[JYO] Commission Begins Crosstrail Review; Town, County Planners Oppose Project

_http://www.leesburg2day.com/current.cfm?catid=21&newsid=12168_ 
(http://www.leesburg2day.com/current.cfm?catid=21&newsid=12168)    

Commission Begins Crosstrail Review; Town,  County Planners Oppose Project
_Molly Novotny_ (mailto:)  

Jun 20, 2006 -- The  Peterson Companies proposal to create a mixed-use 
development between the  Leesburg Executive Airport and the Dulles Greenway 
just 
south of Leesburg will  next be discussed in a work session, a decision the 
Loudoun Planning Commission  made last night after reviewing the application 
for 
approximately four hours. 
The development on approximately 500 acres would be a keynote employment  
node, said Jim Todd, the president of the Peterson Companies. He said the  
project reflects what county and town leaders have planned to be built on that  
land 
for years. Itâs just that todayâs keynote employment uses are different  
than what planners might have envisioned years ago, he said.  
To attract businesses, office parks must be integrated with retail and  
residential uses, Todd said, and itâs the employeesâwho are looking for 
shopping  
and residential opportunities nearbyânot CEOs who are influencing where  
companies locate.  
âOur objectives are the same as yours, to make this an employment-based  
community,â he told the county planning commissioners and the audience 
gathered  
for the public hearing.  
Planners recognize that an element of retail is important to round out office 
 developmentsâproviding workers a place to grab lunch or drop off their dry  
cleaning on site both helps the employee and the community at large by 
reducing  traffic tripsâbut they say the mix proposed by Peterson is out of 
proportion and  the 1,366 homes being proposed should not be permitted so near 
the 
airport.  
âStaff has concern with the introduction of residential and the amount of  
retail that is being proposed,â said Susan Berry Hill, a planner with the  
county.  
Town planners voiced similar concerns and Leesburg Planning Director Susan  
Swift, said Monday, âWeâre looking for more office and more intensity in 
this  
area so we can have more employment.â The 2005 Leesburg Town Plan includes  
retail uses, but caps it at half a million square feet, and sets guidelines to  
limit the retail to more of a communityâserving type, not the type that would 
 draw people from a wide region.  
The Peterson Companies has proposed up to 1.85 million square feet of office  
and industrial uses and nearly 1 million square feet of retail uses.  
After hearing from county planning staff, county Planning Commissioner John  
Elgin, who represents the Leesburg District, fired off a number of questions  
about the assumptions they used and some of their statements.  
âHow is this going to negatively affect the airport?" he asked. "It seems to  
me like youâre crystal balling here and I would like to get some specifics, 
how  is it going to do this?â And rather tha just say the airport would be 
expanded  and hadn't reached its full expansion, Elgin asked, "What are the 
specific  expansion plans for the airport? Iâd just like to know what 
youâre going 
to do,  because then I could see how itâs going to affect you.â The 
majority 
of the  residents who spoke during last nightâs hearing raised concerns about 
the  proximity of the homes, nearly half of which would be for residents 55 
and  older, to the runway. Pilots and non-flyers alike told the Loudoun 
Planning 
 Commission that the planes would pose a nuisance and a safety concern for 
future  homeowners.  
One speaker said it is âbetter to avoid risky and unsafe situations than it  
is to try and recover from them,â alluding to potential plane crashes. He 
added  that homes would be âa target for the airplanes.â  
Dennis Boykin, vice chairman of the Leesburg Airport Commission, said the  
graphic representation of the flight patternâthe line on paper that shows the 
 
circle pattern planes follow when approaching and leaving the airportâis a  
model, not the exact path pilots follow.  
âThey will fly over the residential component of this development and they  
will do so on a regular basis,â he said.  
Jim Haynes, a pilot and former fixed-base operator of the airport, who is a  
consultant to the Peterson Companies, disputed that assertion.  
âCrosstrail is not in the landing or takeoff path,â of the airport, Haynes  
said. With regard to noise concerns, he said, âThere is not now and will not 
be  any aircraft noise that exceeds federal, state, county or town criteria in 
the  residential sections of the Crosstrail development.â  
Jeff Saxe, senior vice president of the Peterson Companies, said his  companyâ
s proposal would compliment the airport and that private hangars could  be 
built on the Peterson land, if the town wants.  
âWe really do not consider the airport a negative factor that would affectâ 
 
the property, he said.  
As for the distance of the homes from the airport, Saxe said, âWeâre not  
changing the rules. Weâre following the policy that is in place for the 
county,  
the town and the FAA.â  
County planner Lou Mosurak said, the âproposed rezoning application could  
diminish the future viability of the airport,â by blocking growth potential.  
The Loudoun Planning Commission has not yet scheduled the work session, at  
which it will look in more detail at how the project will relate to the 
airport,  the economics behind the project, whether the Loudoun County 
Sanitation  
Authority or the Town of Leesburg will provide water and sewer service and the  
proposed transportation network.

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