The “Special Exception” strikes again and again

Dear Editor:

Another destructive vote from our Board of Supervisors that will permanently alter the landscape from Snickersville Turnpike as you enter the Village of Philomont. The seven-acre property, purchased long ago with community raised funds, was home to one of the oldest horse shows in Virginia and was a gathering place for the community for over 60 years.  

This highest point in Philomont will soon have an 18,500 sq. ft. suburban standard firehouse design with two acres of asphalt that will forever dwarf nearby historic homes with an incompatible building six times their size. 

The truth is documented for future residents. The end result will be that the county will own almost 12 acres of Philomont, and that is half of our designated National Register area.    

Philomont VFD closed its membership in August 2022 when two of us with almost 40 years of PVFD membership applied to rejoin. The 501c3, volunteer organization said, “no more members.”  They also removed voting rights of lifetime members. Now they will have yet another massive structure called a “standard” firehouse, to park their “standard” too large for our area firetrucks, that cannot even access many western Loudoun driveways.  

How about that ambulance that has been parked in one of Philomont’s bays for the last 3 years, with no staff to run a call? Did you know that 75% of 911 calls are medically related? Suck it up Philomont area, stay healthy for 2 more years. The powers that be can’t fit even one more staff person in the current 9,000 sq. ft. building, which currently houses 4 staff.  

Attention all of Loudoun, that is the danger of approving Special Exceptions. Whether it’s another data center, or 1,077 housing units in the Transition Policy Area where only 50 houses were allowed, or a proposed firehouse that blatantly violates the 2019 Comprehensive Plan, nothing is safe. The Village Conservation Overlay District and CR1 zoning should have protected us. But it didn’t.      

Why do we have a Comprehensive Plan or a Zoning Ordinance when the elected officials continue to interpret, and ignore facts from impacted residents, environmental and preservation groups? 

Loudoun is being “Special Exceptioned” into another overdeveloped county.

Madeline Skinner
Philomont