Approximately 60 residents were present and several voiced their concerns about potential overcrowding issues associated with the Stone Haven development project at the Prince William County Planning Commission's fourth community meeting, which was held on Oct. 9 at Gainesville Middle School.
While the residents expressed interest in the new schools the Stone Haven development could proffer, many remained doubtful for the need for new residential dwellings in an area they already believed to be hindered by insufficient infrastructure, particularly roads, schools and parks.
People expressed interest in securing a new high school for the western end of the county to alleviate overcrowding at Patriot and Battlefield High Schools. However, they also hoped to keep an influx of new residents minimal as not to overwhelm schools and transportation. Nor did they want to negatively affect housing prices of existing homes.
The area of land known as Stone Haven is comprised of the 864 acres south of Wellington Road, west of Devlin Road, north of Linton Hall Road and east of Limestone Drive.
Jeanine Lawson, former candidate for the Board of County Supervisors in the Brentsville Magisterial District, asked if the creation of a thirteenth high school in the county would be dictated by the development of Stone Haven, or if parcels of land could be purchased at a different site.
“The simple answer is, yes,” said Prince William Public Schools representative Dave Beavers. Beavers indicated that the School Board could purchase a different area of land, and that the building of an additional high school was not “wedded” to the Stone Haven development.
Others were concerned about what will happen to the additional students between now and 2019, and why that process could not be expedited.
Beavers explained that there is a legal process involved in securing land and readying a new high school.
He said they would house students between now and 2016, “the best we can. temporary portable classrooms, boundary adjustments and would work with the community to come up with the best possible decision.”
He further explained that after the twelfth high school is built in the middle of the county in 2016, it could be used to eliminate some overcrowding through shifting some local boundaries.
According to Director of Planning Chris Price, interested parties had quibbled about points such as whether the residential area should be only low or low and medium density housing, and the extent to which commercial zoning should be office or light industrial. People generally agreed the more open, natural and recreational use space the better.
The evening included question and answer session as well as break out groups to discuss the various concerns.
The consensus in one group was that all residential dwellings should be low density, i.e., single-family homes. They concluded this would lead to less of a school-age population and less traffic coming from the new neighborhood.
At a different table, Chief of Long Range Planning Ray Utz explained that the county could cap the number of individual dwellings, which would provide more open space for residents.
However, in general, people seemed less than enthusiastic about new homes to compete with their existing homes, which have on average lost value since 2008, though rebounding slightly this year. And while everyone said they would like to bring new jobs to the county, they sited the fact that current commercial spaces nearby were currently remained vacant.
Price said that while the development proposal was ready to be presented to the Board of County Supervisors, it was delayed, because he felt more community input was needed.
At least two residents expressed their feelings that Brentsville District Supervisor Wally Covington should have attended the meeting. However, while Covington was not present himself, two of his staff members were present.
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