Town Wants More Input On Crosstrail Development

Leesburg Opposes Mixed-Use Zoning

Leesburg officials are speaking out against the Crosstrail development proposal southeast of town in Loudoun County, saying the property should not be rezoned for mixed-use development.

Even though the land along the Dulles Greenway is owned by the county, development there is to be planned by the county and the Town of Leesburg, according to an agreement signed in 1982.

But Leesburg officials say that in recent months, the county Board of Supervisors has elbowed them out of discussions on the Crosstrail development.

"It's a shame if the county and town can't work together on this, because the people who are going to be impacted are the residents," Leesburg Town Council member C. Kelly Burk said Tuesday.

"You need cooperation between the town and the county, because this land is the future of both organizations," said Supervisor Jim E. Clem (R), who represents the Leesburg District.

The land at issue is between the proposed interchanges of Battlefield Parkway and Crosstrail Boulevard. Peterson Cos. has applied to build a mix of offices, homes and commercial buildings, such as a supermarket and a movie theater. The town and county have the property zoned for office space only. Leesburg would like to maintain that designation.

Burk said the town was drumming up community opposition to the development before the supervisors hold public hearings in the next few months.

Critics say that the development's proximity to Leesburg Executive Airport could create traffic headaches and that residents would be bothered by noise from planes. They are also concerned about the potential economic impact.

David D'Onofrio, a spokesman for Peterson Cos., said that a company study showed that Crosstrail would bring in more than $234 million to the county over 20 years.

Leesburg officials said Tuesday that attempts in the past year to meet with the county Planning Commission have failed. And in May, Clem led a motion to send the development application to the Planning Commission without town input. That move further alienated Leesburg, Town Attorney Barbara Beach said Tuesday.

But Clem said that the application was not getting preferential treatment and that it was simply time for it to go through. "It was just its turn to be looked at. The town has always had an opportunity to comment, and they just elected not to," he said.

Last year, Leesburg officials wrote a letter to the Board of Supervisors asking to adjust the boundary line, but Beach said the query had not been answered.

The town has also long planned to provide water and sewer service to the area, but in recent months, the development company has indicated it is considering service from the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority instead. Leesburg's out-of-town water and sewer rates are considerably higher than the county's rates.

Despite the controversy, the developer maintains that Crosstrail is a win-win proposal for Leesburg and Loudoun. The market today is driven by mixed communities that provide office and retail, offering people the chance to live where they work, D'Onofrio said.

"The bottom line is that the project is very unique to Loudoun County," he said. "The right thing here is this unique mix. You can't just build office and they will come anymore."

The Board of Supervisors plans to vote on the application in the next few months.