Twenty-two years ago Prince William Supervisors recognized that development area residents were struggling with ever increasing traffic, overcrowded schools and vanishing green open space. To help address the problem, they adopted a smart-growth tool, known today as the “rural crescent.”
This initiative was intended to strengthen the county’s ability to create healthy, sustainable communities countywide.
When the supervisors defined a protected rural area with low-density land uses, they created an opportunity to maximize taxpayer investments for public services in the development area. They also created the slightly a higher density semi-rural area to serve as a buffer to the rural area and to provide added protections to the environmentally sensitive mid-county area.
Instead of extending costly infrastructure to serve new homes in the countryside, the supervisors opted for a smart-growth approach that would help them focus taxpayer investments on undeveloped and underdeveloped land in the development area, of which there is plenty. They chose a tool that could help them create land-use patterns that support better transit options. They wanted to create opportunities to build affordable housing in areas with easy access to public services.
At the same time, the supervisors recognized the value of the rural area to maintaining housing diversity across the county. And the rural crescent protects Prince William’s scenic countryside, where there are nearly 40 miles of Virginia Scenic Byways. It creates a place for wineries, breweries and other rural businesses. It protects a place for what’s left of our farming community, supporting locally grown foods that are available to all through community supported agriculture and farmers markets.
And, perhaps most important of all, the rural crescent helps protect our public drinking water supply. Land in the rural crescent flows through the semi-rural area and on to the Occoquan Reservoir, which supplies about 40% of the clean drinking water for 1.7 million people and, in an emergency, can supply all for a short period of time.
Low-density development in the rural crescent and semi-rural area keeps impervious surfaces at a minimum in a key location, the Occoquan Reservoir watershed. According to the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, watersheds with impervious surface cover of just 10 to 15% show clear signs of degradation. Watersheds with impervious surface cover greater than 25% cannot support aquatic life.
The rural crescent, the foundation of Prince William’s long-range land use plan, was ahead of its time. While it is true that supervisors have not taken full advantage of the opportunities to maximize investments in the development area, this is not the time to throw in the towel.
We need decision makers who are willing to invest in underserved areas, equitable schools, re-greening communities, promoting public transportation, incentivizing agriculture, protecting our water supply… in short, (finally) fulfilling the goals of the rural crescent as well as the stated environmental and climate goals of the board of county supervisors.
Given current needs to address affordable housing and the existential threat of climate change, now is the time to take a page from the experts and act to protect the rural crescent, not dismantle it. From east to west, the rural and semi-rural areas provide health, economic, and quality of life benefits for all residents.
Kim Hosen is the executive director of Prince William Conservation Alliance and a 25-year resident of Prince William County’s development area.