Lame-Duck Prince William Board May Consider Devlin Road Community Proposal

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The proposed Devlin Road community is located between Linton Hall Road and Wellington Road.

The lame-duck Prince William Board of County Supervisors may hear a revised proposal for the residential Devlin Road community that has been up for consideration by the board for approximately a decade.

Chairman Corey Stewart (R), who did not run for reelection, has scheduled a public hearing on the matter for Dec. 3. Democrat Ann Wheeler will be replacing Stewart in January.

Updated information on the land-use meeting in this Nov. 20th article. 

Brentsville Supervisor Jeanine Lawson (R), who was recently reelected, strongly believes the meeting should be canceled and calls upon fellow supervisors to vote to do so, today, Nov. 19.

To hold the meeting on Dec. 3 would break with constituents’ trust, she explained. Not only because of the recent elections but because there is not enough time to properly vet the changes.

Additionally, the Dec. 3 meeting will be combined with other controversial land use issues, meaning the meeting could extend into the next day.

“I am appalled and disgusted that Chairman Stewart would attempt to force a meeting then force a public hearing,” said Supervisor Lawson. “This is a classic example of why citizens distrust government. It is completely unfair to citizens. There is another potential hearing that night, which means the Devlin hearing may not be heard until 2 or 3 a.m. To expect citizens to stay that late is unreasonable”

Resolution 9B on the Nov. 19 agenda does not specifically mention the Devlin Road community. It requests a 6:30 p.m. meeting with the State Delegation be postponed and replaced with a 7:30 p.m. meeting on “land use matters.” However, signs posted around Devlin Road say the public hearing is scheduled for that date and time.

As of now, there is no development planned for the area, and it remains A1 Agricultural; however, the land is adjacent to single-family residential homes to the east and retail to the south.

Revised Stone Haven proposal included an extension of Rollins Ford Road and University Boulevard.

After taking office in a special election in 2014, Lawson took a hard stance against Stone Haven, the then proposed Devlin Road development to bring in between 1600 and 1000 new homes on 700-800+ acres, depending upon which version was up for consideration. She did not want to see new development that would overwhelm schools and require additional county services. As a result of not winning enough support on the board, the applicant withdrew the application on Dec. 7 of 2015.

Today, Lawson said she opposes the development for the very same reasons, calling it is a failed formula. “We cannot build our way out of these problems and to pretend we can is an insult to the public who has lived with overcrowded classrooms and congested roads for 20 plus years.”

Opinions on Stone Haven were split at the time. On the positive side, it could spur local business especially with Bristow Commons along Devlin Road. People also thought the proffers were generous and included nice open space. The applicant also proffered roads and a school site.

But Lawson said current residents have not been given time to educate themselves, and she would like to have the applicant hold a community meeting first. “There is simply no time to do all that before this board completes its term.”

Even the Planning Office was caught off-guard said Lawson, and if changes are substantial the Planning Commission would need to review the project and offer its recommendations once again as well.

On Nov. 5, Lawson was reelected as Brentsville Supervisor. However, the majority of her board- five members to be exact- will not be returning, either because they lost their elections, lost their primaries or decided not to run this term. That means the current board will look very different in January.

Lawson won in spite of a blue wave and she ran on protecting the Rural Crescent from development. She believes the Brentsville citizens clearly do not want more growth.

And she expects citizens will come out “loud and clear” against this misuse of government.

The result of the board vote on the Dec. 3 meeting is covered in this Nov. 20th article. 

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