Media Advisory
Campaign for Loudoun's Future

For Immediate Release:
August 27, 2007

For more information
Stewart Schwartz, Coalition for Smarter Growth, 202-244-4408 x121
Gem Bingol, Piedmont Environmental Council, 703-669-2205
Other civic group members available for interviews -- call for information

CITIZENS’ CAMPAIGN CALLS ON LOUDOUN CANDIDATES
TO SUPPORT SMART GROWTH

Campaign for Loudoun’s Future
Releases Smart Growth Platform

The Campaign for Loudoun’s Future (CLF), a partnership of Loudoun citizens and non-profit groups, calls on all Loudoun County Board of Supervisor candidates to support smart growth policies for the county.  CLF released a smart growth platform today describing key steps necessary to ensure that residents, not just developers, determine how Loudoun will grow.

“Our quality of life is threatened by over-congested roadways, longer commutes, rising taxes, and inadequate public services all stemming from a pace of growth we cannot sustain,” said Ann Jansen, a Leesburg resident.  “We are fast losing the very qualities that brought us to Loudoun to begin with.  Responsible planning and sustainable growth must be a priority if we are to preserve Loudoun’s future.”

The Platform for Loudoun’s Future offers a range of measures to address transportation, environmental protection, community services, and neighborhood planning in the county.  The Piedmont Environmental Council, a member of CLF, is mailing a summary of the smart growth platform to every household in the county through their Clarion newsletter.  The newsletter should arrive in mailboxes this week.

“The purpose of the Platform is to clarify what steps are needed to implement smarter growth and what it means for Loudoun residents, when all too often the issue becomes muddied amid election rhetoric,” said Gem Bingol, a Loudoun Field Officer with the Piedmont Environmental Council.  “We hope that Loudoun citizens will use the platform as they talk to and consider the candidates running for election.”

"Developers are continuing to try and undo the 2001 Comprehensive Plan and to add tens of thousands more houses on top of the 30,000+ already scheduled to be built," said Karen Ficker, a member of Ashburn Citizens United and a CLF member. "We're spending too much time in gridlocked traffic, and pay too many taxes to afford to grow at this pace.  Our children endure constantly changing school boundaries and no one has enough public services.  Our elected officials need to listen to their constituents and come up with a reasonable way to manage growth." 

The smart growth platform urges action by the county on the following nine elements:

1. Meet community needs
2. Free us from traffic gridlock
3. Have developers pay their fair share
4. Protect drinking water
5. Make Loudoun an energy conservation model
6. Sustain the rural economy
7. Preserve Loudoun’s natural heritage
8. Protect and celebrate Loudoun’s cultural heritage
9. Defend and implement the existing 2001 Comprehensive Plan.

Go to www.LoudounsFuture.org for a copy of the platform.  The Campaign for Loudoun’s Future has also written a set of recommended planning, zoning and transportation initiatives to supplement the platform which are also online and available for county residents and the Board of Supervisors.

The Campaign for Loudoun’s Future does not endorse or work on behalf of any candidate running for election to the board of supervisors.

Platform for Loudoun's Future (pdf)
Recommended Initiatives for Smart Growth in Loudoun (pdf)

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