Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 18, 1995 TAG: 9508180031
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WARRENTON LENGTH: Medium
Vint Hill Farms, once one of the Army's top-secret intelligence bases, is scheduled to be closed in 1997 as part of the nation's military reduction.
This week, the county Board of Supervisors approved a plan to convert the 700-acre base into a magnet for people and businesses.
``The base has been the source of a lot of high-tech jobs,'' said County Administrator Bob Lee. ``A lot of the land is proposed to be devoted to innovative technology companies. We think that with the announcement of the Toshiba chip plant in Manassas, there will be a number of spinoff opportunities.''
If the land is developed as the county hopes, there would be 250 housing units, including a retirement village for elderly residents, apartments and single-family homes.
About 25 of the apartments would be used by the Fauquier Family Shelter Services to provide transitional housing for homeless people.
The plan also calls for 200,000 square feet of commercial space for small stores.
The largest part of the plan is 1.2 million square feet set aside for luring high-tech businesses to the area.
One prospect already has developed. The Federal Aviation Administration is considering Vint Hill for a $145.5 million radar control complex that would track airplanes from National, Dulles and Baltimore-Washington International airports. The FAA is scheduled to decide on a location in November.
The decision comes after months of work by a community task force, which considered a variety of options for the land, including turning it into a wildlife preserve and trying to lure a college.
The board plans to create a state-sponsored authority that would accept the base as a gift and manage the redevelopment, selling or leasing portions of the land to private developers.
Supervisor Georgia H. Herbert voted against the plan, saying she believes the authority could end up costing the county money.
``I have a lot of questions about the financial plan,'' she said. ``I am not convinced that it has been thought through very well. I think the private sector should do what it does very well: develop business.''
by CNB