Loudoun County, Virginia is not new to change. In the past two decades, the county, located in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area, has experienced a 100 percent increase in population and is now home to several world headquarters. Growth has been fueled in part by increased transportation connectivity, with the Dulles International Airport partially located in the county and an expansion planned for the Washington Metro Silver line. With this boom in growth, the county is undertaking a new comprehensive plan to set the direction for development decades into the future. The comprehensive planning process will be assisted by a consultant team led by Kimley-Horn in association with McBride Dale Clarion and Planning NEXT. The team will work alongside members from a Loudoun County citizen advisory committee and county government staff.
Last week, the stakeholder committee met to discuss key topics for the plan and to lay out the robust community engagement efforts for the process. The group was adamant that Loudoun County needs to be on the forefront of innovative thinking about suburban and rural development.
Public engagement will include three rounds of public workshops at four locations across the county. It will also include process branding, a strategic online and social media campaign and targeted meetings to reach niche groups within the county.
One county staff member described their intent for the public outreach process saying, “We plan on going big.” The Planning NEXT team is ready to “go big” and will draw from the excitement of last week’s meeting to energize the process.
Find out more about the meeting in this news post.
