Unison Preservation Society  ·  Common Sense for the Countryside  ·  Western Loudoun, Virginia
Board of Supervisors Hearing

Preserve our countryside.
Stop the Valley Commerce Center

986,000 sq ft of industrial warehousing proposed for farmland outside Purcellville — in direct violation of Loudoun's own General Plan and zoning ordinance.

Final Hearing: May 19, 2026 — Act Now

117 Acres of Loudoun Farmland on the Chopping Block

On May 19, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors will hold its final hearing and vote on LEGI-2023-0080 — an application by JK Land Holdings to rezone agricultural land at the intersection of Hirst Road and Purcellville Road into a nearly one-million-square-foot industrial park.

Under current zoning, this land supports a maximum of 39 homes on 3-acre lots — roughly 160,000 square feet of development. The Valley Commerce Center (VCC) would multiply that footprint sixfold. Loudoun County's own Department of Planning and Zoning staff have repeatedly flagged the application as contrary to the General Plan and zoning regulations.

JK Land Holdings is among the largest landowners in Loudoun County and one of the leading data center land speculators in the region. The precedent this decision sets cannot be overstated.

Hirst Road & Purcellville Road, North Purcellville

The proposed VCC site sits directly adjacent to the residential communities of Wright Farm, Mayfair (Autumn Hill), and Chestnut Overlook — neighborhoods whose residents bought homes expecting a rural character that this development would permanently destroy.

Aerial view of the proposed Valley Commerce Center site at Hirst Road and Purcellville Road, north Purcellville
Aerial view · VCC Site (yellow outline) · Adjacent communities: Wright Farm, Mayfair, Chestnut Overlook

Hard to Imagine? Here's the Scale.

986K
Square Feet Proposed
Larger than Inova Loudoun Hospital's entire 88-acre campus (829,292 sq ft)
18×
Harris Teeters
The VCC would hold more than 18 grocery stores the size of the Purcellville Harris Teeter
3,086
New Weekly Trips
Additional vehicle trips on roads already rated at unacceptable levels of service
157K
Gallons/Day Water Need
Proposed to be supplied by wells — near Purcellville's community water system — with no public utility connection
93%
Neighbors Opposed
228 of 244 surveyed residents in adjacent Wright Farm, Mayfair, and Chestnut Overlook communities oppose the VCC
0.5%
Rural Economy Use
JK's token concession: 5,000 sq ft of "rural economy" space — out of 986,000 sq ft total

Four Reasons the Board Should Deny LEGI-2023-0080

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Scale: It's Too Big for This Place

At 986,000 square feet, the VCC would dwarf every existing commercial development in Purcellville and fundamentally alter the character of a town built around a modest, rural mixed-use identity. This is not incremental growth — it is an industrial transplant from eastern Loudoun into western farmland.

  • Bigger than Inova Loudoun Hospital's 88-acre campus
  • Equivalent to approximately 3 large downtown DC office buildings
  • 6× the maximum development allowed under current zoning
"Can you imagine how that feels adjacent to homes that people bought believing they were going to live in a rural community?"
🚛

Traffic: Roads Already at Failure

The intersections at Hirst Road and Purcellville/Hatcher Road are already failing — not as a subjective judgment, but by the specific measurements and models used by expert traffic engineers. Adding heavy 18-wheelers to a residential network complicated by Woodgrove High School traffic is not a manageable incremental impact.

  • 3,086 new vehicle trips per week on already-failing roads
  • 2,662 more weekly trips than current zoning permits without an exception
  • No credible mitigation proposed for the regional traffic network
💧

Water: A Well-Based Industrial Facility Is Indefensible

Loudoun's Zoning Ordinance explicitly prohibits industrial and flex development in areas without public utility service — for good reason. JK proposes to supply a nearly one-million-square-foot industrial facility via on-site wells, in an area that is already frequently under drought restrictions.

  • Proposed VCC water demand: ~157,000 gallons/day
  • Typical residential usage in the area: 12,000–16,000 gallons/day
  • Wells proposed adjacent to Purcellville's community water supply wells
  • JK's "mitigation" offer: monitoring for 2 years, with an exclusivity burden that makes liability nearly impossible to establish
If JK drained the aquifer, would they send an endless parade of water trucks to refill residential wells and the town's water supply?
🏘

Community: Neighbors Have Spoken Clearly

The communities of Wright Farm, Mayfair, and Chestnut Overlook have actively opposed this application for years. A recent survey recorded 93% opposition — 228 of 244 responses. The Town of Purcellville has twice rejected JK's proposal to allow VCC development and incorporate the land into the town limits.

County planning staff have consistently flagged the application as contrary to both the Loudoun General Plan and current zoning regulations. These policies were developed over nearly a decade with extensive community and expert input. Cosmetic concessions — faux farm facades, a crosswalk, a bus shelter — do not address the fundamental incompatibility of this project with the land use framework Loudoun has built.

This Vote Is About More Than One Project

One of the primary justifications offered for the VCC is the current shortage of industrial and flex space in eastern Loudoun County. The Board is being asked to treat that shortage as grounds to open up farmland in western Loudoun for industrial use.

"If this application is approved, farm-to-industrial conversions in rural western Loudoun could become what data centers have become in eastern Loudoun."

JK Land Holdings is one of the largest landowners in Loudoun County and a leading data center land speculator. The logic applied to approve the VCC will not stay contained to this parcel. Every rural landowner in western Loudoun should understand what approving this application means for the long-term character of the countryside they chose.

Three Ways to Make Your Voice Heard

01

Attend the Final Hearing

May 19, 2026 — Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. Each speaker receives 2 minutes. Coordinated testimony is more effective than repetition. If you plan to speak, notify the organizers so talking points can be aligned. Meeting details →

Contact to coordinate:

02

Email the Board of Supervisors

Write to the Board today. Reference application LEGI-2023-0080 and state your opposition to the proposed zoning change. You can also submit comments through Loudoun's Land Applications and Comments portal.

Preview message text ▾
Dear Board of Supervisors, I am writing to express my strong opposition to the Valley Commerce Center application (LEGI-2023-0080), scheduled for final hearing on May 19, 2026. This proposed 986,000 square foot industrial development on 117 acres of farmland outside Purcellville is incompatible with Loudoun County's General Plan and directly prohibited by current zoning. Loudoun County's own Department of Planning and Zoning staff have repeatedly confirmed this. The project would add 3,086 new vehicle trips per week to roads already rated at unacceptable levels of service, propose drawing 157,000 gallons of water per day from wells adjacent to Purcellville's community water supply, and permanently alter the rural character of western Loudoun that residents, farmers, and conservation landowners have worked for decades to protect. 93% of surveyed residents in adjacent communities oppose this project. The Town of Purcellville has twice rejected it. County planning staff oppose it. The Board should reject it too. Approving this application would set a precedent that could open rural western Loudoun to the same industrial conversion that has transformed eastern Loudoun. That outcome would be irreversible. Please vote NO on LEGI-2023-0080. Thank you for your service to our community.
03

Spread the Word

Share this page with neighbors, friends, and anyone who cares about the character of western Loudoun. The rural communities of Wright Farm, Mayfair, Chestnut Overlook, and Purcellville itself need broad support — not just from immediate neighbors.

The Unison Preservation Society has been working to preserve this landscape for decades. This is one of the most consequential land use decisions in recent memory.

Unison Preservation Society →

A Partial Case for Limited Development

There is a legitimate case to be made for some low-intensity industrial space on the southern portion of the VCC site, adjacent to Route 7 business uses and existing industrial/flex development. Such use could be defensible if properly conditioned to:

  • Not interfere with adjacent residents' right to quiet enjoyment of their homes
  • Not be so large as to overwhelm Purcellville's character
  • Not intensify traffic to an unmanageable or unsafe degree
  • Not threaten the water supply of neighboring properties or Purcellville's community system

The VCC as proposed meets none of these conditions. Until it does, opposition to this application is the only rational position.