By Derek Kravitz
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Route 28 corridor suffers from an "image and prestige problem" because of a lack of large-scale office, entertainment, cultural and retail development, according to a Loudoun County report that focuses on the complaints of dozens of landowners and homeowners associations.
The 33-page report, presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday by the county's Planning Department, was especially critical of the county's land-use planning for the area, with respondents saying it is "disorganized" and "inconsistent" and has "multiple personalities."
One respondent referred to Route 28 as the "back yard for the Ashburn and Sterling communities." Another said it was "suffering from a lack of identity." Many said the chief culprit was the county's 1972 zoning requirements, which place restrictions on mixed-use, residential and high-density development in much of the corridor.
The respondents, a group of nearly three dozen landowners, developers, homeowners association members and public and private agency representatives, were unnamed in the report so that they could speak frankly to county staff members, said Michael Salinas, who handles community outreach programs for the Planning Department.
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Among the improvements requested in the report:
Salinas said the report "advances the discussion" regarding potential zoning changes, and board Chairman Scott K. York (I) said it is the "start of a conversation" about what could be built there. The Board of Supervisors sent the report to its economic development committee for review.
In February, the board asked for the report to gauge the business community's opinion on possible zoning changes that would allow for more mixed-use and residential development.
Route 28 is the county's most traveled roadway, with up to 106,000 vehicles traveling along the north-south artery each day. It spans about 8,000 acres, from Route 7 to the Fairfax County line. In recent years, the area has become a hub for aerospace and technology corporations, with the headquarters of AOL, Orbital Sciences, GeoEye and Telos being built there and the announcement in April that defense contractor Raytheon was moving its operations to Route 28.
County officials primarily spoke to commercial developers for the report, and a Board of Supervisors-sponsored forum for businesses was held in mid-April.
The main draw of Route 28 cited in the report was the airport, which employs nearly 20,000 people and served nearly 24 million passengers last year. The Route 28 tax district's $5.2 billion worth of assessed properties last year resulted in $11.8 million in county tax revenue.
The report said that the potential for increased revenue from the tax district would grow with the extension of Metro service to three stops in Loudoun, a massive project that would not be completed until at least the end of 2016.
Patricia Nicoson, president of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association, a nonprofit group supporting the extension of Metro service to Dulles, said she agreed with many of the report's major findings, saying it was time that Route 28 "caught up to the 21st century."
"I'm glad they're finally focusing on it, because the corridor really has had a hodgepodge of uses," Nicoson said. "It's important because it's not just the front door to Loudoun County, it's the front car door."
Two large, mixed-use developments — Kincora Village and Dulles World Center — are planned for Route 28. The Great Falls-based developer of the Kincora project has zoning issues to resolve with the county and is seeking permission to build a 5,500-seat minor league baseball stadium.
Copyright 2009 The Washington Post Company