$30 million state loan approved for Stafford to buy Crow's Nest. Will it fly?

By RUSTY DENNEN

Date published: 9/3/2004

The State Water Control Board has given preliminary approval to Stafford County's request for a $30 million loan to buy the Crow's Nest peninsula and protect it from development.

But whether it will be enough for the landowner, who has had offers from developers approaching $50 million, and whether the county can afford to take on more debt, remain to be seen.

The loan would come from the Virginia Land Conservation Loan Fund and could be available by year's end.

First, the Board of Supervisors would have to agree to borrow the money at a time when the county is facing a fiscal crunch.

"We are talking. I think it's premature to get too far out ahead on this. The board has not yet made a commitment," said Stafford Supervisor Kandy Hilliard, an ardent advocate of preserving Crow's Nest.

The county is already drawing $5.2 million from reserves to fund this year's budget. Just last year it upped its debt ceiling to be able to fund its $524 million, six-year capital improvements plan.

"The board is committed in its desire to preserve this property, and we need to hash through this financially," Hilliard said. "I'm hoping that with money in hand we could go back to the owner and say, 'This is where we're at.'"

The landowner, K&M Properties of McLean, has said it has gotten offers from developers approaching $50 million. The investment partnership bought the land for $17.8 million in 1989.

K&M's attorney Clark Leming said the company would consider any legitimate offer to purchase the property.

"The issue is how much the county is willing to [pay]. The fact that it is state money or the county making the offer is not an impediment if the price is right," he said.

The loan, even combined with $7.5 million in state and federal money already earmarked toward a purchase of Crow's Nest, would be far less than recent offers by developers, Leming said.

But he added that K&M might be more receptive to this approach.

"The important problem before was that a great deal of the offer was not cash in hand," he said. That was the case last year when negotiations with the state fell through.

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Date published: 9/3/2004