Protect Loudoun families, taxpayers, and commuters

Tomorrow evening, February 15, the Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on a CPAM that puts Ashburn's drinking water and the Transition Area at risk.

In light of recent press articles questioning how business is done in Loudoun, please urge the Supervisors to do the right thing for Loudoun's citizens. Ask them to vote NO on the Ridgewater Park CPAM.

Chairman Scott York stated that this proposal will not bring "any benefit to the county that will ever out weigh the burdens that will come with school construction, higher taxes and more commuters on the roads."

Please join us in asking the Board of Supervisors to:

• Vote NO on the Ridgewater Park CPAM
• Save taxpayers millions of dollars in capital and operating costs
  
• Prevent 42,000 daily car trips on the Greenway, Route 7, and local roads in Leesburg and Ashburn
• Protect Ashburn's drinking water
• Avoid setting a precedent for 19,000+ new houses proposed near Stone Ridge in the Transition Area
  
• When you decided to extend county water and sewer to the Transition Area, you promised that the decision was made for the health, safety, and welfare of Loudoun residents and not to increase residential density.  Now you need to keep your promise.
  

We are concerned about this proposal for the following reasons: 

1) Our Drinking Water Quality at Risk
The drinking water for Ashburn and City of Fairfax would be directly, negatively impacted by this development. The proposed development for 1,946 houses is directly adjacent to the drinking water intake pipe in the Goose Creek reservoir. 

County staff told the Planning Commission that our drinking water is at risk, because there is no chance for toxic chemicals, bacteria, and other pollutants to be diluted before they go right into the water intake.  See an image of the reservoir and where the development is proposed.

Drinking water concerns from the County Staff Report

2) Paves the Way for 19,000+ New Houses
This development would set a dangerous precedent for suburban development in the Transition Area. If this proposal is approved, Greenvest, Toll Brothers, etc., will likely argue

that they should receive equal treatment, since their applications for over 19,000 residential units are also suburban proposals in the Transition Area. 

3) Adds Traffic to Our Roads
The transportation impacts of the Ridgewater Park proposal are enormous. Combined with another development proposal in the area (Crosstrail) and the current approved housing yet to built, there would be 116,000 daily car trips in this area serviced by the Greenway and Sycolin Rd, which is currently two lanes and gravel.

4) Process Moving Too Fast
This proposal was fast tracked by the Planning Commission even though county staff have recommended against it.

5) Will the Supervisors keep their promise?
The stated original intent of the Supervisors' vote to extend sewer and water into the Transition Area was to mitigate public health issues and not increase density. The Ridgewater Park project would allow a 3,000% increase in density than what is currently allowed.

Please help spread the word to your neighbors:

• Citizens for a Better Leesburg flyer on impacts to Leesburg (PDF)
• Ashburn Citizens United flyer on Ashburn's drinking water and other impacts
• South Riding Residents for Reasonable Growth letter on impacts to all county residents
• Piedmont Environmental Council's brief on protecting our drinking water

• County staff report on Ridgewater Park CPAM
• Map of current developer proposals in the Transition Area
• Spreadsheet of all active developer applications proposing 27,439 residential units

Drinking water concerns from the County Staff Report

"The reservoir, owned by the City of Fairfax, is an important drinking water resource to the County.  It contains approximately 200 million gallons of water and serves approximately 45,000 people living in the City of Fairfax and Loudoun County.  Approximately one-half of the water treated at the Goose Creek Water Treatment Plant is used by Loudoun residents. ...Allowing more intensive development in this area could adversely impact the reservoir.  The City of Fairfax, in a November 7, 2006 letter, raised several concerns regarding development adjacent to reservoir, including:

• increased sedimentation to the reservoir (which will require more frequent dredging, a costly process);
• increased chemical runoff due to residential use of fertilizers and pest control chemicals;
• in the event of contamination caused by residential landbays in close proximity to the Water Treatment Plant, the plant may have to shut down in order to complete the required testing and treating, a process that would leave 45,000 people without water;
• it may be necessary for the City to construct costly fencing/security facilities to prevent human/animal related contamination;
• increased potential for liability issues; and
• sanitary sewer back-up/overflow entering the reservoir."

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Together, We're Fighting to Protect the Quality of Life in Loudoun

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