HoodaThunk?

Now for a little local flavor. Loudoun County, VA holds the distinction of being very near the top of the heap in terms of growth for counties in the United States. To say that we’ve seen massive growth in terms of population, traffic, and demands for public services is putting it mildly. In 1990, our population was about 80,000. In 2000, it was up to around 160,000-170,000. The estimate for 2006 is that we’ll have 257,000 people living here.

Loudoun also has a rural reputation. Our horse industry is known throughout the nation and we’ve got a lot of green space. The past decade has seen our Board of Supervisors chart a course that, quite literally, packed better than 80% of that phenomenal growth into the eastern part of the county. The previous Board’s efforts to protect the “viewshed” of the western part of the county included a massive zoning change that mandated landowners in the west to never subdivide their property beyond 1 house per 20, 40, and 50 acres in density. That came as quite a shock to people who needed to sell land to raise money for their families. It turned a fairly standard land investment into a massive millstone around these families’ necks. As you might imagine, those people complained mightily. The result was the 2003 elections that saw 6 of the 9 members of the Board tossed out on the street.

The western interests became incensed and started floating the idea of splitting the county in two. Loudoun would remain the east part with the “new” county being the rural west and calling itself “Catoctin County” (the historical name for an area contained within western Loudoun.) They’ve actually done an economic impact study and they’ve lobbyed for State assistance in pulling the secession off. That’s made them all feel mighty proud but it’s generated a new problem for them. The current Board is reconsidering some of the projects that are slated to be done in the west because they don’t want to toss money at an area that might leave tomorrow. (Ooopsie.)

An effort by some western Loudoun residents to split the county in two and form their own “Catoctin County” has some members of the Board of Supervisors rethinking votes on western Loudoun issues.

During the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday Steve Snow (R-Dulles) said he is reconsidering how he will vote on some issues, including school construction and other government construction projects, in the area where secession proponents want their own county.. Snow said he will be reluctant to spend tax dollars in the area–roughly all of Loudoun County west and north of Leesburg–as long as there is an effort to separate it from Loudoun.

“Why should we spend money, taxpayer money, if folks are then going to take it from us?” Snow said.

Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) said he would withhold support for rural Agricultural Districts in part because of the Catoctin county movement.

“They say we are the cause of their problems,” Delgaudio said. “I don’t want to be anybody’s problem, but I don’t want them to become a problem for us, either.”

Loudoun Independent editor John Geddie has written on the matter many times and he keeps coming back to the same question: what are the reasons, really, that the westerners want to split the county over?

While they seem sincere in whatever is bothering them, we still do not know exactly what it is. When pressed, one said he was upset because the Board of Supervisors took most of the powers from Board Chairman Scott York. Yet York supporters had done almost exactly the same thing when former Chairman Dale Myers was elected. There was no talk of secession at that time.

The other thing they seem to worry about is zoning–protecting their viewsheds in the west. They seem to have won that battle already with various land protection schemes and zoning for home lots restricted to 20 or 40 acres in some cases.

Another claim is that the east does not respect their elected officials. We have no idea what this means. Del. Joe May seems to be a pretty nice guy.

We are left to suspect they simply do not like us because we live in the east and shop in the east and go to movies in the east. They only seem to enjoy visiting here.

To every action, to paraphrase Newton, there is a consequence. The supporters of secession should not expect to have their calls for a split not result in serious consideration about where permanent facilities are built and not. And, perhaps, they can get around to articulating their concerns, if they are so important as to warrant such a split.