UPDATE: This item was deferred to the July 5 Board of Supervisors Business Meeting

UPDATE 6.18.22: Board of Supervisors Business Meeting – June 21

Be a voice for wildlife by writing comments or speaking about Item 4 Route 15 North Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPAM) at the Board of Supervisors’ June 21 business meeting at 5:00 pm at the Government Center at 1 Harrison St. SE, Leesburg, VA 20175. The main public comment period will begin at 6:00 pm. This is your last opportunity to be heard before the supervisors vote on the CPAM. Based on the Supervisors’ public hearing comments, they may make a motion on a bypass alignment around Lucketts (a western bypass would negatively impact JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary), but they should not make a bypass alignment decision at this time.

• The Board of Supervisors should initiate and complete the process for a small area community plan for the Village of Lucketts before any future road design plans.
  • As the Comprehensive Plan notes, “development and uses in Rural Historic Villages must be compatible with the historic development pattern, community character, visual identity, intensity, and scale of the individual villages.
  • A small area community plan would help protect the character of Lucketts, and provide input and analysis on the impacts on local businesses, farms, residents, wildlife, and whether a bypass is needed at all.
• The Board of Supervisors should not vote on a potential bypass alignment at this time.
  • We appreciate staff’s recommendation to “prioritize a bypass option that avoids impacts to JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary”.
  • However, as the staff report also notes, “the CPAM process does not include parcel-level investigation and analysis, and therefore, is not the ideal process for fully eliminating viable alternatives”.
  • The Board of Supervisors should wait until after a community plan is in place and the proper analysis on impacts has been completed before deciding on a potential bypass alignment.

The vernal pools, amphibians, fairy shrimp and other species found at Black Oak comprise an imperiled natural community that is at a high risk of local extinction to due threats such as development and road projects. To date, twenty-seven species of greatest conservation need as identified in the Virginia Wildlife Action Plan have been identified at JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary, including the federally threatened Northern Long-eared Bat. In addition, JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary is home to the Silky Dogwood, a critically imperiled plant species that is at a very high risk of local extinction.  (Read more about bats, birds, and Eastern Spadefoots found at Black Oak.)

How Can You Make Your Voice Heard?

• Contact your supervisor via phone or email. You can email the full board at bos@loudoun.gov, or you can click here for contact information for your supervisor.
• Sign up to speak at the June 21 public hearing. You can call 703-777-0200 to sign up to speak in person or remotely.
• Help us amplify our message by sharing emails and social media posts with your network of friends, family and neighbors.

See below for more information about this item and our previous analysis.

Public Hearing on May 11

Your voice is needed to protect JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary from a potential western bypass of Lucketts. Public comments on Item 13 Route 15 North Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPAM) can be given at the Board of Supervisors’ May 11 public hearing at 6:00 pm at the Government Center at 1 Harrison St. SE, Leesburg, VA 20175. The CPAM includes allowing the widening of Route 15 north of Montressor Road, safety improvements along the Route 15 corridor, and a potential bypass of the Village of Lucketts. A potential western bypass option would go through JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary and negatively impact the sensitive environmental resources of the property.

Vernal pool at JK Black Oak.
Photo by S.A. Ferguson

The Planning Commission narrowly voted 5-4 to recommend approval of the CPAM at their March 11 work session, but the Planning Commission did not make a recommendation on a potential bypass of Lucketts alignment. Many of the dissenting commissioners noted that the most important safety improvements along the corridor such as wider shoulders and roundabouts could be completed without a CPAM. Despite the Planning Commission forgoing making a recommendation on the bypass alignment, the staff recommendation remains to prioritize an eastern bypass alignment, or other such bypass option that avoids impacts to the JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary.

There are many residents in and around the Village of Lucketts who have grave concerns about the CPAM. Rather than approving the CPAM now, the Board of Supervisors should delay their vote on the CPAM until a Small Area Village Plan for the Village of Lucketts can be completed with the input of the residents, businesses, and organizations that comprise the Lucketts community.

What Can You Do?

This is your opportunity to raise your voice to ensure the globally rare wetlands and valuable natural resources at JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary remain protected. Read our comments and analysis from prior to the Planning Commission’s public hearing.

• Contact your supervisor via phone or email. You can email the full board at bos@loudoun.gov, or you can click here for contact information for your supervisor.
• Sign up to speak at the May 11 public hearing. You can call 703-777-0200 to sign up to speak in person or remotely.
• Help us amplify our message by sharing emails and social media posts with your network of friends, family and neighbors.

Prothonotary Warbler.
Photo by Gerco Hoogeweg

Loudoun Wildlife’s Key Concerns

• Approving a CPAM before a Small Area Village Plan for Lucketts is complete would be detrimental to the Lucketts community. This CPAM vote should be delayed pending further analysis.
  • Key safety improvements to Route 15 can be completed sooner, and with fewer costs, without the need for a CPAM. The Planning Commission recommended action on safety improvements within 24 months.
  • More analysis is needed to understand the impacts on local businesses and farms, and whether a bypass is needed at all.
• A western bypass option through JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary would destroy globally rare wetlands, and severely fragment the habitat. Say no to a western bypass through JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary.
  • JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary is protected by a conservation easement held by the Land Trust of Virginia to preserve the unique habitats and wildlife found there. Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy is committed to studying the flora and fauna residing at the wildlife sanctuary, and educating the public about its value and importance.
  • A western bypass option would have greater impacts to the Floodplain Overlay District, and it would negatively impact a $4 million wetland mitigation project underway with The Nature Conservancy, which would create additional wetlands at JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary.

Community Support

We want to thank the members of the public who spoke up and overwhelmingly responded to protect JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary during a survey in June 2021. Your continued support is vital for protecting the Sanctuary.

• Read the full survey results here
• Documents and other materials for the Public Information Meeting on June 23, 2021 on the CPAM project website.
• Read Loudoun Wildlife’s previously submitted comments on the potential bypass options.
• Journey Through Hallowed Ground’s additional concerns impacting the National Scenic Byway and Village of Lucketts.

The western bypass would go through this meadow at JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary.
Photo by SA Ferguson

The post ADVOCACY ALERT: Protect JK Black Oak from Bypass by Emailing Now or Speaking on July 5 appeared first on Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.