The Rural Crescent, as we know it today, will be unrecognizable if the Planning Office recommendations are adopted. Find full details here. There is a better way, learn more below.
The latest iteration of the Planning Office Rural “Preservation” Plan, dated Sept. 17, 2019, is simply a “Development” Plan.
– The Planning Office is going through gyration after gyration to find a way to put dense sprawl housing throughout the Rural Crescent.
– It became quite evident at the Sept. 24 Planning work session at the Hylton Center, that Planning staff still has no credible plan to ‘preserve’ Rural Crescent open space, in spite of their words.
– And their ‘vision’ for the Rural Crescent will change the rules, rewarding a select handful of speculators who want to sell their land at huge profits, ignoring the low-density Rural Crescent county zoning. What about the thousands of us who bought into the principals of the Rural Crescent and its open space?
The Planning Office has laid out for us, clearly and concisely, that their plan will require more schools and more roads – more taxes and less green. Citizens will lose – countywide. This recommended rural development plan is simply bad policy.
Latest Guest Opinion: The Rural Crescent: Uniquely Prince William’s Legacy
There is a better way – There are proven, viable, and enforceable land preservation incentives – Learn about them on September 30.
The Prince William Conservation Alliance is hosting a forum on what is required for credible PDR programs, Conservation Easements, and TDR programs.
Please attend and learn the facts. This community is too smart to fall for parlor games, and the stakes are too high not to call out slight-of-hand tricks.
Monday, September 30
Keep Your Green: A Community Conversation on Rural Area Incentives with Countywide Benefits
Doors open: 6 PM
Program: 7 PM
Giuseppe’s Restaurant
15120 Washington St.
Haymarket
Food and drinks available for purchase
Presentations followed by Q&A
Purchase of Development Rights
Twenty-two Virginia localities have PDR programs. Hear about how these programs work and benefit local farms, many of which reinvest funds received into their agricultural operations or agri-business.
Speaker Julie Bolthouse is the Fauquier County Land Use Representative of the Piedmont Environmental Council. Julie grew up in Northern Virginia and attended Virginia Tech, where she earned a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning, and a Masters degree in Natural Resources.
Transfer of Development Rights
The presentation will explain Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) programs: their purposes, operations, advantages, and disadvantages. It will highlight areas where TDRs have been successful and discuss their use and potential in Virginia.
Speaker Shelley S. Mastran, is a Professor in Practice of Urban Planning at Virginia Tech in Northern Virginia, where she teaches Land Use Planning, Natural Resources Planning, Planning for Parks, and practical studios. She is a co-author of Saving America’s Countryside and the Better Models for Development series with Ed McMahon.
Conservation Easements
Conservation easements permanently protect open spaces and rural lands. They can encompass the full range of keeping land in private ownership, creating public recreation opportunities, preserving wildlife habitat, and/or enabling stewardship of working farms – they are tailored to each property.
Speaker Alan Rowsome is the Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust. Previously, Alan was the Senior Director of Government Relations for Lands at The Wilderness Society and National Chair of the Land & Water Conservation Fund Coalition.
Sponsored by Prince William Conservation Alliance – 703.499.4954, alliance@pwconserve.org, www.pwconserve.org