December 9, 2020
Planning Commissioners
Loudoun County Government
James.David@loudoun.gov
P.O. Box 7000
Leesburg, Virginia 20177-7000
RE: ZMAP – 2020-0005 Goose Creek Overlook
Dear Commissioners:
The Goose Creek Association (GCA)[1] is concerned about the Goose Creek Overlook project that you are considering this week. Frankly, it is a conundrum. Loudoun needs more affordable housing. Loudoun needs more parks. Loudoun is a fast-growing, wealthy county with tremendous tax revenues from data center development. Loudoun has great schools and other public services. Loudoun has abundant, beautiful natural resources: relatively clean water, lovely rivers and streams, hills, mountains and plenty of flat land for development of affordable housing.
Yet, the county is considering a dense housing development along a stretch of the Goose Creek that has already been impinged upon by the True North Data Center. The prospect of bountiful tax revenues caused the Board of Supervisors to approve that project over the vociferous opposition of the public. Won’t those tax revenues be gobbled up (plus more) by Goose Creek Overlook’s demand for schools, roads and other public services? Isn’t this a dense housing development where there is no public transportation? Wouldn’t it better be placed nearer town or nearer metro access? Or, are you planning to add buses that will eat even more into the aforementioned data center tax revenues?
Won’t the Goose Creek’s already impaired waters, with Leesburg’s public drinking water intake and the Beaverdam Reservoir close by, be jeopardized by the run-off, litter, and sewer system necessary to accommodate this dense housing development?
Won’t the beauty and conservation benefits of this heavily forested stretch of the Goose Creek be ruined by five-story, high-density housing on one side of the creek and the True North Data Center on the other?
Despite the possibility of a section of the Emerald Ribbon Project being constructed or somewhat financed by the developer, who would want to bike, hike, ride or boat past a corridor of data centers on one side and tall townhouses on the other?
Some towns plan water parks along their rivers, e.g., Bend, Oregon, and many counties conserve their natural resources, especially around rivers and streams. Please consider striking the right balance between development and nature for Loudoun County. The too-dense housing of the Goose Creek Overlook project tips the balance the wrong way.
Further, GCA endorses the memorandums from Loudoun’s Anna Dougherty, Natural Resources Engineer, to Josh Peters, Project Manager, Department of Planning and Zoning, dated July 12 and November 10, 2020. They clearly lay out the many deficiencies in the Goose Creek Overlook project that need to be addressed prior to any approved development in this sensitive area.
We hope you consider all the issues raised herein during your upcoming work session.
Sincerely yours,
Paul Lawrence Lori Keenan McGuinness
GCA Co-Chair Loudoun GCA Co-Chair Fauquier
[1] The Goose Creek Association (GCA) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the above project proposal. Our organization is charged with monitoring stream water quality, proposed developments, legislation, zoning changes, and other actions that have potential impact on the environment and quality of life in the Goose Creek watershed in Fauquier and Loudoun Counties, VA. We are a nonprofit 501C3 organization with hundreds of members who share a determination to protect and preserve the natural resources, historic heritage and rural quality of life found in this beautiful part of Virginia.
