Letter to the Editor: Tysons Corner Farm Isn't A Good Model for Loudoun

Thursday, May 14, 2009

In a letter to the editor in the May 10 Loudoun Extra, Priscilla Godfrey omitted or misstated a few compelling details in her discussion of the Loudoun School Board's "deep, deep trouble" as it proposes to build three schools in Wheatland.

Most notably, she makes no mention of the county's Comprehensive Plan. I gather the School Board has decided it is irrelevant in this case. The property in question is not three miles away from Lovettsville; it is five miles away.

But the detail that caught my eye is her mention of our farm on Route 7 — the last commercial vegetable farm in Fairfax County. I am astounded that she would use our farm as a model to emulate. We would not wish our situation on anyone who is currently farming in a rural area. Farming in the high-traffic suburbs is not in the Comprehensive Plan.

At the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors meeting last week, I used our farm near Tysons Corner as an example of what we don't want to see in Loudoun. We want the board to look hard at the Comprehensive Plan and pay attention to the ideals it supports. Build schools near communities and maintain open space for agriculture.

And by the way, it is our civic duty to be critical when the School Board tries to spend too much money or put schools in the wrong place.

Hana Newcomb, Potomac Vegetable Farms, Vienna and Purcellville

Tagged: Letter to the Editor, Loudoun County Public Schools, Loudoun Planning Commission, Lovettsville, opinions, school board, schools, Tysons Corner Center, western Loudoun

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