Loudoun Board Public Comment, Supervisors' Time Changes Approved

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Changes to public input and Board of Supervisors member participation are coming to future meetings in Loudoun County.

At the March 18 meeting, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors approved rules of order changes that will take effect during the next meeting on April 1.

For the public, changes include eliminating the 5 p.m. public input session during the second business meeting of the month. The public input session, created in 2014 to accommodate older adults who cannot or do not want to drive in the dark, provided up to 16 minutes of public comment. The county said in a statement that the meetings now have remote public comment options established during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second business meeting of the month typically includes a second public input session later in the meeting.

For board members, the time for each member to provide comments, updates and disclosures will be reduced from five minutes to three minutes. The county said the change is intended to reduce the time of typical meetings. The recording of the board's last meeting on March 18 spanned over seven hours.

The last change will clarify that board members must request remote participation in a meeting by noon on meeting day. The previous rule called for at least five business hours before a meeting.

Board of Supervisors business meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at 4 p.m. The public hearing meeting is held monthly at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, the day after the month's first business meeting. Meetings are broadcast on Comcast Government Channel 23 and Verizon FIOS Channel 40, and livestreams, meeting agendas and past meeting recordings are available at loudoun.gov/meetings.

Residents may find more information about commenting at board meetings at loudoun.gov/SignUpToSpeak or see the meeting calendar at loudoun.gov/calendar.