Kincora Project Approved

Loudoun County supervisors Monday night approved a hugh new multiuse development at Routes 7 and 28 known as the Kincora Village Center.
At buildout, the project on the 334.6-acre site is expected to include 2.7 million square feet of office space, almost 400,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, and some 1,400 multi-family housing units.
County supervisors in an earlier meeting had already approved construction of a baseball stadium within the Kincora development.
Among incentives for the board's approval Monday, developers proffered completion of Gloucester Parkway and Pacific Blvd., as well as a new fire-rescue station at Nokes and Pacific.
Moving approval of the project, Ashburn Supervisor Lori Waters said "The real question is not when this parcel will be developed, because it will be;" adding, "if you envision more people working in Loudoun, you will vote to approve. ... This project will also provide relief," she added, for residential taxpayers.
"Growth is going to happen; it's a matter of what kind of growth," Waters said. "This is the right project in the right place.".
Potomac Supervisor Andrea McGimsey noted that the Kinkora project far exceeds the limits allowed by the county's Comprehensive Plan.
"It's simply wrong to put 1400 residential units into this complex and ignore our comp plan," McGimsey said. "This is too much residential and too much overdevelopment."
She urged her colleagues to "stand by our plan and vote 'no'."
Board Chairman Scott York admitted that the project "doesn't match our comprehensive plan," but added, "I have supported this for a number of reasons including much-needed transportation.
"This does a lot better job than we have seen in the past," which was an apparent reference to the increased proffers that Kincora's developers offered in recent days to get the project approved.
The final vote approved the project 5-4, with York, Susan Buckley, Waters, Eugene Delgaudio and Stevens Miller voting "aye," and McGimsey, joined by Jim Burton, Sally Kurtz, and Kelly Burk, voting "no."

-- martin casey