“I do not want to be a part of any actions that put our citizens at risk” – Mayor Stan Milan

By Valerie Cury

The June 13 Purcellville Town Council meeting started off with a Pedestrian Prioritization Study by Mark Phillips from Kimley Horn. 

The number one priority for the Pedestrian Prioritization Study is a recommendation to put a sidewalk along Hirst Road from Hatcher Avenue along Hirst Road and all the way to Maple Avenue. This would be along the path of two of developer Casey Chapman’s developments: one already built, the other – called the Woodlands – still going through the planning process.

The second top proposed project would put a sidewalk on the east side of N Hatcher Avenue from Main Street to the W&OD Trail. This sidewalk would take at least 20 ft. from each property owner, but the houses are already very close to the road, and some have retaining walls. This is the block of Hatcher Avenue where Chapman plans to tear down three homes and put up two buildings on 3 lots.

The other recommendations included: 

• The south side of E Main Street from 740 E Main Street to 9th Street 
• The east and west side of Loudoun Stairs entrance from the W&OD Trail to Maple Avenue 
• The east side of 9th Street from Main Street to E Stephens Drive 
• The east side of N Hatcher from E Loudoun Valley Drive to the W&OD Trail 
• The east side of N 21st Street from the Suzanne Kane Trail to the W&OD Trail
• East G Street from S 20th Street to Desales Drive
• The west side of Hatcher Avenue from the Town Police Station to the Chapman DeMary Trail
• E Cornwell Lane and N Brewster Lane Cul-de-Sacs to N Hatcher Avenue

Council Member Boo Bennett asked Dale Lehnig, Director of Engineering Planning and Development, how the top priority was chosen for “sidewalks on Hirst all the way to Maple Avenue.” Lehnig’s answer was “because of its proximity to the W&OD Trail.”

Vice Mayor Chris Bertaut said, “There isn’t much pedestrian traffic on that road.” This was echoed by Mayor Stan Milan, who said he didn’t see people walking on Hirst Road. He said Hirst should be made safe for bike traffic.

During mayor and council comments, Mayor Stan Milan said there has been a lot of discussion about the county and how they are working with the Catoctin Meadows Homeowners Association in town regarding the Rt. 7/690 Interchange project. Milan said it seemed like the county is disavowing the HOA as a legal entity in the town. He explained that the county is at odds with the Catoctin Meadows HOA regarding the floodplain issues.

“I have no personal intention … to turn my back on a community that has to deal with an entity that is in town flexing their muscles. To have that community abdicate their rights for a project where the county is an owner of a property in that HOA and the petitioner for that project,” said Milan.

Milan said the second entity is the Mayfair community and their HOA. He said that the Mayfair HOA approved easements for extending Mayfair Crown Drive to Fields Farm Park Road without “getting any input from the community.” He said most of the residents of the Mayfair community do not want Mayfair Crown Drive extended, as this would become the Northern Collector Road. 

“The town and the community did not accept that road,” said Milan. “We will not turn our back on the Mayfair citizens, nor the Catoctin Meadows citizens.”

Council Member Erin Rayner said the issue is very complicated, but she supports extending Mayfair Crown Drive through to Fields Farm Road, although she would prefer it to be for emergency access. “It’s part of the Comprehensive Plan and part of the Town Transportation Plan,” Rayner said.

Answering Rayner, Vice Mayor Chris Bertaut said, “Yes, it’s in the Comprehensive Plan, however, it’s in there because there’s something that’s no longer in the Comprehensive Plan and that is any mention of the Northern Collector Road. We asked the county to remove the NCR from their plans, and they have so far failed to do so. 

“Any extension of Mayfair Crown Drive westward creates one more leg in that NCR, which will turn Mayfair Crown Drive into a thoroughfare. And completely wreck that community, both from a public safety stand point and from a noise standpoint.”

Addressing a second entrance to the Mayfair community, Bertaut said “that’s something that is recommended, but not required and that’s why no one has been making too much noise about this.” He added that a different second entrance plan “was floated by one of the residents … The HOA board shot that down claiming that they had to have unanimous consent from the homeowners.

“I am against extending Mayfair Crown Drive, even on an emergency basis, because it only takes a little bit of time to turn those bollards into a flat surface once again. It will become a thoroughfare if you build that road extension,” Bertaut concluded.

The county wants the road as a second entrance and exit to the Fields Farm school complex and is taking steps on the administrative side of the issue with the town’s Engineering Planning and Development Department. However, the majority on town council will not vote to sign off on the needed easements that are necessary to move the project forward.

Council Member Boo Bennett said, “We have four other communities in this town that have one way in and one way out – and one of those was built after Mayfair. So, if it’s so much of a concern, why do we let the developers keep doing this?”

Milan said when he went into the town office and looked at the drawings of the easements, that’s when he saw that the easements were needed for the extension of Mayfair Crown Drive to Fields Farm Road. “If we add 2,000 more cars of people who don’t live there and don’t care about the safety of those children, we are going to have another problem.” Milan has also said he has heard from the Mayfair residents that cars are already passing school buses in the neighborhood when their lights are flashing red.

“I do not want to be a part of any actions that put our citizens at risk. I will not do it,” Milan stated.

Mayor Stan Milan, Vice Mayor Chris Bertaut, and Council Members Carol Luke and Boo Bennett voted not to proceed with a public hearing on the Rt 7/690 Interchange project. Council Members Erin Rayner and Mary Jane Williams voted for holding the public hearing, and Council Member Ron Rise Jr. abstained. 

Said Milan, “The county has to resolve the issues with the [Catoctin Meadows] HOA before I can agree to a public hearing. We can’t have a public hearing with outstanding issues that have to be resolved.”