One of the residents' greatest concerns with residential growth throughout western Prince William County is how county services can keep pace with the increasing population.
In a presentation to the Prince William County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 27. Planning Office Director Chris Price, presented the planning study for the Stone Haven Development, where he acknowledged the need for new schools and praised the high level of community involvement in the pre-planning process.
“One of the things I’m really proud of is we had a lot of citizen participation,” said Price, referring to residents of the Brentsville District, who actively attended four meetings on the Stone Haven development.
On average Price said anywhere from 20-70 people attended four informational and interactive meetings, which solicited community input on the 864 acres likely to be developed between Linton Hall Road and Wellington Road.
Price said that the purpose of the meetings was to actively work with stakeholders in the community, so that his office could identify needs.
One priority for residents was establishing a new high school to accommodate the additional 2,000 homes that would be constructed, which they hope would ease overcrowding at Patriot and Battlefield as well as serve members on the northern side of Linton Hall.
Supervisor Wally Covington of the Brentsville District was familiar with this concern, saying, “There is a heavily educational foundation [in Western Prince William County] and desires for a high school affect not only Brentsville but Gainesville too.”
Covington asked Price to make a similar presentation to the Prince William County School Board.
While citizens were also concerned about congestion and services to the community members, they were, however, willing to participate in plans for the new community of Stone Haven.
According to Price, the residents and stakeholders who attended the meeting were favorable in the development of the land for low density residential use in the south towards Linton Hall Road and flexible employment towards the north towards Wellington Road.
Brentsville District residents also desired to bring new jobs to the community, though they advocated keeping suburban residential areas and industrial areas separate and consistent with existing developments.
Residents and stakeholders also wanted an adequate buffer zone between residential and employment zones. that would persevere the natural “walkable” land, and suggested walking and/or biking trails connect with other trails in the region.
There was also high support for a comprehensive road improvement plan to ease traffic.
“A lot of concern about existing conditions and what adding significant amount of development, particularly residential development would do,” Price told the Board.
Overall, Covington praised the project for including so much community input, saying, “(This has) far exceeded my expectations.”
Noting the process followed a similar pre-planning process utilized by the Potomac Community, Covington said, “This is the first time we’ve done it on the western end of the county. I’ve only heard positive things.”
Covington, who some criticized for not attending these initial planning meetings, told his constituents that he did not attend, so as not to “politicize” the meetings, saying, “Housing is a controversial issue.”
Price thanked everyone who participated in the planning process, saying, “It was definitely a team effort (including) a lot of work in the planning offices, representatives from schools, economic development, transportation, parks and recreation; really an all hands on deck project.”
Though the presentation before the Board of County Supervisors was purely informational, Price informed the Board that the residents expressed their desire to stay involved at all steps in the process.
As a result, residents can keep up with new developments by visiting www.pwcgov.org/planning and signing up for e-notifications.
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