LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
[ Vol. 1, No. 18 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
INSIDE:
New places to tie the knot .................
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Pool toys as vulture repellent .....................
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[ March 10 – 16, 2016 ]
Game Changer Governor Signs Proffer Restriction Bill into Law BY RENSS GREENE
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
A wooden stake marks the gravesite of Robert W. White in the Sycoline burial grounds found in the woods near Leesburg Executive Airport.
Saving a Cemetery Freedom Center works with Town and County Leaders to Protect African-American Graveyard BY NORMAN K. STYER
P
lans to preserve an unattended slaveera cemetery in Leesburg have ramped up significantly in recent weeks. That’s thanks in large part to the efforts of Pastor Michelle C. Thomas and the Loudoun Freedom Center. The presence of the cemetery in the woods along Sycolin Road wasn’t unknown, but it was little known. Raising the public profile of the burial ground—believed to be the final resting place for 40 to 100 people—is particularly important as the town begins work on the long-planned extension of the Leesburg Executive Airport runway. The cemetery is located on land the town acquired for the expansion project. Sycolin Road will be re-aligned to make room for the runway and the new road could encroach on the cemetery under current designs. Some in town government initially suggested the concern could be addressed by re-burying the remains elsewhere. That’s not likely to happen now. Instead, Thomas is working with town
and county leaders to ensure the graveyard is preserved and that improvements are made to help tell the stories of the men and women buried there. “That’s sad. That can never be an option,” Thomas said of moving the remains. “The ground itself is sacred, not just the graves.” Thomas is the pastor of the Holy and Whole Life Changing Ministries in Lansdowne. She also is co-founder of the Loudoun Freedom Center, which has a mission to preserve historic African-American sites and to better document and tell the stories of Loudoun’s black communities, most of which have been largely erased by development. The center is familiar with the challenges of protecting graveyards. Last year, Thomas’ group successfully negotiated with Toll Brothers, the developer of Belmont Country Club, to preserve a slave cemetery in the woods along Belmont Ridge Road. SAVING A CEMETARY >> 32
! LE W A O S N N O
Negotiating with developers will be much different now. Late Monday night, Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed a bill into law that Loudoun supervisors, county staff members, and representatives in the General Assembly have battled since its introduction. The legislation limits what localities can accept in proffer agreements, curtailing many of the creative agreements Loudoun reaches with developers to keep up with the county’s growth. Loudoun County staff members and supervisors have been in Richmond several times attempting to amend Senate Bill 549, and have succeeded in inserting exemptions that allow transportation projects, public safety, parks, and some special districts such as the Metro tax district. But the bill still limits many others. When developers apply to rezone a property to permit more intense development, the developer and the county can reach proffer agreements as a condition of the application’s approval. This commonly includes funds for road improvements and and land for new schools or fire stations. Some are more unusal, such as when the Brambleton developer agreed to build a Loudoun County Library in Brambleton Town Center in exchange for approval of its housing development—an agreement that would be forbidden under the new law. The bill was written by the Homebuilders Association of Virginia and introduced by Harrisonburg Sen. Mark D. Obenshain (R-26) and Springfield Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D35).
“IT MEANS FEWER ROADS, FEWER SCHOOLS, FEWER LIBRARIES, AND MORE TAXES. YOU CANNOT CLAIM TO BE A FISCAL CONSERVATIVE AND VOTE FOR THIS BILL IF YOU TRULY UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS.” HBAV Vice President Ryan Flogale has argued that the bill protects developers against local governments taking advantage of the proffer system and keeps home prices down. Last week, the board unanimously passed a resolution asking the governor to veto the bill, although supervisors acknowledged they had little hope of stopping the legislation. The resolution says the bill will “put an end to the constructive and collaborative development process” and “completely eliminates the ability of developers, despite a genuine desire to do so, to offer proffers for public facilities or improvements” except where those facilities are specifically named in the bill. Earlier in the day Monday, Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) sent a letter to the McAuliffe’s office asking the governor to veto the bill or include further exemptions for workforce housing, offsite roadways, libraries, senior centers and community centers, pedestrian facilities, group homes and services for the mentally ill,
Where will you purchase your next mattress?
PROFFER>> 32
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