Rural Zoning
Land use planning in Loudoun County is implemented through the County’s Zoning
Ordinance.
The Ordinance sets regulatory “guard rails” on how landowners may or may not develop
their properties. For example, Loudoun landowners may not legally establish an
industrial landfill on rural properties. The Ordinance also sets limits on how much noise,
lighting and traffic may be generated.
Zoning Successes
Save Rural Loudoun has been a strong advocate for preserving prime farming soils in
rural residential subdivisions. We were pleased when, in 2024, the County Board of
Supervisors adopted a regulation that we, the Farm Bureau, and other rural advocates
had proposed that requires developers of rural properties to preserve prime farm soils
on farmable lots of 15 or more acres. This prevents developers from siting clustered
houses, septic fields, driveways, access roads, and other infrastructure on prime soils,
which was previously the standard practice.
Zoning Goals
Save Rural Loudoun’s primary advocacy goal is to persuade the County
Board of Supervisors to reduce the number of new houses that may be
built in rural “cluster subdivisions” in the County’s “AR-1” zoning district
(see below for background).
In addition to reducing the density of future residential development, Save Rural
Loudoun advocates for zoning regulations that prevent or reduce destructive
development impacts on tree cover, sensitive streams, wetlands, mountainsides, and
steep slopes. We also seek reasonable regulations on noise and light pollution and on
the amount of traffic that may be generated on rural roads.
“By Right” Cluster Subdivisions
A “cluster subdivision” is a rural residential development in which the majority of the new
houses to be constructed are clustered closely together, typically on lots of 2 acres or
less, with a smaller number of houses constructed on lots of 15 acres or more.
The Zoning Ordinance defines two zoning districts in rural Loudoun. The primary
distinction between the two districts is in the amount of new houses a developer may
build per acre of property.
In the “Agricultural-Rural 2” (AR-2) district, roughly south of Goose Creek, the
Ordinance allows developers to build one new house for every 15 acres on their
properties. A 100-acre property, for example, will “yield” six new houses.
In the “Agricultural-Rural 1” (AR-1) district, roughly covering rural areas north of Goose
Creek and Leesburg, the Ordinance allows developers to build one new house for every
5 acres on their properties. A 100-acre property, therefore, will “yield” 20 new houses —
three times more than is permitted in the AR-2 district (see Table 2.04.01-1 of the
Zoning Ordinance).
Under this AR-1 zoning, the County estimates that at least 10,000 more houses may be
built in rural Loudoun — an increase of about 80% above the current residential density.
None of the other Virginia or Maryland counties bordering Loudoun allow as many new
houses to be built in their rural areas as Loudoun allows in its AR-1 zoning district.
Meaning of “By Right” Zoning
The Zoning Ordinance specifies the types and the scale of development that private
property owners may implement on their properties without any review by the Board of
Supervisors of the individual or cumulative impacts on neighboring properties or the
general character of the rural environment (See Table 3.02.02 of the Zoning Ordinance).
The “permitted uses” listed in the Ordinance are often described as being “by right”
because no other permit is required. The term “by right” itself does not appear in the
Ordinance.
Any land use that is not specifically listed is not permitted (such as a data center). The
existence of a zoning “right,” therefore, depends on the detailed list of permitted uses in
the Zoning Ordinance.
State law authorizes the County Board of Supervisors to modify what is defined as “by
right” provided that, when making such modifications, the County conforms with state
regulations for transparency and due process.
Impact on Groundwater Supplies
One impact of Loudoun’s much greater rural housing density in the AR-1 zoning district
can be easily seen on the map of rural wells shown on the Groundwater page of this
website. Each new rural residence requires a new well and a new septic system. In rural
Loudoun as a whole, 90% of our wells are within 500 feet of another well. Wells in the
AR-1 district are packed in much more closely than that.
Impact on Traffic Congestion
According to the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Loudoun County Fiscal
Impact Committee, each new rural residence generates an average of ten vehicle trips
per day. A 20-house cluster subdivision under construction (in 2026) on a one land
gravel road near Hillsboro, for example, will generate about 200 vehicle trips per day.
The entrance to this new subdivision is across the road from the entrance to a rural
brewery.
This dramatic increase in traffic volume is likely to result in calls for widening and paving
of another historic lane.
Impacts on Affordability
Because Loudoun’s Zoning Ordinance allows developers to build many more houses in
rural areas, the developers have strong incentives to bid up land prices there. The new
houses in rural subdivisions typically sell for $1 million or more, which also drives up
real estate tax assessments on existing homes and businesses.
This land price and tax inflation puts additional pressure on Loudoun’s farming and
other rural businesses, threatening the future of our rural economy.
It also tends to drive out tradespersons, first responders, teachers, health care workers,
and other median income households, for whom living in rural Loudoun is increasingly
unaffordable.