Comprehensive Plan

Adopted Comprehensive Plan

Louisa County's 2040 Comprehensive Plan was adopted in August 2019. The current Plan is available here.

Louisa County Ordinance Update

The primary purpose of these amendments is to modify the existing regulations in support of the August 2019 adoption of the 2040 Louisa County Comprehensive Plan. This includes:

  • Amending and clarifying definitions.
  • Bringing the ordinances into compliance with existing state regulations and updating State Code references.
  • Amending permitted uses and permitted uses with the issuance of a conditional use permit in each district to support the goals of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
  • Provide development guidelines for each zoning district for properties located within a designated growth area in the adopted 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
  • To direct growth within the County to the designated Growth Areas; and to maintain the rural areas of the County. 

In addition, the proposed amendments will streamline the existing regulations into a more user friendly document that groups similar and connected uses and regulations into the appropriately titled Article. Duplicated definitions will be deleted, conflicting regulations will be clarified, and definitions and terms will be used consistently throughout the ordinance.

Update as of July 19, 2019

This draft of the Louisa County Comprehensive Plan will be considered for adoption by the Board of Supervisors during a Public Hearing at the regularly scheduled meeting on August 5th.

Update as of May 16, 2019

The draft comprehensive plan, for consideration of the Planning Commission, is linked below. This draft encompasses the core document and is the first phase of the Louisa County Comprehensive Plan update. If adopted, after consideration by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors, a second phase will begin to include several other plan chapters that will be developed based on this plan. Other chapters will include specific details and planning for areas that support the communities goals for transportation, public facilities, economic development, public utilities and historical & natural resources. Link to Draft plan (45 Mb).

Update as of March 11, 2019

Louisa County recently held three public meetings for members of our community to review and provide input relating to the Land Use Concepts currently being reviewed and considered by the Planning Commission. All of the responses collected to date are available for viewing by clicking the links below. In addition you may review a consolidation of responses given to each question asked Link to Consolidation File.

Responses have been broken down into smaller groups for easier downloading and viewing.

Community Input #1Community Input #2Community Input #3
Community Input #4Community Input #5Community Input #6


Update as of February 21, 2019

The Planning Commission is currently reviewing Land Use Concepts as part of the Comprehensive Plan update process. Below you will find the information that will be under community consideration at three (3) upcoming community meetings. At these meetings the community will have an opportunity to provide feedback after reviewing several Land Use Concepts in the following areas:

  • Landscaping and Buffering Concepts
  • Rural Area Concepts
  • Conceptual Future Land Use Maps or Growth Area Maps

These Concepts were developed beginning with Community Feedback received at the original seven (7) community meetings held at the beginning our the update process. In addition to community feedback there are several other areas considered when creating these concepts:

  • Development Trends – Where and what type of development is occurring around the County and are those trends expected to continue.
  • Current and Projected Demographics – Where and how is the population of Louisa County expected to change.
  • Existing and Planned Infrastructure – What development resources, such as transportation and utilities, are available or projected to be available and where.
  • Government Services – What government services, such as public safety, are available and how may the needs change based on the projected development and demographics.

Landscaping and Buffering Concepts – These concepts were developed in response to feedback collected at earlier community meetings; where the community communicated a desire for improved development quality, landscaping and appearance requirements with new development projects.

Rural Area Concepts – These concepts were developed in response to feedback collected at earlier community meetings; where the community communicated a desire for additional efforts to retain the rural character of the County. In response, under these concepts, all areas not within a concept growth area will be referred to as a Rural Area. These concepts would place additional restrictions on new development in the rural areas in an effort to preserve the desirable rural character.

Conceptual Future Land Use Maps – These conceptual maps were developed in response to feedback collected at earlier community meetings and the other factors listed above such as projected demographics. Future land use maps place designations, such as Mixed-Use, onto areas on a map. These maps define a communities development plan for general areas of land space. For example if the community expresses and interest in a general area to be developed with retail shops, restaurants and more densely populated residential areas the area may be designated as Mixed-Use. These maps are guidelines to be used when specific development projects seek zoning approval; ensuring proposed development projects align with the desired and planned outcome for the area.

The files below contain three (3) pieces of information:

  • Currently Adopted Future Land Use Map
  • Growth Area Narrative and Basis for the Concept Growth Area Update
  • Concept Future Land Use Map
Gordonsville Growth AreaFerncliff Growth AreaTown of Louisa Growth Area
Boswells Tavern Growth AreaShannon Hill Growth AreaTown of Mineral Growth Area
Zion Crossroads Growth AreaGum Springs Growth AreaLake Anna Growth Area


Update as of January 7, 2019 after Initial Community Meetings

Comprehensive Plan Update Outline

This outline, approved by the Planning Commission on December 20th, will be used for drafting an update to the Louisa County Comprehensive Plan. There are several areas that will need further consideration by the public before drafting can be completed. Recommended updates will be presented at three public meeting in the near future so that citizens can provide further feedback before drafting is completed.

Citizen Review Committee Meeting Summary

This is a summary of the Citizen Review Committee’s meeting held on December 5th. The Citizen Review Committee was tasked with evaluating the collection and consolidation of community input completed by staff. This step was added to the Comprehensive Plan Update schedule to further ensure the Community Input was being properly evaluated for consideration by the Planning Commission.

Consolidation of Community Input

Following the collection of data shown in the Community Input Packet, staff evaluated and consolidated the information into categories. This is a summary of the methods used and the resulting tables and recommendation. The recommendations include 12 areas of comment that were most frequently documented and should be included in the Comprehensive Plan Update in some respect where most appropriate.

Community Input Packet

The Community Input Packets include a consolidation of inputs and a collection of all the raw, unfiltered, information received by staff at the seven community meetings. Every point of response through comment cards and the dot based voting system is visible here.

Comprehensive Plan Update prior to Community Meetings

A full review of the current Plan is underway. This three-phase effort will involve community meetings, staff review of public input, any resulting drafting/updates, and public consideration by the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors.  The process will involve numerous opportunities for public input and consideration. 

Additional information is below, and further detail will be added as the process continues.  

General Information

Maps