Town Hall Art Gallery Exhibit by Amir Cizmic
RESOLUTION 2011 -051
Town Hall Art Gallery Approval of the Next Art Exhibit by Amir
Cizmic
The Consent Agenda was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Reid, Wright, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 6 -0 -1 (Martinez absent)
10. PUBLIC HEARINGS
a. Amending Chapter 34 (Utilities), Article II (Water System), Division 2
(User and Service Charges) of the Leesburg Town Code
The public hearing was called to order at 8:06 p.m.
Norm Butts: This establishes the threshold beyond which a customer can
be charged for the high use surcharge if they exceed the winter quarter by 35
then they will be charged at 45% of what happens in the winter quarter.
Sometimes we have customers who commonly are referred to as snowbirds.
They can be teachers on a sabbatical or employees sent on a temporary work
assignment. They use very little water during the winter quarter therefore they
are in jeopardy of hitting the high use surcharge very early in the succeeding
quarters. What we have done in the past is administratively when a person is
going to be absent from the town for an extended period of time during the winter
quarter we work with them establishing what the town and customer think is a
fair rate to use for the winter quarter and then go forward with the billing based
on that. As I say, we have done this administratively. The Utility Rate Advisory
Committee has suggested to you in it's recommendation that this administrative
procedure be codified in the town code and that is what you have before you this
evening. It would essentially put the public on notice that this administrative
process is available and that we will work with the public and customers in doing
that. The amendment has been publicly noticed and we will have a press release
on that and put a notice in our billing to customers and put a notice on the
website. I think everyone will know this procedure is available and it is in the
town code and we will move forward essentially as we have in the past.
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Dunn: what would the amount be? Or what would it be based on?
Norm: we have a number of situations that we will look at. We will look
to try to come up with an agreeable winter quarter usage figure. We will go back
and look at past winter quarters if they are available and take an average of those
winter quarters. If it's a situation where a customer has been out of town for an
extended period during the winter quarter but has been here the preceding winter
quarters we will look at that historical data to come up with a usage figure and
generally go forward with that. If that doesn't exist, we will perhaps take the
usage of the winter quarter in question, prorate it and try to come up with a
average as if they had been there the whole winter quarter and that's agreeable go
forward with that. If they've been absent for the whole winter quarter and have
no history we will go to some professional publications such as the American
water Works Association and we will take a commonly recognized figure,
generally it's 9000 gallons per person in the household. For a two person
household it would be 18,000 gallons. We would use one of those several means
in trying to work with the customer to develop a winter quarter figure.
Dunn: could we consider a winter quarter that would be based on a
minimal amount that is an average of the town? Our minimum usage in the town
and set it at that amount? Here's what I'm getting at, when John asked who sets
the rates that it is council, in this case council is referring that to you. And it
sounds like there could be a lot of flexibility in what that amount would be on a
customer by customer basis. That could cause issues with various customers, one
customer being charged more than the next. Is there the possibility of making it
just a flat minimal amount? What would you recommend it to be?
Butts: we have very few of these the year. To date has not been an issue.
What we would like to do is work with the customer and have a happy customer
going forward. If you set a threshold, you could take the average, say the average
is 18,000. If you set that and you're dealing with a one person household and
their historical average is 9000 gallons, then you set a higher average that is
necessary. I wouldn't see where that is something that the customer would take
issue with. If the policy decision and you would certainly make it easier for us
administratively. As I say it hasn't been a big problem. We enjoy working with
customers on this issue and we have had success. We haven't had any unhappy
customers.
Dunn: what I would be partial to is people knowing up front I'm going to
be gone in six days and this is the flat amount. That's what I'm asking you. I
think you wanted decision tonight. If if we were to come up with something
tonight, a flat rate what would you want that to be? As a minimal amount? 4000?
Butts: I'm not sure I'd be in favor of that. The process has worked well. As
I've said we don't have that many customers to deal with. With a flat rate, some
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people are going to be happy with that and some are not. I really don't know how
to respond to that off the top of my head.
Mayor: Let me ask Jeanette what we advertised in relation to what we
can do tonight.
Irby: what we advertised is the initiative to work with the customer. If
you want to set a flat rate we would need to re- advertise it.
Dunn: would the finance worker still be working with the customer?
Irby: we would need to find out what that rate is and advertising
appropriately.
Dunn: I guess what my issue is is it's taking away council directed
determination and giving that portion over to the finance department. I like the
initiative that were going to be doing this but I'm just a little bit uneasy about the
staff setting the rate. Thank you.
Reid: tell me Norm, how many people are snowbirds? What is the actual
number?
Butts: I think they statistically look at who they felt was not present for
one or another reason during the winter quarter and determined it was about 150-
200 customers. We haven't had near that many requests from our customers but
there could be that many customers out there that would call us and want to take
advantage of it particularly if we advertised it more broadly.
fund?
Reid: what would the fund lose? What is the impact in terms of the utility
Butts: I think it's minimal.
Reid: even with 150 people asking for a discount?
Butts: it's impossible to determine what the impact will be because we
don't know what the actual winter quarter would be. We know what they have
used during the winter quarter, but we don't know what the winter quarter issue
will be with normal activity other than the fact of what the historical record
shows us.
Reid: and other communities do the same thing, give it to the finance
department as opposed to the Council? Are you going to advertise it in the bill
that this is available to these people? I would like to have a follow -up on this
sometime in March. Would that be too soon? I think it would be good to get an
idea of what the usage is. I don't have a problem of it being on a case -by -case
basis that's why I am prepared to support it. I think the larger issue is what we
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were discussing last night in terms of essentially charging people for this one to
one ratio, charging people the same for sewer as water. It's not fair to the
thousands of people in this town whether they use sprinklers or not.
Wright: Norm just one thing, to clarify as the conversation has been
going on, we have been talking about setting a rate but what were talking about
right now is not so much setting a rate but addressing the impact of establishing a
winter quarter. Hopefully you will agree or correct me because I'm wrong, within
our billing system, the winter quarter is the basis of what will trip the high use
surcharge. So if my winter quarter usage is 0 to 1000 gallons, and I used 2 to 7000
gallons which is what a small household might use I've trip the high use
surcharge as soon as I've walked into the house. The way it had been described
to me several years ago there is some kind of basis of where we think it should be
and he gets calculated and we've agreed that it's 12,000 gallons and that gets
plugged in to their winter quarter. So they may still trip the high use, but it did we
based on actual high use not the fact of their absence. The only other question I
had, the language basically says we will have a process and at least the discretion
of how the process will be, but it doesn't necessarily highlight... I don't think it
necessarily needs to appear in the code, but is there some sort of written or
documented policy? If we go from five people calling to 150 people calling asking
for their winter quarter to be calculated, you're probably going to want some sort
of documented policy or procedure for how that will be documented.
Norm: yes we do we have a draft administrative regulation that under the
town code the town manager is given the authority to issue administrative rules
and regulations in this particular area. Essentially what we have done is taken our
ad hoc procedure and put it in writing and have asked the town manager to be
promulgated as an administrator for. And will also have a form to be filled out
and on record.
Wright: as long as you have a cover sheet it should be fine. I assume that
something that once that policy is finalize it could be circulated and posted for
those who want to take advantage of it.
Hammler: thanks for your report Norm. I think one of the key things you
mentioned is the emphasis on customer service. I think that as a council it's
important to empower the front line folks to look out for the customer. In keeping
with the spirit of what Kevin was saying I think it's important to document the
guidelines and the purpose and goal by which we're doing this. To what extent
we may need an appeals process for someone who does not agree with the
administrative rules think like that, but otherwise I think it straightforward for
tonight.
Butler: I think everybody's pretty much said everything that needs to be
said. I agree with some added discretion for town staff in applying that. Because
we can't treat everybody equally, what we need to do is treat everybody fairly. I
think staff has done a very good job of that in the past. But as councilmember
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Hammler mentioned if we suddenly get a rash of these, we may need to put a
little more structure into it. I'm hopeful that we can deal with that when it
happens. Thanks I think this closes a hole in our current structure. I'm glad that
were doing this.
Mayor: I would just like to say Norm, John, and Jeanette, I appreciate
your moving so quickly on this. It seemed to be perhaps the one thing that
seemed least fair to me about their rate structure. I know you guys have been
doing a good job without any authorization from council and taking care of
things on a case -by -case basis. I'm very happy to support this tonight.
There were no members of the public wishing to speak on this subject.
The public hearing was closed at 8:24 p.m.
On a motion by Vice Mayor Wright, seconded by Councilmember Butler,
the following was proposed:
ORDINANCE 2011 -0 -009
Amending Town Code Chapter 34 (Utilities), Article II (Water System),
Division 2 (User and Service Charges), to Add Section 34 -63.1 (Estimates
of Water Consumption when Customer is Absent
Dunn: as I said I'm going to support this. I just wish we had more
structure. Especially in regards to our utility rates, as we had a lively discussion
last night. And it seems like every time we have a discussion on the subject it gets
lively. Too often we have rushed into things and let those loose ends dangling.
Those loose ends are what is killing us. Again I wish this was more structured so
that we could tell people it's a minimal amount and it would be a better benefit.
I'm going to support it.
Reid: I just wanted to say that I appreciate my colleague's concerns.
Again, our sewer and water rates are not fair. They're just not. It is not fair to
charge somebody when they're out of town for quarter. They should have every
right in the world to request some sort of discount. The finance director can do
that then so be it. Folks are going to be told about this and the media is going to
report on it, which is a good thing. We have had several requests. I think that's
the thing we have to be searching for an Leesburg and we have to impress upon
the Board of Supervisors and our delegation, which is going to change with
redistricting, that were trying our best to come up with a fair system for
everybody. Right now, I'm very concerned that the system is not fair and this is
just one way of adding fairness. It would be nice to be able to say that we're doing
a flat rate, but here's an area where we can at least do things case -by -case. So it's a
good start.
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Hammler: glad I had a brisk run earlier otherwise I might not be calm
responding to that statement. I wholeheartedly disagree regarding this council not
working steadfastly to be set the rates.
Butler: yeah I just have to add that there is in the eyes of the holder. If
you're a user that uses a sprinkler system you definitely are most likely to have
the impression that rates are unfair. If you're a household with a number of
young children and are barely making ends meet, I'm sure you think this current
system is a lot more fair than giving the sprinkler users a big break so you can pay
more. I'm sure we will all discuss what is the broadest and most fair rate structure
we can put in place and I think that clearly council has some concerns overall in
that regard. We will try our best. The URAC has made it clear its a zero sum
game.
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Reid, Wright, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 6 -0 -1 (Martinez absent)
b. Amending Articles 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 18 of the Leesburg Zoning
Ordinance (2010 Batch Amendments)
The public hearing was opened at 8:28 p.m.
Chris Murphy: the batch amendment process is the annual review of the
zoning ordinance to correct those glitches or areas that we find in the everyday
use of the ordinance. And also to make changes that clarify the language...make
regulations easier to understand thereby making regulations easier to understand,
codify state regulations, and changes that are directed by town Council. Again
these are changes that are short of the major ordinance amendments such as the
sign ordinance or form -based code. These are simple things that we want to bring
to you on a yearly basis. This one is a little delayed as it is the 2010 batch. The
slides are organized in categories, for instance this one is for ease -of -use. They
just may be out of sequence, but are arranged by category and the best way to
describe what they do.
Mr. Murphy summarized the proposed changes.
Dunn: I noticed there were a number of places where it said the planning
commission did not recommend any changes to the existing ordinance.
them.
Murphy: they didn't recommend any changes to what I had provided
Dunn: I was just wondering why they were opposing so many of the
changes. That's reassuring.
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Reid: thank you very much Chris. The mayor told me you're not going
forward with that home business inspection requirement.
Murphy: we are not, no.
Reid: I want to thank the planning commission for not doing anything
with that. Just a couple of questions. In terms of the traffic impact analysis, all
you're doing is basically separating one from another?
Murphy: they always have been, it's just right now when you go into the
list of required submission items, it's embedded in the statement of justification.
We want to make sure it's clearly listed as a separate item to emphasize the
importance of that document. It also adds an additional language. What you're
doing is submitting your traffic impact analysis as a separate document. It's
always been that way, nothing new, but your statement of justification
summarizes your traffic impact analysis.
Reid: one of the things I noticed, usually when you do these batches, you
have a little memo as to why you're doing it and so forth. I did not see that here. I
did not see a justification document. I see the regulations and so forth. What is
the purpose of this, do you have some issues with applicants? Because you're
changing a lot of the language here.
Murphy: actually, on page 3, the paragraph that's in italics at the
beginning...
Reid: it just says that remedies the situation. Are you getting a lot of
applicants who have complained?
Murphy: no, it's just a clarification. So it's clear this is a traffic impact
analysis. So you don't miss it in your list of submission items and you're all set to
summarize it and make that part of your statement of justification.
Reid: getting to the monopoles, you use the word guy wire. It is guy, not
guide wire?
Murphy: It is guy wire.
Reid: With the six foot fencing, we're not going to have any issues with
FCC requirements? So the purpose of this is just to keep people out, is it to add
one more hurdle for the cell phone companies to come in here? Because we've
had complaints about monopoles?
Murphy: It's clear with groundmounted facilities, they want to fence the
facilities for limited access purposes. This is what we're doing now.
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Reid: so you're also saying with other camouflage techniques, stiffening
the requirements.
Murphy: we've always had that but by clarifying the language I wanted to
make sure that instead of just saying camouflage techniques and someone
interpreting that as a 200 foot tall pine tree, there are probably other methods of
design they could make it look suitable to the environment that it's in. Again you
have parts of town that are more rural and parts that are more urban. In more
urban settings, the camouflage or design may be different than in rural situations.
Reid: so you want to have that flexibility where the location is? Good
idea. Outdoor lighting, that's similar to the County's ordinance?
Murphy: I didn't actually write this portion of it. But I do believe what this
is is an amalgam of a number of other jurisdiction's lighting regulations. What
staff did is went through and analyzed other zoning regulations from jurisdictions
in northern Virginia to find out what they're doing.
Reid: but this would prohibit Christmas tree lighting?
Murphy: no not at all. This is for site lighting for developments. This is
your building lighting. This is if you want to put a spotlight on the flag or statue
to make sure you can do it, but we want to make sure if someone does that we
can ask them to shield it or redirected in a way based on regulations. It gives us
more ability get them what they need but not create a problem on adjacent
properties.
Reid: that's good in residential areas. I don't have a problem with it but I
just discovered the other day in Lansdowne there's some office properties that are
having difficulties with the County's ordinance because they are trying to improve
the lighting for the parking areas. I'm not talking about Lansdowne where there's
residences but Deerfield Avenue where there's no residences at all. This is not
some dark skies initiative. It's basically to give you stability if someone comes in
with a commercial property, like a pharmacy, which I will be getting to later, and
it's right next residential development..
Murphy: it's more clear to them and to us.
Reid: in terms of the eating establishments without the drive in, you're
only doing this for the airport, right?
Murphy: we are adding it to the airport.
Reid: we are not doing this for the I -1 district. Do you still need a special
exception for the standalone restaurant? I think that was the sticking point when I
remembered the tables for the Cardinal Park area.
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Brian Boucher: you can have it in the building if it's in the I -1 district,
25% of the building there. Standalone ones I don't believe we allow in the I -1
district. It's more for business type use.
Reid: the thing is they have no place eat. They have to get in their cars
and drive somewhere. So from the stand point of live, work, play, it puts more
cars on the road. I'm surprised with all the businesses that we have back there,
and specifically concerned with Cardinal Park as that's our major industrial Park
at this point. Miller Drive is the same way. You have that eatery there but you
have very few amenities. Is that the way it is with other districts like the county's
PD -IP?
Murphy: no you mentioned the P districts, you're coming in as part of a
rezoning in order to get the P district. As part of that, you show the uses that you
want and whether they will be integral to the building. Whether the buildings are
standalone... it's never been done purely as an office district. The fact of the
matter is that anyone in that district can add a restaurant by right as long as it's in
the building.
there.
Reid: but that's warehouses and flexspace. You can't do a restaurant
Murphy: I guess if it's a building that was established as a particular use
and then change to another one, that's still 25% of the buildings in that district.
Boucher: a standalone, we don't have that in the district yet. What we are
doing is looking at the town's land, and and were not sure whether the regional
office designation quite does the job. I think that's one of the things we're going
to be talking about. And I suspect it's going to lead to a change of some of the
land the zoning districts occupy.
Reid: the pharmacy...nonresidential districts, was this triggered by
Walgreens?
Murphy: no it's not. The only reason why it's there is we notice that we
had two separate definitions of pharmacy. Your typical Rite -Aid or Walgreens,
and the other one was something that was a vestige of the past where you get
your pharmaceutical drugs or medical devices, and that's it. So we wanted to get
rid of the one you don't see anymore and consolidate them into one.
Reid: the one thing I really had a problem with, even though I live on a
pipe stem, I'm sure you're grandfathering me.
Murphy: yes.
Reid: the other thing is that the BAR and /or staff reviewing sidewalks in
the historic district. Do we still have that in the regs that public works projects
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have to go to the BAR if they are in the H1? I have a real problem with that, I
really do. The brick sidewalk why would that have to be done? It is for a private
property owner? Is this part of the proposed downtown improvements? They
have to go to the BAR for that?
Murphy: yes.
Reid: well I don't know how the rest of my colleagues feel about that, but
I really think that's an unnecessary hurdle. It does say and /or by staff so we don't
have to do it.
Murphy: that's to determine whether you can have a 4 foot sidewalk
versus and 5 foot. It is some ability for me as the zoning administrator to
determine whether you can have a 4 foot.
Reid: that's good, I've always supported 4 foot sidewalks.
Murphy: one of the things that has to be demonstrated to me is whether
you can meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Reid: you have driveways every so often.
Murphy: right, you have stoops and whatnot and in some cases I won't
have the ability to give you 4 foot.
brick.
Murphy: that has nothing to do with it. What this does is clarify it and
make clear between the regulations that we have in place, which applies where.
One is for a 4 foot sidewalk that internal for pedestrian circulation versus the
sidewalks that we require along the street. That's all it does.
BAR.
Reid: we already have an ordinance that says all sidewalks have to be
Reid: I'm comfortable with staff reviewing it rather than bringing it to the
Murphy: all it does Sir, is when someone goes to the ordinance and it says
four foot on one page but 5 foot on the other, which one is it. All it does is make
sure that the person who is reading it understands.
Wright: a couple questions, on the airport restaurant what was the logic
behind having the percentage restriction, I think it was 25
Murphy: it's 25 %....is taking a cue from what we do in the I -1. It's a
district that is very similar to the I -1 relative to the adding it to the hangar spaces
and office spaces out there. It's just using something we have in place right now.
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Wright: do you have any feel, I know that the airport commission
continues to have great hope that hangar space may get built that would have a
level above it that would be dedicated to restaurant. Any more becomes a portion
of the building. Some of what I've heard described are envisioned would be more
than 25 Do you have a feel for, if you think of the Pro -Jet hangar with 25 of
that would be?
Murphy: I don't have the hard numbers we're anticipating for those. It's
just that the discussions that we had at the time, the 25% number was a
comfortable number for the people we were talking to. As I have said, we were
just borrowing it from the I -1. If something different comes in, then we can either
do a text amendment to that percentage or later on, as Brian mentioned, if we are
doing an update to the town plan as part of that discussion. If we want to
examine something different we can.
Wright: I think what you're really doing is answering the question. I think
you had conversations with the airport staff and the commission and they were
comfortable with that, right?
Murphy: yes.
Wright: I know you defined it, but what fundamentally makes a brew
pub, like Vintage 50? What makes him different from a restaurant, and therefore
require greater regulation?
Murphy: it's the brewing process. Your bringing in hops, barley, wheat
and other materials for the process. It's the storage of this materials and the
disposal of the byproduct of the brewing process. They take the hops, and barley
and boil it down as part of the brewing process to create a mash. It has a solid
byproduct. How do you dispose of it? The use regulations that we are suggesting
be added to the district describes how to handle these storage and disposal issues.
Wright: on the pad site discussion, if you can help me envision 300 feet
from the primary building, and what I'm thinking of, is if we think of the Target
or Kohl's center, there are several pad sites that are out there. Would those pads
be in conformance or not with the code change you are making?
Murphy: more than likely they would be out of conformance. What the
town plan was trying to achieve with that guidance, is instead of having
sprawling shopping centers where you have pad sites and a quarter mile of
parking in between is trying to make a more walkable shopping center where one
could park in one location and customers would be more apt to walk to the pad
site versus get in a car and drive back and forth.
Boucher: if you look at the shopping centers around town, there are some
where pad sites could be more than 300 feet from major buildings. For example,
the Target and Kohl's, actually have a grandfathered special exception. They can
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April 26, 2011
be out there, they can build pad sites in the near future legally. Fort Evans Plaza
is another one where you can be more than 300 feet, but again a grandfathered
special exception allows them. Other areas where you don't necessarily have a
special exception had already approved, they almost all come within 300 feet.
Wright: I was trying to picture at Fort Evans Plaza, obviously there is the
one big huge mile -long primary building, but then you also have the office
buildings and pads that are around those and you have the pads that are scattered
around the overall site. Would the office buildings considered pads as a child to
the big shopping center, or if you think of Middleburg Bank or for lack of a better
word, the strip pad near the three office buildings, is that a child of the office
buildings or are all of them a child of the bigger building?
Murphy: I think all of them are a child of the main center. We would
consider the banks and the restaurants that are out there as patents so, in the
future something that comes in we would apply that and try to get... Looking at
that same center you have the office buildings that are surrounded by the banks
on the corner by the office building trying to consolidate that and make it smaller,
more walkable. That's what we're trying to achieve with this.
Wright: okay, so nothing would impact the existing pads that have
already been... This would be more platted site plan. Like the shopping center
where Kohl's is and the pads have already been sold... they're not going to get
dinged because someone's going to say they can't use these pad sites.
Murphy: it would not be retroactive.
Hammler: Chris and Brian, thank you so much for all the hard work and
the report. Just a couple of questions because Kevin already highlighted some of
the things I had flagged. Some of the things struck me as point zoning or
reactionary. What are we trying to accomplish, John, from economic
development stand point? For instance, the idea of a restaurant at the airport
arbitrarily coming up with say a 25% when in fact, perhaps, we should be
encouraging much more diverse uses given that the terminal is a significant
overhead and cost to taxpayers, as an example. I don't want to get into details
tonight, but I think how we approach these changes is important. Obviously,
Brian and Chris and staff approach it with the zoning hat on but I think we, as
council, from a policy perspective need to be wearing the pro active hat. Same
sort of thing when I was looking at the brewpub, it seems like a point correction.
Is that more of a marketing definition or a use? I understand you're calling it a
manufacturing process but I'm glad we have allowed it, because to the extent we
can encourage different types of restaurants and have a diversity of restaurant
uses, that's a major council goal given the meals tax benefit. I was curious why
you specifically stipulated when a use is added to bed and breakfast, like for
instance why did you need to stipulate business meetings? What's special about
weddings that really triggered this need to add the language?
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
Murphy: what we thought was, again, it would add a more diverse use for
the commercial district, the bed and breakfast, in addition to lodging they would
be able to offer weddings. It seems more akin to the bed and breakfast use to be
able to allow the people who are staying there the ability to rent the facility for
their wedding, they there versus the office or business meeting that's more akin to
the Birkby house, you can rent it out for a wedding. It would not be appropriate
to have the business meeting at the bed and breakfast. A bed and breakfast
typically smaller and more geared towards lodging more than it is for.. The
Birkby house has rooms for..
Hammler: honestly, I think that's totally irrelevant. What we're trying to
achieve from a tourism perspective, were trying to achieve all sorts of businesses
and business travelers. So to that extent that it seems rather narrow and limiting.
I think what you're talking about is the broader conference meeting capability.
For example, think of the bed and breakfast outside Middleburg, Goodstone, all
their marketing is really targeting those with an expense account and a lot of
money to spend and bringing it to the local economy. That's my point on that
verbiage. You put this under that title of creating better standards and I just didn't
understand quite where you felt what is now better about a 4 foot internal width
for sidewalks. Why is it now better?
Murphy: I'm not making any change to the regulation itself, I'm only
making it clear what applies where. So the 4 foot standard is already in the
regulations for internal use, for circulation internally. We established the internal
circulation systems because we wanted developments to be walkable. We wanted
pedestrian walkways. The reason why it's 4 feet instead of five, we are trying to
consolidate and make smaller footprint for developments. Were trying to limit
impervious surfaces on properties. That's the reason why four there. The reason
why five on the street is we want to be able to have passable walkways along our
streets. That's the reason why we have five feet versus four. The only thing that
this patch does is make it clear what standard applies where.
Hammler: okay, I guess what I'm trying to say is as long as we have
consistent documentation of what we're trying to achieve is promoting pedestrian
access and the zoning ordinance aligns with that. With the brewpub and listing
all the materials and storage, you have listed, for example, fried foods and listed
how the cooking staff needs to dispose of the grease. Is that listed in detail?
Murphy: no, but our utilities department has their standards. They require
grease traps and whatnot for that.
Hammler: I just wanted to know how detailed you have to get for how
people are running their business.
Murphy: brewpubs can produce a lot of beer under this regulation and
what qualifies as a brewpub. Whenever you brew beer you bring in a lot of
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
ingredients, hops, barley and whatever you use to make your product. You need
a place to store that. We want to make sure were not creating a problem.
Hammler: Chris, honestly you don't need to get into details with me. Is it
a manufacturing process, because that's the basic tenants of your manufacturing
something. It just seems so very detailed on one sort of restaurant use, it seem
more like a point issue instead of a broader zoning guideline.
Boucher• this was originally a zoning call way back when when we had
the first brewpub. We looked around and in a lot of places at that time made
them go through a special exception because they were afraid of the
manufacturing process, the smell, how do you store stuff? My call was to make
them go through a special exception so you can protect things. We have found
out more about how this is, and is now, the things you can do, to basically take
care of the smell today. What we're trying to do is make this a by right use with
the one manufacturing thing as a side use to this. They can also become very
large businesses and become more manufacturing than sales but a brewpub is a
smaller entity. What you're really going to be doing is a restaurant and selling
stuff and manufacturing. The funny thing about zoning is you learn a lot as you
go through it. We are probably taking baby steps from your standpoint but we are
moving in that direction.
Butler: I guess you might fall into that same category as you had a
restaurant that specialized in chickens and live chickens came in the back door
and chicken patties came out the front. You might end up having the same kinds
of concerns as you have with a brewpub. Fortunately that's a rare thing. It all
looks fine to me but I did want to clarify one thing about a brewpub. Brewpub
silos are by right. My confusion is are silos internal or external to the building?
Murphy: internal.
Butler: because it also says that all the brewing ingredients must be stored
indoors but that's only if you wanted by right. If you have to store ingredients
outdoors it's a special exception. I think that's very reasonable.
Mayor: Ken had asked about being grandfathered since he's on on a pipe
stem lot and you guys know I am as well. On a pipe stem or an irregular lot it
mentions grandfathering anything after April 26, 2011, that these rules will apply.
But when you go down to item number 12 section 18.1.2.4 defining front yard
which also deals with pipe stem lot's in the second paragraph there is no
grandfathering. I don't know if I'm being concerned over nothing but the way I
read this what this does is redefines my neighbors side yard as her front yard
because when you say that the front yard is the one that is parallel to the main
street when you're on a pipe stem that is what you think of as your side yard
about 50% of the time. The reason I'm concerned about this is at various times
we have allowed or disallowed certain structures or utilities to be in front yards or
backyards and I'm afraid were going to pass this tonight and nobody is really
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April 26, 2011
going to connect the other regulations that we have about what you can do in her
front yard our side yard, etc. I don't know if it's our responsibility to worry about
covenants and homeowners associations and how they're enforced. But to the
extent that how these covenants were initially drafted to comply with the town's
interpretation of what is her front yard or side yard, we are now putting people in
a potential Catch -22. I went over this before, at the planning commission, and I
think obviously I was not making myself clear. Here is a sketch of what my pipe
stem looks like. Some people side yards are being converted into front yards.
Now, if we didn't have any special regulations concerning what they could do in
a front yard or a side yard, that might be okay if we treated all yards the same for
the purposes of where the utilities are allowed to be placed, where the big ugly
green boxes can be, or where fences can go. If didn't matter under the town code,
if there were no distinctions elsewhere in our zoning ordinance, I would say it
doesn't matter but unfortunately we have built into our zoning ordinance
distinctions between fronttyards and side yards and this is kind of turning all of
that on its head. So for example, if we allow utilities to be placed in peoples front
yards, but not their side yards we've just converted a side yard into a front yard.
I'm really nervous about this and especially because there's no grandfathering
date in this particular paragraph. So all of my neighbors are going to have their
side yards become their front yards. They never would've imagined that... they
don't think of their yards that way. They think okay my front yard is the yard
that's right in front of my front door and that's what most people tend to think.
We are now telling them no, no that's where your side yard is and your front yard
is the one parallel to Fox Ridge Drive or Deerpath Avenue or in Ken's case,
Talmadge Court. We are really messing around with how we are allowing
people to define their properties if they're on an existing pipe stem lot. That's why
I would be a lot more comfortable if we had limiting language in this paragraph.
Without the defining date of April 26, 2011, this paragraph appears to be
retroactive.
Murphy: Mdm. Mayor, with all due respect, what were trying to achieve
with this one is really just codify what has been the practice of the zoning
administrator in making determinations for lots that already existed. Let me ask
you this, on your property, does it have a recorded building restriction line? If it
does, that's going to indicate what your front yard is and what your side yard is
based on that. If you have recorded building restriction lines, they typically
establish what the front yard is. This will not impact that. The only thing it is
meant to do is assist us in the case of a lot that has been around since the 1950s
and because of this that or the other it doesn't have frontage on a road. One lot
that I am thinking of in particular is a remnant piece of ground that was left out
there near Lawson Road. It does not connect to Lawson Road because it used to
connect with Route 15 on the other side of the bypass. When the bypass came
through, it cut that road off. Now you had this remnant piece of property forever
that has no frontage. What is the frontage, you have the bypass, you have
Lawson Road? What this does, is it makes it clear to the person that owns the
property that the line that is closest to and that is parallel to the road they get
access from, in other words Lawson Road, is their front. In the case of your
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April 26, 2011
property, your subdivision, those lots have established yards. Those are set. As
long as no one comes in and tries to redevelop the lots, to turn the lots around, it
won't affect those. We are more than happy to put in a "from this day forward
but I think that will impact me if it comes to a lot that is been platted since the
1920s.
Mayor: as the vice mayor just suggested, can you put in language about
undeveloped lots? I know you think it doesn't apply, and you are not trying to
impact Fox Ridge or Talmadge Court, but the way this is drafted it could be
easily applied to that. Because you are saying your front yard is now the yard that
is parallel to the street.
Butler: Mdm. Mayor, the way that I read it, since you're getting access
through the pipestem then it would be the side of your yard that is most parallel
to the pipestem. The way pipe stem regulations are written, you would measure
from the end of the pipe stem in. So the pipestem comes in and you got your
front yard set back from where the pipes comes in. Unless, of course, in the case
of your development the building restriction line was placed elsewhere. We
would base everything on where that building restriction line is placed. But if it
says that it's your front yard and it has been recorded that way, we have
established your front yard is this way. There is a lot of interpretation in this, but
what it is meant to do is to help guide with the interpretation. What we don't
want is set in stone the front yard, the side yard, we don't want to do that. The
last thing we want to do is try to turn people's properties around and make
everyone nonconforming.
Wright: the one question I had is will this apply to only undeveloped lots
or are there lots that are developed that still need a definition? If I had a house on
it, is there the opportunity that you are going to have to define front yard?
Murphy: no you have already established where your front and side yards
are. In the case of the example that I gave you, it's a lot that has been out there
since who knows when. But it was affected by the development of the bypass. Its
original frontage is no longer there. It's going to get access from another street so
you had to determine where the front is. This gives guidance in those cases.
Wright: this language is intended to address undeveloped lots that are
coming in for site plan.
Murphy: this codifies what has been the consistent call of the zoning
administrator since before Brian was the zoning administrator.
Wright: is there language elsewhere, if you put this section in context,
that makes this require a new site plan if we get the grandfathering language in
there based on the section it is in, would that satisfy the Mayor's concern? I can
think of several pipe stems that are just shy of developed roads and they would
getting messed with as a result of this regulation.
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
Boucher: I understand the concern and I think that there is a way to get
around this. Hopefully satisfy it. When it comes to pipe stems when you get your
zoning permit we designate what's the front and what's the side, and rear. It is
grandfathered. Here what we are trying to do is get some consistency. Your
house does not have to face the front yard. In a lot of places in Leesburg they
don't. I will give you one example, Dodona Manor. It faces the side yard. That
can happen where we have the actual definition of yard, front, they could say
created after April 26, 2011, that might do it.
point.
Mayor: yes that would satisfy me.
Boucher: It's in one place and not the other and it could cause a lot of
confusion before somebody figures out they are supposed to read it this way. I
think it was an oversight on our part when we were doing this.
Mayor: That would satisfy me.
Dunn: there was an issue that came up about a year or so ago with the
BAR in determining issues that could be viewed from the street. When you're
dealing with a grid network like downtown, that didn't mean it was the main
street. Items could be seen from different streets. If you recall that, maybe there is
some language in that determination that you could use.
Reid: with regards to the bed and breakfast, Katie made a very good
Hammier: I was going to propose a friendly amendment on the language.
Reid: oh that's great, because I was very surprised to see that renting for
business meetings is not allowed, because it's done. I'm sure that's what your
friendly amendment will be dealing with. I will be looking to support something
in that regard.
Dunn: going to the 25% restaurant issue, I know that we've had that
before. To me it would seem like generally we want restaurant uses. It's probably
one of our bigger uses in town, why would we want to limit that to 25 If that's
the known use and we're willing to take that almost anywhere, why not say hey if
somebody wants to... For example you have a large industrial building, and they
want to create a use such as a sci -fi cinema, and bring in fake automobiles and
have a cinema like at Disney, why wouldn't we be willing to accept that at 100
Boucher: we did want industrial uses in the industrial districts. The
thought was in the past if you allow regular restaurants to locate there, you won't
get the offices, you'll get another commercial district. That was the theory why
freestanding restaurants were not allowed. What you do is say if you do office
buildings, we will allow you to have a restaurant there it just has to be inside one
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
of the building, so that people can use the restaurant but the industrial area will
not turn into restaurant pad sites. That was the thinking in the past, and what
were hearing from council is some of these things may need to be reconsidered
and changed. I keep thinking regional office in the town plan that covers
industrial.
Dunn: I think that the idea is we want to have industrial in this area but
we don't necessarily care if other business uses are elsewhere. In other words let's
keep industrial uses here, but if other uses want to come in we are going to allow
that. It's almost like industrial was a limiting factor and we don't want to limit
other uses.
Boucher: what we have done in the past is we have added a lot of uses to
industrial district to utilize the buildings, we haven't done a lot to go outside of
the uses. If you have an existing building there are certain uses that we allow but
if you go to a new building, we won't let you build a recreational facility in the I -1
district. That was to try to get those buildings utilized. What I am getting from
the Council is you guys are looking to be more generous in the uses in some of
these districts even if that means is something that we have not already done but I
can see where the Council's thoughts are going it would be a lot more broad.
Dunn: if a furniture store wants to come in, or a larger restaurant, or a
Dave and Buster's wants to come to town, they are going to use 50% of the
building. You tell me how long it's going to take them to go through the process
to get that changed.
Boucher: on specific things we can do it easily in three months,
sometimes we've done it shorter than that.
Dunn: clock is ticking, money is going out the window.
Butler: just for the record I would not agree, so don't paint all of council
with the same brush.
Dunn: that's fine. The other thing is going back to the wedding uses, that
to me.. Why not just limit the usage... To me a wedding is going to generally be
larger than a business meeting unless it's a very small wedding, or a very large
business meeting. But the deciding factor is the venue, they can only hold so
many people. So why limit the use, the venue is going to limit the use. Why do
we care whether it's a business meeting or a wedding are some other dinner?
Boucher: I think, as Chris had said, we were looking to do something a
little proactive here. One of the things people were looking to do here was
weddings. I think you all have taken a little more expansive view, which is your
right. On some of these, why not a business meeting? In commercial districts, I
don't think we have a strong objection. If you look at it, we are talking in
commercial districts anyway, so the fact that someone might have a business
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meeting in a building, we would all agree that's not very shocking. We're taking
baby steps.
Dunn: maybe we need to take a bigger steps. Going back to the brewpub,
which Chris has an unreasonably large wealth of knowledge on the brewing
process. Going back to that, what Dave brought up, what constitutes something
indoors? Generally it means it needs to be surrounded by walls and a roof,
correct?
Murphy: inside the building is indoors.
Dunn: my point is this, there is nothing in this that would say a silo is
considered to be outdoors. In other words, you're saying you have to store
materials indoors, but a silo is indoors. It has a roof and walls. It's a building. In
other words, you're trying to keep materials from being stored outside in the open
air.
Murphy: what were trying to do is make sure that is stored inside the
building where the brewpub is.
Dunn: it doesn't really say this though. Someone could, if you're saying it
has to be stored inside where the dinners are being served, if there's a silo and
being stored indoors. It's not out in the open.
Boucher: the way the ordinances written a silo is a specific structure in
the brewing world. So that's why it's called out specifically. It's not like a farm
silo, if a specific structure, so if we call that out we are excepting that structure.
That type of indoor storage needs a special exception.
Reid: on the issue of the eateries, can you at least get a special exception
over 25% in the I -1 district?
Murphy: no.
Reid: that might be the way out of this, is to basically allow 25% by right
and if you go up to 50% or something you will need a special exception. Can we
add that here on the dais?
Murphy: the only caution I would say in the I -1 is the town plan. You, as
the town council, have the authority to do as you see fit.
Reid: Then I will propose an amendment at the appropriate time for a
special expection for over 25
Butler: I have objections to all those items that we just proposed and I
want to let you know why. First, with the wedding, I think the big difference
between weddings and office meetings are weddings are done on the weekends.
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
Office meetings, if you're going to turn a bed and breakfast into an office
building, where their office meetings, I might suggest that we need traffic studies
because it will be adding traffic to the existing. If staff does not think that is
meaningful, then that's fine. But the times of the week and the times of the day
that these things are operating makes a big difference. If you're in an office park
and you have a bed and breakfast, the weddings are on the weekend. The 25%
with restaurants is important to limit for a couple of reasons. One is that you
have restaurants that service the office park primarily because of the restaurant is
large enough that if its serving the general public, you have traffic patterns and
now that are not planned for in the original development so they would be
concerned about the impacts that the restaurant would have especially in the
evenings which is not normally a plan for an office park. We need to be careful
about that. Most restaurants that are in office parks are specifically designed to
serve the patrons that work in the office park. When you go beyond that you go
into a whole another category of business. I would be extremely careful about
extending beyond staffs recommendation in that case.
Irby: if you are going to exceed the 25 that probably should be
readvertised in fairness to those who were going to locate there.
There were no members of the public wishing to speak on this subject.
The public hearing was closed at 9:34 p.m.
On the motion of Vice Mayor Wright, seconded Council Member Reid,
the following was proposed:
ORDINANCE 2011 0 010
Amending Article 3 Review and Approval Procedures, Article 5
Residential Zoning Districts, Article 6 Nonresidential Districts, Article 7
Overlay and Special Purpose Districts, Article 9 Use Regulations, Article
10 Density /Intensity and Dimensional Standards, Article 11 Parking,
Loading, and Pedestrian Access, and Article 18 Definitions
Wright: Just to clarify that the motion includes the language that staff had
discussed regarding the pipestem lots...that amendment is included. Based on
the discussion on the dais, I would recommend unless its really, really clear that
any of the amendments we do, we just do as voted amendments since there
seemed to be some objections.
Mayor: Ken, are you comfortable with making the pipestem language
part of it?
Reid: Yes, I am.
Hammler: I would like to make a formal amendment, not friendly, given
the direction of Vice Mayor Wright, to edit on page 22, 18.1.16 regarding bed
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COUNCIL MEETING
and breakfasts. Bed and Breakfasts located in the commercial zoning district may
have weddings, receptions, and business meetings as ancillary uses.
Reid: Second. I would just like to say, as a downtown business owner
and I see the bed and breakfasts...I think one is already having meetings. I see
nothing wrong with this. It is not going to trip a lot of traffic problems. It is a
good, pro business, business friendly amendment. I want to applaud Katie for
attaching this and bringing it forward. I am very proud to support it.
Wright: Question to staff. Not on the merits, but based on the
amendment that is there, do we need to do something to the following
sentence...commercial use or rental...because the one seems that it will conflict
with the other.
Mayor: Katie, what was your proposal for that clause that starts
"commercial use..."
Hammler: I will throw that comment back in Kevin's general
direction...good catch. We will strike that one.
Boucher: That would have given the zoning administrator very interesting
interpretations.
Wright: I heard her say that, it just wasn't loud enough.
Hammler: That's why we are a T.E.A.M.
April 26, 2011
Dunn: So, if we are going that far, there are a couple of other events in
there, then why not have them. For example, you are not putting seminars in.
What really makes the difference between a seminar... as I was saying, the venue
will try....
Hammler: I think business meeting is a broad enough term, but that
certainly is the intent and the spirit behind the motion.
Dunn: Are you striking that bottom sentence starting with commercial
and ending with permitted? That being struck?
Hammler: That's right. We will just say ancillary uses period and then
strike everything to the end of that paragraph, so we will not restrict any of the
things that are listed, business meetings, seminars, or receptions or other similar
things.
Mayor: I hate to drag this conversation out any longer, but in support of
Katie's position, I need a read from staff. If we are striking everything after
ancillary use, is there some other provision that is prohibiting business meetings,
seminars, receptions, even though we have striken it as a prohibition, should we
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
be....so you have in there with weddings, you have got business meetings,
seminars, receptions and similar events or activities or not?
Hammler: I simply added the addition of business meetings. Kevin made
the important point that we strike the next sentence that ironically would have
prohibited them.
Mayor: You are comfortable that business meetings covers seminars,
receptions and similar events.
Hammler: In my mind, but I guess we should ask.
Murphy: The sentence right now seems to be including, but not limited to
by stating that it says business meetings, seminars, receptions and similar events.
That tells me this is not an all- inclusive listing of uses that fall under the category
of business meeting. I feel pretty certain that I can say that if someone comes in
and wants to have seminar...could I say it's a business meeting. Yes, I could say
that.
Hammler: I think it would be outrageous if a business had to come in to
stipulate that someone was going to be giving a seminar briefing versus sitting
around a board table and having a discussion, but I'm not the zoning
administrator.
Dunn: If I could...there is one listing there that is prohibited currently
that would not fall underneath the category of business meeting and that's a
reception. A reception is different than a meeting or a business meeting or a
seminar.
Hammler: I added the motion...I actually said weddings comma,
receptions comma, and business meetings. I purposefully did not put slash, I put
comma.
Dunn: In essence, we are really not limiting anything by this.
Hammler: We are actually trying to encourage it, I think.
Dunn: That's fine. That's where I want to go. Is there anything that you
would see limited by this, by what we are proposing?
Murphy: Limiting what?
Dunn: Is there something in your mind, in planning, that there is a use
that would be limited or not allowed?
Murphy: So, if someone wants to rent the Norris House, for example, to
have a car show? I would say no. But if you want to rent the Norris House to
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April 26, 2011
have, like the planning department, if we want to go over there and have a
retreat, yes, we can do that or any other business wants to go there and have a
business meeting, then yes. If they want to invite a speaker to talk to them about
sales techniques, yes you can do that. There are going to be some...we aren't
thinking of everything, but I think this catches everything that I think the Council
has in mind. I think councilmember Hammler's weddings, receptions, and
business meetings is a pretty good catchall.
Dunn: Using your example, could someone have held you over a barrel
saying, even under the current proposal, saying your ordinance does not restrict
car show.
does.
Murphy: I think it does. I would be able to write a determination that it
Mayor: We have a motion to amend by Katie, seconded by Ken.
Butler: I have a question. This definition of bed and breakfast in Section
18 of the ordinance. Where does it say that this definition is only allowed in a
commercial district? Certainly there are bed and breakfasts in residential districts.
Murphy: It says bed and breakfasts located in a commercial zoning district
may have....
The motion to amend was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Dunn, Hammler, Reid, Wright, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: Butler
Vote: 5 -1 -1 (Martinez absent)
Reid: I want to make a motion to readvertise the I -1 restaurant thing over
25% for special exception. I still want to approve the ordinance tonight, but as a
separate item.
Irby: I think, finish what you have and make a separate motion.
Mayor: Any other proposed amendments?
Dunn: I have a question on that. Just a clarification. Are you saying,
Jeanette, that we are going to be voting, in essence approving this in whole and
then go back and go through the process.
Irby: Just initiate because it would have to go to the planning commission
anyway. You will just be initiating an increase of no limit in the industrial zone.
Dunn: We couldn't take that portion out of this and redo it?
Irby: You can, but it is my understanding that the motion on the floor,
they want to leave that in.
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
Reid: I would rather just get the 25% and then worry about it later.
Dunn: I'm not sure how you are planning to do 25 or 50% or whatever,
but I would like it to be a little more broad than just saying restaurants...
Hammler: That is the point I was going to make later and reiterate what I
said earlier that I think we need to look at this strategically and proactively and
not just have one number go up. Look at what we are trying to achieve in that
district as it relates to diversity of uses.
Dunn: And percentages.
Mayor: Ken should make his motion after this passes or fails to advertise
to initiate another change to the ordinance to change the percentage. That is one
problem. That is a fairly easily handled problem.
Hammler: This would be new business at a future meeting and I would
argue we would probably want to do that in lieu of issuing an arbitrary, single
amount.
Reid: Well, we have had discussions of that, Madam Mayor, when we
had the issue of the entertainment center, there was resistence on Council to do
anything else with the I -1 district. We will just adopt this ordinance and then will
discuss it afterwards. I'm not convinced we need to go to a work session.
Dunn: The only reason I was bringing it up here is because per our
procedures, this is all that is on the table. We don't have anything else on the
table after this other than, unless you want to bring this up under new business,
but it is a little out of order.
Mayor: All right, we have the main motion as it has been amended.
Kevin gets the final word.
Wright: Just since I have the final word, the one thing I would encourage
us to keep in mind is the addition of the restaurants is to the municipal airport
district, not a big district. It currently has the airport in it and the hangars in it. It
is not the office park around it. Just to give the context of what we are talking
about, it allows for a restaurant to exist at the airport. We are not talking about
the office park. We are talking about the airport property. As we talk about
where that exists, to get the context that this is different from the I -1 or the office
park around it, it is the zoning district that is solely around the airport. Other
than that, I think we have beat this pretty well.
The ordinance as amended was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Reid, Wright, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
28 Pang°
COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
Vote: 6 -0 -1 (Martinez absent)
Reid: I would just like to make a motion to have staff and the planning
commission to examine the feasibility of special exception requirements for using
more tha 25% of office or flex space in the I -1 district.
Wright: Madam Mayor, is that germaine? I thought we were talking
about the municipal airport district. That is a pure run from what we were
talking about. The I -1 percentage was not in the ordinance.
Butler: If it is anything else, we should advertise and it should be on our
regular agenda.
Reid: Then I can add the airport, certainly, and the I -1.
Hammier: My thought is we were dealing with the airport, for the record.
Mayor: I think if you are going to go beyond the municipal airport
restaurant idea, we probably need to bring it up at a future work session.
Reid: That's fine. Let's do that. We can look at broader issues.
11. ORDINANCES
a. None
12. RESOLUTIONS AND MOTIONS
a. Setting the FY 2012 Council Meeting Calendar
Wright: Just the one thing I wanted to throw out. Looking at the schools,
they went and fixed their calendar. So, in looking at it, the break...the August
break...I had some question if we wanted to flip it. It may make sense, it would
have us meeting the week of the 8th and 9th and there is technically a two week
break before school starts because August 1 is on a Monday so the meeting
schedule is 8 and 9t so the week of the 15t and 22 would be available. My
concern is we weren't actually going to have a break based on when school is...
Hammier: That's a fair and legitimate concern. I can honestly say I would
probably not be able to make it that week because its going to be the only week
that entire summer the Hammlers would be able to take a break. So, if we could
amend that, I would appreciate that.
Mayor: So, basically the proposal is we would not meet on August 8 and
9, we would meet instead on August 20 whatever...
Wright: I was toying with the idea of meeting on August 30 as a meeting
only just to meet the charter requirements and do any mop ups and give us the
actual August break. I wanted to throw it out there for discussion.
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
On a motion by Vice Mayor Hammier, seconded by Council Member
Dunn, the following was proposed:
RESOLUTION 2011 -052
Setting the FY 2012 Council Meeting Calendar
Dunn: I had a couple of suggestions also. It has always been kind of a rub
with me when we have the meeting around Columbus day holiday...I would
rather instead of moving it to have a work session and then a meeting and go
Tuesday, Wednesday, I think it is more consistent and consistent for the public
that we would change the last paragraph in the resolution, Section II to read
October 10, 2011 is cancelled and the formal session on Tuesday, October 11,
2011 shall continue as scheduled and that be the end. In essence, we just have
our regular meeting. We don't have a work session that week. Because it
happens every year. It gets confusing for folks and just go with a regular meeting
on that week instead of having both a work session and a regular meeting.
Mayor: You are just talking October?
Wright: Meet on the 11t only. Omit the work session.
Dunn: Right. And on our calendar...
Hammler: Is that applicable to any other dates that were moved?
Dunn: Well, no, if you look on the calendar, page 2 of your package, it
has an asterisk on that. It says meetings moved due to holiday conflict. That is
the only one. So, again, I just think its more consistent for the public that we
keep our regular meeting. If we have situations where holidays fall on a Monday
when we would have a work session, we just forego the work session. I think its
just a little more consistency. I always get confused every year when that comes
up. I'm like, oh that's right I gotta be there for Tuesday and Wednesday. So, just
a little more consistency. So, forgo the work session, have the regular session on
Tuesday.
Wright: I accept that. Let me do the easy one first, then let me go back to
August because I wasn't really sure what folks wanted to do with August. I just
wanted to highlight it. The other one I wanted to highlight, spring break actually
includes Monday, April 9. April 9 is actually a school holiday in Loudoun.
Spring break includes that Monday so I didn't know if we wanted to have a work
session that night or not. It would be the Monday after Easter. And it's the
Monday after the week of spring break but that Monday is a school holiday.
Hammler: So next year, the kids get the Monday after Easter off. I think
the general guideline that I would support would be ensuring that our meetings
do not meet when there is a holiday. I think citizens are going to be out of town.
There are a lot of important reasons...
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
Dunn: The only thing is by that evening, generally the holiday is over by
the time we meet. I would rather forego that work session, have our regular
meeting on Tuesday and move forward. But I would lean more towards wanting
to have both meetings, but I can be flexible.
Wright: So, I will just do a motion to amend to omit the work session on
the 9t and see if...
Hammier: Second.
Mayor: So that's our only motion to amend at the moment.
Wright: Yep, because we friendly accepted to eliminate the work session
on October 10 and have a regular meeting on the l lt My motion is to eliminate
the work session on April 9, which is the last day of spring break.
Mayor: And Katie has seconded that. We have a motion and second to
eliminate the April 9 work session, 2012.
Butler: I object to all the removals of the work sessions for a couple of
reasons. One, I think that we are here to do a job for the public and by cutting
out meetings and cutting out work sessions and cutting out all kinds of other
effort, we are doing a disservice to the residents of the town. And the second
reason is we often spend more time in the work sessions than we do in the
meetings, so by removing the work sessions, it sounds great now, but we have
had pairs of meetings that both days go past midnight so what will end up
happening here is we will have a meeting that will go to 3 a.m. I object to any of
the reductions of the meetings. We can always eliminate them at the time but to
eliminate them now is just extending issues further in the future because we
won't have time to deal with them, so I won't be supporting this amendment.
Mayor: So this proposed amendment is to eliminate the April 9 work
session.
The motion to amend was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Dunn, Hammier, Reid, Wright, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: Butler
Vote: 5 -1 -1 (Martinez absent)
Hammier: Madam Mayor, did we already vote on October or was that
already passed by friendly? And I believe there was discussion about August, but
I don't know what happened with that.
Wright: We haven't done anything with August, so the question is do
want to leave the break where it is, or move the meeting date. We have to meet
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COUNCIL MEETING
April 26, 2011
in Augusts. The question is what makes the most sense based on school now
starting in August.
Hammler: If we could do it when the kids are in school, I would
appreciate that.
Mayor: I would agree.
Hammler: When they are back in school.
Dunn: Do we know that date?
Mayor: it is before Labor Day.
Wright: August 29 and 30, the date would be out of our normal cycle
because the meeting usually falls...if there were two meetings in August the
meetings would have been the 8 and 9 and the 22n and 23r so if we moved it
to after school starting to the 29t and 30 it would be a change in pattern. It
would not be our normal pattern, but there would be a two week break between
that meeting and the first meeting in September.
Dunn: I would rather keep it at our normal pattern for one. Are you then
saying, that you want to keep it as our normal pattern and meet the second
meeting of the month and not the first week?
Wright: I was throwing it out for discussion. I could go either way, to be
honest.
Reid: I don't know if Dave knows this or not, but isn't there a possibility
that a certain primary is going to be held in August?
Butler: August 23 is primary day, which would not conflict with Kevin's
proposal.
Reid: I'm comfortable with the 29t and 30t It sounds odd, but school's
in session and we might as well do it that week. It's going to tough for some folks
and odd, but we might as well do it to meet the requirement.
Dunn: Would that be our normal meeting dates?
Wright: You would be one week late for the normal date.
Dunn: I don't want to do that.
Reid: We don't want to interfere with vacations that people may have in
August but they are starting school earlier. So, what Kevin wants to do is have
this meeting the 29t and 30 instead of August 8 and 9t That's all.
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COUNCIL MEETING
Dunn: So, you are talking about not meeting 8th and 9th and only meeting
the last Monday and Tuesday in August?
Mayor: Right.
Hammier: Same with the public and we are giving plenty of notice which
is why we set the calendar so it is important that we establish basic principles.
Wright: I'll make that as the motion.
Hammier: Second.
Mayor: so, we have a motion from Kevin to eliminate the August 8 and 9
meetings and replace them with the August 29 and 30 meetings. It has been
seconded by Katie. Any discussion other than that we have had already?
The amendment was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Hammier, Reid, Wright, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: Dunn
Vote: 5 -1 -1 (Martinez absent)
Butler: I would like to make a motion to amend our two November
meetings to push them both to the third and fifth weeks of the mont instead of the
second and fourth. The reason is two -fold. November 8 is election day, which
is the highest number of elections in the four year cycle. November 21 -22 is the
week before Thanksgiving and last year we moved that to the week after
Thanksgiving and I thought that was more effective. This way, it would still be
at least two weeks between every meeting.
Mayor: So, first and third which would put it back to...
Wright: 14- 15 28 -29t
Mayor: First and third would be before that...
Butler: Third and fifth week.
Reid: Second that.
The amendment was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Hammier, Reid, Wright, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: Dunn
Vote: 5 -1 -1 (Martinez absent)
April 26, 2011
Dunn: I am going to oppose it under the same...I would rather have
consistency with our dates.
33 1 P a g
COUNCIL MEETING
Dunn: We need to make sure that the dates that we switched aren't going
to conflict with other committee meetings that might be using this room too.
That might be something...somebody has got to move over.
Butler: We take precedence.
April 26, 2011
Wright: The November change actually solves the problem because of
where the Tuesday falls, it creates conflicts.
Reid: I would say, John, you might want to make this a permanent thing
in November, because it really has worked out well.
Butler: Except that, Ken, most years the week after Thanksgiving is the
first week of December. So, that would be a problem. In those cases, you could
have one meeting in November and the first and third weeks in December, but it
still would be a ways before Christmas.
The Council meeting calendar as amended, was approved by the
following vote:
Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Reid, Wright and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 6 -0 -1 (Martinez absent)
13. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
14. NEW BUSINESS
15. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Council Member Dunn: I'm going to be real brief and then I have to leave, so on
that last one, I forgot to mention something humorous. On the second whereas, it has
the word Christmas in there, and I was thinking we could change that to the holiday
formerly known as Holiday. I hope everyone had a good religious holiday season and
we definitely need to count our blessings. I have to run because I have to work with my
boss tomorrow and hopefully he is not watching.
Council Member Reid: Thank you very much, Madam Mayor. First, I want to
offer my condolences on the very tragic death of Bruce Jamerson, who was the 20 year
veteran clerk of the House of Delegates. It looks like it was a suicide over the weekend
and my son who worked with him as a page was like that. All the pages have been
communicating and there is going to be a memorial for him in Richmond. It is a very
tragic death. I hate to be tragic about this, but I would like to focus now on the very sad
death, but also the great life of my former Environmental Advisory Commissioner. She
was an editor for me and a friend, Virginia McGuire. As many of you know, Virginia
served on the Environmental Advisory Commission from July 2006 until the fall of 2009
when she had to resign due to her battle against Lymphoma. She fought it every step of
the way. She went through a lot of high risk treatments at Johns Hopkins and the
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COUNCIL MEETING
April 26, 2011
National Institutes of Health and finally at the Mayo Clinic. After I was elected in 2006,
my goal was to appoint someone to the EAC who had been involved with fighting the
Dominion Power transmission lines. If you recall, that was still before the State
Corporation Commission and Council, so I wanted to get someone one there and
Virginia volunteered. She was involved with the Kincaid Forest two mile action
committee. I did not know her, but I was happy to appoint her because of her
involvement. At that time, the Environmental Commission which I had served on was
actually very weak, so weak that actually at the suggestion of Ms. Hammler and our
former Vice Mayor, Susan Horne, made a very controversial motion to try to combine it
with the Tree Commission, which failed. But it was weak and Virginia took over as
chairman in March of 2007 and I watched the video of her. I got that from Lee Ann,
making a great presentation to Council and along with Neely Law and several others,
she set forth a very active agenda involving stream preservation, recycling, energy
savings and of course, keeping power lines off the W &OD trail. Through Virginia's
efforts on the Environmental Commission, the Loudoun County Public Schools backed
off on their plans when they built Tuscarora High School and they came up with a
mitigation plan for a trout stream. She was instrumental, very instrumental in opposing
developments such as Creekside and Crosstrail. She was very much involved in planting
the trees at the bowling alley that Ms. Law talked about and also in Kincaid Forest. She
accompanied me on a tour of devastation of trees with a Washington Post reporter in
2008 and as her husband, Terry, told me you wouldn't call her a tree hugger, she was a
tree saver. She didn't even like her kids climbing trees because of what it could do. She
would save wildlife if it were damaged...if it was hurt. I would ask Virginia periodically
if she would put political signs in her lawn... she had a good location at her house. Her
husband was on the covenants committee, so she refused. She did say she wanted a
McCain button, so I gave her a McCain button in 2008. I remember her putting it on as
her kids and the other neighbors played. I always remember that day because it was
such an interesting evening. Kincaid Forest and her street in particular, was such a
friendly neighborhood. All the kids were out. Virginia was a pragmatic
environmentalist. She was not an extremist. She was pragmatic and kept the
commission focused on science, not ideology. At one time, when Mr. Dunn came to
Council, I wanted her to be my Planning Commissioner, but she declined because she
wanted to continue her work on the EAC. That year, I also hired her to proof my
newsletters. She had a strong PR and communications background. She wanted just
part time work because of what she was going through. She was amazing at details and
my editors loved her, even when she found out a lot of crap in their writing. None of
them ever complained about her and having to redo their work. She stopped working
for me about a year ago, but she never stopped working for the community. I last saw
her at a meeting about the Juvenile Detention Center on March 22. She sent the Mayor
and I an email about the JDC and I would like to read parts of it. She wrote: "as you
know, I have been struggling with cancer since March of 2009. I am still doing so. My
current regime is the hardest yet, but we are still moving ahead. Early on, I tried to
continue to keep up with community issues and at least make myself heard on those that
were closest to my heart, but in the past few months even that has become very hard.
Even now, it is just a few minutes before the meeting, but I felt I had to weigh in on the
resolution the Council is considering regarding the detention center, Miller Drive, and
Kincaid Forest She made several suggestions, one of which was to deal with Crosstrail
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COUNCIL MEETING
April 26, 2011
Boulevard, which I tried very hard with the county to get it realigned. That was her
idea, the realignment, but they were not able to do it. She closed "With respect and
appreciation, Virginia McGuire Every Friday night in Synagogue up until the week of
death, I would say a prayer of healing for her and it is customary for us to call out the
names to ask God for which means healing for those in need. Her name became
very well known at Congregation Shar'Shalom. After that email, I called to talk to her
but she did not call back. I am very saddened that I did not have a chance to talk to my
friend before she died. I am hopeful she is with the Lord and that the Lord will comfort
her family. I want to remind my colleagues to come to her home this Saturday between
12 and 6 to celebrate her great life. She was a wonderful woman. We are all going to
miss her.
Vice Mayor Wright: Very nice, Ken. I would like to pass my condolences along
to her family. A little bit more up beat note, we very much enjoyed the Flower and
Garden Festival. We went on the swimming day because we were getting on a plane at
6 a.m. Sunday morning, which if you are going to the airport for a six a.m. flight on
spring break week, get there two hours before the flight, but it was a very envirgorating
run to the plane. Of course, after we sprinted to the plane, we found out the flight crew
was stuck in the same line. I did make an interesting observation while we were on our
cruise. We were in Belize on a bus ride and, speaking of the environment and all that,
their water source, even within the city, is rain barrels. So, every home has huge barrels
that capture the rain. Of course, I am thinking how do they purify it, but that is their
water source. We went by a sewer treatment plant, but the primary water source for the
residences...we went by one home that looked like an apartment and the downspouts
were all going to a big barrel that was almost the height of the house. I thought that was
an interesting observation with all the fun we have with water. Relay for Life is coming
up the first weekend in June and to kick it off, the first Friday in June, we will be doing
Pie in the Face. So far, I know for sure I am in. JB Anderson has volunteered again. If
you all sent the emails, they may have gotten lost in the spring break, so you want to go
ahead and get those volunteer emails in.
Reid: I have never done this before, I'll volunteer. What day is it again?
Wright: It would be the first Friday in June, so is that June P
Reid: Is it before sundown?
Wright: Usually. Let me know what time it needs to be. We will make it work.
I am sure there will be somebody willing to get you.
Council Member Hammler: I'll volunteer my husband for the pie event this year.
I should have done that three years ago...I'll be glad to take the pie in my face this time.
I have a quick disclosure. I did speak to Mike Banzhaf regarding Crosstrails on April
21st. I have a couple of quick things I wanted to mention, but Ken what you said about
Virginia was so absolutely beautiful and to me that really needs to be the hallmark of our
comments tonight, so I'm not going to say anything other than thank you for taking the
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
time and reflecting on how important Virginia was for our community. I will be there
Saturday and look forward to expressing my condolences in person.
Council Member Butler: I feel a lot like Katie does. At first, I was thinking I was
going to say I echo all of Ken's comments about Virginia, but then I thought that his
comments were so wonderful that it would disrespect his comments by trying to jump in
like that, so I won't say that. Ken, I agree. It was an excellent comments. I did know
Virginia on the EAC and she did a great job and it is a terrible loss. Condolences again
to all of her family. As Kevin said, on a lighter note, I have a rain barrel that I...I
installed a rain barrel a couple of weeks ago and it was just before one of those first rains
and the rain barrel took about six minutes to fill up. So, you can use multiple rain
barrels and it does not take a lot of rain to fill them up and use them. Now, I am just
waiting for the grass to need water. They have been getting plenty of water by
themselves, but I am tempted to go and get another one. The Flower and Garden show
was excellent. I had an opportunity to work at the EAC booth on Saturday and they
had sides on their tent, which was a wonderful thing, and at the Tree Commission on
Sunday. I just want to applaud all the commissioners from both commissions that
worked those two days because it was long and on Saturday especially it was hard. It
was wrapping trees and things like that, but we did give away 500 trees. A lot of people
come there and are looking for the trees and they give us stories about how well their
trees are doing that they got at the Tree Commission booth like three to four years before
that, so its good stuff. Also, as I like to tell everybody, I gave blood this past Saturday
and I encourage everybody to do that. It's a little effort that can potentially save a life.
So, if you are eligible, by all means go and do it. Last thing is, it is now a quarter after
ten and this Council does outstanding work in being able to take short meetings and turn
them into long ones. Katie was hoping for 8:30 tonight and I was estimating 9. We
exceeded our goal.
Reid: It was all for a good cause because it was making Leesburg more business
friendly. I just wanted to say about Belize, I was there also and the other thing, I don't
know if you knew this, Kevin, they have no planning and zoning. They didn't tell you
that?
Wright: They didn't but I could see that.
Reid: You have a lot and you build it and they have much higher prosperity than
the rest of central America. They were a British Colony. I was very impressed that they
are this island of stability in an area that has had a lot of poverty and turmoil. Private
schools, I don't think they have much public education, all the schools are religious
based. The Brits did a good job.
16. MAYOR'S COMMENTS
I also wanted to just echo my admiration for Virginia McGuire. She was
incredibly dedicated and an extraordinarily impressive woman. Ken, I think you were
very fortunate to have known her as well as you did and it is very sad that she has
passed. It seems like quite a few very good people have passed recently. Virginia
Trevoranus who worked very hard in the arts community passed not long ago. I would
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COUNCIL MEETING April 26, 2011
just like to say a few words about Charles Beardsley, who passed in the last week or so.
You all will remember, I think, of course, Hurricane Katrina. Charles went down and
ran the volunteer medical clinic down in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Bay St. Louis had
been totally wiped out by the hurricane. They had a population of 9,000 people. They
lost nearly every home. They lost their entire downtown. We got to meet the mayor
who was living at the firehall because his home had been destroyed. It was just
devastating, but Charles' main concern were the teenagers who were stuck in FEMA
trailers with nothing to do. So, he contacted the town and Kathleen Leidich worked on
this asked us to get him the plans for a skatepark because he was determined...they
love to skateboard down there...so he was determined to build a skatepark for them so
they would have something to do. He just was a very giving individual. His wife, Dr.
Martha Calihan, remains part of the Leesburg community and his son, Conor, does as
well. That was a sad passing. He was a very, very generous person and we are sorry
and will miss him. On a slightly different topic, the Vice Mayor was very kind to allow
me to attend the meeting in his stead today at the airport. John Wells and Kaj Dentler,
Dennis Boykin, and Shye from ProJet and Landmark Aviation were all there with
Congressman Wolf to try to get Customs and Border Protection to have a facility back at
the Leesburg Airport to enable us to attract more corporate traffic. Manassas has such a
facility. Leesburg used to, but staff reductions at Customs meant the closing of our
facility and we are trying to win them back and actually because of Dennis Boykin's
efforts and Shye's efforts, and Landmark's efforts, and Kaj and John, it looks like we
have a real shot of getting them back and the Congressman is very supportive of that.
Thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor, for allowing me to attend in your stead. It was a
worthwhile meeting. That's all I've got.
17. MANAGER'S COMMENTS
Mr. Wells had no comments.
18. ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Vice Mayor Wright, seconded by Council Member Butler, the
meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m.
A1'TE
Clerk of C
2011 tcmin0426
Kris e
Town of Leesburg
mstattd, Mayor
38 I Pa g