[JYO] Pilot Group Joins Opposition Against Residential Development

Pilot Group Joins Opposition Against Residential  Development
_Molly Novotny_ (mailto:)  

Feb  01, 2005 -- The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association threw  its 
support behind building Philip A Bolen Memorial Park as planned, sending a  
letter 
to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors last week urging the county to  
reject the rezoning requests that would allow the land to be developed with a  
mixed-use town center.  
The associationâs main concern is the residential component that would be  
built near the runway at Leesburg Executive Airport.  
âAnytime we learn of an airport that is being threatened, not even with  
closure, but with encroachment of incompatible land use, we will contact the  
local officials and let them know of our position,â said Chris Dancy, a  
spokesman 
for association. âWe support compatible land use. Residential land  use, 
adjacent to an airport, would be considered incompatible.â  
The letter went to County Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large) Jan. 25, the  
same day the Leesburg Town Council signed a resolution addressing the land 
swap.   
Council members weighed various resolutions before agreeing on one that asks  
the county to: construct the park on the Shellhorn property as planned; take  
enough time to assess the public policy issues related to the Crosstrail and  
Creekside developments; deny the Creekside developer to join as co-applicant; 
 deny the Creekside and Crosstrail comprehensive plan amendments and any 
rezoning  applications that would permit residential development within 7,500 
feet 
of the  runway; and work more closely with the town in plans that affect town 
residents  and Loudoun commuters.  
The townâs airport commission also approved a resolution that opposes any  
residential development in the Crosstrail development and any incompatible  
development at all within 7,500 feet of the runway.  
Along with its resolution and that from the airport commission, the council  
attached a report from the Citizens for a Better Leesburg that speaks out  
against the land swap and ensuing developments.  
This morning, Leesburg Airport Commission members Steve Axeman and Dennis  
Boykin addressed the Loudoun Board of Supervisors urging the county to prohibit 
 
any residential development within 7,500 feet of the town airport's runway.

Other related posts: