Facing no public opposition, the proposed rezoning of the site that will become Braddock Center was approved by the Planning Commission 7-1-1, with Christeen Tolle (At large) voting no and Teresa White Whitmore (Potomac) absent, Jan. 21.
Representatives of Braddock Riding II LCC of McLean sought the rezoning to clear the way to construct 69 detached single-family homes and 90 town homes on the 53-acre site wedged between Braddock and Gum Springs roads in the Dulles South area.
"This application is one that will give rise to a livable community," said Randy Mitchell, the attorney representing the developer.
Mitchell said that by right, the developer could have constructed 51 lots and would not have had to offer any proffers under the original single-family residential zoning.
EVEN THOUGH no one in the audience spoke out, project has been adjusted. Mitchell said they worked with Loudoun County planning staff for a year, during which time the number of proposed units decreased and the capital facilities contribution — money the developer pays per unit to cover costs of such future needs things as fire and rescue service and schools when the project is at specified density levels — increased.
Planning staff said the application did not comply with the new contribution policies, but Mitchell argued it was not fair to change the rules half way through the project. According to the staff report, under the newly adopted fees, the net capital facilities impact for this project is more $2 million, or $18,080 per unit. The developer proffered $10,206 per unit for a total of more than $1.6 million — little more than half of staff's projections.
"When the supervisors hiked the fees in November [2003] … the rules changed during the process. We were way past the second submission," Mitchell said. "It was something this application could not accommodate. There was no grandfathering when the hike was put into place."
BUT THE FEES were not the only problem staff had with the application. The developer plans to conduct a noise study during the site-plan review process. Staff said the review needs to be done before the site plan process because it would determine what sort of noise mitigation is needed for the development, and therefore could impact the placement of trees, for example.
"The problem I have tonight is, absent the noise study, I can't answer questions about impacts," said Art Smith of the county's Office of Transportation Services.
Some commissioners, however, felt it was important to wait to do the study given the projected growth in that area. The staff report identifies two developments — South Riding (more than 5,600 units) and Stone Ridge (more than 2,700 units) — that have been approved in the same area. In addition, Braddock Corner abuts the Kirkpatrick Farms development, which was approved for 1,385 units.
"Changing the [capital facilities contribution] rules during the process ... that is unfair," said John Elgin (Leesburg). "In regards to the noise analysis, it seems only prudent to push that back [with all the development]."
WITH THE APPROVAL of Braddock Corner, there are eight other projects in the Dulles South area seeking rezoning approval. In all, the area, roughly 3,917 acres, has already been approved for more than 2,264 acres of residential development, 293 acres of light industrial, two acres of retail, 136 acres for schools and public safety uses, 70 acres of active recreational uses, and 1,150 acres of passive recreation. The pending cases are expected to add more than 2,200 more residential units, if approve