Creekside at Round Hill (formerly Woodgrove Village)

Richmond American Homes is proposing to build 118 houses on 45 acres of property located between Route 719 North (Main Street) and Evening Star Drive. The plan involves rezoning the property from JLMA-1 (1 house per acre) to PDH-3, developed under R-8, which would allow up to 2.5 houses per acre and minimum lot sizes of 1/8 acre.

Action to date
3/15/05 The Board of Supervisors voted (6-3) to approve Richmond American Homes' rezoning application for Creekside at Round Hill. Supervisors Scott York, Jim Burton and Sally Kurtz voted against the application citing a lack of transportation infrastructure in the area.
2/27/05 The Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee addressed Richmond American's rezoning application at its regular meeting. There discussion of proffers to fund a "tot lot" on the property; Richmond American agreed to work with the Town of Round Hill to design and build park facilities to the Town's specifications. This is in addition to proffers for streetscape elements such as benches and street lights. The application will an action item at the next Board of Supervisors meeting, scheduled for March 15 at 9:30 a.m.
2/8/05 After its public hearing, the Board of Supervisors sent Richmond American Homes' rezoning application to its Land Use Committee for further evaluation of the proffer statements.
1/14/05 The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a public hearing on Richmond American's Creekside at Round Hill development for Feb. 8.
12/13/04 The Loudoun County Planning Commission approved Richmond American Homes' Creekside at Round Hill project to go forward to the Board of Supervisors with the following conditions:
  1. The second entrance off of Main Street be shifted as far from the southern property owner to avoid damage to the existing mature trees.
  2. That the applicant provide grading information to the property owner (through the County Staff) along 719 so that they are assured that the natural drainage away from their property will not be adversely effected.
  3. That the applicant explore a different option in making the pedestrian connection to the Villages now indicated in the Northeast section of the property.
  4. That the proffered amount for open space be increased from $3,000 to $6,000 per unit (a total of $168,000).
  5. That the applicant and the Town work together in regard to the final wording of the proffers prior to the Board of Supervisors advertising its public hearing.
12/6/04 The Town receieved a copy of the Loudoun County Planning Commission's Staff Report on Creekside at Round Hill.
11/4/04 The Town received a copy of Richmond American's response to the second round of referrals. The application is scheduled to go before the County Planning Commission on December 13, 2004. (See below for copy of referral response.) Richmond American Homes will present their revised plan to Round Hill residents on Dec. 3, at 7 p.m. in the Town Office.
10/1/04 The charrette team met with representatives from Richmond American Homes to discuss remaining issues enumerated in the Town's referral report. After better understanding the basis for many of the Town's comments, the Richmond American delegation appeared willing to address nearly all of the Town's concerns. The one notable exception is the request to further reduce the number of homes, which Richmond American feels it cannot do. Further discussions must also be had with the County to determine an appropriate contribution toward meeting the County's open space requirements. The applicant expects to meet with the County soon.
9/9/04 The Town Council voted 5-0 (1 absent) to forward to the County the Town's referral response to Richmond American Homes' revised rezoning application. The response enumerates issues the Town still believes need to be thoroughly addressed in the application and states that the Town will support the application should these details be addressed adequately. Referral letter | Referral report
7/28/04 Approximately 20 people attended a public input session held by the Town to present the revised application and concept development plan for Richmond American Homes' proposed Woodgrove Village, now renamed Creekside at Round Hill. Meeting Notes | Info on Patio Homes
7/15/04 During his report to Town Council, Mayor Etro announced that the Town will hold a public input session on Wednesday, July 28, at 7:00 p.m. at the Round Hill Center to present Richmond American Homes' revised application for Woodgrove Village. The Town will receive comments and the developer will be on hand to answer detailed questions.
Mayor Etro and the Council also discussed the pre-application conference held in reference to the by-right subdivision application RAH submitted to the County. Mayor Etro reported that at that conference RAH expressed a preference for the rezoning, but felt the need to file the by-right plan in order to "protect their interests" in the event the rezoning is denied.
7/12/04 The Town received copies of a revised application that Richmond American Homes submitted to the County for consideration. It includes a response to the first round of referrals, a new concept design plan, and an initial proffer statement. The revised application calls for development of 95 single-family detached dwellings, 12 of which will be affordable housing units (ADUs). The lots vary in size from 4,000 sq. ft. (1/10 acre) to nearly an acre. Patio homes are planned for the smaller lots. The floodplain will be designated a nature preserve, and it, along with two parks and a two-acre civic use site, will be offered to the Town.
7/9/04 The Town received a copy of a by-right sub-division application Richmond American Homes submitted to the County showing how the land would be developed without a rezoning. The plan consists of 49 single-family homes on irregularly shaped lots arranged in cul-de-sacs. Proffers of money, land, affordable housing units, and Town or County facilities are not required. A pre-application conference has been scheduled for July 14.
6/16/04 Representatives from the Town, County and Richmond American Homes met to discuss issues and solutions regarding the rezoning application during a day-long design charrette. By the end of the day, the first draft of a new concept development plan had been created. Some of the issues addressed during the charrette include stronger environmental protections for the wetland area, varied lot sizes, providing for a variety of home sizes and/or affordable housing, common open space for active and passive recreation, increased connectivity to Town, traffic calming, and a parcel to be deeded to the Town for civic use. An initial draft of the design charrette plan is available as a .pdf file. It must be noted that this is strictly a draft and changes will be made in the ensuing weeks which will take into consideration comments from interested parties.
6/8/04 The Town's meeting with the County and Richmond American Homes to potentially develop a new rezoning application has been scheduled for June 16.
6/3/04 At the Town Council meeting, Mayor Frank Etro announced he had initiated a meeting with Richmond American Homes to discuss possible solutions to the conflicts between the builder's proposal and the Town's planning documents. RAH seemed receptive to participating in a "charrette" between its planners, County planners, and representatives of the Town. The charrette's goal will be to create a new application for RAH to submit to the County. This meeting should occur sometime before the County's July 6 response deadline.
5/21/04 The Town received a copy of the County Planning Department's referral response to Richmond American Homes. Links to .jpg files of the referral documents are listed below. A hard copy of the report is available at the Town office.
5/11/04 According to County Planner Susan Berry-Hill, the County is still in the process of collecting reports from the referral sources. Once all the referrals are collected, the County will ask the applicant (Richmond American Homes) to respond to the referrals and will likely, at that point, set up meetings with the applicant to go over the referrals and the issues contained therein. Some of these meetings may include representatives of the Town of Round Hill.
4/1/04 The Town Council passed a resolution in response to the proposed rezoning and reviewed the final draft of the referral letter, which will be presented to the County Planning Staff on April 5. Both the resolution and the referral state that Richmond American Homes has not complied with the land use documents that govern development of property within the Town's JLMA; consequently, the Town cannot support the rezoning application. The County Planning Staff will draft a report based on all the responses from its referral agencies and then present this report to the applicant (Richmond American Homes). The applicant then has 60 days to make modifications and resubmit the application to the County. A second round of referrals then begins.
3/22/04 A second joint public workshop between Town Council and the Planning Commission was held. A draft of the referral letter was presented and discussed. The final draft is scheduled to be voted upon at the April 1 Town Council meeting.
3/18/04 During his Mayor's Report to the Town Council, Frank Etro reported that a referral meeting with the County Planning Department, which had been scheduled for that afternoon, had been cancelled because the project manager could not attend. He also briefed Council on the decisions made at the March 10 public workshop. (See below.)
3/10/04 Joint public workshop between Town Council and Planning Commission held. A second workshop is scheduled for Monday, March 22. Meeting Notes
3/4/04 Town Council schedules joint public workshop with Town Planning Commission for Wednesday, March 10, 7:30 p.m.
3/2/04 The Town conducted a public input session. Approx. 40 citizens attended to express various concerns regarding the proposal. Meeting Notes | Mayor's Report on Meeting (60k Word doc)
2/19/04 The Round Hill Town Council discussed the application and the town's response to it at it's bi-weekly meeting. A public hearing has been set for Tuesday, March 2. Meeting Notes | Meeting Minutes
2/17/04 The application has been accepted as complete as of February 5, so the process is officially underway. The Project Manager is Lou Mosurak, and he will be the county staff contact person who will collect information from various agencies about the rezoning and will make a recommendation to the Planning Commission. He's essentially a process person (though he is a Planner), and is happy to answer any questions. He can be reached at (703) 777-0246.
2/5/04 During the Town Council meeting's public comment period, a number of citizens expressed their concerns regarding Richmond American Homes' proposed rezoning. Meeting Minutes

Documents pertaining to rezoning

Maps