Loudoun County, Virginia, whose population nearly doubled

Loudoun County, Virginia, whose population nearly doubled to 170,000 in the 1990s, has adopted a package of building restrictions limiting development in a 300 sq. mi. western portion of the county to one house per ten, 20, or 50 acres, depending on the location and whether the dwellings are clustered to protect open space. To compensate for the resulting reduction in land values and to ward off lawsuits, the county authorized rural economic ventures such as country inns and retreats, which land owners may develop in lieu of subdivisions. Even so, lawsuits have been numerous.