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The times are changing.
Our Democratic leadership has seen the light:
We cannot continue to deny opportunity, equity, and equality to our citizens based on an outdated, irrelevant, and arbitrary line protecting the haves from the have nots.
Transmission Lines forever impact the country atmosphere…damaging property values, lives and increasing the odds for illness: The Coalition to Protect PWC fought hard and delivered many compelling arguments to keep transmission lines out of their BACKYARDS in the Haymarket area in their battle against Dominion Power in 2015. The Executive Director of the Coalition said that "the transmission towers would forever impact the country atmosphere and ruin the pastoral views of Bull Run Mountain and all the green spaces around it." It was also argued that transmission towers not only damaged the "ruralness" of an area, but they also damage property values, lives, and increase the odds for illness. The Coalition along with other organizations were successful in 2015 in defeating Dominion, which is why the I-66 hybrid proposal is under construction today. Pageland Lane is the prime example of this. This corridor is no longer rural due to: · Transmission lines · 2500 commuter parking lot · 100 Year Expansion of Loudoun Quarry · Commuter and Truck traffic from PWC to Loudoun · Construction of new 2.5 million sq ft Data Center on Pageland and Rt. 29 adj. to Manassas Battlefield and the Rural area.
The rural area is often quoted as 117,000 acres or 52% of the county, yet we only have 18,000 acres available as undeveloped! In 1998, the rural area was established to slow the growth of development- · Goal to reduce COG projected growth in 2020 from 470,000 to 390,000. · Reduce number of schools needed by 2022. · Down planned 47,000 acres of rural area land from 5 acre, 1 acre, and quarter acre lots to 10 acre by right lots ONLY · Down planned SRR development area density from 1 acre per household to one home per 2.5 acre · Down plan the densities from 8 unit per acre to 6 units per acre In 2012, the county authorized a rural area study to determine whether we were accomplishing your goals or not! In 2014, that study recommended policies including rural area cluster provisions (with 50 to 60% permanently preserved open space and farmland and agriculture) using sewer, that would result in a goal of 17,000 acres of permanently protected open space. Today's Results: We did not slow the growth at all - we now have approximately 470,000 population vs the hoped for 390,000 What did we do? We absorbed developable land at a greater pace without reducing population growth! We actually embraced and encouraged sprawl. · The infrastructure needs did not get reduced by reducing density alone. · The rural cluster zoning (BOCS initiated zoning text amendment in 2016 but not acted upon) continues to not be utilized as it does not allow smaller lot and sewer to allow true cluster design. · Today, through inaction, we only have 18,000 left of undeveloped world area to provide preservation tools. · Conservatively, land in a rural area is being developed without open space on 10 acre lot with well and septic between 500 and 1000 acres per year