Representatives for developers who want to build in the Dulles south area downplayed the impact of their proposed developments at a stakeholders meeting Monday. At the same time, they urged the county to prepare itself for an influx of population that would further cripple roads.
Six developers have proposed policy changes in the Transition Policy Area, 23,000 acres intended to serve as a buffer between the suburban east and the rural west. It stretches from south and west of South Riding up toward Leesburg.
The six developers — Greenvest LC, Toll Brothers, the Shockey family, Randolph Rouse, Van Metre and Winchester Homes — have proposed policy changes that would allow 22,000 additional homes in two of the Transition Policy Area's six subareas.
To put that in perspective, nearby South Riding currently has about 4,800 homes and will be completed at 6,500 homes.
Antonio J. Calabrese, an attorney with Cooley Godward, made the developers' case at the stakeholders meeting, which included homeowners associations, water and sanitation officials, the Piedmont Environmental Council, Citizens for Property Rights and more.
Calabrese pointed out that the area under study constituted less than 3 percent of the county's land. At the same time, he urged the Planning Commission to recall that the Metropolitan Washington Council of Local Governments (COG) projected that Loudoun would have an additional 292,500 residents by 2030 — a 172 percent increase over today.
"We ignore the COG projections at our own risk," Calabrese said.
THE DEVELOPERS have been on the receiving end of criticism ever since the proposals were first put forth last fall, and the stakeholders meeting was no exception.
Questions about specifics — exactly how many and what type of houses, exactly how many schools, roads and civic improvements, exactly how it will all be funded — have been left unanswered at this stage.
If the county accepts the developers' proposed policies changes, then the developers will follow with a traditional rezoning request that will include more specific data.
So far, all the developers have offered is an average density of 3.5 units per acre and 40 percent open and civic space — and intimations that the county absolutely needs their support for improvements.
"The Dulles south road network will not likely be built without these applications," said George McGregor, a planner with Reed Smith employed by the group of developers. McGregor was a Loudoun County planner before joining Reed Smith.
"No one can debate that the traffic stinks," said Lenah Run resident Mike Ligus. His daily commute to Herndon has doubled from 25 to 50 minutes in recent years.
But Ligus, and the Lenah Run Homeowners Association, did not support changing the Transition Policy Area to allow more development.
"We think [the applications] fall short of the traffic issue," Ligus said. "They just shift the burden to another portion of the county."
TOLL BROTHERS and Greenvest are proposing a radical financing plan for their proffered road and school improvements, called Community Development Authorities, that would fund improvements by taxing residents over years.
While a CDA was used to build the Dulles Town Center, it has never been used on residents — just businesses.
"The developers allude to creating a huge pot of money to fund infrastructure, but the real source of the money is the homeowners," Ligus said.
Kirkpatrick Farms Homeowners Association, however, supported continued development.
Kirkpatrick Farms has proffered improvements to Gum Spring Road and Braddock Road, noted HOA president Jo Harvey.
"We cannot afford additional development by right in Dulles south," Harvey said.
By-right development allows building per the zoning as it stands, meaning that no proffers are given to the county. McGregor estimated that 7,000 homes could be built by right in the study area.
THE BOARD OF Supervisors has taken the six developer-initiated policy changes, or comprehensive plan amendments, and combined them into one policy study for the Transition Policy Area.
The Planning Commission will host an input meeting for property owners in the study area on June 27 at Broad Run High School. Property owners will receive notification in the mail.