Press Release
Campaign for Loudoun's Future

For Immediate Release:
February 8, 2005

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Laura Olsen, (202) 244-4408 or
Andrea McGimsey, (703)726-0646

Over 14,000 Loudoun Residents Tell Supervisors “Don’t Double the
Size of Loudoun”

Resident Concerned for the Quality of their Family’s Life

View a map of proposed CPAMs (PDF)
Sign the Petition

At the Board of Supervisors meeting today, the Campaign for Loudoun's Future presented the Supervisors with 13,674 petition signatures gathered on election day from Loudoun voters who oppose proposals by developers to double the size of the County. An additional 1,356 signatures have been gathered online or in person, with 25 people signing just since yesterday.

"Loudoun residents are taking back their county," said Andrea McGimsey, spokesperson for the Campaign for Loudoun's Future. "Over 14,000 residents want to ensure the county holds to reasonable growth plans and addresses existing needs of residents. This is unprecedented involvement to keep developers from taking decision-making power away from Loudoun citizens and telling us to add tens of thousands of new houses."

Although the county has sent no notice of the proposals to county residents, the Campaign has been informing people about the upcoming decisions. The petition signatures were gathered by volunteers at the polls on Election Day, at people's doors, at local businesses and through the Campaign's website. The unfurled signatures filled the Board room.

"I live in Sugarland Run and I signed the petition because I am concerned about the quality of my family's life," said Mike Keeney. "It's easy to look at the map of the proposed development and see that those of us in eastern Loudoun are between all of those new houses most jobs. Where are we going to put all the traffic? Double deck Route 7 and Route 50?"

The public statement was made in response to proposals for changes to the growth plan submitted by developers in September 2004. The county is considering 14 of the 20 proposals which could allow 36,587 new housing units to be built in the county. These units would be in addition to 39,000 new housing units that are approved but not yet built. The Board will make decisions on the 14 applications over the coming months.

Residents from across Loudoun testified that they signed the petition and are worried about meeting the needs for ballfields, schools, roads and other amenities in current communities and communities already approved but not built.

Existing Needs First
"First things first. Address our existing needs; then plan for the needs of the 39,000 houses and families that have already been approved. We're already the fastest growing county in the nation," said Rachael Fisher, a mother from Brambleton.

Developer Profit vs. Citizen Benefit
McGimsey said, "I signed because I am concerned that developers are trying to double the size of Loudoun for their benefit at our expense. National developers like Greenvest said they wanted a regime change in the last election. They didn't want a regime change for our benefit. They didn't want a regime change to fix our traffic problems. They wanted a regime change so they could make millions on new development in areas that our county chose NOT to be destined for a lot of new development."

Stand By Our Plan…
One Loudoun resident even put her comments to the board in song. Julia Kasdorf sang to the Board, "This could be Loudoun's last chance, Look ahead as far as you can, Stand by your plan," to the tune of Stand By Your Man, by Tammy Wynette.

Regional Exercise Limits Growth in Loudoun
Growth in the Washington Region does not justify the proposed expansion of Loudoun County. During a recent conference on how the region will absorb another 2 million people and 1.6 million jobs over the next 25 years, 300 elected officials and community, environmental, development and business leaders from more than 20 jurisdictions throughout the DC region agreed that we should focus growth in areas near transit and existing jobs and leave the rural and undeveloped areas on the edge alone. Nearly all of the 30 tables accommodated 2 million new residents by adding less than the existing pipeline of 39,000 to Loudoun County. Like other jurisdictions, Loudoun was represented by business leaders, developers, civic and environmental leaders, and elected officials, including Supervisors Waters, Staton and Tulloch.

"Some speculative developers have tried to convince Loudoun Supervisors that they must approve tens of thousands of new houses on undeveloped land, but 300 people representing all interests had a different answer. They found no need to put growth far from existing jobs and infrastructure and instead were able to accommodate 2 million new residents without massive growth in existing low-density and rural areas. Rampant growth in Loudoun County is not 'inevitable'," said Laura Olsen, Assistant Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth.

The Campaign for Loudoun's Future will continue to update county residents on the proposals via their website www.LoudounsFuture.org, by email and through outreach in the community. The petition can be signed at www.LoudounsFuture.org.

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The Campaign for Loudoun’s Future is a network of individual citizens and community based organizations deeply concerned over the impact of the 14 proposed comprehensive plan amendments on our communities and quality of life.

Our membership consists of active citizens and local organizations. These organizations include: Audubon Naturalist Society, Citizens for a Better Leesburg, Coalition for Smarter Growth, Eastern Loudoun Voters, Eastern Loudoun School Association, Goose Creek Association, Gum Springs Regional Homeowners Association, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Mount Zion Church Preservation Association, Piedmont Environmental Council, Preservation Society of Loudoun County & the River Creek Regional Homeowners Association.

Petition Language:
Don't Double the Size of Loudoun
We Have Unmet School and Road Needs Now.
And Thousands of New Houses Are Already on the Way.
We Urge Loudoun Public Officials to:
• SAY NO to the 42,000 MORE new houses proposed by developers
• SAY NO to 400,000 MORE car trips on clogged roads, Rtes. 50, 7, 267, and 28
• SAY YES to meeting our existing road & school needs
• SAY YES to protecting the county plan and laws that put reasonable limits on our future growth

View a map of proposed CPAMs (PDF)