In continuing its philosophy that the people’s business is so much easier if the people butt out, our all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors is proposing yet another one of those snappy zoning amendments they have flooded the agenda with, this one to eliminate the need for any public hearings when choosing the site for a new public school.
Under current zoning law, schools are a special exception use that requires public hearings, one before the Planning Commission and another before the Board of Supervisors, before approval.
This Board has taken the attitude that such requirements are merely annoying obstacles to doing whatever they want. Most citizens view such public notice and hearings as a way to make sure citizens can be involved in decisions that have huge impacts on their communities (traffic, noise, sports events) and that some light is shone on possibly sneaky and even corrupt land deals, given the hundreds of millions of dollars the county is spending to acquire land for a half dozen new schools a year that are needed to keep up with all that residential growth gleefully approved by previous Republican/developer-controlled Boards.
The amendment our Board is proposing would make schools a “by-right” use just about everywhere in the county — residential, commercial, agricultural zoned districts alike.
A community meeting on this plan to further remove citizen participation in government is scheduled for May 29. Speak now, or you’ll only have yourselves to blame for losing yet another right, thanks to the all-Republican Board.
realloudoun 