Fireworks Test Allays Some Ballpark Concerns

With the Loudoun Board of Supervisors set to vote April 3 on an expedited review of land use changes at One Loudoun that would permit a ballpark for professional sports and community events, supervisors participated in tests Friday to test the impact fireworks displays will have on residents and a heron rookery.

The tests seemed to indicate that passing airplanes and trucks produce more noise than fireworks.

“The loudest sound we detected over there was me trekking through the brush,” said County Chairman Scott K. York (R-At Large), referring to sounds tests at the rookery. “Seriously.”

Traffic and noise have been the primary concerns raised about the proposed ballpark, and fireworks were one aspect of the noise issue. When initially approved at Kincora, concerns were raised about impacts on the heron rookery along Broad Run. The new location is a father away, but wildlife advocates have been watching the proposal closely.

“We were quite relieved,” said Joe Coleman, past president of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, who attended the rookery portion of the test along with current president Nicole Hamilton. “We’ve very positive about what we observed today.”

The conservancy has 850 members in Loudoun.

Bob Farren, president and CEO of the Loudoun Hounds, a planned professional that would call the ballpark its home, said he believes reasonable conditions have been put in place to address neighbors’ concerns about the ballpark.

“I just wish I’d thought of doing this demo a long time ago,” he said, giving credit to York for suggesting it.

Farren admits he’d prefer permission to have 20 fireworks events during a calendar year, rather than the 12 currently proposed. That’s a change supervisors can consider April 3 when they expect to vote on the item. The Hounds hope to begin playing in 2014, but representatives have said the team requires stadium approval.

A decibel meter showed that airplanes passing overhead (75) were louder than the loudest fireworks demo (71) when standing in the Potomac Green Yard closest to the proposed stadium site. In addition, at the rookery, a passing truck (73) registered louder the loudest fireworks demo (66.9). When standing where home plate is estimated to be located, both the fireworks were louder (84) than a passing airplane (75).

What remains in question are whether supervisors will support other changes to One Loudoun proposed in a related land-use request.