Purcellville senior management moves forward with extension of Mayfair Crown Drive

By Valerie Cury

At the Town of Purcellville’s May 23 Town Council work session, council decided to delay a vote to approve three deeds of easements the county needs to extend Mayfair Crown Drive to Fields Farm Park Road – making this the second entrance to Mountain View Elementary, and Woodgrove High School. 

The majority on town council and the previous council have consistently rejected extending Mayfair Crown Drive through to Fields Farm Park Road as a second entrance to the two schools as this would divide the Mayfair community, and make the road unsafe for the residents and children. Most Mayfair residents have expressed opposition to extending Mayfair Crown Drive. Council Member Erin Rayner has supported the extension of the road which would be a two-lane minor collector road.

Dale Lehnig, Director of Engineering Planning & Development, referred to the cul-de-sac at the end of Mayfair Crown Drive as “temporary.” 

This would be a county funded project which would include the construction of the second entrance to both schools and give the required permanent storm drainage easements to the Town of Purcellville from the County Board of Supervisors. Loudoun County Public Schools plan to construct a secondary access road for Mountain View Elementary and Woodgrove High School. 

According to the town’s staff report “the Town’s Engineering, Planning & Development Department has finalized their review of” the three Deeds of Easements – which are permanent drainage easements for the Fields Farm Park Road project. The project “requires that easements be granted to the Town by private property owners.”

The three Deeds of Easements submitted for approval are: WSMT-20-01 Deed of Easement between Mayfair Industrial Park Association, ESMT-20-02 Deed of Easement between Mayfair Community Association, and ESMT-20-03 Deed of Easement between Ranger Specialized Glass, Inc. All three would be between the County Board of Supervisors and the Town of Purcellville.

The county has acquired three easements for the project, and currently needs approval from Town Council and a signature from the mayor or the road can not be extended.

At the Sept. 7, 2022 Town Council Special Meeting there was a concern that extending Mayfair Crown Drive would be part of the Northern Collector Road. The NCR was proposed to start at 287 and go through to Mayfair Crown Drive to Fields Farm Park Road.

The Northern Collector Road was eliminated from the Town of Purcellville’s Comprehensive Plan. But the County still has the NCR on the County’s Transportation Plan – despite previous council’s written requests to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, to remove the NCR from the county’s plan.

County staff revealed at the Sept. 7, 2022 meeting that they were working with the Town’s administrative staff to move forward on extending Mayfair Crown Drive. The Town Council was unaware of this and requested that town staff immediately stop the process of approving the extension of Mayfair Crown Drive. At the time, former Mayor Kwasi Fraser said he had at least four votes to stop the administrative process. 

Fraser said to move forward with the extension of the road “will affect the health, safety, and welfare of our community.”

Mayfair residents have asked for the second entrance to the schools to branch off 690 into the school property. Also the planning commission has suggested other alternatives as well. 

Despite strong opposition from the residents of Purcellville and the Town Council, the county is still moving forward with the Northern Collector Road. 

In a March 23, 2023 Pre-Application Conference Memorandum to Valley Commerce Center located at 17110 Purcellville Road, the property owner, Chuck Kuhn, is proposing to rezone a 117.07-acre parcel which is outside the town limits of Purcellville in the Joint Land Management Area zoning district. The JLMA-3- zoning district permits one house per three acres. Kuhn will be applying to rezone the property to the Planned Development-Industrial Park District PD-IP which includes light and medium industrial uses with supporting accessory uses and facilities. 

In the March 23 memo, county staff requested the following, “Please confirm that the section of the Purcellville North Collector Road that is planned to run through the property between Purcellville Road and Berlin Turnpike is planned to be a two-lane minor collector within 70 feet of right-of-way.”