Kuhn presents vision for Valley Commerce Center

By Valerie Cury

At the June 27 Purcellville Town Council Work Session, Michael Romeo with the Walsh Colucci firm, presented a plan called Valley Commerce Center. This plan envisions the rezoning of a 117.07-acre property on Purcellville Road from the current county zoning of 39 homes to 1.2 million square feet of industrial. 

Owner Chuck Kuhn will be filing an application at the county level the week of June 27, for a zoning amendment to rezone his property within the county from the Joint Land Management Area-3 (JLMA-3) to the Planned Development-Industrial Park (PD-IP).

The property is located at 17110 Purcellville Road and was formerly known as the Warner Brook property. The previous owners turned in an annexation application to the Town of Purcellville several years ago, but it was denied. They were asking for 120 homes as well as industrial and commercial on the property.

According to the March 23 Valley Commerce Center pre-application meeting, county staff have requested that the “section of the Purcellville North [Northern] 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.” 

This has been requested even though the Town of Purcellville removed the Northern Collector Road from their plan in 2017. To date, the current town council majority has refused to extend the final portion of the NCR which would continue from Mayfair Crown Drive through to Fields Farm Park Road. 

Land in the Joint Land Management Area must have both the County and the Town of Purcellville’s approval on any final change to the area, other than the current permitted use. 

Romeo said that even though the rezoning application would be filed with the county the week of June 27, if the town showed interest for annexation into the town, then a discussion could occur “if that’s what town council would like to pursue.”

Romeo said the business park has been designed due to the increasing demand for commercial space in Purcellville. He said the traffic analysis of the road network shows that it can handle the additional traffic to the proposed site. 

He added that there would be two entrances and exits to the property, with possibly a light at one of the entrances. The uses for the proposal would be more business-focused to include maintenance facilities, garages, truck storage, plumbing, and electric companies. 

“We would improve Purcellville Road to VDOT standards,” Romeo said. “There would be right and left turn lanes at each entrance. They have already dug 6 wells, with one producing 100 gallons per minute. The proposed development would have 50-foot setbacks on each boundary.”

In the citizen portion of the meeting, Mayfair resident Dan Carvill said his concerns with the Kuhn project were the same as two years ago when Kuhn made a similar presentation to the community. 

“Having a road connect to Mayfair and to a community road, probably isn’t the best idea,” said Carvill. “Increasing the traffic on Mayfair Crown [Drive] is a terrible idea.” He also said that Purcellville Road is a death trap, pointing out that there are no sidewalks. “Safety should be paramount.”

Mayfair resident Christine Green said that the “land in question is zoned JLMA-3, one house per 3-acres, but only industrial is being talked about tonight. I wanted to know why? A majority of residents would prefer homes instead of industrial.

“I understand that the Town of Purcellville has a say in what’s going to be built on this property. The majority of people in western Loudoun chose to live here for a reason; and I can tell you it’s not to have an industrial complex across the street. The town has a say here; please have our backs.”

Green said that the Northern Collector Road needs to be removed, and she urged the town council to resend a letter to the county asking them to remove the road from their plans.

Brian Green, addressing Chuck Kuhn, said if he puts in the NCR, “it will hit a cul-de-sac. It’s a joke; where is everybody going to go?” he asked. Green asked the town council to look after their wellbeing and not to be influenced by outsiders who may not share “our same vision. We have a say in the JLMA.

“If we don’t agree, you’ve got nothing – that’s the bottom line.”

Resident Lydia Clark said the town and county residents have attended many meetings and charettes over the years for this property “and the citizens have spoken loud and clear. They are against the NCR. That road will go right behind somebody’s house.”

“This is not in conformance with the surrounding areas. The NCR should be taken off the map.”

Owner Chuck Kuhn said, “Change is difficult on everyone. Change is certainly difficult on a community. But we have to move forward.” He said the same concerns were brought up when Mayfair and Wright Farm were being built here. 

However, there were no public meetings when the Mayfair Community became part of the Town of Purcellville, as it came into the Town of Purcellville through a private lawsuit settlement between only the Lazaro Town Council and the County. Wright Farm is a county by-right community and did not go through any public hearings.

“I stand here tonight with an opportunity for this town because residential has been voted down twice on this parcel,” Kuhn said. But there has only been one annexation request for this property, which was voted down, and it included industrial, commercial and 120 homes.