LTE: Board Must Consider Impacts of Metro

An open letter to our Loudoun County Board of Supervisors:

I place my trust in you, my Board of Supervisors. I expect all of you to step back from the rhetoric, step away from the politics and do what is best for all Loudoun County residents, not what’s best for the developers, who would benefit from higher home values. Residents would pay more for housing and more in taxes, even with a level tax rate.

Not what’s the best for the commercial landlords who either pass taxes through to the business owners leasing space in shopping centers or take write-offs on their tax returns for the vacancies. Commercial taxes hurt the small business owner and stifle their development or send them into bankruptcy.

Do what’s best for all Loudoun County residents. Look at the cost of building and maintaining rail.  Build into your models funding for the schools and services needed for our future residents, who will be here long before rail begins service to Loudoun County. Factor in the infrastructure needed to support residents wanting to travel to and from rail. 

The major arteries in Dulles and Ashburn are overly congested now and rail stations will create more traffic in those areas. The CTP suggests expanding bus service as rail moves closer to Loudoun but never states why Loudoun County should move from bus services to rail. The assumptions made about growth in the county are based on development around rail. That was the only option given to the consultants who developed the CTP. 

Please step back and think of why rail with its enormous cost is necessary above all the other necessities and to the exclusion of some necessities. Think about what future budgets will look like when you are paying for rail that isn’t here yet–and it may never create the economic benefit to offset those costs.

Finally stop believing that development on this level is inevitable and therefore jumping into the deep end of the pool is the correct thing to do.

Please don’t bankrupt our county in the name of ‘progress.’

Thank you,

Shelley Huss
16-year resident of Ashburn