Planning Commission decides Philomont fire station options need another look

By Laura Longley

The Oct. 24 Loudoun County Planning Commission public hearing on a new Philomont fire station started the same way previous public presentations have —with a slide show of the designs and need for a new, 18,800 sq. ft. station to be built on seven acres less than a half mile from the current station at the center of the historic village. The power point highlighted the new station’s safety and comfort, its architectural harmony with the 18th and 19th century village, its buffered siting, set back from National Register’s historic Snickersville Turnpike.

Most important, it emphasized the county staff’s recommendation for approval of zoning ordinance exemptions necessary to proceed with the $22 million project. Staff also mentioned another, community plan calling for renovation of the existing firehouse with a 12,000-sq. ft, addition. Staff said they reviewed that plan and found it not feasible and not meeting the fire chief’s requirements or national standards.

The presentation closed with Loudoun Fire Chief Keith Johnson stressing the importance of response time to a call to protect the citizens, which he also stated was the same for both locations, and the vital importance of hot/cold facilities to protect fire personnel from cancer.

Planning and Zoning’s Lori Radcliffe-Meyers concluded, “The application has been conditioned to minimize the visual environmental and heritage impacts of their proposed fire and rescue station. Staff supports Planning Commission approval of the commission permit and a recommendation of approval of the special exception. Staff finds that the general location, character and extent of the proposed fire and rescue station are consistent with the Loudoun County 2019 General Plan and ‘generally’ consistent with the rural historic village place type. 

Following the county’s presentation, over 40 Philomont area residents showed support for the 17 speakers including representatives of organizations such as the Loudoun Historic Village Alliance, Snickersville Turnpike Association, Piedmont Environmental Council, Loudoun Equine Alliance, and Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area, as each one stepped to the podium to address environmental issues, the project in the context of the county’s zoning ordinance rewrite, threats to Loudoun’s historic villages, and the loss of the seven acres that for almost six decades hosted the annual fire department fundraiser, the Philomont Horse Show. 

Only two spoke from the Philomont Volunteer Fire Department Board of Directors in favor of the design on the Horse Show Grounds.

Madeline Skinner, chair of the Loudoun Historic Village Alliance. began, “I have been at this podium too many times to count to speak on behalf of various threats to our rural historic villages … and here we are again, defending the very core of the vision”—that uses in rural historic villages must be compatible with the historic development pattern, community character, visual identity, intensity and scale of the individual villages. Rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings are essential strategies being supported in the Zoning Ordinance Rewrite.

“So, definitely, it’s not compatible in construction. The proposed suburban structure on our only community green space goes against all of the Comprehensive Plan policies, strategies, and action plans. The zoning revisions will only further support this.” 

She referenced photos of two other stations—one built in Reston and one built in the City of Fairfax. Both were built by FMG architects—the same architects for the Philmont project—dealing with restricted space of one acre. “These were winners of awards,” Skinner said. “

“There is a lot going on here,” she added. [The Philomont Fire Department] “will give the horse show grounds to the county for free. But if you decide to add/renovate in place, they will charge the county $2 million for that [original] building” and its land … They’ve already said they will sell the Horse Show Grounds to a developer … Those Horse Show Grounds were purchased in 1962 by funds raised by the community. That is why we consider this our seven-acre community green space … When the fire department found out that we were going to try to revive the horse show, they went in there, tore down the horse show rings, got rid of the judges stands, and put No Trespassing signs everywhere. So even if we made a request, we were always denied use of hose grounds.

Skinner concluded, “I request that you deny the special exception and get better information when it comes to this project.”

It was also clarified that the Heritage Commission has supported the adaptive reuse concept with two letters to the Board of Supervisors.

Philomont resident and architect Bill Ridge provided the details of the adaptive reuse plan. “‘I’m an architect with 45 years experience, 30 years were with the Environmental Protection Agency designing, planning and executing the renovation of the EPAs laboratories all across the country, all of which were done to bring laboratories up to state-of-the-art conditions while they’re in operation. So, it was very frustrating to see this couldn’t be done with the existing Philomont fire station. 

“First, I want to say that [only] renovating the existing building for fire operations is not feasible because of the difference in floor heights. However, there’s plenty of space on the site to build a 12,000-sq.-ft. new building on the flat area directly behind the existing station, which will meet all the requirements of the program, including the apparatus bays, the hot-cold zone/deconcamination separations, all the gear and office space for the fire operations. And I think that’s critical in this whole discussion. 

“To me, this is an architectural issue, not a fire department requirements issue. The new building on the existing site can meet the requirements of the fire department. All of them. The program for the [proposed] station is 18,800 sq. ft. and about 12,000 of it is dedicated to fire operations. About the remaining 6,000 sq.ft.is for dormitory space, baths, shower, locker rooms, kitchen, dining day room, exercise room, office space, and storage space …”

“It’s pretty easy to renovate the existing building for office space. There’s an existing kitchen-day room there that can be done pretty easily. The new building will provide the hot-cold area and will allow access from two directions. In other words, this site is unique, and you have access for returning trucks off Philomont Road but the apparatus going out to a fire would go directly onto the Snickersville Turnpike … It’s a very efficient layout without having to do a quarter of a mile of driveway around an open field.”

Ridge described confusion among county staff, the fire chief, and the architect over details of his plan—separation of hot-cold areas, grade for the existing site’s old and new buildings that added $300,000 to the bottom line.

“Basically,” he said, “if you take out the unnecessary items—about $1 million worth of things which were not necessary, that plus the 40% additions for fees, escalations and so forth—the total should be $18.2 million. I wish the Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure had the courtesy of discussing their proposal with me before wasting the county’s time and money on the study.”

Ridge concluded, “I strongly believe that the scheme … is a very viable alternative … and will give the fire department all the requirements they need at a lower cost. I urge the Planning Commission to reject this special exception request as not being in the best interest of the village of Philomont, the county, or the fire department.

The remaining speakers addressed other concerns such as the potential for contaminants and carcinogens entering the wells and Goose Creek, noise and light pollution, the economic impacts to those who will eventually try to sell a home next to a large firehouse, and the county’s equine business that generates $180 million a year.

After discussion among the commissioners—with only Mark Miller, the Catoctin representative appointed by Supervisor Caleb Kershner, objecting to a future work session—Blue Ridge Commissioner Roger Vance moved to take up the Philomont fire station project in a future work session.

Vance summed up: “I think there’s plenty of issues to look at in a work session. And I think the community deserves some more hearing on this issue. I think it’s incredibly important for us to make sure that the community is heard and is collaborating on this. 

I’m concerned that maybe enough time has not been spent having the community really involved and really have a back and forth, not just being able to come to a meeting and stand up for two minutes and talk but to really have a back and forth … I think as we go forward, hopefully… we will help facilitate a better collaboration, better. closer look at the needs … looked at all the pros and cons based upon the needs, based upon the realities. 

I was very interested to hear the comments about other fire stations in the suburban area. This is not a suburban area. I think … we have to be very cognizant of scale and appropriateness for the area … There’s a lot of good work that can be done. Much better understanding and maybe a result that everyone will feel good about. 

The commissioners voted to send the matter of the Philomont fire station to a work session.