Pardon me for posting this to VA-Bird but we need your help.
A lot of you have had an opportunity to visit the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve
over the last couple of years. Unfortunately, the environmental health of this
area is threatened with a new 277 house subdivision that will be dropped into a
triangle right between Banshee Reeks and the Dulles Wetlands. It is estimated
that this "rural village," a horrible example of sprawl, will add 3,000 car
trips a day to dirt roads which are only 13 feet wide in places.
BANSHEE REEKS NATURE PRESERVE THREATENED
A plan had been submitted to Loudoun County to build a "Rural Village" (277
homes on 200 acres) in a heavily wooded area between the Dulles Greenway
Wetlands Mitigation Project and the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve. This
suburban subdivision will be highly visible from the Oatlands Plantation, a
National Trust property.
Because a pro-growth Board of Supervisors approved this "Rural Village" in
1994, it is a by-right development and there are limits to what can be done
about it. Nonetheless, in February over 100 people, including five members of
the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors met at the Oatlands Plantation to
discuss the threat. As a result of that meeting, the County scheduled a
briefing on March 13 which was attended by the developer and County planning
staff. Since that time the developer has submitted a new design to the County
that address some of the concerns raised at those two meetings. However, a
review of those plans shows that:
NO MODIFICATIONS OR CONCESSIONS ON THE PART OF THE DEVELOPER WILL MITIGATE THE
IMPACT OF THIS DEVELOPMENT ON THE NATURAL AND HISTORICAL VALUES OF THIS AREA!
Because the Courtland Farms Rural Village is a by-right development, there are
only two options for preventing it:
1) purchase it or purchase its development rights;
2) relocate it, through a land swap, to another, less destructive area.
On September 18, in the evening, the Planning Commission will hold a public
hearing on the proposed "Rural Village." The Board of Supervisors' Public
Hearing is scheduled for October 8.
We appreciate anything you can do to help us stop this development. Let the
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission know how
valuable this area is. Speak at one or both of the Public Hearings if you can;
if you can't please come out and support those who will speak and submit a
letter asking that it be made part of the Public Record. The address for both
is 1 Harrison Street, S.E., P.O. Box 7000, Leesburg, VA 20177; the Board email
is loudounbos@xxxxxxx. The Planning Commission's email is
loudounpc@xxxxxxxxxxx.
Let your state or federal legislator know that they can help find a solution to
this problem. There is a comprehensive list of concerns on our website:
www.bansheereeks.org) . Within the next day or two you will also find a list
with contact information for various public officials.
If you have ideas or suggestions on how we can keep this area natural please
pass them on to us at jandkcoleman@xxxxxxxxx or 540-554-2542.
Thank You,
Joe Coleman, President
The Friends of the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve
September 8, 2002
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