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Bumper Cars On Our Main Streets 

America’s main streets are on a path to all look the same – the same McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Starbucks and Jiffy Lube. They fill the landscape of our everyday paths. Our lives have been franchised or chained. It is so commonplace that is now seems inevitable, unavoidable, and just a fact of our modern lives. Small towns that used to belong in a Norman Rockwell painting are loosing that very real esthetic.

As you drive into western Loudoun, large tracts of open space still embrace you. A drive into neighboring counties and parts of eastern Loudoun, you see tangible evidence of development gone awry. Every few miles, fast food restaurants repeat themselves. Strip malls flank bumper to bumper traffic. Western Loudoun is slowing falling prey to this, and remember eastern Loudoun looked like western Loudoun not too long ago.


Three Separate Applications ... Three Separate Problems

Developers in Purcellville are proposing to build an indoor/outdoor commercial recreation and entertainment facility, as well a 176-unit tax-credit multi-family apartment complex off Hirst Rd and Maple Avenue – and, the 176 number could go up to 482. The Tilley Entertainment facility will have an outdoor space for concerts and events, bumper boats, miniature golf, batting cages, and a go-kart track. Additional facilities will include an ice-cream parlor, a food court, and a 35,000-square foot main building with a full service restaurant, sports bar, bowling alley, a laser tag course, and a game arcade.

There are three separate applications, for three separate properties, under consideration. The applications include various combinations of comprehensive plan amendments, rezoning amendments, and special use permits.

The projects are seemingly being handled as one entity. At the December Purcellville Planning Commission work session, Tom Priscilla, also a member of the Town Council, asked Patrick Sullivan, Director of Community Development, whether this was going to be treated as one application. Sullivan said, "Yes." Several members of the commission expressed confusion about how many applications existed, how many public hearings would be needed, and needed clarification on which developer is requesting what, etc. When first proposed, on its own, the apartment complex faced stiff community opposition. Many in the community now believe they have been lumped together as a PR tactic to push the whole thing through.

9,000 Vehicle Trips Per Day

A traffic report says that the entire project will generate almost 9,000 vehicle trips per day. As Sullivan warned, “Traffic is going to be a great issue.” The project is located next to the Purcellville Public Safety Center, and the county expressed concerned about how the project would affect the Purcellville Public Safety Center's access to Hirst Road in this already heavily travelled area. The County report encourages the town to consider proffer contributions from the applicant to help mitigate the traffic impacts. But, currently only one proffer for one million dollars has been offered by the apartment developer, S.L. Nausbaum, whose complex will contribute over 1,000 residential vehicles trips per day. There currently is no proffer put forth by Tilley Entertainment.

The proposed proffer is being used to make improvements to the Hirst/Berlin Turnpike intersection, covering just a small portion of the total cost. The Hirst/Maple intersection is anticipated to have capacity issues and the town transportation plan identifies this intersection as a location for a future roundabout, multi-way stop, or traffic signal. The Hirst/Hatcher intersection is currently operating above capacity and according to the town, “is anticipated to operate at a level of service F under 2020 conditions” (failing to mention that the population growth of Purcellville has already exceed the comprehensive plan’s population growth for 2020). With the Autumn Hill/Mayfair development of 257 houses plus commercial, 61 new townhouses currently under construction on 21 Street, and the addition of 176 apartments coupled with new development outside of town limits, residents of Purcellville will bear the cost of adding and maintaining infrastructure.

So ... Why Is This Much New Residential A Positive?

The Statement of Justification from the developer says that the Catoctin Creek Apartments will produce $49,500 in annual real estate taxes for the town. However, after the initial boost in water/sewer connection fees, this project will require continual cost/improvements to road infrastructure, increases in police and other public services, and with a minimum of 40 students being added to the local schools at a cost of $468,000 per year, the monetary gain for these apartments will be non-existent.


I Can't Hear You!

During a work session, Planning Commissioner Chip Paciulli referred to the entertainment project as a “fairground.” The idea of go-karts and batting cages may sound exciting, but nearby residents would have to live with the noise every day, sometimes 10-12 hours a day. The average go-kart has a decibel level of 79-83 dBA at 100 ft., and batting cages exceed 90 dBA. A YouTube video of water bumper boats operated by Tilley Entertainment at Kimball Farms in Massachusetts confirms the enormous amount of noise this venue would produce. Loudoun County code states that the level of continuous noise emitted from such use, as measured at the property line shared with a residential use, should not exceed 55dBA. Noise would be a major issue for residences of Old Dominion Valley and especially for the proposed apartments that will have little or no buffer (as per the developer’s plan).

Nearby residents are also concerned about the possible impact an arcade and sports bar that will remain open until 1 a.m. will have on adjacent properties, including Loudoun Valley High School. The nearby W&OD playground and wooded trails have already produced many a late night police call related to loitering and drug possession/use.

The only complex comparable to this entertainment venue in Loudoun is the Dulles Golf & Sport Center, located in a heavily commercial and industrial location off Route 28 – with the nearest residences 1.4 miles away.

Residents Need A Voice ... And More Details

Residents of Old Dominion Valley started an online petition that now has almost 400 signatures. They believe the interests of current residents should have a louder voice in development decisions to balance corporate developers and their (often out of state) investors. “This is a substantial development that is not of the scale with the surrounding community”, writes one petition signer. Resident Kelli Grim says, “The entire town is our backyard; our issues are all interconnected ... All we’re asking for is fairness and for the project details to be out in the open and for residents to have meaningful input into what goes on in our backyards.”

At the planning commission meeting, it was suggested there would be a thirty percent “substantial buffer” to the project and nearby properties. However, a closer inspection of the plans shows that the majority of the surrounding buffer for the apartment complex will be less than town guidelines. The open space requirement for the apartment complex development is 4.80 acres. The plans say it will be less, but no actual number is provided. The tree buffer bordering the Old Dominion Valley community is roughly 1.40 acres, with most of the additional tree buffer along the creek and perimeter of the property totaling a possible 3 acres, still less than the required. The buffer for Catoctin Creek is mandated to be 100 feet, but the plans show the buffer will be less. There will be minimal buffering from the commercial property to the homes that align the north side of Skyline Drive and practically none between the apartments and the entertainment complex.

A Note On The Affordable Housing Issue

The 176-unit apartment complex proposed is a tax-credit apartment building with priority given to Section 8 Vouchers Housing. The most recent county forecasts project that the supply of affordable housing within the county, existing and planned, will meet the county’s visions through 2037. Purcellville has a population of fewer than 8,000 residents with a current supply of 194 tax-credit apartments. Meanwhile, South Riding has 168 tax-credit apartments with a population of over 24,000. Leesburg’s ratio of saturation for Low-Income Housing Tax-Credit units is 32 percent and Ashburn is 17 percent, however Purcellville’s ratio is 100 percent. Arguably, the need for such housing exists elsewhere within the county and closer to the major employment centers, but not here.

In The End ... Do We Really Need This? (And, Can We Really Afford It?)

Loudoun County politicians equate development with economic growth. But, that is contrary to actual facts. For every $1.00 in tax revenue from a residence, we spend $1.70 in public services – whereas farmland costs just $0.27 in services for every $1.00 it generates in taxes. Previous county boards of supervisors put in motion efforts to retain the open space of western Loudoun through zoning, but subsequent boards have become more developer friendly and agreeable to zoning changes in this part of the county.

As towns across the country spend less on recreation, fast food restaurants and other entertainment chains have now become the gathering space for families. These spaces are not connected to any landscape, natural setting, or even to the community; the interaction is limited and often filled with advertising. If play is the way we learn and adapt within our environment, then public playgrounds, inviting public spaces, and meaningful recreation spaces, are what we really need.

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