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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Letter to the Editor

LTE: Looking Forward to Ballpark

Former DC United announcer believes stadium at One Loudoun will have positive impact on youth sports.

To the editor: When I bought in the Potomac Green development five years ago I was excited to learn that in time One Loudoun would bring development to the area that would include business, residential development and entertainment. In part my decision to buy in Potomac Green was that I knew that in time the One Loudoun expansion would add to the property value of its neighbors.  I am now even more excited about the proposed construction of a baseball/soccer facility that will be the home of the Loudoun Hounds and an NASL soccer team.  I served as the Public Address announcer for DC’s Major League Soccer team, DC United, from 2004 to 2011. Professional-league sports are especially family friendly and I know from my affiliation with DC …

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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

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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Dogged By Delays, Hounds Shoot for 2013

Loudoun’s future professional baseball team watches as 2012 first pitch slips away.

While backs were patted and obligatory shovelfuls of dirt were turned by elected officials Oct. 19, marking the start of construction on key roads in the Kincora development, a few people who have been anxiously awaiting the day stood at the back of the tent nearing the realization that their dreams – and those of numerous Loudoun residents – would have to wait another year. The minor league Loudoun Hounds officially announced two days later what some had begun to guess – the team would have to wait until 2013 to throw its first pitch. While the news may disappoint many in the community, it certainly comes as little surprise, considering construction on the stadium has not begun. Wednesday’s groundbreaking on construction of Pacific …

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