Election Jitters Fill Loudoun Agenda

The Republicans contend that their pro-growth reputation is ill-deserved, noting that last year they rejected a proposal for as many as 33,800 homes south of Dulles International Airport.

It is not unusual for elected officials to rush to tie up loose ends as their terms finish. But 50 items is unusual; when the last board left office in 2003, it had fewer than 30 items on its post-election public hearing agendas.

Typically, when elected officials are leaving office, they will leave controversial decisions to their successors. But the board that left in 2003 -- with York at its helm -- decided not to defer a vote on a major tax break for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which was opening a research campus in Ashburn.

As their parting action, members of that board voted for the nonprofit tax exemption, which this year alone totaled $3.6 million. The vote was opposed by many incoming supervisors, including Mick Staton Jr. (R-Sugarland Run).

"For Mr. York to be complaining about this year, all I have to do is hearken back to four years ago, when they rushed through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute tax exemption to make sure it got voted on before we got in office," Staton said.

But York and others said this year is different. Among the more controversial items scheduled to come up Dec. 11 is Ridgewater Park, a project of homes and shops proposed by developer Leonard S. "Hobie" Mitchel that has failed before the board in two previous iterations.

Supervisor James Burton (I-Blue Ridge) said the current version of the project has gone through the county's system more quickly than is customary and would set a troubling precedent if approved.

"It has no business coming forward again," Burton said of the project, which called for nearly 2,000 homes when it was rejected in March. "This is a slightly reduced version."

Mitchel said his company has scaled back the project dramatically, from 4,200 homes in the first version to fewer than 1,000, to make it more appealing to county officials. He also removed a controversial plan to build houses alongside Goose Creek, a key source of water for Loudoun residents.

He acknowledged that he is hoping to get the project approved before the end of the year but said it has nothing to do with politics.

"I'm just anxious to get this done because I've been working on it for so long with this board and this Planning Commission," Mitchel said. "I'd like to finish with a group that's familiar with it so I don't have to start all over again."

Also controversial are six cellphone towers proposed by Community Wireless Structures for northwestern Loudoun. The towers would improve cellphone coverage and Internet service, but they have been opposed by residents who worry that they will mar the landscape.

Robert M. Gordon, an investor, said that the company would like to go before the board by the end of the term but that "it is not something negative or underhanded or something like that," he said.

"The land-use process is a brutal, brutal process," Gordon said, noting that his proposal has been percolating for more than a year. "Our concern is, you really don't know what's going to happen after the end of the year, especially if there's a big turnover."

For a guide to the Nov. 6 elections, including where the candidates stand on the issues, go tohttp://www .washingtonpost .com/votersguide. In addition, the local Extra sections in Virginia will publish the guide Nov. 1.