The Loudoun Planning Commission voted Wednesday night to continue studying and intended to primarily relieve Broad Run and Stone Bridge high schools.
Just more than a dozen speakers, through their comments, showed the range of feelings Lansdowne residents have about plans to build HS-8 next to Belmont Ridge Middle School and the National Conference Center. The comments came during a joint Loudoun Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission public hearing.
Traffic and safety were the top concerns raised during Wednesday’s public hearing about a series of land use applications related to the proposal. Supporters said they liked the idea of a school within the community and were concerned about rising class sizes if the county further delays the school.
“We’ll listen to you and put our thinking caps on,” said Kevin Ruedisueli (At Large), chairman of the planning commission.
“We absolutely have to minimize the impacts on our neighbors,” said Supervisor Ralph Buona (R-Ashburn), listing a series of concerns raised: “The environment, the noise, the traffic and, most importantly, the safety of our children.”
The two-story school is designed for 1,600 students—an amount one speaker suggested should be capped in the zoning ordinance—on 96 acres consolidated from three existing parcels: Lansdowne Sports Park, part of the middle school site and 45 acres of the National Conference Center site the county has agreed to purchase.
Robert Klancher (Ashburn), vice chairman of the planning commission, said the panel would likely forward a recommendation to the board of supervisors in the fall.
More information about the plans can be found on the county’s website.
