[JYO] Tuesday, June 5th Meeting of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors

Fellow Pilots:

Two weeks ago I wrote to each of you individually,  asking for you to
write to (or speak at a meeting of) the Loudoun County  Board of
Supervisors prior to a likely vote on Tuesday June 5th to approve  the
Crosstrails development on the property immediately west of and  adjacent
to the airport.  It appears that your efforts and the efforts  of others
have begun to turn the tide, and for that I thank  you.

Thanks to the efforts of the FAA, VA Dept of Aviation, AOPA, a  multitude
of pilots, speakers who turned out in droves, letters and emails,  and
careful consideration by the Board, the expected vote to approve  the
development never materialized.  Instead, a majority of the members  of
the Board took public positions that they would not approve  the
development as proposed, and directed that a committee of Board  members
would meet with the Leesburg Town Council and the applicant prior to  the
end of June to review the failing points of the application. Make  no
mistake:  There was a sea change this afternoon, the tide is  definitely
turning in the proper direction, and the force behind that tide is  not
just the moon's gravity - it's grass roots public action.

In  addition to the issues of water/sewer provisioning, and
transportation  improvements, every one of those members, and several of
the members of the  Board who still support the application, referred
specifically to airport  compatibility (or lack thereof) in their
comments.  A majority of  members (six, by our count) were very clear in
their public comments that the  developer has much work to do before they
will vote in favor of this  application, if at all.  That's a significant
change in direction from  where we were just a few weeks ago.

It appears that the developer is  beginning to get the message:  The
majority of high noise, low altitude  operations will happen directly
over these residences (as proposed) as  aircraft turn west and north. The
airport requires additional land for  expansion, and the type of housing
proposed is incompatible with the  airport.  All in all, the developer's
claims of 'helping' the airport do  not ring true.  The developer had
previously tried to destroy the  airport in order to 'save' it, the Board
wasn't fooled.

So  far.

The initial reactions from today's meeting are headed in a  positive
direction, and we may well see a change in attitude from the  applicant.
I am hopeful that in the next few days we may see significant  movement
on some of the critical issues in this proposal.  However, we  have much
work to do, and the Airport Commission will be working in support  of the
Town Council in meeting with the Board of Supervisors.  We may,  at some
time in the next few months, have to ask for your support  again.  I
would hope that in the future we can count on the same level  (or
better!) of emails, calls, and speakers in meeting this challenge.   

There will be a full review of our notes at the next regularly  scheduled
meeting of the Airport Commission tomorrow evening (Wednesday, June  6,
2007) at 7 p.m. at the Stanley F. Caulkins Terminal Building, 3rd  Floor
Conference Room, Leesburg Airport.  We hope you'll  attend.

As always, feel free to call me with questions or  suggestions.  I thank
you for your  support.

Sincerely,


Dennis

Dennis B. Boykin  IV
Chairman
Leesburg Executive Airport Commission
(703) 346-4857
_boykin_dennis@xxxxxxxxxx (mailto:boykin_dennis@xxxxxxxxx) 





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