In December of last year Chuck Kuhn, President and CEO of JK Moving company, bought Egypt Farm in western Loudoun county. His purchase included an old farm house and 540 acres on Watermill Road in Philomont, the North Fork area. According to Loudoun property records he paid $5,179,700 for the land. He hopes to put a helipad in the middle of those 540 acres but the idea has not been popular with the neighbors. [read_more]
Kuhn intends to purchase an adjacent 400+ acres. He will place most of the nearly 1,000 acres into a conservation easement to protect the land from development and to reduce his taxes. He is building a 7 bedroom home on the property to accommodate his nine children. The house is expected to be completed next year. JK Moving is the third largest moving company in the US. Kuhn currently commutes to his office in Gaithersburg, Maryland, at least 80 minutes by car. Eventually he will move to his company’s office in Sterling. To shorten his current commute to 11 minutes Kuhn intends to commute by helicopter. To do that he has applied to Loudoun county for permission to build a helipad on his property for his Eurocopter EC130.
If Kuhn is granted permission by the board of supervisors it will be the first residential helipad in Loudoun county. Currently there are only two such pads in Loudoun, one at the Loudoun hospital center and one in Bluemont owned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Residents living near Egypt Farm are strenuously objecting to the helipad which will be built in the middle of Kuhn’s 540 acres. Kuhn’s neighbors have a Facebook page opposing the helipad and a petition to be sent to the board of supervisors. It is a very rural farm area, residents say a helicopter would disrupt the peaceful nature of the area and would spook their cattle and horses.
“We strongly oppose a helipad on Egypt farm,” Purcellville resident Louis Boink wrote. “We have cattle and horses, all of which will be disturbed by low flying helicopters.”
“NO HELIPAD!” wrote Roy Beach, who said he was also a neighbor of Egypt Farm. “Upon acquiring Egypt Farm, Mr. Kuhn repeatedly flew over my house, spooking my horses and creating a noisy disturbance. . . . And I fear it would negatively impact my property value.”
Kuhn says he has also received support for his purchase of Egypt Farm because of the easement which means the property will remain as a working farm.
“The good news is we have a great number of supporters,” Kuhn said. He plans to win more.
Kuhn intends to talk with the community to share his plans for his property including the helipad.
Loudoun board of supervisors will hold a public hearing before making a decision on Kuhn’s special exemption. It’s likely the hearing will be in November although it has not yet been scheduled.
