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Wow! Loudoun County really does have tough challenges ahead with folk's campaigning issues like this. They are obviously not fans of historic preservation. This is ridiculous.
Loudoun Leader Blasts Slow-Growth Efforts
Republican Says ‘Sprawl is the American Dream’
By Andrew Martel
The Winchester Star
Thursday, March 4, 2004
Want to keep that beautiful vista of rolling fields and mountains out your back window?
Better buy it.
That would be cheaper than letting local government preserve it, said Suzanne Volpe, former chairwoman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee.
But some residents think the way to preserve open spaces and the rural character is through state and local government regulations.
Nonsense, Volpe said, in a scathing indictment against the slow-growth movement to the Winchester-Frederick-Clarke Republican Women’s Club.
Loudoun County residents know a thing or two about residential and commercial development; the county’s population doubled between 1991 and 1999. The change has raised concerns over traffic and prompted a school building boom.
Speaking at the club’s luncheon Wednesday, Volpe said the slow-growth movement imposed unfair restrictions on landowners. People who just moved into the county were starting movements to keep other newcomers out, Volpe said.
“Everyone wants to be the last person on the block,” she said in front of the 30 Republican women gathered at Shenandoah Valley Westminster Canterbury.
But the land everyone wants to preserve is probably owned by someone else, Volpe said. That farming family may want to sell off part of their property at some point.
“Nobody wants to buy the land,” to protect it, Volpe said. “They want the government to buy the land.”
But when the Loudoun Board of Supervisors started imposing stricter land-use and zoning rules, homeowners were unfairly targeted, Volpe said. She cited one case where a 200-acre landowner was unable to build another house on the property because of various historic and open space preservation rules.
The effect of these rules raised housing prices, because fewer new homes under construction resulted in higher demand, Volpe said.
But as home values go up, so do assessments, and with that, property taxes, she said.
In three years, Loudoun County’s budget went up 68 percent.
The slow-growth movement wants to control home construction. But for many families, home ownership is their only major investment.
“Sprawl is the American dream,” said Volpe, who is also president of her homeowner’s association, which she said includes 6,000 units and a budget of more than $3 million.
Not everyone sees it that way.
“Uncontrolled growth is the problem,” said Joe Maio, spokesman for the Leesburg-based group Voters to Stop Sprawl.
Each new house built costs $35,000 in road construction, utilities, and other public facilities, Maio said — and that doesn’t count the average cost of $10,000 per student in Loudoun County, Maio said.
“There is no way a house pays that much in taxes,” Maio said.
Loudoun voters at first embraced the slow-growth movement, electing a slate of candidates to the Board of Supervisors in 1999. Four years later, they rejected the slow-growth platform, electing six Republicans to the board in 2003.
“We’re making good changes,” Volpe said.
Frederick County also had a Republican sweep in November, with those calling for slow or smart growth rejected. Still, Volpe warned Frederick and Clarke residents to watch out for calls for slow growth.
Loudoun Leader Blasts Slow-Growth Efforts
Republican Says ‘Sprawl is the American Dream’
By Andrew Martel
The Winchester Star
Thursday, March 4, 2004
Want to keep that beautiful vista of rolling fields and mountains out your back window?
Better buy it.
That would be cheaper than letting local government preserve it, said Suzanne Volpe, former chairwoman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee.
But some residents think the way to preserve open spaces and the rural character is through state and local government regulations.
Nonsense, Volpe said, in a scathing indictment against the slow-growth movement to the Winchester-Frederick-Clarke Republican Women’s Club.
Loudoun County residents know a thing or two about residential and commercial development; the county’s population doubled between 1991 and 1999. The change has raised concerns over traffic and prompted a school building boom.
Speaking at the club’s luncheon Wednesday, Volpe said the slow-growth movement imposed unfair restrictions on landowners. People who just moved into the county were starting movements to keep other newcomers out, Volpe said.
“Everyone wants to be the last person on the block,” she said in front of the 30 Republican women gathered at Shenandoah Valley Westminster Canterbury.
But the land everyone wants to preserve is probably owned by someone else, Volpe said. That farming family may want to sell off part of their property at some point.
“Nobody wants to buy the land,” to protect it, Volpe said. “They want the government to buy the land.”
But when the Loudoun Board of Supervisors started imposing stricter land-use and zoning rules, homeowners were unfairly targeted, Volpe said. She cited one case where a 200-acre landowner was unable to build another house on the property because of various historic and open space preservation rules.
The effect of these rules raised housing prices, because fewer new homes under construction resulted in higher demand, Volpe said.
But as home values go up, so do assessments, and with that, property taxes, she said.
In three years, Loudoun County’s budget went up 68 percent.
The slow-growth movement wants to control home construction. But for many families, home ownership is their only major investment.
“Sprawl is the American dream,” said Volpe, who is also president of her homeowner’s association, which she said includes 6,000 units and a budget of more than $3 million.
Not everyone sees it that way.
“Uncontrolled growth is the problem,” said Joe Maio, spokesman for the Leesburg-based group Voters to Stop Sprawl.
Each new house built costs $35,000 in road construction, utilities, and other public facilities, Maio said — and that doesn’t count the average cost of $10,000 per student in Loudoun County, Maio said.
“There is no way a house pays that much in taxes,” Maio said.
Loudoun voters at first embraced the slow-growth movement, electing a slate of candidates to the Board of Supervisors in 1999. Four years later, they rejected the slow-growth platform, electing six Republicans to the board in 2003.
“We’re making good changes,” Volpe said.
Frederick County also had a Republican sweep in November, with those calling for slow or smart growth rejected. Still, Volpe warned Frederick and Clarke residents to watch out for calls for slow growth.
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