LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
LoudounNow
[ Vol. 4, No. 16 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
Ashburn champion spells three-peat
12
[ March 7, 2019 ]
Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now
In September, the county approved John Robic’s plan to build 40 780-square-foot homes on his property along Rt. 9 west of Hillsboro. To date, seven are unfinished and visible from the road.
Tiny Home Concept Taking Hold in Loudoun, Causing Stir Among Residents BY PATRICK SZABO Micro-cottages and tiny homes might be the housing option of the future—especially in areas like Loudoun where the cost of living is unbearable for some— but for now, they’re sparking a bit of resident concern.
The recent advent of stand-alone dwelling units designed to be less—and oftentimes far less—than 1,000 square feet in total floor area seems to have taken hold in Loudoun, with multiple projects proposed and one that’s already under construction. These aren’t the recently-popularized tiny homes that sit
on wheels and can be towed from place to place, though. These are homes built with permanent foundations that happen to be abnormally small and are built with a two-fold concept—to pack more dwelling units onto a given property and to provide residents with an affordable housing alternative in a county where a
one-bedroom apartment typically goes for somewhere around $1,500, according to listings on Zillow and Apartments.com. One way projects like these are moving forward is the county’s Zoning Ordinance definition of a “country inn,” which allows for 1-40 guest rooms and for guests TINY HOUSES >> 47
Employee Pay, Human Services Needs Dominate Budget Hearings BY RENSS GREENE About 50 people spoke during public hearings last week on the county budget, almost all of them asking county supervisors to approve funding already in County Administrator Tim Hemstreet’s draft budget for county employees, human services agencies and nonprofits. Members of the Service Employees International Union Virginia 512 pressed supervisors to keep on track in the second year of a three-year project to catch the county up to the rest of the region on county staffing levels and pay. Earlier in their term, supervisors heard that the county government had lagged far behind the county’s own population growth, resulting in government employees who work more for less money
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Members of SEIU Virginia 512 asked the Board of Supervisors to stay the course on proposed countywide raises and an ongoing project to bring employee wages and staffing numbers level with other jurisdictions in the Northern Virginia region.
than their colleagues in other Northern Virginia jurisdictions. Child Protective Services social worker Brenda Dettaas said she and her husband live outside Loudoun and still must work multiple jobs to make ends meet. “Our children joke sometimes that they need to call CPS because they’re neglected,” Dettaas. said. “I used to laugh, but then I thought about it.” “Please support the raises, and please support adequate staffing, so that we can improve the life of local families and of our own employees, and that we can make Loudoun a place where people want to work as well as live,” said another CPS employee, Lisa Grieble. “Unfortunately, the truth is that we are BUDGET HEARINGS >> 47
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