Effort underway to reopen western Loudoun County ahead of DMV

In Northern Virginia, folks in one county want to be split up when it comes to reopening. Loudoun County is one of several that Governor Ralph Northam says will delay moving into phase one due to rising coronavirus cases in the region, but some say that’s not necessary for western Loudoun County.

LEESBURG, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - In Northern Virginia, folks in one county want to be split up when it comes to reopening.

Loudoun County is one of several that Governor Ralph Northam says will delay moving into Phase One due to rising coronavirus cases in the region, but some say that’s not necessary in western Loudoun County.

The Leesburg, Catoctin and Blue Ridge districts are all asking Governor Northam to allow the westernmost parts of Loudoun County to reopen prior to May 28. They say these parts of the county are mostly rural, unlike the parts of northern Virginia seeing the uptick in coronavirus cases.

For Jennifer Breaux, this winery is a labor of love.

She started growing grapes in 1994 and opened her doors for business three years later. Business was booming before the coronavirus pandemic struck, forcing companies to close.

Breaux joins a growing list of business owners, residents and lawmakers demanding Gov. Northam reopen the westernmost parts of Loudoun County.

Most of western Loudoun County is rural and have not experienced the rise in coronavirus cases like its northern Virginia counterparts.

“With this shut down and treating all of Loudoun County the same, we are destroying those businesses that we worked so long and hard to created,” said Geary Higgins, a former Loudoun County supervisor.

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“We are hoping for a response. and I would invite the Governor to come out to western Loudoun,” said Catoctin supervisor Caleb Kershner,” one of three Loudoun County supervisors who insist the Catoctin and Blue Ridge Districts are largely rural and the Leesburg District has a high percentage of lower- and middle-income workers who have been without any income for two months and desperately need and want to go back to work.

Jennifer Breaux fears waiting any longer may be too late.

The letter also says, “These districts are distinct from Eastern Loudoun, and represent all of Loudoun’s incorporated towns Lovettsville, Hamilton, Purcellville, Round Hill, Hillsboro, Middleburg, Leesburg and points out the number of COVID-19 cases in those districts is minimal, totaling less than 30 percent of all of Loudoun’s cases.”