Planning commission backs recommendation to expand Carter Caterpillar operations at Jesse Court

Chair Keirce opened the public hearing April 22 and staff presented the Jesse Court rezoning and special-exception application for 16.26 acres in the Route 28 Tax District at 21593 Jesse Court. Rachel Ivan Chuk, Senior Planner with the Department of Planning and Zoning, told the commission there were "no outstanding issues" and that staff supported forwarding the application to the Board of Supervisors with conditions and proffers.

The application would convert acreage zoned Planned Development Industrial Park (PDIP) under the 1972 ordinance to Industrial Park (IP) under the current zoning ordinance and allow a machinery sales-and-service use to expand from the adjacent Carter Caterpillar site. Applicant representatives said the existing driving-range use (Dulles Golf Center) would be removed and that the proposal includes a 210,000-square-foot buildable area (the special-exception box shown on the plat) and about a 60,000-square-foot equipment storage/display area. Molly Novotny, an urban planner with Curata Partners representing the applicant Repulse Bay, said the illustrative building is likely to be “probably no more than 50 feet in height” though the IP district allows up to 100 feet.

Staff and the applicant described environmental constraints on the southern portion of the parcel: stream and floodplain areas the applicant proposes to protect and reforest, plus tree conservation areas shown on the plat. Pat Quany of Bowman Consulting explained the red-shaded buffer shown on the plan is an area where the ordinance allows reductions in the required buffer when reforestation or compensating plantings are provided elsewhere; Quany said some areas within 100 feet of the stream remain non-reducible. The applicant agreed to remove the golf-range netting and all sports equipment and to remove existing equipment prior to issuance of a building permit.

Several commissioners pressed the applicant on landscaping and tree-replacement standards. Staff noted the county urban forester recommended retaining the replacement standard in condition 6 but also acknowledged commissioners' requests and applicant willingness to work with the National Resources Team (NRT). The applicant agreed to amend condition language so that trees damaged and removed within the Tree Conservation Area (TCA) would be replaced with four 1-inch-caliper trees and said it would work with staff and NRT on specimen-tree replacement language.

Other commitments added to the motion included that any service-bay doors for the new sales and service building would face east and not front on Route 28, that fencing along Route 28 would not be chain-link, and that the final building design would "generally conform" to the illustrative materials shown at the public hearing. Staff emphasized that the property is designated Suburban Mixed Use in the 2019 Loudoun County General Plan but recommended approval because the conversion retains and expands an existing industrial business in a manner staff found compatible with adjacent uses.

No members of the public spoke on the item. Chair Keirce moved, and Vice Chair Miller seconded, a motion to forward ZMAP-2020-47 and SPEX-2020-444 to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval subject to the proffers dated Feb. 6, 2025, and the conditions dated April 15, 2025, plus the additional commitments described above. The commission carried the motion 8-0-1, with Commissioner Combs absent for the vote.

The recommendation forwarded to the Board of Supervisors is advisory; final approval and any site-level permits will be decided by the Board and permitting authorities. The commission record includes the proffers, the staff report attachments with findings for approval, and the applicant's revised condition language for tree replacement and building orientation.