{"id":529853,"date":"2025-12-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northernvirginiamag.com\/?p=529853"},"modified":"2025-12-15T17:40:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T22:40:30","slug":"residents-express-concern-as-development-reshapes-loudouns-rural-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northernvirginiamag.com\/news\/2025\/12\/16\/residents-express-concern-as-development-reshapes-loudouns-rural-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Residents Express Concern as Development Reshapes Loudoun’s Rural Landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Loudoun County is many things: the data center capital of the world and the nation\u2019s wealthiest county, for example. But \u201crural\u201d is the quality many residents cherish the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tucked into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the 521-square-mile county has long boasted picturesque farmland, wineries, and breweries. But in the past 30 years, the tech industry has bloomed and then boomed there, attracting conglomerates and startups alike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now known as the Silicon Valley of the East, it\u2019s a study in contrasts, with Metrorail stops and 260 miles of 300-year-old rural roads, some 200 sprawling concrete data centers, and 1,332 farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some residents, the juxtaposition has created friction. Although Loudoun\u2019s commercial development is intentionally confined to the eastern third of the county, locals in the historically bucolic western two-thirds are nervous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re losing land, we\u2019re losing our natural resources, we\u2019re losing our viewsheds, we\u2019re losing our farms \u2014 which is something that\u2019s very near and dear to me \u2014 at an unprecedented rate,\u201d says Allen Cochran, a lifelong Loudoun resident and president of the Loudoun Preservation Society (LPS)<\/a>. \u201cYou can go 4 miles east of Leesburg and you\u2019re in One Loudoun. You can go 4 miles west of Leesburg and you\u2019re in cornfields and cattle fields. We are literally on a dividing line of development, and it is more important than ever to get serious about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others see a way to embrace change. \u201cIt\u2019s unrealistic to plan for a future where nothing changes,\u201d says Purcellville resident Ryan Ruzic. \u201cIf what you want is to preserve the nature and character of western Loudoun, which I do, then I think that you need to have intelligent zoning practices and incentives for people to protect this land.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"One
One Loudoun (Courtesy Loudoun County Economic Development)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

What\u2019s Behind the Growth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Several factors contribute to the debate over land use in Loudoun. One is the need to accommodate an exploding population. In 1950, about 21,000 people lived there. Today, 455,000 people call Loudoun home, making it Virginia\u2019s third most populous county. The biggest spike came between 1990 and 2000, when the population almost doubled to 170,000 from 86,000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A significant expansion of Washington Dulles International Airport in 1996 brought more jobs to Loudoun, and those workers wanted shorter commutes, leading to residential development. At that time, the Dulles Corridor became \u201csynonymous with growth and future potential for the region,\u201d according to the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The foundation of what would become another moniker \u2014 Data Center Alley \u2014 was also developing at this time as the internet transitioned from a military tool to a commercial product. In the 1990s, Loudoun became the Metropolitan Area Exchange-East internet exchange point, providing a hub for internet traffic on the East Coast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

America Online moved its headquarters to the county in 1996, employing about 5,300 workers at its height in 2004 and setting up some of the first data centers. Today, Loudoun has 46 million square feet of data centers constructed or permitted, with another 61.5 million square feet available for development.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Metro
Washington Dulles International Airport’s expansion led to a rapid increase in Loudoun’s residential development. (Courtesy Loudoun County Economic Development)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Stopping the Sprawl<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Concerns about Loudoun\u2019s tech triumphs in the east spilling into the western Rural Policy Area (RPA), where commercial development is limited, are at the crux of discussions about how to keep sprawl at bay. Some residents worry about data centers replacing farmland, but \u201cthere\u2019s never been any data center construction in western Loudoun,\u201d says Buddy Rizer, executive director for economic development in Loudoun. \u201cThere is no plan to, never has been any plan to. \u2026 We\u2019ve actually increased the number of farms by 6 percent from 2018 to 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But people who live there say all those workers have to live somewhere. Between 2003 and 2016, 5,500 new residences were built in Loudoun\u2019s RPA, and another 7,500 will be built there by 2040, according to LPS.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rural advocates say the Loudoun Board of Supervisors must amend its by-right land use policies, which let property owners build \u2014 or allow others to build \u2014 homes and even clustered subdivisions without getting a special permit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t build that many houses in this area and still call it rural,\u201d says John Ellis, co-founder of Save Rural Loudoun (SRL)<\/a>. \u201cIt will not be rural. You\u2019ll have to have bigger roads, you may run out of water, and you\u2019ll lose the scenic value of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phyllis Randall, chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, says board members are weighing options that would make such development more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen by-right housing is built, you may not have \u2026 the infrastructure that\u2019s needed to welcome new homes,\u201d such as roads and water and sewer services, she says. \u201cThe more infrastructure we put there, the more by-right housing might come. It\u2019s a chicken-and-egg moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agritourism may help, she says. For instance, the county has 30-plus bed-and-breakfasts, but they can accommodate only a small number of guests at a time. \u201cWe\u2019re starting to see more discussions around event centers, which might have up to 100 events a year with up to 100 people at any event,\u201d Randall says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s potential, but the board needs to first determine performance standards, such as how many events can be held, how late they can go, how loud the music could be, and whether rural roads, which are often gravel, can handle additional traffic. \u201cIt\u2019s important that people can monetize their land and at the same time people can enjoy their homes,\u201d Randall says. \u201cIt is a balance that we work on every day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rizer says Loudoun\u2019s Economic Development Department and the Loudoun Rural Economic Development Council already have programs that promote agritourism. One is Take Loudoun Home<\/a>, which puts together spring and fall farm tours. Another is Loudoun, VA Made, Loudoun, VA Grown<\/a>, which promotes local goods.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a different kind of economic development,\u201d Rizer says. \u201cIt\u2019s really about a more cohesive strategy designed completely to save farmland and to keep western Loudoun with the same sort of feel that it\u2019s always had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruzic points to conservation easements as a way to preserve rurality. Landowners who voluntarily place their property in an easement give up development rights. Currently, they protect 85,000 acres of Loudoun land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can see [development] in basically real time,\u201d Ruzic says. \u201cI think that has concerned people enough that they\u2019re being proactive about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellis says easements work in theory, but they\u2019re voluntary, and fewer landowners have been adopting them. \u201cHaving little pockets of protected properties surrounded by development is not really going to get you where you want to go,\u201d Ellis says.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Rural
Courtesy Loudoun County Economic Development<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Small Ways to Make a Big Impact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not all conservation efforts are large-scale. LPS gives grants to Loudouners working on small preservation projects. For instance, in October, it gave out a handful of grants totaling $15,000. One went to Leesburg\u2019s Oatlands Historic House and Gardens to restore a beloved dog statue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LPS also honors Loudoun\u2019s history through commemorative plaques and markers that denote historic properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAwareness of our little towns and villages and the culture surrounding them was just burned into me,\u201d says Cochran, owner of Cochran\u2019s Stone Masonry in Lincoln, which Quakers settled in the 1720s. \u201cIf we don\u2019t start getting really serious about these programs \u2014 our historic districts, conservation easements for our farms \u2014 we\u2019re going to lose them all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balancing growth and modernization with environmentalism and history is a struggle almost as old as time, and it\u2019s certainly not unique to Loudoun County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is unique, however, is having three living settings in one county, Randall says. People can find an urban environment in planned communities like Rivanna at Innovation Station, while folks who prefer suburbia might like Brambleton or Landsdowne. \u201cAnd then you have the rural area,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re the only county that has these different policy areas that you can live in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The success of any one of those areas benefits the whole county, Rizer says. \u201cWe all believe in the same thing. That\u2019s protecting western Loudoun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feature image of Loudoun County, MJ Kerr\/stock.adobe.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story originally ran in our\u00a0December issue<\/a>. For more stories like this,\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to Northern Virginia Magazine.<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Population growth and tech expansion are changing the county and stirring debate over its rural future. 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