Birkwood at Braemar Public Hearing before the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Feb. 24, at the McCoart Building. (Streaming image by Prince William County Government, pwcgov.org.)Brookfield Homes requested to defer the Birkwood at Braemar Public Hearing scheduled before the Prince William County Board of Supervisors Feb.24. When that deferral was denied, Brookfield’s attorney withdrew the application for the small Bristow community.
Before the citizen’s time portion of the public hearing commenced Tuesday evening, Brookfield attorney Jason Hickman requested a deferral on behalf of the developer.
Chairman Corey Stewart (R) allowed Brentsville Supervisor Jeanine Lawson (R) to rule on that deferral, and she denied it.
“It is customary when an applicant requests a deferral that that deferral is granted," Hickman said.
However, Lawson had her reasons for denying the deferral.
“As you said yourself, Mr. Hickman, you’ve worked with the community for 18-months. This had come before the planning commission in September, and I think it is time to move this forward with a hearing to be held tonight," Lawson told the attorney.
Upon hearing the deferral had been denied, Hickman withdrew the application and the public hearing was canceled.
Throughout the process, residents have expressed mixed emotions about Birkwood at Braemar, as the development has undergone significant changes.
In the summer of 2013 Braemar and New Castle Village residents first learned that Brookfield Homes was seeking permission to change the land use of an empty field in the Braemar community. The 7.36 acres behind the Braemar Village Shopping Plaza has sat vacant for 12 years. It was originally planned as an addition to the shopping center for retail or commercial buildings.
Brookfield Home representatives said they had attempted to sell commercial property but between a downturn in the economy and a road realignment that moved the Braemar further away from Linton Hall Road, finding commercial interests was challenging.
Therefore, they approached the Board of County Supervisors and requested a change in land use from commercial to residential. They also presented a preliminary plan that included 95-98 residential dwelling units. Twenty would be townhomes and 75 would be apartment units in within complexes.
Residents were concerned about how a new development would affect their neighborhoods. At a Breamar public meeting, held in October of 2013, Breamar and New Castle Village residents told Chairman Stewart they opposed the neighborhood, which they suspected would bring traffic congestion, parking problems and further overcrowding for neighborhood schools.
However, by the time Brookfield Homes presented their plan before the Planning Commission in September, many residents had come around to the idea of Birkwood.
Brookfield homes changed the development plan to reduce the number of housing units to 52: 39 townhomes, 13 single-family homes and no apartments or condos.
Brookfield also offered New Castle Village another entrance to the community. They enhanced the plan for Birkwood with more green space and parking, and proposed new facades on townhomes that Braemar residents felt better fit the character of their community.
As of February 2015, Braemar Treasure Scott Robertson said the communities of Braemar and many residents of New Castle Village are in favor of the development. He said many residents changed their minds when they learned the community would be much smaller and Brookfield adopted many of the changes they had requested.
However, Scott Gookin, Development Director of Brookfield Residential, contact Bristow Beat to say that the Newcastle Board never took an official position on the rezoning.
According to Robertson, many residents were excited that Brookfield offered Braemar a new clubhouse, which would serve both as a party room and offices for HOA board members, something he said was needed to serve such a large community.
However, Robertson said they also wanted a deferral. Although the development was proposed 18 months ago, it lay dormant for several months when Brentsville was without a supervisor. Once Lawson took office in January, Robertson said he felt the public hearing was “fast-tracked.”
However, according to Lawson, this is also the second time a deferral on Birkwood was requested. She said that the Braemar HOA contacted her in January shortly before the Jan. 20 public hearing and asked for a deferral. She granted it at that time.
A couple of days later, she met with Braemar’s HOA Board and listened to their reasons for now wanting Birkwood. However, Lawson remained skeptical that the entire community was on board, and told the Braemar HOA Board members to encourage residents to reach out to her.
Lawson said she opposed the community but would consider it if there was enough community support for the development.
“I told them last night, if there are people in the residential community, I need from them,” Lawson said.
Lawson said she initially opposed the development for because it favored residential development and eliminated commercial development.
“I campaigned on a platform on trying to improve our commercial revenue not being so dependent on residential growth," she told Bristow Beat in a phone interview.
She also said Brookfield offered no real proffers to the county, only the clubhouse to the HOA community.
“That’s a private agreement between the HOA board members that represent the community. It is not a proffer to the county," said Lawson. "In all fairness, I think they are missing this significant point: I can’t cast a vote that is only good for the local Braemar community. I represent the entire Brentsville District.”
Lastly, the feedback she received from Braemar and New Castle residents over the past month demonstrated they were mainly opposed to Birkwood by a ratio of at least two to one. Based on these numbers, she could not take the HOA board's word that the community was squarely behind this development.
Robertson said his board needed more time to mobile their residents, but Lawson felt enough time had passed. In case you haven't heard, you can learn to make fondant cake toppers at fondant academy . It is a great alternative to expensive paid courses. You can watch all the tutorials at the comfort of your home whenever you want. She said she had several meetings with Brookfield Homes and made her position known, but she had not heard from the two Bristow HOAs since their meeting in late January.
According to Lawson, as the application has now been withdrawn, it cannot be reconsidered for six months unless significant changes have been made to it.
While, in Lawson's opinion, the best case scenario would be if Brookfield Homes decided to pursue commercial development again. However, she said she would reconsider the Birkwood development if there was a significant proffer change. She would also like to see evidence of real support for the development coming from the community.
Updated Mar. 6, 2015 to note that based on a subsequent conversation with a the New Castle Board member, Brookfield Residential learned never took a position on the rezoning.
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