LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
[ Vol. 1, No. 51 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
[ Oct. 27 – Nov. 2, 2016 ]
21 Loudoun 2016 Election Guide inside this edition
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
Construction work continues on the Loudoun Gateway Metro station at the intersection of the Dulles Greenway and Old Ox Road.
HOLDING THE LINE
Pressure Mounts to Allow Homes Near Dulles Metro BY RENSS GREENE
A
s Loudoun County leaders develop plans for two Silver Line Metro stations along the Dulles Greenway, letters from business interests have begun pouring in, trying to push supervisors to open up the area around Dulles Airport for homes. The Loudoun Gateway station sits at the intersection of the Dulles Greenway and Rt. 606, at the northern edge of airport property. That puts it squarely inside the loudest part of the county’s Airport Impact Overlay District, where as a matter of policy the county has long forbade residential development. Even the planned Metro station under construction at the
airport terminal is not expected to hear as much plane noise because it is not under a runway flight path. Supervisors have received position papers from the Dulles Area Association of Realtors, the Dulles Corridor Rail Association, the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association, the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce, mixed-use development expert and George Washington University Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis Chairman Chris Leinberger, the county’s own Economic Development Advisory Commission, and even the Antigones, the family that owns upwards of 260 acres of real estate neighboring the Loudoun Gateway station. All wrote of the need to allow residen-
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tial development around Loudoun Gateway. “If the current zoning recommendation that prohibits residential development for Loudon Gateway/Route 606 is maintained, the major investment in this Metrorail station will be a very expensive ‘park and ride’ parking deck,” Leinberger wrote. “There will be little if any development generated and Loudoun County will have squandered a major opportunity.” Leinberger and others argue that the noise contours around the airport, which are based on a 1993 study, are out of AIRPORT NOISE >> 6 ✃
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B Chord Brewery Faces Renewed ABC Challenge BY RENSS GREENE Marty Dougherty, the would-be proprietor of B Chord Brewing Company, faced down objectors during a four-hour ABC hearing last week. Dougherty has tried for months to open B Chord in western Loudoun. A previous attempt to open on Foggy Bottom Road was stopped when residents in the area convinced the Virginia Alcoholic Beverages Commission not to issue a license. “In the present case, the Board cannot ignore the will of the citizens B CHORD >> 46
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