Land use regulation is a useful tool to guide freight facility development. Virginia Inland Port, located in Front Royal, VA (approximately 70 miles west of Washington DC), began operations in 1989 and is generally recognized as America’s first successful inland port. The port can also serve as a “lesson learned” opportunity, as current knowledge would suggest that if the port were to be developed today, the layout would be different to allow more strategic development of parcels. Also, land requirements might be expanded to 1,000 acres with greater emphasis on smart growth for supporting freight facilities. Strategic smart growth would entail planning to incorporate zoning and land use for supporting facilities (3PL, distribution centers), and would buffer residential development from freight activity. Since Virginia Inland Port’s actual development was sporadic, contiguous development didn’t allow for efficient development of the growth and operations existing today. For example, a golf course development across from the facility hinders further industrial development and reflects the importance of planning considerations for future inland port developments.

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