Monday, Jan. 22, a proposed retirement community will come before the Planning Commission for public comment. The application, submitted by Potomac View LLC, would rezone 21 acres from single-family residential and commercial to a planned development for active adults in order to develop 600 multifamily dwelling units at a density of 29 dwelling units per acre. Approval would also allow for the construction of a 6,600-square-foot clubhouse with swimming pool.
The site is located just off Route 7, between Benedict Drive and Cascades Parkway. The community would be located on the land between Bartholomew Fair Drive and Potomac View Road, with the main entrance on Potomac View. The wooded property is surrounded by Costco, First Baptist Church, Faith Bible Church, the Potomac Run Shopping Center and Claude Moore Park.
In 2004, Potomac View LLC was part of a group of landowners whose Comprehensive Plan amendment applications were consolidated so the county could consider adding retirement communities to the comprehensive plan. At this time the county's Revised General Plan designates the area for keynote employment, which is meant to serve as a corporate headquarters or large research-and-development complex with lush landscaping and a campus-like feel.
A fiscal impact study conducted by Robert Charles Lesser and Co., an independent real estate consulting and economic analysis firm, said that one attempt to develop the area in question for office uses was "proven financially unfeasible due to topography, setbacks and the additional right of way needed for Potomac View Road, which currently does not have the capacity to handle the [car] trips that would be generated by office development."
The study said that the proposed rezoning would have a "much greater positive fiscal benefit to Loudoun County," generating a net fiscal impact of $31.7 million, compared with the $16.9 million a nonresidential development would generate.
In addition the study stated that rezoning the area to allow for a retirement community would generate $53.6 million in revenues and $21.8 million in expenditures over a 20-year period.
The county's planning staff said they could not support the rezoning because the area is not an area where residential development is allowed. In addition, county staff cited issues with the standards of connectivity, on-site amenities and environmental protection. They also cited problems with the application's transportation impact.
The Planning Commission will meet Monday, Jan. 22, at 6 p.m. in the County Government Center in Leesburg.
<1b>— Erika Jacobson