Board Members to Weigh Projects Before Leaving Office

By Sandhya Somashekhar (Contact)

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Loudoun County voters threw out four pro-growth members of the Board of Supervisors in last week's election. But those supervisors still have a chance to approve thousands of new homes before leaving office at the end of the year.

The board, which currently is controlled by a pro-growth majority, has begun to consider a flurry of last-minute proposals to add more than 3,000 apartments, townhouses and single-family homes to the fast-growing eastern part of the county.

With six weeks left in its term, the nine-member board will take up two particularly controversial proposals that would add suburban-style developments to two mostly rural tracts south and west of Dulles International Airport. The supervisors will also consider two other developments that face strong opposition.

The last-minute flood of projects has worried some residents in the wake of the Nov. 6 election, when voters ousted four Republicans who were perceived as developer-friendly and replaced them with a Democratic slate that promised to scale back the county's rapid expansion. Loudoun's population has nearly doubled in seven years to nearly 270,000 residents, which the successful candidates blamed for worsening traffic, crowded schools and high taxes.

Several developers are hoping to have their projects approved by the current board before the new slow-growth board majority takes control in January. And some of those slow-growth supervisors elected last week say they worry that, with the election behind them, the current majority will approve unpopular projects since they no longer will be held accountable by voters.

"I want to believe they will make the right decision. I pray they will make the right decision," said Andrea McGimsey (D), who unseated Supervisor Bruce E. Tulloch (R-Potomac). "It's clear as day what the community wants. They think [the growth] is just too much."

But Supervisor Mick Staton Jr. (R-Sugarland Run), who ascended to office on a pro-growth platform four years ago but lost reelection Nov. 6, said there was no cause for worry.

"I'm dealing with these projects as I did every one that came across this board — one by one and with an open mind," he said. "There is no attempt to shove things through at the last minute."

On Tuesday, the board began tackling three of the controversial developments, which are called Braddock Village, Arcola Center and Kincora. The fourth, Ridgewater Park, is scheduled to come before the board next month.

Braddock Village was previously part of a group of housing developments proposed for an area near the airport called Dulles South. The Dulles South project would have added up to 33,800 homes to 9,200 acres of farmland that was set aside by previous county officials for semi-rural development.

Supervisors voted against Dulles South last year, but the developers of Braddock Village brought their chunk of as many as 860 homes back for board approval this year. County planners are urging the board to deny the application at its Dec. 4 meeting, in part because current zoning only allows for 66 homes in that area.

Officials this week also discussed Arcola Center, a mixed-use center of shops, offices, hotels and more than 1,000 dwellings proposed by the Gaithersburg-based Buchanan Partners. The board gave a tentative nod to the project earlier this year, but voted Tuesday to send it to a committee for further review.

Proponents have said the Arcola Center will revitalize a run-down part of the county off of Route 50, and that it will boost tourism by featuring a restored slave quarters. But slow-growth activists opposed the project because of traffic concerns.

Kincora is a large, mixed-use development proposed for the corner of Route 7 and Route 28 in Ashburn. Though county officials have expressed a desire for "town centers" — walkable developments where people can live, work and play — slow-growth activists note that several other similar developments are in that area.

"Does the Ashburn community really need another town center?" said Ed Gorski, land-use officer for the anti-sprawl Piedmont Environmental Council. "What's been happening is the town center has become the latest developer fad and we're having town centers blossom all over the place. If you have too many of them, only a certain number are going to be viable."

Perhaps the most controversial project slated for board consideration this year is Ridgewater Park, a community of about 1,000 homes in a rural area south of the airport. Developer Leonard S. "Hobie" Mitchel has dramatically scaled the project back to make it palatable to skeptical supervisors, but it still draws some concerns.

Conservationists say it threatens the Goose Creek Reservoir, which provides water to thousands of Loudoun residents. In addition, some officials worry it could set a precedent because it would have a higher density than some neighboring communities.

Already, some developers in neighboring areas have said they will ask to build more homes if Ridgewater Park is approved, said Marchant Schneider, a county planner.

Schneider said the project has encountered several stumbling blocks along the way, which is why it is scheduled to be reviewed by the board in December. But he said it is appropriate for the developer to seek final approval from the current board, which is familiar with it and has been working on it for months.

"If it's rushed, it's only in that there is a desire to have this board look at it, which makes sense," Schneider said.

Your Thoughts...

Are you happy that the school year is over?