Brambleton resident Heather Phillips would have never moved there if she had known about the density proposed for Loudoun Valley Estates II.
In April, Phillips and her husband Brad moved from the Tysons Corner area to a one-acre lot in the Winchester section of Brambleton with their 21-month-old daughter. Before making the purchase, Phillips consulted the builders and the neighboring communities, who told her that Loudoun Valley Estates II, which borders the eastern edge of Brambleton, would continue the large lot homes that are in Brambleton and Loudoun Valley Estates I with 785 units on 800 acres. Loudoun Valley Estates I is a by-right development to the northeast of Loudoun Valley Estates II with half-acre and one-acre lots.
Phillips' neighbor told her about a letter Toll Brothers Inc. sent to Brambleton and area residents in June concerning a change in plans for Loudoun Valley Estates II. Toll Brothers had filed a rezoning request in July 2002 to rezone Loudoun Valley Estates II from an R-1 zoning district — Residential with one unit per acre — to a PDH-4 zoning district — Planned Development Housing with four units per acre. The developer proposed the development as a mixed-use community with a retail center, a community center and an elementary school site.
FIVE HOMEOWNERS, including Phillips, attended a meeting later that month with Toll Brothers officials about the rezoning request. The officials said they planned to rezone Loudoun Valley Estates II to 3.7 units per acre, quadrupling the number of units to 3,184 detached and attached units. The rezoning would place 900 condominiums and apartments near Brambleton, which is planned for 6,200 units, and across the street from Forest Manor and Forest Ridge.
"We were immediately shocked by this revelation, especially since the application has been in the works ... since last July," Phillips said. "It's been very disappointing to find out this kind of thing was in the works all along."
Phillips and Steve Chronister, also a Brambleton resident, organized a committee of 20 to 30 residents that meets weekly and has a distribution list of 200 residents. "The community is totally unified about this," Phillips said. "For a brand new community, it is amazing how people rallied around this issue."
"I had thought I had done thorough research" before moving in, said Chronister, who has lived in Brambleton for one month with his wife Victoria and 15-month-old daughter. "My expectations were blown away," he said, adding that he does not see the need for the additional units in the rezoning request. "It doesn't help the density situation. We already have an overburdened school system."
THE COUNTY'S General Plan allows for 4.4 units per acre in the Loudoun Valley Estates II land area, which since 1985 has been planned for a planned community. Toll Brothers is proposing one less unit per acre.
"The proposal is technically in conformance with densities allowed for this area," said Van Armstrong, program manager for the county Department of Planning.
That fact "seems to be lost in the emotion that some people feel about this application," said Tony Calabrese of Cooley Goodward, LLP, the zoning and land use counsel representing Toll Brothers, about homeowners associations and developers being notified last year about the proposed changes. "There's no hiding of this application. It's on everyone's radar screen."
Residents said the rezoning application was not disclosed to them. Armstrong said Toll Brothers did provide full disclosure of the development plans as required under the county's zoning ordinance. The county requires sales trailers to have both the zoning ordinance and the comprehensive plan available, not the pending applications of neighboring properties. "They're certainly supposed to disclose their own properties," Armstrong said.
More than 150 residents attended the Planning Commission's July 16 public hearing on the Toll Brother's rezoning request. The residents asked the Planning Commission to reject the request.
"At the heart of this is our concern about density," Phillips said. "We're not trying to stop Toll Brothers from building on their property. We just want them to build responsibly and to offer up what other developments offer to the county, adequate roads and infrastructure."
FOLLOWING THE HEARING, the Planning Commission requested Toll Brothers meet with the residents.
"I had admonished Toll Brothers for not involving the citizens in the first place," said Planning Commissioner David Whitmer (Broad Run). "The citizens were justifiably upset about this proposal. They weren't provided the adequate notice and the opportunity to be involved early in the planning process. Toll Brothers could have saved a lot of headaches."
Since then, Toll Brothers officials met with residents representing Brambleton, Forest Manor and Loudoun Valley Estates I to discuss making changes to the rezoning request. Toll Brothers agreed to redesign Land Bays 6 and 7, which are smaller sections of the overall development designated by the developer. The land bays are located on the south side of Ryan Road and southwest of the Dulles Greenway.
The redesign, conceptual at this point, relocates the condominiums and apartments to the southern area of the Loudoun Valley Estates II property closer to Loudoun County Parkway and moves the single-family detached units closer to Brambleton. The redesign reduces the two land bays to 200 townhouses and 146 single-family detached homes on quarter-acre lots, cutting the number of units by 7 percent from nearly 3,200 to 2,961 units, or 3.4 units per acre. Toll Brothers also included a 50-foot open space buffer between Land Bays 6 and 7 and the property line.
Chronister was glad to see Toll Brothers address residents' concerns. "I know they need to do more, but in the end, I know it's up to the county," he said.
Phillips sees the matter differently. "Frankly that is laughable. ... Toll Brothers has a lot more to go to make this acceptable," she said about what she considers to be a need for additional capital facilities, including schools and roads. "I don't want my children going to school in trailers. That's why we moved to Loudoun County," she said. "This isn't black and white here. It's open for interpretation, and our interpretation is that it should be a well planned and well thought out community that meets the needs of everyone living there. ... The goal shouldn't be to pack people in."
"It certainly needs work, and we're not through yet," said Planning Commissioner John Murphy, Jr. (At large). "It's important all the issues are vented in this project to see if it's a project worth supporting."
TENTATIVELY, Toll Brothers proposes proffering $25 million in a monetary contribution, an elementary school site, multiple parks and recreation facilities, and $30 million in road and transportation improvements, including improving 2.33 miles of Loudoun County Parkway, constructing a portion of Claiborne Parkway through the site and improving Creighton Road, Calabrese said. "This application proposes substantially more proffers than any immediately surrounding community," he said. "The county's capital facility requirements have increased dramatically in the last few years. ... Those who are saying we aren't doing enough for schools, it's a significantly inaccurate statement."
Toll Brothers is processing a by-right subdivision for half-acre and one-acre lots in case the rezoning request is not approved.
"We are delighted to work with folks who are interested in this case," Calabrese said, adding, "We're trying to make it an open, amicable and productive dialogue with the county and residents."
"I think the citizen involvement will improve whatever project comes out as a result of this," Whitmer said. "While the overall density is consistent, the land bay was much higher in density. The citizens had a point."
The residents committee plans to hold a town hall meeting on Sept. 4. The Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing on the rezoning request changes on Sept. 10.