[JYO] Will Clem's motion be a referendum to shut down the Leesburg Airport?

_http://www.leesburg2day.com/current.cfm?catid=21&newsid=12072_ 
(http://www.leesburg2day.com/current.cfm?catid=21&newsid=12072) 
 
Clem: Planning To Include  Leesburg
_Molly Novotny_ (mailto:)  

May  26, 2006 -- Just how much involvement Leesburg will have with  planning 
the area directly south of its border remains in question this week,  with 
Leesburg District Supervisor Jim Clem (R) saying Tuesday that the townâs  
planning commission is invited to participate in the discussion regarding the  
Crosstrail rezoning application.  
During last weekâs board meeting, Clem championed the motion for the county  
to proceed with reviewing the Crosstrail rezoning and revise its comprehensive 
 plan concurrently, a move that appeared to leave little time for the town to 
 weigh in on what it would like to see built on the nearly 500 acres between 
the  Dulles Greenway and the Leesburg Executive Airport.  
The Peterson Companies has proposed a mixed-use center on the land with a  
town center that would include between half a million and a million square feet 
 
of office and hotel uses, between 370,000 and 700,000 square feet of retail,  
restaurant and theater uses and between 400 and 600 residential units. 
Another  nearly 800 homes would be built outside the town center.  
The proposal calls for an additional 31 acres to be developed with 275,000  
square feet for a neighborhood shopping center and a daycare, 53 acres near the 
 airport to be used for office/industrial uses, as well as a public park, and 
 approximately 10 acres for other parks and nearly 20 acres for an elementary 
 school site, according to the application.  
The Leesburg Town Plan calls for high-end office to be built on the  
Crosstrail property. The county designates most of the area as keynote  
employment.  
The town asked the county last fall to adjust the boundary to bring that land 
 into the town so it could control the rezoning request; the board never  
responded to the request.  
In elaborating on the motion he made last week, Clem said Tuesday, âTo take  
this [motion] literally and [say] that the town was froze out and that the 
town  wouldnât have any input at all is just ludicrous. Just the bottom line 
is 
that  the county will make the decision.â  
He said that Loudoun County Planning Commission Chairman Teresa White  
Whitmore has already contacted Kevin Wright, the chairman of the townâs  
respective 
commission, to discuss collaboration.  
âTheyâll be a referral agency and be able to have input all along,â Clem 
said  Tuesday about the town.  
âAs always, the Board of Supervisors will continue to listen to the concerns  
of the Town of Leesburg about developments within its JLMA. However, â the 
final  decision concerning land use of the Crosstrail property rests solely 
with 
the  Board of Supervisors,â he said in a statement.  
With a public hearing scheduled for June 19 in the county boardroom, town  
leaders questioned when that joint planning would occur. The town has already  
voiced its dissent over the proposal, saying the residential and retail uses  
donât comply with the town plan.  
Clem said the public hearing is only one part of the planning process and  
that there would be plenty of time for communication and joint planning between 
 
the two jurisdictions in the ensuing months. He said he didnât expect the 
board  to receive the application for review until September.  
Town airport commissioners continue to argue that the proposed residential  
component is incompatible with the airport and that some of the projectâs  
infrastructure, including the installation of a traffic light at Sycolin Road,  
would impede airport operations by potentially interfering with the  
to-be-installed instrument landing system.  
Airport Chairman Steve Axeman, who spoke at Tuesdayâs council meeting,  
repeated his concerns about putting more homes near the airport.  
âSticking residents next to the airport where itâs dirty and smelly, is not 
a  good idea,â he said.  
The Crosstrail proposal includes 567 age-restricted houses, meaning no one  
under the age of 18 can be a full-time resident and at least one occupant of  
each unit must be over the age of 55. This alarms airport commissioners and  
council members even more, as they say older residents who are retired can tend 
 
to be home more.  
Airport Vice Chairman Dennis Boykin said the airport commission viewed Clemâs 
 motion as a referendum to close down the airport.  
Clem disagreed, saying the development plan would act as a catalyst.  
âThis application will have no adverse impact to the airport, rather it  
should enhance the economic growth and viability of its existence,â Clem said 
 
this week. He said the airport has become more of a âhobbyistâ airfield, 
with  
only two jets being based there, opposed to 12 when he was town mayor.  
Axeman disagreed with that statement, saying there are five jets now based at 
 the field and there was never room for 12 jets.  
âWe have jets coming in here all the time,â Axeman said, reaffirming that 
the  airport, although within the town, acts as an economic engine for the 
county.  
The Crosstrail project is just one of two major land use applications in the  
county that would affect Leesburgâs southern border. The second is Creekside, 
 recently renamed Ridgewater Park. Just over 300 acres of that project would 
be  developed at a density of three homes per acre, 100 acres would be 
earmarked for  a county school complex and 48 acres would be set aside for 
employment,  education and retail, under the revised proposal submitted to the 
county 
May 5.  Inova Health System is set to occupy 20 acres with a research and 
education  center.  
Clem said he wanted the council to take a more cohesive look at land outside  
its border and ask for a single annexation agreement to bring in properties 
such  as JR Festival Lakes on the east, the school sites on Rt. 15 North and 
land in  the JLMA to the south.  
âRight now, weâve got pieces of land that are just slivers in the countyâ 
 
that should be brought into the town, Clem said. âTheyâve got to look at 
the 
big  picture.â  
âIf [the town was] really serious about joint planning, it would have been an 
 ongoing process,â Clem said, adding âwhile weâre moving forward [with  
Crosstrail], the town should be sitting down and intelligently looking at all 
of  
the properties around Leesburg and bring them in.â  
Councilwoman Kelly Burk said Wednesday she and Councilwoman Susan Horne, both 
 of whom sit on the councilâs joint planning subcommittee, had previously met 
 with Clem and that they left their meeting with the understanding that Clem  
supported the townâs desire to annex Crosstrail, as well as to jointly plan 
the  JLMA.  
âIf he were frustrated or angry [with the townâs participation] why 
wouldnât 
 he call the mayor or someone on the council and say âletâs sit down,ââ 
and 
go  over again what he thought would be best for Leesburg? Burk asked. But 
rather,  Burk said, Clem made the motion for the county to proceed without the 
town.  
âI always thought that Clem really did care about Leesburg, but to agree to  
this [plan], my disappointment is so immense,â she said.  
The council has not officially embarked on a comprehensive annexation study.  
Horne said, âI agree that a holistic analysis could be helpful in making a  
decision, but to date, the county has not responded to one singular request  
where the town has a very strategic interest in what happens to that 
property.â  
She questioned why the town would think the county would respond to a broader 
 request.  
The Crosstrail proposal has also caused the town to put on hold its plan to  
extend a sewer line south of its border to service Philip A. Bolen Memorial 
Park  and the Crosstrail development.  
Because Crosstrail is in the townâs JLMA, Leesburg had anticipated extending  
water and sewer service to the property, since the town and county general 
plans  identify towns as utility providers for land parcels just outside their 
borders.   
But Crosstrail and Creekside attorney Mike Banzhaf said both properties would 
 rather the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority provide the utilities, not  
Leesburg.  
He said Tuesday night that Crosstrail has no intention of being annexed into  
Leesburg, nor receiving water from it. He added that the two proposed  
developments are asking LCSA to extend a line from the east side of Goose Creek 
 
near Rt. 7 to stretch southwest to the properties. A private group is studying  
that potential, Banzhaf said.  
The LCSA route Banzhaf discussed with council would essentially run parallel  
to the route the town is proposing and would serve the same properties, 
making  the townâs line, at a cost of $8.5 million unnecessary. The town had 
planned to  front the cost of building those lines then repay itself through 
pro 
rata fees  as developments tap into the line. If properties opt not to tap in, 
the town  could be left with the bill.  
Nagi Elsewaissi, director of capital projects for the town, said staff  
supported deferring the vote until the board of supervisors and the LCSA  
provided 
a clearer direction about how the Crosstrail property would receive its  
utilities. The council voted to defer awarding a contract for the project for  
approximately 30 days.

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