Resort Plans Called a 'Done Deal'

Middleburg Poised to Approve Expanded 168-Room Project

By Arianne Aryanpur (Contact)

Sunday, June 24, 2007

A developer's application to build a high-end resort and spa in Middleburg is close to receiving final approval from town officials, and the company said it expects to begin construction in less than three months and to open the resort in 2009.

The Middleburg Town Council voted, 3 to 2, this month to approve Salamander Hospitality's request to expand the Salamander Resort and Spa project. Executives initially proposed a 40-room resort but now plan on having 168 rooms.

Council members Eura Lewis and Darlene Kirk were absent from the meeting. But Lewis has supported adding the rooms, and Kirk said that although she opposed the expansion, she is willing to set her differences aside and accept the developer's proposal as it stands.

"It passed. It has the support of the majority of the council and the mayor. I think it's a done deal now," Kirk said.

The company has been in negotiations with the town since 2002, when Sheila C. Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and chief executive of Salamander, said she wanted to build a 40-room inn in Middleburg.

In 2005, town officials reached an agreement with Salamander to expand the resort to 120 rooms. The developer also offered to provide the town with a wastewater treatment plant.

But when the company asked the town in March for approval to expand the resort to 168 rooms, some council members bristled, saying that such a large resort would ruin Middleburg's small-town character.

The Middleburg Planning Commission and the council still must vote on the developer's applications for a rezoning of the property and a special use permit. Residents will have the chance to comment on the rezoning at a public hearing tomorrow at 7 p.m. A public hearing on the permit will be at 7 p.m. July 9.

Town officials hope to reach a final decision by the end of July.

If Salamander's proposal is approved, construction on the resort will begin, followed soon after by construction on the $5 million wastewater treatment plant, said Prem Devadas, the company's president. The plant would take a year to finish and would come online before the resort opened.

Town Administrator Jerry Schiro said the facility will replace Middleburg's aging wastewater system on the edge of town. The plant treats up to 135,000 gallons of wastewater a day, Schiro said, and the new facility will have nearly double that capacity.

"It will be state-of-the-art technology," he said.

For council members wary of bringing a large resort to Middleburg, the wastewater facility is one of the most attractive features of the developer's proposal, Kirk said.

"We feel it's the best way to get a new system without burdening our citizens," she said.

Given Salamander's previous expansion requests, Kirk is not convinced that she has seen the final proposal.

"I think they're going to keep coming back for more and more rooms," she said.

Devadas said that would not happen.

"We will not request any additional rooms," he said.

"This really is going to be a wonderful thing for the town of Middleburg and Loudoun County, and we are committed to achieving the level of excellence for that resort that we have always promised," he said.

Tagged: Middleburg Town Council

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