Town Gets Another Shot On Crosstrail Proposal

The Loudoun Board of Supervisors punted today on the Crosstrail rezoning, sending the application to the Town of Leesburg for comments and requiring the applicant, Peterson Companies, to meet with town leaders before reporting back to the board's Transportation/Land Use Committee.

Board Vice Chairman Bruce Tulloch (R-Potomac) made the motion to defer any future board-level discussion until the applicant met with Leesburg representatives and discussed the town's concerns. He said the town should have one last opportunity to jointly plan the area that it has earmarked for annexation. The final vote remains with the supervisors.

Upon hearing of Tulloch's intent to delay the rezoning discussion, Supervisor Mick Staton (R-Sugarland Run) said the rezoning has a state-mandated timeline and the board should hold its already-planned discussion Dec. 18.

Tulloch responded plainly, telling Mike Banzhaf, the applicant' attorney, that to gain his support, they would need to agree to the meeting.

"I'm the fifth vote," Tulloch said, of the developers efforts to when majority support for its rezoning, which as submitted calls for 1,100 homes and nearly 1 million square feet of retail and almost 2 million square feet of office and industrial uses.

Going into today's discussion on the Peterson Companies proposal, board members had already agreed to postpone their vote on the rezoning, sending the application last week to their Transportation/Land Use Committee for further discussion.

Until last week, supervisors had been considering the rezoning and Comprehensive Plan Amendment Peterson Companies has submitted for the nearly 500 acres south of Leesburg bound by the Dulles Greenway to the west and the Leesburg Executive Airport to the east concurrently. But today, they were only voting on the CPAM and agreed 5-4 to change the land's designation to Business Community, except for the acreage south of the planned Crosstrail Boulevard. That land would be retained as Keynote Employment, a suggestion Tulloch made Tuesday.

Furthermore, Tulloch said the office slated on the southern section of the property could not be counted toward the office density planned on the rest of the property.

The small portion of the property that exists south of Crosstrail Boulevard had always been planned for office, confirmed Peterson Vice President Jeff Saxe after the meeting Tuesday.

The entire property was previously designated Business Employment and Keynote, neither of which permits residential uses. Business Community allows homes.

In approving the land use map change, the board voted against permitting a Crosstrail-specific land-use mix, meaning the Peterson Companies will need to plan the development to adhere to the county's guidelines for Business Communities.

As for the question of which jurisdiction will extend water and sewer services to the property--the Town of Leesburg or the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority--supervisors deferred their vote, giving the town 90 days to settle its ongoing water rate dispute with customers east of town.

Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) wants the town to provide the utilities, as is the county's and town's current policy, but before he agrees to that, he wants Leesburg leaders to revise the rate structure they charge out-of-town customers. Currently about 2,000 homes just east of Leesburg get their water and sewer service from the town. Those homes are charged double what residents in Leesburg pay. Those homeowners have filed a lawsuit challenging that rate structure.

If the town can't settle the rates to the board's satisfaction, Burton said the board could decide to allow LCSA to serve the property.

The motion, which County Chairman Scott York (I-At Large) also supported, put the onus on the town. The town has repeatedly asked to be the utility provider to the Crosstrail tract and has developed its long-range utility plan to accommodate the land south and east of Leesburg. It was ready to extend its sewer plant earlier this year, but put its plans on hold after the Peterson Companies made it known that its refers to get the utilities from LCSA.

Rather than formally set the ultimatum Burton laid out, the supervisors voted to defer the utility question.