Long-Planned Rivana Development Approved

BY RENSS GREENE rgreene@loudounnow.com

Supervisors have given the final OK to plans for a 2,719-home, mixed-use development near the Innovation Station Metrorail stop, envisioned as one of the largest such developments in Loudoun.

At the developer’s request they also scheduled a public hearing to establish a Community Development Authority for the project. It would be a public body authorized to issue debt to finance building public infrastructure and facilities at the development.

The project, Rivana at Innovation Station, was first announced in April 2021 with plans to break ground in early 2022. However, it faced repeated delays in getting county approvals, including extensive work at the Planning Commission, and got a Board of Supervisors public hearing two years later, on April 12. The project includes almost 3.4 million square feet of nonresidential development, including ery recipient’s case in those programs as required by federal law. Department of Family Services Director Ina Fernández said they estimate about 30% of those recipients will no longer qualify for those programs under returning pre-COVID rules.

A county staff report called the rollbacks to Medicaid “the single largest health coverage transition event since the first open enrollment period of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.” It is expected to impact not only the workload of those government staff, who have a year to redetermine eligibility for every one of a greatly expanded number of cases, but for the people who have been relying on that aid.

“We do think that there’ll be some financial impact to the Health Department of this, but I think the much greater impact is access to care with folks coming off of Medicaid, and where they can get services, whether it’s a free clinic, the community health center or

New Zoning Ordinance Draft Online

The latest draft of the proposed county zoning ordinance has been published online, the latest major step in the ongoing Zoning Ordinance Rewrite.

The updated draft incorporates the Planning Commission’s work on the ordinance to date, and with all chapters included is the first complete draft ordinance in more than a year.

The county is seeking to streamline the zoning ordinance to produce a simpler, modern ordinance that is easier to read and understand. The commission has received thousands of comments from the public and continues to work toward a final recommended ordinance to pass to the Board of Supervisors, expected to happen this summer. The county board will seek additional public input before final approval, which could happen by the end of the year, according to a county press release.

The Planning Commission’s next work session is scheduled for 6 p.m. June 5.

More information and the complete text of all chapters of the latest draft ordinance are posted on the county’s website at loudoun.gov/ ZoningOrdinanceRewrite.

County Sells Bonds at Favorable Interest Rates

2.4 million square feet of office and a hotel with up to 450 rooms.

The developer also committed to offering 10% of the residential units with price controls, up to 272 units. All the homes in the development are apartments or townhouses, and all are planned to be rentals, although the developer has reserved the option to include up to 100 units for sale in the same area—or same building—as the hotel.

While overall supporting the project by the time of supervisors’ vote May 16, county planners continued to express concerns about the developer’s proposal to get credit for $12 million worth of capital contributions linked to the three park areas in the development. The county has no capital plans for those parks, no plans to accept those parks if the developer seeks to deed to them to the county, and disagrees with the developer’s assessment of their value—an assessment that only went up after the Board of Supervisors public hearing, a county staff report notes.

The Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve the project was based on a $7.8 million credit for only one of the parks.

The developer also sought and won another partial exemption, worth $8.1 million, to the usual contributions to offset the development’s traffic and transit impacts.

Loudoun County has sold $189.7 million of general obligation bonds at 3.2% interest. The sale generated $27.6 million of premium, which was used to reduce the par amount of the bonds. Six bidders submitted offers for the county’s bonds.

Proceeds from the bond sale will be used to finance the county and school capital projects such as the Ashburn Recreation and Community Center, the Lovettsville Fire Station Replacement, a Rt. 7/Rt. 690 interchange, a Rt. 9/Rt. 287 roundabout, a Braddock Road extension,

ON THE AGENDA continues on page 7