Board Agenda: Budget, Ballpark, Metro Parking, Tax Rate

The Loudoun Board of Supervisors have a wide range of topics scheduled Wednesday.

Among the many items on the Loudoun Board of Supervisors’ agenda Wednesday are the county’s budget and tax rate, a proposal to construct a professional sports park at One Loudoun and proposals to construct parking decks at the Metro stations planned in Ashburn. The $2.8 billion county budget and the $1.205 per $100 of assessed value real estate tax that would support it are all but decided. While changes are not off the table, significant changes are unlikely at this point. School advocates and nonprofits pressed for additional funds, but supervisors held firm. As part of an agreement with Fairfax County and the state to lower the cost of constructing Metro’s Silver Line to Ashburn, Loudoun supervisors agreed to try to find a way to have a…

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Opposing Sides Prepare for Ballpark Hearing

Opponents and supporters of the proposed One Loudoun stadium at One Loudoun organize.

The proposed stadium at One Loudoun that would serve as home field for professional baseball and soccer teams goes to a public hearing before the Loudoun Planning Commission today, and both supporters and opponents plan to express themselves. One Loudoun developers Miller & Smith and North American Sekisui House LLC requested the land use changes to permit 5,500-seat stadium at Route 7 and Loudoun County Parkway after delays at the Kincora development to the east forced the Hounds to consider alternatives. The team once had hoped to start play in 2012, but now is targeting a 2014 start. Some residents who live near the proposed stadium site, particularly those in Potomac Green have formed an opposition group called No Stadium on Route 7, …

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Letter to the Editor

LTE: Leave Ballpark at Kincora

Proposal to move Loudoun Hounds stadium to One Loudoun continues to divide surrounding community.

Let’s say that an application were to be filed with the appropriate county authorities to build a 10,000-person sports stadium and entertainment complex at the Reston Town Center. What do you think might happen? Would the local residences and businesses there welcome the sporting arena to their neighborhood with open arms, or would they be so outraged at the idea that they would organize to have the plan defeated? The question isn’t so far-fetched. The owners of One Loudoun have stated that their project was being modeled similarly to the Reston Town Center wherein proposed retail tenants were to be high end, their proposed restaurant tenants upscale and their one-family residences surrounding the project priced in the half-million-dollar-…

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LTEs: Support Voiced for One Loudoun Stadium

Nearby residents weigh in about why they like the proposed move of a ballpark for Loudoun Hounds, NASL soccer team.

To the editor, I support the Loudoun Hounds ballpark at One Loudoun and I live in Potomac Green. Opponents are now implying that the recently released initial comments by the Loudoun County Departments of Planning and the Office of Transportation raise too many questions to allow the project’s approval.  That is completely inaccurate. The comments mean one thing and one thing only: the County staff is doing its job and doing it well. In stark contrast to claims that the ballpark is a “done deal” and being rushed through, planners are leaving no stone unturned and asking for specifics on key areas of concern.  In the end, all Loudouners will be able to be sure that their issues about noise, light, traffic and security will be fully …

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Developer, Hounds Create OneLoudounBallPark.com

The new website comes as partners await necessary land-use decisions from Loudoun.

One Loudoun developer Miller & Smith and Loudoun Hounds owners VIP Sports have launched a website to promote the ballpark the two entities hope to build at the corner of Loudoun County Parkway and Route 7. The 5,500-seat stadium would be home to the minor league Hounds professional baseball team as well as a new Northern American Soccer League team recently authorized in Loudoun. Supporters and opponents of the move of the ballpark from Kincora, along Route 28 at Route 7, to One Loudoun. Opponents have raised concerns about noise, traffic and the loss of commercial space at One Loudoun, while supporters say the stadium would be a net positive for Loudoun. With www.OneLoudounBallPark.com, the partners in the project hope to keep the public …

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Letter to the Editor

LTE: Stadium May Offer Traffic Benefits

A future One Loudoun resident offers Supervisor Williams his support for the stadium.

Dear Supervisor Shawn Williams, Thank you for all the great work you are doing. I am a soon-to-be resident of One Loudoun, waiting for my home construction to finish sometime in January. I am moving from McLean, VA, to Ashburn and looking very much forward to it. I have been following the discussions on the new stadium. I read both sides of the argument. At first, I was against it, thinking it would cause much ruckus in the area. But then I learned that it will be built in place of an office building employing a few thousand people. I realized then that it will actually relieve the morning rush hour and, to a little less extent, the after-work rush hour. I would much rather prefer the occasional off-hour traffic caused from the ball park …

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SeasonedCitizen

12:43 pm on Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Troy, Bera A. must not have read the noise study from the Texas stadium that is now posted under the "resources" tab on www.NoStadiumOn7.org because it clearly states that buildings do not make adequate noise buffers. It also shows that noise at 70dB plus will travel into the surrounding neighborhoods that are almost the exact same distance as Ashbrook, Chelsea Courts, and Potomac Green are from …   more ›

Letter to the Editor

LTEs: Support Ballpark at One Loudoun

A couple of readers weigh in on the stadium and encourage supervisors to support it.

As a small business owner since the late 80’s locally, I wanted to encourage our board of supervisors to vote in favor of moving forward with the Loudoun Hounds stadium at One Loudoun. This would be a significant boost to our local economy, which is really needed. Scott B Cypher   We fully support the Hounds ballpark at One Loudoun. We are so pleased to be able to attend a local minor league ballpark. Doug & Margo Kendall

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One Loudoun Ballpark Panned at Town Hall

Concerns continue to come from residents living in nearby communities.

During County Chairman Scott K. York’s (R-At Large) town hall Tuesday, several residents raised concerns about the proposed stadium at One Loudoun. Opinions about the move of the stadium from Kincora to One Loudoun – which requires land use changes now under expedited review – have been mixed, with recent letters for and against (here, here and here). But many doubters have criticized the move and wonder what impact it will have on their communities because of increased noise and traffic, among other things. “My neighbors and I are big baseball fans, but this venue is wrong,” said Potomac Green resident John Gannon. “We’re not crazy about having it in our backyards, not to mention concerts and soccer.” The stadium would be home to the …

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Letter to the Editor

LTE: Ballpark Is Asset to One Loudoun

A reader agrees with a previous letter supporting the stadium move.

Dear editor, I agree with Roger Majak's letter to let the stadium be built in One Loudoun. First of all, the stadium is located at the farthest end of the development and the traffic will not be touching the Potomac Green, more than it is doing now. With a World Trade Center as the central piece of One Loudoun, it would bring more traffic on daily basis. The Stadium traffic will be only be on very few days of the game and will originate and terminate at the first entry on Loudoun County Parkway, very close to Route 7 exit. It will bring the higher price for the properties in Potomac Green and will be an asset to the One Loudoun development. Loudoun needs a ballpark. We are putting up with the continuous noise of air traffic daily from 5 a.…

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Letter to the Editor

LTE: Approve One Loudoun Stadium

One Potomac Green resident welcomes the proposed minor league ballpark.

Dear Editor: Opposition to locating the Hounds stadium at One Loudoun from some residents of the over-55 Potomac Green community is based on unrealistic expectations and demands for idyllic rural tranquility. Potomac Green residents chose homes there knowing full well that Loudoun County is a booming place, and that the adjacent One Loudoun development – with or without a stadium – would add congestion and bustle to the area, along with many conveniences. The sound and congestion issues would be no less for Potomac Green if the stadium were located at nearby Kincora as originally planned. Residents already routinely "filter out" Dulles air traffic noise that is more constant and severe than any [noise a] stadium would conceivably generate…

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