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Wolf Furniture pulls plug on Leesburg store
Pennsylvania-based Wolf Furniture has confirmed that it has canceled its plans to open a 70,000-square-foot furniture showroom in Leesburg, and is selling its 5.4-acre parcel on Fort Evans Road.J. Douglas Wolf, president of the company, said in an interview Oct. 9 that the reason for his decision is the delay in obtaining construction approval from the Leesburg town government.
“We never envisioned a timetable or a process like this to build a furniture store,” Wolf said. The family-owned company has eight stores in central Pennsylvania and Maryland.
The company submitted a rezoning application to the town on Oct. 5, 2005. Wolf received approval from Town Council in April 2006, but the project's site plan has not yet received final administrative approval 18 months later.
The store would have been located on the site of the former Loudoun Sport and Health Club.
Town Manager John Wells said that he is aware of Wolf's frustrations with the town's site review process and acknowledged the town's review of the project's storm-water management system took longer than expected.
Wells said he has been working with Wolf “to get to a groundbreaking.” He said he has assured Wolf that final approval is imminent and there are no outstanding issues pending on his project.
“We're continuing to keep the door open to Mr. Wolf and we hope that when he makes his final business decision, he will still consider [the Fort Evans site],” Wells said.
Wolf said that he had received such assurances in the past, and delays continued to occur. Everyone at the town has been professional and courteous, Wolf added, but he desires a more predictable regulatory environment for his business.
At the same time the company started the process of locating a store in Leesburg, Wolf said, it began the same process in State College, Pa. He said that store just celebrated its grand opening.
“I'm sorry that we won't be having [Wolf Furniture] in Leesburg,” Leesburg Mayor Kristen Umstattd said. She said that the council is working to make changes to the town's site plan review process, including changes to the Design and Construction Standards Manual and the zoning ordinance, in order to streamline commercial construction in Leesburg.
Contact the reporter at akeisman@timespapers.com
We have bought furniture from Wolf in Frederick, MD and its a great store with excellent quality products and customer service. I was looking forward to them opening a Leesburg location, but once again, the Town has messed up something good.
Posted by Waya
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"..but the project's site plan has not yet received final administrative approval 18 months later."
What a bureaucratic snafu! 18 months for administrative approval of a 70,000 sq. ft furniture showroom?? It's just a furniture store for crying out loud not a heavy manufacturing facility. And the town is looking to annex additional land to attract economic development?
I hope that the town council and the mayor realize the kind of negative message this sends to businesses that may be thinking about locating and building within the town of Leesburg.
Meanwhile, the residents keep paying taxes.
Posted by J662West
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If Wolf hired Chairman York for at a six figure salary, I suspect they would be open for business now (rumor has it he has an inside fast track while others suffer at the hands of selective government). Who is going to be held accountable for driving more business out of Loudoun?
Posted by byebyeburton
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