After One Loudoun received a stamp of approval from the Planning Commission in July, the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 14 raised concerns about expansion plans for the development dubbed Loudoun’s “new downtown.”
Supervisors and county staff voiced strong objections to many aspects of developer Miller & Smith’s requests, which include building closer to Route 7, rezoning nearly five acres from planned development office park to residential, building 725 residential units, a 126,000 square-foot storage facility and constructing and handing over a massive indoor recreation facility to the county in lieu of cash proffers.
The board was especially critical of the developer’s plans to downsize its commercial space for more residential and the unanticipated costs the proposed sportsplex could burden the county with.
“My concern is we don’t have very many details at all about what is going to be in that [sportsplex], whether it’s going to be a shell that the county will have to fill, and I guess my overarching concern is if we knew it was going to be a money maker for the county, I think you guys would want to retain ownership,” Supervisor Kristen Umstattd (D-Leesburg) told the applicant.
