Politics & Government

Town Council, Planning Commission Discuss Town Plan

A joint meeting was held Monday night prior to a public hearing on May 22.

Work continued on Leesburg's review of the Town Plan Monday night as the Town Council held a joint meeting with the Leesburg Planning Commission.

The long range planning document lays out the general policies and guidance for land development in a town and provision of public services envisioned during the next 20-25 years.

State law requires local jurisdictions to have a comprehensive plan and review it at least once every five years.

Find out what's happening in Leesburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The focuses on nine elements, according to senior planner Irish Grandfield, including natural resources, community design, transportation, and parks and recreation.

Last year, the planning commission completed its review of the plan to identify policies that might be updated to better reflect current town land use and public service provision objectives.

Find out what's happening in Leesburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The review also considered the plan's seven policy maps and resulted in the initiation of the amendment by Town Council last October. The commission certified a revised draft in March.

"The Planning Comission is culminating almost two years of work ongoing through the 2005 Town Plan, making the updates to help make it relevent," Vice Mayor Kevin Wright said. "It's kicking off what will be several months of work with the Council and the public to tackle it. We probably waded in a little deeper than just sticking our toes in but its good to kind of get our arms around it and see what's in front of us."

Much of Monday night’s discussion referred to the document's verbiage and why certain words or paragraphs were replaced or taken out. Councilwoman Katie Hammler said that there was no major rewrite in the document but that it was an opportunity to make sure the town is on track. 

Wright said that some of Monday's discussion may flag upcoming changes to the Town Plan but they will not be made anytime soon.

The Town Council will hold a public hearing regarding the plan on May 22. Grandfield said the council should act on the amendments that were forwarded by the Planning Commission by July 18.


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