By Daniel Berti
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted on party lines Wednesday morning to approve a 99-home development in the county’s designated rural area against the recommendations of both the county’s Planning Commission and county planning department.
The board voted 5-3 to approve both a comprehensive plan amendment and a rezoning for the development, known as “The Preserve at Long Branch,” with the board’s five Democrats voting in favor and the board’s three Republicans voting against.
The development will remove 146 acres from the county’s rural area, also known as the “rural crescent,” and allow for the construction of 99 homes on one to four acre lots. The current rural area policy allows only one home per 10 acres, meaning that without the rezoning only 31 homes would be allowed on the property.
An additional 190 undeveloped acres of the property will be given to Prince William County by the applicant to use as public parkland that will include a new trail, non-motorized boat access to the Occoquan River and several historic preservation sites.
The property being given to the county is valued at about $4.7 million, according to the applicant. The development also comes with $4 million in proffers for the county, including $2 million for schools and $1.7 million for roads.
The development, located off Va. 234 in the Coles District, has been heavily criticized by residents in nearby communities, however. Dozens of residents spoke against the project on Tuesday over concerns about increased traffic in their neighborhoods as well as the project’s potential impacts on school capacity in the area.
Members of conservation and environmental groups like the Prince William Conservation Alliance, The Coalition to Protect Prince William County and The Greater Prince William Climate Action Network also spoke in opposition to the project. Members from those organizations said they believe the new homes will increase sprawl in the county and that the development does not align with the county’s goals of creating new development in proximity to public transit.
Other county residents spoke in favor of the project, including some who said the addition of a new county park and new historical sites for the county would be of public benefit.
The board’s three Republicans have expressed staunch support for keeping the current rural area policy in place. Brentsville Supervisor Jeanine Lawson (R) said Wednesday that allowing a developer to break the rules with approval of project with a higher density would set a precedent for future projects considered by the board. Lawson said it would be a “catalyst for opening up the rural area.”
“It could be a great project. But the problem is that it’s in the rural area,” Lawson said.
Supervisor Yesli Vega, R-Coles, whose district the development will be built in, said that she would listen to her constituents who are opposed to the project and vote “no.” Vega added that breaking the current zoning rules to allow the development may lead to more applications from landowners seeking a similar rezoning and comprehensive plan amendment in the future.
“Why would we break our own rules to make an exception for million-dollar mansions,” Vega said.
The homes to be built at “The Preserve at Long Branch” are estimated to cost $750,000 and up, according to the applicant.
Supervisor Pete Candland, R-Gainesville, said he believed the approval of the project could be the end of the “rural crescent” in Prince William County, and agreed that landowners in the area may seek similar exceptions to the rules in the future.
The rural area was created in 1998 as a buffer against increased sprawl in the county. Its 117,000 acres have remained sparsely populated compared to the rest of the county since it was adopted. But the zoning of the area has also been described by some county staff and advocates as a form of “exclusionary zoning” that keeps affordable housing out of neighborhoods through land use requirements.
The “Preserve at Long Branch” is located just off Va. 234 in the Coles district. It has been in the works for over a decade and was formerly known as “Mid-County Parks & Estate Homes.”
The developer, Mark Granville Smith, purchased the land in 2003. He has come before the board with an application to develop the land on several occasions. Discussions about the development led to the county’s decision to conduct a study of how to best preserve the rural area in 2014.
Democratic supervisors supported the project, including Occoquan Supervisor Kenny Boddye, who has occasionally acted as a swing vote on the board by siding with the board’s three Republicans on land use cases. He has said last November that he opposed the development – but changed course Wednesday morning.
“By permanently conserving and granting public access to 192 acres of open space and irreplaceable historical sites, The Preserve at Long Branch offers inclusive conservation,” Boddye said in an emailed statement shortly after the vote.
Boddye added that he believed the approval of the project “does not spell the end of the ‘rural crescent,’” and that he hoped it would mark “a more honest, realistic approach to the conservation of open space.”
At-large Chair Ann Wheeler said Wednesday morning ahead of the vote that she believed the county’s current rural area policy “is not working” as it was intended. The county’s rural area has steadily lost its agricultural land to 10-acre lots over the past two decades as the county population has risen. Some large-lot farmers in the county are seeking to sell their land because they say the growth in the county has not been friendly to agriculture.
“There’s just something wrong with the formula,” Wheeler said.
The board will begin discussing a slate of new rural area policy proposals later this year that include tools that could help preserve more farmland and boost agritourism in the county. Right now, no date is set for those discussions to begin.
Supervisor Andrea Bailey, D-Potomac, lauded the board’s approval of the project in a Wednesday press release, specifically citing the added money for county schools and roads and the new parkland given to the county.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for us as a board to show what smart growth looks like. We are investing in our schools and roads while preserving our environment,” Bailey said. “From an equity lens, this project gives public access to one of our county’s beautiful waterways. Truly a win for the People of Prince William County.”
Reach Daniel Berti at dberti@fauquier.com