With rare bipartisan blessing from supervisors, a new capital facilities standard that raises the amount developers pay per house to the county to offset services is headed to certain approval.
In June 2004, supervisors voted to lower the amount developers paid per single-family-detached home from $37,028 to $33,034. The new amount developers will pay is $37,660 per single-family-detached home, $22,291 per single-family-attached home and $12,611 per townhouse.
On Tuesday night, a public hearing on the new standard was held, resulting in only minor criticism of the new standard. Piedmont Environmental Council land-use planner Ed Gorski requested that parks standards be raised, rather than lowered, while Jim Williams, Northern Virginia Building Industry Association vice president, worried about the raised cost to homeowners.
Housing affordability "appears to be lost," Williams said. "We ask you to examine the impact of this fee."
Currently, the average price of a single family home in Loudoun is $579,940.
Supervisor Mick Staton (R-Sugarland Run), who chaired the six-month review of the standard, defended the parks and recreation reductions. "The committee adopted the recommendations given to us by the Parks and Rec board," he said.
Even Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) was pleased. "I do believe the numbers represent a fair distribution," he said.