Unfortunately there are a few individuals who are spreading untrue information, which I will politely call “Myths”, about the proposed Crosstrail development. I’ve seen the presentations by both sides. There are some myths that need to be corrected.
Myth:
Crosstrail is shoving a bunch of houses up against the Leesburg airport.
Fact:
Everything that I have read, seen and heard about the residential uses in Crosstrail shows that the residences are more than 1,000 feet from the runway. This was explained by a Peterson representative to the Loudoun County Planning Commission at a public meeting, which I attended. I have measured this distance myself and the statement is correct. It is also a fact that all of the residential property is outside of the 65 dba noise area. The FAA, Loudoun County, and the Town of Leesburg recognize this line as the boundary for residential building near airports whether it is Dulles or Leesburg.
Myth:
The Leesburg airport provides over five times greater economic impact than the Peterson Development will on an annual basis.
Fact:
When completed, Crosstrail will have over 6,500 employees. This was publicly stated by a senior Vice President of Peterson at a Planning Commission work session, which I attended. The airport has less than 200 employees. A fiscal impact study was done for Crosstrail that measured only the net tax benefits for the project, not the total economic impact. The $40 million economic airport impact, which is often quoted by airport commission officers, measured such things as salaries for all the employees at the airport and applied a multiplier to this number. Crosstrail will have more than 30 times the number of employees that the airport has now. Considering the office and other uses planned there, Crosstrail’s economic impact to the County will be many, many times greater than the airport’s economic impact. All the land at the airport is owned by the Town and as a result generates zero real estate taxes and minimal personal property taxes for the Town and the County.
Myth:
Not one single element of the Crosstrail plan is aimed at commercial office uses or aviation business needs.
Fact:
At the Loudoun County Planning Commission public hearing, a company with their current corporate headquarters in Herndon announced that they were moving 250 employees to Crosstrail - mainly due to the mixed use nature of the project. This one new employer that Crosstrail has attracted to Loudoun County (and just one of many that will be at Crosstrail) is bringing more employees than the airport currently has or will for many years. Peterson has stated that there will be over 1.5 million square feet of office space at Crosstrail, plus they have offered to sell or lease land to the airport if the Town wants it. The FAA has given this land offer the highest priority in the new updated airport master plan, which means that 98% of this land could be acquired with Federal and State grants.
These are the facts, plain and simple.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
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1 comment:
A few months ago, my wife and I refinanced our home loan from 5 7/8 to 4 5/8. We also added money to the pot to get it down to conforming. We'll recoup the difference in a few years from the reduced mortgage payment.
We had enough cash on hand to actually pay the house off, but I'm doing way better in the stock market than the 4-5/8's rate we have. Also, we needed the cash to make a down payment on a second home, where my in-laws will be living, and to put enough into a bond fund to make the second home's mortgage payment.
As far as real estate taxes, I voted for Prop 13 in CA umpteen years ago. Its kept our property taxes down, and thus state spending down. Without it, I'm not sure anyone could afford to live in CA. (Renters pay property taxes in the form of higher rents.)
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