Thursday, September 14, 2006

Behind the Road Proffers

Supervisor Stephen J. Snow (R-Dulles) and the Dulles South Transportation Alliance (DSTA) have often stated that developers have $750 million in road improvements lined up for Dulles South. After many requests to Snow, I finally received a preliminary breakdown of the $750 million. I think it is easy to see that Snow is misleading citizens with that figure and that his plan may already be falling apart.

The DSTA is made up of Greenvest, Toll Brothers Inc., Van Metre Homes, Winchester Homes, Buchanan Partners and others who stand to gain financially from the out-of-control development along the Route 50 corridor.

In its estimate of $750 million in improvements, the DSTA includes roads long ago proffered and built, including main roads into subdivisions (Stone Springs Boulevard into Stone Ridge and South Riding Boulevard), roads through subdivisions (Edgewater Street and Riding Center Drive) and even Defender Drive (the McDonald's road in South Riding).

The DSTA's figure also overstates road-building costs. The group foresees construction of more than 200 lane miles, at a cost of $3.44 million per lane mile. But according to the Virginia Department of Transportation, the average cost per lane mile for road projects -- for construction, utility relocation and right-of-way acquisition -- was $2.1 million to $3 million in June.

Some VDOT construction is included in the $750 million.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors intends to credit transportation improvements toward fulfilling proffer requirements. In other words, the transportation proffers would lower contributions toward schools, libraries, parks, etc., and Loudoun citizens would have to make up the difference. Snow and the DSTA are robbing Peter to pay Paul.

How many homes come with these "improvements?" The DSTA has not released that information. For the projects for which such details are available (about half of the developments in the DSTA breakdown), the total is almost 37,000 homes.

Will George Mason University contribute proffers? GMU does not have to provide transportation improvements because it is a state-run entity.

GMU is estimating 8,000 to 10,000 students at its proposed Loudoun campus.

On Sept. 1, Pulte Homes Inc. withdrew its application to rezone its Braddock South development, saying it was "financially unable to pay $7.5 million in off-site 'up front' transportation proffers." It was partially responsible for two segments of roads. Pulte Homes is the first to withdraw. With the downturn in the housing market, others are likely to follow.

Finally, why hasn't Snow or the DSTA conducted any benefit analysis on the roads and all the developments that go with them? Possibly because the results would show that the only benefit is to the developers, who stand to make billions of dollars on the backs of taxpayers.

Cheryl Hutchison

Aldie

Staton's Hat Trick

As a constituent of Supervisor Mick Staton Jr. (R-Sugarland Run), I am profoundly disappointed with his chosen course of action regarding the zoning of rural Loudoun.

It appears to me that Staton orchestrated an eleventh-hour overthrow of an 18-month public process that yielded a reasonable compromise to ensure a balance between residential housing and a viable rural economy.

This bipartisan effort was called the Clem-Burton plan. Staton's last-minute actions stole the Clem-Burton plan from the public and showed a blatant disregard for the opinions of hundreds of citizens who participated in this process, as well as for the time and effort of his colleagues, Loudoun County staff and the members of the county's rural economic development and zoning ordinance review committees.

Staton wore so many hats during last week's meeting that I was confused, and I wasn't the only one. Staton, contradicting legal advice from the county attorney, offered his own legal opinion when he argued against forwarding his own plan through the public process. Staton seemed to have looked into a crystal ball, much like a fortune teller, when he guaranteed that the Clem-Burton plan would have been challenged and overturned anyway. And when Staton declared that a rezoning option under Clem-Burton would never have been used anyway, he sounded like a developer.

It appears that the only hat Staton did not wear last week was that of a responsive, visionary and thoughtful leader of the Sugarland Run District.

Although he attempted to present himself as all-knowing at that meeting, his image was shattered when he admitted he was only "spitballing it" when stating the increase in residential housing under his plan. And on the second day of the board's meeting, he admitted that he "screwed up" when his numbers didn't match the county staff's analysis.

The result is that Staton's plan increases the number of residences in rural Loudoun when compared with the Clem-Burton plan, resulting in higher taxes, more schools and additional traffic. He might say his plan is a compromise, but the only thing his plan compromises is citizens' ability to pay more taxes, the quality of our children's education and our ability to travel on the already gridlocked roads in Loudoun County.

Susan Klimek Buckley

Sterling