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Leesburg group aims to resolve 'trust problem' with town
Leesburg's fledgling Downtown Improvement Association has met its first challenge: defining the private-sector group's relationship with town government.“People say to me, 'I will leave the group if it is at all connected with the town,'” said DIA's co-founder Peter Burnett at the group's Sept. 25 meeting. “There is a real trust problem. If we don't get this partnership started, this whole effort will fall apart.”
DIA's mission is to provide a unified voice for landowners and other stakeholders to drive economic development in the downtown. With membership at $1,000 a year, the group hopes to bring financial investment into Leesburg while becoming a powerful voice in debates before the town council.
The guest speaker at the Tuesday meeting, South Carolina-based urban planning consultant Tripp Muldrow, described case studies of other towns with successful private-sector groups. All partnered with town elected officials.
“The involvement of the local government is pivotal,” said Muldrow, who led the development of Leesburg's official business strategy in 2001 and the Crescent District Master Plan, approved in 2006. “Once we accept that the partnership is necessary, then we deal with the trust issue.”
The friction between landowners and the Leesburg town government is not new, but has escalated as a new wave of commercial development emerges near the historic district, including two town centers: the Lansdowne Town Center and the Village at Leesburg, to open in 2009.
Vacancy rates are low in the downtown, but business turnover is high. The reasons given are varied: high rents, lack of parking and foot-traffic, two few restaurants and “hobby” business owners who lack a firm business plan.
But members of the DIA and other Leesburg stakeholders also have pointed to a “regulatory quagmire,” which discourages investment within the historic district.
Leesburg Economic Development Commissioner Karen Jones heads up a task force that is working with developers to streamline the regulatory process.
She said that the council has already made some changes, but, “We have a long way to go. The town has to step up and work with developers to establish a partnership to get things done.”
DIA member Jim Sisley, principal broker with Paladin Real Estate, leases space for his busines in the downtown and owns property elsewhere in Leesburg. He said the goals of historic preservation and economic development need not be opposed.
“I'm not advocating a wholesale destruction of the downtown. We need to use a lot of care and sensitivity and decide where and when new development can occur,” Sisley said.
Mayor Kristen Umstattd said she has two concerns about downtown redevelopment: the potential burden on the taxpayer for added public infrastructure and the possibility of new buildings exceeding the town's height restrictions – and diminishing the town's historic integrity.
“The historic nature of the town is what people love about Leesburg. To destroy it in the name of competing with new town centers will destroy Leesburg's character,” Umstattd said.
Fellow council member Ken Reid said he is happy the DIA is gaining momentum. “We can't sit around waiting for the perfect solution when there are people willing to invest,” he said, adding the town must “loosen the red tape and get rid of the bureaucracy.”
In his remarks, Muldrow noted that friction between government and the business community is common. Only when it “grinds investment to a halt” does it become problematic, he said.
Burnett, who owns several parcels of land in the downtown, hopes to collaborate with the landowners of remaining undeveloped land in the historic district and approach the town council with a comprehensive plan for redevelopment.
Muldrow suggested first working on a few small quick-fix projects with the town to establish trust.
“It's a baby step, but it is a start,” Muldrow said.
Contact the reporter at akeisman@timespapers.com
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