SerpApi.Org
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors on Tuesday voted to initiate – albeit not yet approve – two sprawling comprehensive plan amendments that would bring nearly 3,000 new homes to western Prince William County.
The 256-acre Manassas Preserve and 293-acre Catharpin Valley Estates comprehensive plan amendments were approved in separate 5-3 votes.
Chair Deshundra Jefferson, a Democrat, and Gainesville District Supervisor George Stewart cast the dissenting votes for each action alongside Republican Tom Gordy, the Brentsville supervisor.
Stewart's district includes both properties.
The initiation of the respective amendments kickstarts a further evaluation and study by county staff and board members on how to move forward with further proposals for each property.
As Occoquan Supervisor Kenny Boddye expressed prior to casting his votes in favor of the proposal, "Initiating a CPA does not commit my vote to adopting a CPA or subsequent rezoning."
If approved at a future meeting along with an accompanying rezoning, the Manassas Preserve amendment would bring approximately 1,500 homes to land adjacent to the Manassas National Battlefield Park.
Meanwhile, Catharpin Valley Estates would entail around 1,200 housing units.
Community input
Around 50 residents and community members turned out for a two-hour public comment session during the meeting.
Supporters of the amendments, many sporting orange shirts and voicing their shared stance, noted the county's housing shortage and the $20-25 million in real estate tax revenue the new homes would produce.
For Catharpin Valley Estates, several Gainesville residents underscored the community's proximity to schools and a local Harris Teeter a couple miles away.
Opponents of the initiation highlighted the need for a groundwater study – a concern Stewart later reiterated from the dais – and said the plans were incompatible with surrounding areas and communities.
Traffic issues and claims of misplaced suburban sprawl also came to the forefront among the dissidents, who also voiced apprehension at the land agent shared among the two projects and the now-defunct PW Digital Gateway data center campus.
The key question at hand throughout the afternoon was whether the county's 2040 Comprehensive Plan was sufficient, with some opponents lamenting the "predatory nature" of developers involved.
Countering the staff recommendation
While county staff recommended denial of both amendments prior to the meeting, the board went in another direction.
Echoes of the board's unanimous July 7 Dulles South vote against the 2,000-acre data center campus resurfaced Tuesday, as Gordy emphasized his disdain for "piecemeal development" – with the term, along with references to Dulles South and requests for a similarly "holistic" approach, arising several times from multiple supervisors.
The outcome was different this time around, however, favoring heightened development in the Gainesville area.
Coles Supervisor Yesli Vega first moved Manassas Preserve for approval, with Neabsco Supervisor Victor Angry seconding her motion.
"We are at a crossroads," Vega said. "I judge every project on its merits."
Vega, who also later moved Catharpin Valley Estates for approval, mentioned the Coalition to Protect Prince William County's "three Rs" slogan – "Redevelop, Reinvest, Reimagine" – during her remarks in favor of the amendments.
Several coalition leaders voiced opposition during Tuesday's meeting.
Gordy decried the lack of a tangible mobility plan for the affected areas, with Stewart calling the proposals "Frankenstein development" and "non-conforming."
Jefferson and others voiced the need for a new, county or board-initiated small area plan to properly evaluate the area's merits.
The Catharpin Valley Estates amendment would transition the property's Long-Range Land Use designation from AF, agriculture and forestry, to RN-3, Residential Neighborhood.
Vega said she had worked with the developer, NVR, Inc., to shift the designation from RN-3 to RN-2, before advancing the amendment for approval.
County staff had recommended a CRes-1C designation for conservation residential "better aligned to address the protection of the Lick Branch Environmental Resource Protection Overlay District," according to the staff presentation.
Manassas Preserve would entail a comparable shift from agriculture and forestry and parks and open space to RN-3, residential neighborhood.
Still, Boddye cautioned staff not to look at RN-3 as the presumed outcome, with pending changes still to come and battlefield preservation a top priority along with transportation infrastructure.
