Challenges await Round Hill's new leader
By Shannon Sollinger
As of July 1, John Heyner is the mayor of Round Hill. He took the hand-off from Frank Etro, who wielded the gavel from July 2000 until this month.
Heyner, 51, had just settled into one of the town's original buildings in 1998 when Frank Etro, a new neighbor and then a town councilman, happened by.
"Frank came by and mentioned to me about taking a seat on the Planning Commission," Heyner said. "I thought it would be good to get involved in the community, a good way to meet people."
His community service has been nearly nonstop since then: two years on the Planning Commission, including a stint as chairman; six years on council, with a two-year furlough to sell a business; and now mayor.
His day job is at Eye Street Software in Chantilly.
Like the mayors before him, he will have to deal with Oak Hill Properties' massive Villages at Round Hill development that encircles the tiny town. And he will have to balance the budget while dealing with with the court-imposed settlement that dictates how much the town can charge the developer to hook each of the 1,000 houses (about 300 remain unbuilt) up to the town's water and sewer systems.
Development is fine, Heyner said, and should be around the towns, "but the density [of The Villages] is just not consistent with this area. I can't imagine anyone is happy with what has gone on around Round Hill."
He has set other goals: Set up a public communications committee of the council to get accurate information out to the public. Lure more commercial development into the town to expand the tax base so some other projects – the Franklin Park Trail and the Main Street improvements -- can finally be completed.
As the population around the two-tenths-of-a-square-mile town grows, businesses will be attracted to the downtown area along Main Street, Heyner said. He would rather plan for that than pretend it isn't coming.
"This is where I will have a lot of people in Round Hill disagreeing with me,” the new mayor said. "At some point, the downtown part of Round Hill is going to develop a commercial center. I want to acknowledge that at some point there is going to be change, and to get out in front of it, to plan properly for it to get the development you want."
The new Round Hill can be populated by storefronts offering specialty goods and services (think antiques and bookstores), by doctors and dentists and insurance offices, Heyner said. Restaurants -- but not one of the national chains, which will be more appropriate in the commercial center at the east entrance – will be a nice draw for those shoppers, he predicted.