Public Meeting Outlines County Planner's Vision for Stone Haven

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Last night citizens of Western Prince William County met at Piney Branch Elementary for the first of a series of three public input meetings, addressing the potential rezoning of Stone Haven for mixed use.

Stone Haven spans approximately 864 acres of open or wooded land in the Brentsville Magisterial District that includes grounds south of Wellington Road and Jiffy Lube Live, west of Devlin Road, north of Linton Hall Road and east of Limestone Drive.

According to Director of Planning Christopher Price, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors received a request from Stone Haven property owner, the E.V. Hunter Trust, to designate the land for mixed use earlier this year.

Because E.V. Hunter Trust would like to develop the land, which is now zoned as A-1 or agricultural/estate, it is asking the county to rezone it. The county planners envision the land becoming a mixed-use area, including Suburban Residential Low (SRL), Flexible Employment Center (FEC) and Environmental Resource (ER).

Although it did not propose the change, Price said his office had already planned to redesignate the land, which was previously zoned back in the late 1980s to early 1990s and did not reflect current development trends in the area.

Central to the development is a neighborhood of single family and attached homes. While the A-1 designation stipulates only one residence per 10 acres, a new SRL designation would allow an average of 1-4 "dwelling units" per acre

However, beyond residential development, the Planning Department also wants to build an employment center. The purpose, according to Long Range Planning Chief Officer Raymond Utz, is to lessen the tax burden on homeowners, provide jobs and boost economic growth. This would include low-rise buildings without parking structures. Office flex space and light industrial use would include office, contractor, data centers, self-storage, warehouse and wholesaling.

With new developments, some open space would also be protected in environmentally sensitive areas.

To make the new neighborhood feasible, the planners would ask the developers to give sufficient land for new schools, roads, sidewalks, parks and trails and to contribute to the funding of roads, parks, schools and public transportation in nearby areas.

While information was provided at the meeting, there was no public discussion, nor was there any debate. According to facilitator Tracey Hormuth of the Office of Executive Management, the meetings are a courtesy to the public, and the first meeting was intended to provide information. However, citizens can offer their comments at the next meeting scheduled for Aug 6. Citizens were encouraged to write comments on sticky-notes that were then posted on a (real) wall for all to see.

Some stakeholders voiced their concerned that their HOA or organization had not received an invitation to attend the meeting, but Price encouraged all attendees to sign in and give their contact information, so that they could be notified of future meetings.

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