The needs of current residents must take priority in the Comprehensive Plan
Residents of Eastern Loudoun deal with increasing traffic congestion, a shortage of park and public spaces, and shortages of public facilities:
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The county’s own Capital Needs Assessment identifies a deficit of nearly 2,000 acres of parks and recreation land needed primarily by residents of the Suburban Policy Area;
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Traffic from the west already clogs the corridors of Rt 7, the Greenway, Rt 50 and Braddock Rd;
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Loudoun needs 32 more schools to take care of the current comprehensive plan.
The proposed plan does not alleviate these problems and in fact would make them worse.
Adjustments must be made to the current plan to recognize changing environments. But what’s on the table is half a plan. The plan identifies the locations of additional homes and datacenters, but not the locations of parks, trails and open space. It depends on an “after the fact” approach to securing land for public facilities, land that is already deemed scarce.
The draft hasn’t been approved yet, but the housing “demand” study that appears to be driving it allows for more than a 50% population increase - to over 600,000, based on the number of homes that could be sold if they could be built somehow.
Open land is finite: once it is gone, it is gone. Loudoun already has problems finding suitable land for fire stations, schools and other public spaces. Our comprehensive plan should bank it, not give it away.
There is land in the Transition Policy Area that is suitable for passive and active parkland, accessible to residents of the Suburban areas. Unfortunately, the draft plan makes no move to reserve any specific areas (such as along and adjacent to streams and wetland). This would be a lost opportunity if the plan is adopted as-is.
Instead of “demand-based” analysis driving planning, the County should adopt “capacity-based” analysis. Instead of housing sales driving public facility capacity, the new Comprehensive Plan should identify public facilities needed. Once those items are mapped out, their ability to support various housing levels should drive the housing plan. Without this approach, Loudoun will continue in its “can’t win, can’t catch-up” situation, scrambling to find solutions for the problems caused by too-fast growth.
This message is the second in a series of articles examining the proposed 2040 Comprehensive Plan as it applies to the Transition Policy Area. You can stay informed on this topic by following the Facebook Group Loudoun Residents for Reasonable Growth, and by signing up for the Transition Area Alliance mailing list here.
Working to preserve quality of life in Loudoun County
Follow Facebook page "Loudoun Residents for Reasonable Growth" to stay current on developments affecting this area.