Council Authorizes Sale of Land to Limo Company

The Herndon Town Council approved an ordinance to sell a parcel of town-owned land to Aban G LLC on Tuesday night.

The land is situated on the county line near the intersection of Rock Hill Road and Rt. 606 and will be sold for $53,300. The land is zoned as residential single family, and the purchaser has intentions to build a limousine business on the land. The purchaser already owns land on an adjacent portion of land that is located within Loudoun County.

A number of residents who live near the property attended the public hearing to speak in opposition to the town selling the land. Residents fear that the sale of the land means having to look at a limousine parking lot when glancing out at their back yards.

Resident John Abrahams said he found it discomforting that the council sometimes spoke of the sale of the land relative to how it impacts the town of Herndon but not specifically the residents who live nearby. He thanked the council for coming to speak with residents over the weekend, which he felt helped personalize the issue.

Doug Steil, another nearby resident, said he would prefer the town not sell the land and the purchaser build what they want on the Loudoun County portion of land, giving the Herndon residents more buffer between their homes and the business.

Councilman Bill Tirrell said if the town does not sell the land that means Herndon has no authority to regulate what the purchaser wants to build on the Loudoun County site, which could mean the residents have to look at a business they don't want there anyway. If the rezoning, comprehensive plan amendments and special exemption processes that will be required of the purchaser do not go through the sale of the land will not be completed and it will remain under the town's ownership.

Tirrell said by selling the land the town has control over what the purchaser does with the land through a special exemption, which would carry to any subsequent owner of the property. He said he felt this option would better serve the residents because the town would have the authority to protect their properties. Council members Connie Hutchinson, Sheila Olem and Grace Wolf agreed.

The ordinance was passed by a vote of 4-3.

The Council unanimously passed an ordinance to lease space at 397 Herndon Parkway to Fairfax County Public Schools for transportation and fleet purposes. The space is being leased at $18 per square foot for five years with the agreement that the town will repaint and install new carpet in the space in 2012.

Other ordinances that passed unanimously included leases on residential properties owned by the town at 195 Herndon Parkway and 1270 Old Heights Road, to the tenants that are currently residing in those properties. The leases will start at their current rates of $760 and $820 per month, respectively, and include yearly rent escalators over the five-year lease terms.

The 195 Herndon Parkway property is located at Runnymede Park, where Susan Alger, a retiree of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, lives. The property at 1270 Old Heights Road is located on the Herndon Centennial Golf Course, where the golf course supervisor is required to live as an employee of Herndon.

Other motions passed unanimously include a waiver of curb and gutter requirements for the resident of 726 Park Avenue and a zoning ordinance text amendment to amend the town's floodplain overlay district to comply with the National Flood Insurance Program.

On its general agenda, the Town Council passed a resolution 6-1 to initiate consideration of a zoning ordinance text amendment that would allow monopole telecommunications facilities by special exception on government properties, such as schools.

The Council also unanimously passed resolutions to authorize three grant applications to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, and awards of contract for custodial services at the town's police department and engineering services for town capital improvement projects.

The Herndon Town Council will meet for its next work session Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Mary Ingram Council Chambers.