WASHINGTON — Loudoun County wants to make sure the Dulles area is thought of as more than a place where U.S. 50 is backed up and airplanes roar overhead. So, on Thursday, it will give neighbors a chance to weigh in on the area’s future.
Joe Griffiths, project manager for the Loudoun County Department of Planning and Zoning, says the Dulles Community Outreach project is designed to let the community design the Dulles area of the future.
So far, he says, requests have included “All of the above: transportation improvements, retail including restaurants, bike and pedestrian facilities, public transportation, new parks, new recreation centers — all those are on the table.”
The project is moving into its second phase, with a meeting set for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Stone Hill Middle School, in Ashburn. Another meeting will be held next Thursday, April 30, at Mercer Middle School, in Aldie.
Those who have participated in the early stages have also asked that the plan address affordable housing and the aesthetic appeal of the neighborhoods covered by the plan.
“In addition to transportation, what we’re seeing is a concern over connectivity in the community — both physical and a kind of social connectivity between different neighborhoods, bike and pedestrian as well, and bringing retail to the community. Also, like, a sense of place,” Griffiths says. “Perhaps with town centers, or just the idea [of] someplace you can go in the community [where] you would want to stay for a few hours, not just something you would just drive [to] from your house to the store and back.”
County staff will put the recommendations into a report to the County Board in September. It will then be factored into the expected update to the county’s comprehensive plan, due to be adopted next year.
The county conducted similar outreach programs in Potomac and Sterling in 2008, and in Ashburn in 2011.
Anyone who cannot make the meetings on the project can weigh in here through an online message board or through an interactive map.
