Loudoun board rejects major development

Loudoun County (Map, News) - Loudoun County supervisors ended months of wrangling over a proposal to allow 1,000 homes and major commercial and retail properties near the Leesburg Airport, voting 8-1 to kill the application for the controversial Crosstrail development.

Airport leaders, Leesburg Council members and six nearby homeowners’ associations all had opposed the development, saying it would threaten the airport’s future and substantially boost traffic congestion.

While he supported the type of mixed-use project and had long backed Crosstrail, Supervisor Mick Staton said the concerns raised by the town, the county and the airport were all too much to overcome for a project.

“The one constant to this project has been the discord that has been created and the negative feelings and the problems for both town and county,” said Staton, who had been an advocate for the plan.

“Putting residential units there would have been a huge mistake,” Loudoun County Chairman Scott York said, hailing Crosstrail’s defeat. “I think this is the wrong project for the wrong location.”

Board members had been pushing the project for months, wanting to bring more than 200,000 square feet of commercial office space, along with movie theaters and other bustling businesses.

Supervisor Steve Snow said it was a mistake to stop now and give away the quality jobs the project would have created. The board was expected to postpone a decision again until September but decided to end the delays and the project.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com