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Capital Planning
Last week's joint meeting between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board was pivotal, I think. For the first time several members of the public showed up to speak, and more were in the audience. A majority of the elected officials and significant representation from the senior staff of both boards were present. It wasn't a huge leap in raw numbers, but it was definitely a different kind of feeling in the room.
At the meeting each elected member was handed a sizable stack of information regarding capital facilities planning, which is drawing keen interest in at the moment given the conflict between the two boards on the acquisition of school sites.
In that packet is a single page that I am finding to be of particular interest. It is the 2008 Capital Facility Standards, which shows that the County has formulas for deciding how many of any given type of public facility are needed based on the county's population.
For instance, the Standards show that for every 25,000 residents there should be a Fire & Rescue Station. With our current population, that translates into 10 Fire & Rescue Stations. We have 11, so previous Boards of Supervisors have met that need. Interestingly there is a separate category for "Fire & Rescue Station West," one for every 10,000 residents. According to the Standards we need four of them, but we have eight. The standards also call for a "Community Park" for every 10,000 residents. That would mean 28 countywide. There are five.
Now I don't want to turn this into a battle between constituencies about who's getting their fair share or who's representative is bringing home the bacon. Everything doesn't grow at equal rates, the system of planned developments and proffers has skewed the distribution somewhat over time and other fiscal and political realities are at play. Instead, reflect that our community's true priorities are reflected not in campaign literature or rhetoric from the dais but in the choices we have made as we have grown so quickly. Until recently Loudoun adequately planned for school capacity, education is a very high priority of our residents. Look over the following non-educational Standards and how they have been met (or not) and see whether you can piece together the priorities:
Where we have what we need, more or less:
| Capital Facility | Need | Actual |
| Animal Shelter | 1 | 1 |
| Health Clinic | 1 | 1 |
| Senior Center | 3 | 3 |
| Respite Center | 2 | 2 |
| Sheriff Substation | 4 | 3 |
| Fire & Rescue Station (East) | 10 | 11 |
What we have too little of:
| Capital Facility | Need | Actual |
| Libraries (by square feet) | 6 | 4 |
| Mental Retardation Residential Facilities | 13 | 7 |
| Mental Health Residential Facilities | 19 | 12 |
| Regional Park & Ride Lot | 12 | 1 |
| Community Park & Ride Lot | 57 | 16 |
| Recreation Center | 4 | 1 |
| District Park | 11 | 1 |
| Community Park | 28 | 5 |
| Juvenile Detention Center | 2 | 1 |
| Youth Shelter | 1 | 1 |
| Transitional Homeless Shelter | 3 | 1 |
| Emergency Homeless Shelter | 3 | 2 |
Where we have more than the Standard calls for:
| Capital Facility | Need | Actual |
| Government Office Space (sf) | 281,638 | 706,232 |
| Western Fire & Rescue Stations | 4 | 8 |
What we just don't have:
- Juvenile Probation Residence (1)
- Teen Center (1)
- MHSA Adolescent Treatment Center (3)
- MHSA Adolescent 16-17 Group Home (3)
- MHSA Adolescent 12-15 Group Home (1)
- Juvenile Assessment Center (1)
- Transitional IL Residence (1)
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