Article 5, 2

In 1971, Loudon County officials adopted planning and zoning regulations for the county, outside any city limits. No doubt this was probably a very controversial move at the time. 53 years later, the county was still operating under basically the same regulations. There are 7 articles in the zoning codes. Article 5 is the most impactful.

In just the past few years, as residential growth has exploded throughout our area, the county zoning policies came under more and more scrutiny, several small changes here and there had been made but there were still a lot of areas that desperately needed updated to protect Loudon County from mass over development.

For nearly a year, all parties involved have been worked on a major rewrite of Article 5. The changes will go a long way to preserve the rural nature of the county and better reflect the changing demographics in the county.

Under the updated Article 5, there will be 13 zoning districts with changes to minimum lot size. Any changes in zoning districts require rezoning approval by county commission. There are very few special exceptions. By adding more zoning districts and better defining others and bring the decision process to county commission, that gives the people far more say on what will be happening in their communities. Rezone requests can be denied due to community opposition.

A-1, Agriculture-Forestry District, Five Acre Minimum Lots

A-2, Rural Residential District, Two And A Half Acre Minimum Lots

A-3, Developing Agriculture District, One Acre Minimum Lots

R-1, Suburban Residential District, Half Acre Minimum Lots 

R-2, Multi-Family Residential District, Half Acre Minimum acreage Per Living Unit  

C-1, Rural Center District, Light Commercial Use

C-2, General Commercial District, Heavy Commercial Use

M-1, General Industrial District, Industrial Use 

F-1, Floodway District, Areas Subject To Flooding 

O-1, Office-Professional District, Light Office Use 

R-E, Single Family Exclusive Overlay District, Singlewide Exclusion Area 

T-1, Telecommunication District, Cell Tower Use

CFD, Community Facilities District, Any Non Residential Uses Or Uses Not Allowed In Any Other Zone

The biggest changes between the old Article 5 and the updated Article 5 are the addition of a new Agricultural Zone, R-3 and the changes in minimum lot sizes. The addition of the R-2 multi-family zone for duplexes, multi-family and cluster developments. The change of the T-1, cell tower overlay to a zoning district and the addition of the CFD, Community Facilities District which will be a catch all for any uses not included in any other zones.

Just like the old Article 5, the updated Article 5 will require rezone approval for any zoning district changes.

The biggest advantages to the updated Article 5, is to better preserve the rural areas from mass over development and protect communities from the urban sprawl happening in so many areas around Loudon County.

I'm confident the realtors and developers won't like the changes, however the rewrite of Article 5 is a direct result of county residents plea to county commission to take actions to protect their communities.

We heard you and we took action. 

Below is a link to the new Article 5.

Click Here For Article 5

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9/16/24