Prince William Conservation Alliance
Community Report, October 12, 2020
http://www.pwconserve.org/newsletters/current.htm
Rural Crescent at Risk (Again!) Why Should You Care?
Because every dollar we spend to provide services to new homes and industrial uses in the countryside is a dollar we can’t spend to improve schools, parks, trails, transportation, and fire and rescue services in our eastern and western development areas.
On October 20, 2020, Supervisors are slated to vote on the Preserve at Long Branch Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Rezoning application seeking approval for access to public sewer to build 102 new homes off Classic Springs Drive, in the Rural Crescent. This is more than triple the density currently allowed. If approved, this development proposal would set a precedent for other land speculators seeking increased density in the Rural Crescent.
Planning Commission recommendation: Denial
Planning staff recommendation: Denial
Putting houses where there are no jobs, schools, shopping, or public transportation creates excessive cross-county traffic and exacerbates already over-crowded schools.
Will the County government invest our limited financial resources to upgrade existing communities in development areas OR pay to build new infrastructure to service urban sprawl? Read more…
You can help! Click here to register for the October 15, 7pm, MidCo Civic Association meeting on this proposed development. Click here to email Supervisors and let them know you care. Speak at the public hearing on October 20! Sign up here to speak remotely at the public hearing! The link to speak remotely will be live on the Friday before the October 20 Board of County Supervisors meeting.
Community Quotes:
The beauty and character of the Rural Crescent is needed to keep some semblance of a natural environment, just like our African American community (The Settlement) reminds us of our heritage and why we moved here in the first place. –Joyce Hudson, Montclair
The rural area is Prince William County’s most important strategic economic, environmental, and quality of life asset. To reach its full potential, it must be treated with respect and must have a separate vision that sets it apart from the development area. –Dr. Jack Kooyoomjian, Lake Ridge
We take pride in our diverse land uses, with suburban centers and a beautiful countryside with 40 miles of Virginia Scenic Byways. I believe this has value. –Lynda Silverstrand, Woodbridge
The Rural Crescent aligns with Culpepper groundwater basin, one of the more important watersheds in Virginia and essential to the health of our groundwater and the Occoquan Reservoir, our public drinking water supply. –Elizabeth Ward, Gainesville
The Rural Crescent helps maintain the beauty and character of the rural part of Prince William County. It sets the County apart from other jurisdictions in Metropolitan Washington D.C. Once breached, we become just like the rest of the developed area and loose our unique identity.
–Eileen Thrall, Dumfries
I support the Rural Crescent because it provides for a section of Prince William County to maintain farm and wilderness areas of Virginia while being in the backyard of Washington DC. –Amy Hill, Independent Hill
By protecting the Rural Crescent, the county is protecting resources that offset pollution that contributes to climate change. –Ashley Studholme, Lake Ridge
The Rural Crescent = Diversity, Not Monotony –William Olson, Davis Ford Road corridor
We need to focus on quality development in the right places in the development area rather than waste money on sprawl –Charlie Grymes, Gainesville
Being a part of protecting the Rural Crescent isn’t just about ensuring clean air and clean drinking water, it has allowed me the unique opportunity to forge friendships with people across a diverse spectrum of political ideology, race, and religion. –Elena Schlossberg, Haymarket
I support the Rural Crescent because its rural landscape protects clean water in the streams and wetlands that flow to my public drinking water supply, the Occoquan Reservoir. –Kim Hosen, Lake Ridge
I support the Rural Crescent because it furthers our environmental, economic, and sustainability goals. –Martin Jeter, Davis Ford Road Corridor
Acceptance of this proposal would forever change the concept of a Rural Crescent, our future water supply, and further exacerbate our overcrowded schools and local roads, ultimately resulting in more urban sprawl and higher taxes –Gary O’Brien, Independent Hill
Read letters on the Rural Crescent, Washington Post, May 17, 1998
Tom Daniels, co-author of the 2014 PWC Rural Area Preservation Study, …warns that cluster development is not a form of farmland preservation, but rather a suburban type of development aimed at allowing residential development while protecting some open space and “rural character.”