Leesburg Mayor Kristen Umstattd didn't know the Board of Supervisors was voting on whether to approve Crosstrail at its July 17 meeting.

But the supervisors did vote, more than a month earlier than they had said they would.

In a nearly unanimous vote, eight board members voted to turn down the Crosstrail rezoning application. Supervisor Steve Snow (R-Dulles) was the lone vote against the motion to deny the application.

Fairfax-based Peterson Cos. had planned to build a mixed-use village south of Leesburg, cradled between the Dulles Greenway and the Leesburg Executive Airport.

"The Peterson Companies is disappointed in the action taken today," read a statement by the Crosstrail developers. "[The company] will assess all of their options in determining their next steps for Crosstrail.

Leesburg Town Council and the Board of Supervisors have been critical of the Crosstrail application, first proposed in 2004, because of the scale of the project and its proximity to Leesburg Executive Airport.

Board Chairman Scott York (I- at large) said Crosstrail was "the wrong project for the wrong location," which was largely the consensus among board members.

Supervisor Sally Kultz agreed, saying the development would have "doomed" the airport.

But Supervisor Snow said the decision was hurting economic growth in the county.

"Loudoun County is getting the reputation as [being] anti-housing and anti-business," he said.

The development would have invested $42 million in transportation projects for the area. Of that, about $15 million would have gone to off-site road work.

Dennis Boykin, chair of Leesburg Executive Airport, said, "We are pleased that the Board of Supervisors took this action. But we also recognize the economic realities of this county."

He said he expects the airport will continue working with Peterson Cos. on what will go on the 550 acres now.

The board's decision came sooner than expected.

"They didn't defer the vote?" asked Umstattd, who thought the board would vote on Crosstrail in September as decided at a July 11 joint meeting between the town, county and Crosstrail representatives.

The board had been scheduled only to vote on who would provide water and sewage service to the area, said Umstattd.

Umstattd was watching the meeting on TV early in the day to see if the board would approve Leesburg as the water and sewage service provider for the area, which also includes the Loudoun County Adult Corrections Facility and Bolling Park.

The board did vote, 7-1-1, to choose the town rather than the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority as the service provider.

After knowing Leesburg was guaranteed the bid for service, Umstattd turned the TV off, missing the county's decision on Crosstrail.

"It's a surprise that they voted today, but a no vote [for Crosstrail] is good."

Crosstrail's original application had proposed that 1,400 single-family detached residence be built on the property, along with 900,000 square feet of retail space -- including a movie theater. In addition, another 1.5 million square feet of office space would have been built on the property.

When serious concerns were raised by town and county officials about how much traffic the new development would bring, Peterson Cos. scaled down the project. The application was resubmitted with less residential – all of which would have been multifamily housing -- and more time allowed for the town to buy land for future airport expansion.

Sill, the changes weren't enough to stop criticism of the project.

"The problem is that ... we're considering a very substantial development proposal, when we have significant deficiencies on existing roads," said Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) at the July 11 joint meeting.

Crosstrail representatives, responded they weren't "here to bail out the town for whatever [road] deficiencies are happening in the town."

Peterson Cos. could choose to build by-right homes on the property in the future

But for now, Boykin said, all parties will just have to wait and see.

Jana Renn and Jason Jacks contributed to this article.

Contact the reporter at hhobbs@timespapers.com.