Election Jitters Fill Loudoun Agenda

Supervisors Have Busy Schedule for Weeks After Nov. 6

Developers and other companies are rushing to have their projects approved by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors before the end of the year, fearing that a shift to a slow-growth board after the Nov. 6 election could hamper their plans.

In the six weeks between the election and the end of the term, the board is expected to consider more than 50 items, so many that at least one extra public hearing has been scheduled. Not all the items involve development, but the meeting agendas include six controversial cellphone towers and three large developments that could add thousands of homes to the county.

Plowing through 50 items in that period is unprecedented, and the timing of some of the more contentious projects is suspicious, said board Chairman Scott K. York (I).

"I think that some of this stuff -- not all of it -- has been put on hold by the applicant for the pure purpose to end up after the election but to be voted on before the end of this board's term," he said.

The projects could have a cooler reception in January if control of the board shifts from pro-growth Republicans, who make up the majority of the nine-member board. By acting after the election, the Republicans can support controversial proposals without worrying about a voter backlash, York said.

His concern is shared by other supervisors who support slowing growth in the county, which has nearly doubled in population in the past seven years to almost 270,000.

"It's rushed," said Supervisor Sarah R. "Sally" Kurtz (D-Catoctin). "Good projects are going to be good projects even though they have public scrutiny. When they are controversial and appear to be rushed through, you've got to wonder."

Developers said that if they are rushing, it is because they have spent months, often years, to adjust their projects to fit the current supervisors' demands. They said they want their projects on the agenda before the end of the year to avoid the uncertainty of dealing with a different board.

Bruce E. Tulloch (R-Potomac), vice chairman of the board, said the heavy workload at the end of the term is coincidence. Although the chairman has traditionally had the power to set the agenda in Loudoun, the board's Republican majority stripped York of that role and gave it to Tulloch.

"All the planets aligned," he said. "I can tell you that staff didn't plan it this way."

Developers said they are concerned, in part, because recent elections have produced dramatic changes in Loudoun's board and in the board's approach to growth and development.

This time, six Democratic challengers are running on a slow-growth platform as they try to unseat a Republican majority that they say has approved too many homes, contributing to school crowding, traffic congestion and high taxes.