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Sterling residents plead with supervisors
Rose Castellano has lived in Sterling Park for 45 years, and in that time she said she's seen a lot change – for the worse.
While teaching at Park View High School, she's heard stories from students about seeing dead bodies, cars shot full of bullets and friends victimized by crime.
"What legacy will these youths grow up with?" she asked. "We're so tired of being Loudoun County's stepchild. We deserve more. Give these youths a hometown ... somewhere they can be proud of."
Castellano was just one of dozens of Sterling area residents who spoke to supervisors and a packed auditorium at Park View High School July 22.
The board held the special meeting to present a report on findings from its Potomac/Sterling outreach efforts and to hear from residents.
There, Castellano and others pleaded with the supervisors to give Sterling the money and attention it needs to help solve problems like the high crime rate, spike in foreclosures and influx of immigrants to the area.
"We've got zoning violations, overcrowded homes, cars parked in yards, fences built to hide commercial equipment in yards, commercial vehicles in the streets," said Ed Brocke, a longtime resident of Sterling Park who moved to Ashburn last year to escape some of these issues. "We ask for your help."
The overwhelming majority of residents expressed frustration with the way things have turned out in Sterling and with the fact that the Loudoun County government doesn't seem to be doing much to help.
They asked for increased police presence in the area, a cleanup of the streets and unkempt properties and the enforcement of zoning and other laws.
"Sterling Park is starting to turn into a slum," said Donald Stephens. "We can't take everybody on the bottom end of the scale in Loudoun County. It'll turn into a ghetto. Some of the other districts will have to share some of the low-end housing."
Others addressed the issue of illegal immigration and said it is the root of most of the problems.
"The major community change is due to the influx of ethnic groups and illegal immigrants," said resident George Jahnigen. "It drives everything. ... If you do not take action you'll look like Miami. You better learn to speak Spanish."
A young resident, Alex Davenport, said comments like this are only perpetuating myths about immigrants.
"People in this community complain about illegal immigrants and suggest they are the reason for the neighborhood decline," he said. "I encourage [the board] to find people within this [immigrant] community and speak to them."
According to the findings of the Potomac/Sterling outreach report, the top concerns of Sterling residents include the decline in appearance and condition of neighborhoods and homes, crime and gangs, congestion, community change and overcrowding.
The Potomac/Sterling outreach project has included several meetings in the Sterling and Potomac communities over the past few months. County staff also administered more than 550 surveys to hear residents' views.
The seven members of the Board of Supervisors who attended the meeting said they were thankful for residents' input and would take everything into consideration when deciding the next steps to take.
Supervisors Kelly Burk (D-Leesburg) and Sally Kurtz (D-Catoctin) were absent.
The board will continue wrapping up the outreach project this summer and will hear a final report this fall when some action items could be planned.
The supervisors also mentioned going on a tour of Sterling so they could see the neighborhood for themselves.
"You haven't heard the last from us," said Chairman Scott York (I-at large). "We want to build a better community so you will be safe and be proud to say that Sterling is home."
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com
Where Can I Tell My Story?
Residents of Sterling, I sympathize. Over the past 3 years, the value of my home in SOUTH RIDING diminished and my family's quality of life suffered greatly. Not because of illegal immigrants, but because the unacceptable cultural behavior of a few recent immigrants was unmanageable by the authorities that be.
I have a story to tell, much of it with photos and documentation, about how nobody, not an HOA, not zoning, not the Sheriff, not the child protection services, and not the BOS could do anything about it but throw up warnings and inquiry. Fines and visits did nothing to change their behavior. But good news everyone! Next door to me is a roach infested home going through a major overhaul, bought in short-sale for $100k less than what it should in today's down market.
Sterling: Do you want a clearly documented example of why today's system is insufficient for the times. Tell me Loudoun County, where is my soap box?
Posted by Eagle_Eye
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Scottie York - you have been a superviros for a long time now so please less lip service and more action!! If you REALLY want to improve Sterling, please show us by your actions not your useless words!
Posted by Equalizer
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Eagle_Eye, visit the Loudoun Community Association Web site, someone there would likely be able to help you find a soapbox pretty quickly.
http://loudouncommunity.org
Posted by hensley
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My parents have lived in Sterling now for over 35 years and seen just about every change in Sterling. The street they live on now is very dangerous because of how many auto's speed down the street to Lincoln and no police has done anything about it no matter how many times a resident ask police to help. My dad's auto has been hit with eggs many times and had the side window smashed out. He is always picking up trash from his yard from people walking by, trash blown on his yard or autos passing by tossing trash on his yard. My mother saw a man stop in front of her house so she looked to see why; he was picking up a dead squirrel from the street so my parents have seen their neighborhood slowly turning for the worse. There are about seven houses on my parents street for sale or under foreclosure. Most of these homes have grass that needs to be cut, trash to be taken out or the house is in need of repair. One house the back porch is ready to fall. So what happen to Sterling? Did it out grow itself? No, many families moved to Ashburn and beyond. Ashburn is thriving while Sterling has not changed in years. The board needs to find away to bring in new business and give it a face lift. Surgarland and Newberry need help bad so there is a lot of work the board needs to do but I feel it won't change because Sterling is the only affordable place for low income families. Also many parts of Leesburg are like Sterling. Will a HOA help? No, because too many families who move into Sterling don't know the language and won't get to know their neighbors or their neighbors are the same. Which means someone needs to enforce it. Are the police going to do it? No, they don't even patrol most of the streets in Sterling. They are too busy responding to assults or gang activity in the area or robberies. One block from my parents house someone was jumped while walking home. Two blocks away someone was breaking into autos and worse there was a gang drive by shooting across from the school.
The board knows this but cannot seem to stop it or change Sterling for the better. Something has to be done or Sterling will turn into a gang war zone or a haven for crimminals. But through all this my parents are happy where they live and so far have avoided any serious crime but how long that will last concens me and my other family.
Posted by livinginwonderland
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