The Loudoun County Revised General Plan designates the wooded area behind the Potomac Run shopping center as "Keynote Employment," which means its intent is to serve as a corporate headquarters or large research-and-development complex with lush landscaping and a campus-like feel. The problem is, the wooded area consists of a number of smaller lots totaling 14.05 acres, compared to the couple hundred acres the AOL and Worldcom headquarters each call home.
In addition, the site is bound on the west by Costco and by Faith Bible Church to the east; and is zoned low-density residential. However, the keynote employment designation on the general plan prohibits residential uses.
Citing a change in land use, among other reasons, Potomac View LLC, located in Great Falls, is seeking a comprehensive plan amendment, which would allow the company to develop an active adult age-restrictive community.
Monday night, the Loudoun County Planning Commission agreed to accept the applicant-initiated amendment as a way to study the entire policy governing age-restricted and retirement communities in general. Some members also took the opportunity to express concerns over the project that is starting it all.
"I'm not going to support the motion [to accept the application]. I don't think it's a novel idea, quite frankly. And I don't think I can envision anything of this nature on that site," said Commissioner Teresa White Whitmore (Potomac).
"How open are you to changing your plan depending on how the policy falls out?" asked Commissioner Nancy Hsu (Blue Ridge).
SINCE 1983, landowners have been able to request comprehensive plan amendments to the land-use and transportation policies, called applicant-initiated CPAMs. The CPAMs are accepted twice a year and must meet at least one of four criteria: creative idea, change in land use, hardship, and goals of the comprehensive plan. The Planning Commission reviews the application and decides whether to accept the request for a pubic hearing, reject the request or defer it until further information can be received. Typically, accepted CPAMs are treated as a way to review the county's overall policies rather than being completely site specific. There are currently 12 CPAMs that have been filled this year, with the first three presented Monday night for acceptance.
The other two included a request for Potomac Farms Town Center, located on Route 7 west of the Potomac Farms neighborhood, also designated keynote employment but seeking mixed-use town center; and Valley Run Estates, located south of Route 50 near the Fairfax County line, currently designated mixed-use business but seeking residential.
WILLIAM KEEFE, a land-use planner with Walsh, Colucci, Lubely, Emrich and Terpak, said the planned age-restricted community was an "excellent land use" for the location.
"What works well on the site is an age-restricted community," Keefe said. "There is a series of amenities that can be built into the site and we expect most of the traffic to go east to Route 7."
Keefe said many of the specifics of the plan have yet to be worked out, pending the amendment application outcome. He did say the project could consist of three-story buildings with 20 to 30 units.
County staffer Jo Ramesh had reviewed the application and recommended the commission accept it on the grounds it would give them the opportunity to address density gaps currently in the policy when it comes to adult/retirement housing; that the site was not an appropriate location for keynote employment; and that the land use surrounding the site has changed.
BY ACCEPTING THE APPLICATION, the Planning Commission now has the opportunity to revise the county's policies concerning age-restricted/retirement communities, more specifically in the areas of scale, location, design, density and integration of the communities within existing neighborhoods. In several areas, the current policy is essentially vague, Ramesh said.
In addition, by accepting the application, the commission is not specifically making a recommendation on the Potomac View project. The amendment would only provide the go-ahead for Potomac View LLC to bring a proposal forward to the commission at a later date.
Many of the commissioners said, that even in a very preliminary stage, the Potomac View project raises concerns. In fact, Commissioner John Elgin (Leesburg) went as far as to warn the applicant that there would be no way he could support a three-story building on that site, which is already elevated.
"It would stick out like a sore thumb," he said.
Nevertheless, the commission voted 5-1 to accept the application. Whitmore was the sole objector and Commissioners Lawrence Beerman (Dulles) and John Herbert (Catoctin) were absent.
OTHER ACTIONS: in preparation of public hearings scheduled for Monday, April 19, beginning at 6 p.m., at the county Government Center, the Planning Commission heard reports on the following projects:
* A Board of Supervisors-initiated application to permit the installation of a communal wastewater treatment and disposal facility and to establish a sewer district to serve 11 properties in an agricultural rural zoning district. The location of the properties are just east of the intersection of Willisville and Welbourne roads in the Blue Ridge district.
* Another application submitted by the supervisors, this one for a special exception to allow for the expansion of the existing Fire-Rescue Training Center to include a burn building and four-story enclosed training tower, among other improvements. The center is located on 35 acres on the northwest corner of the so-called Shellhorn Property, just east of Sycolin Road, and is within the Catoctin district.
* A rezoning application for 163-plus acres, called Goose Creek Preserve, on the west side of Belmont Ride Road just south of the Dulles Greenway from low-density residential to planned development housing. The proposal is for a total of up to 500 dwelling units consisting of up to 202 single-family, detached dwellings; up to 128 single-family, attached dwellings; and up to 170 multifamily dwellings. The property is in the Dulles district.
* A rezoning for approximately 32 acres, called Goose Creek Village South, from low-density residential to planned development housing. The project is located on both sides of Sycolin Road adjacent to the south side of the Dulles Greenway and is proposed for 100 single-family attached dwellings. Goose Creek Village South is in the Dulles district.
* The commission was also briefed on an expected application from the supervisors for a comprehensive plan amendment to change the area designated as the Joint Land Management Area so as to include rural land proposed for inclusion into the Town of Round Hill, which is located in the Blue Ridge district. The supervisors were expected to take action to initiate the amendment Tuesday, April 6.