Friends –
On Tuesday night, Chair Ann Wheeler launched another assault on the Rural Crescent by opening the door to discussing intensive commercial and industrial development in this area.
She is not alone. Supervisors Angry (Neabsco), Bailey (Potomac), Boddye (Occoquan), and Franklin (Woodbridge), led by Chair Wheeler, profess to caring about our environment and yet this action, along with recent public conversations about building 800 acres of data centers along the powerline corridor next to Manassas National Battlefield Park (photo above), confirms that these Supervisors are seeking ways to upend a decades long Rural Crescent preservation policy and dismantle what we have fought so hard to protect.
I will continue to defend the protection of our rural area with the vast bipartisan support of county residents like you. Building large industrial and commercial centers in the Rural Crescent will damage our watershed in the environmentally sensitive rural parts of our county, which also provide green space, scenic vistas, and drinking water to our entire region.
These suggestions from the newly elected County Supervisors threaten not only the Rural Crescent, but our wallets, our National Parks, our water supply, and other critical resources. This is just one more step in the effort to pave over the green open spaces of Prince William County.
In January, Chair Wheeler and her fellow Democrat Supervisors ignored the pleas of hundreds of citizens and removed 146 acres out of the Rural Crescent, rezoning it to allow for three times more than the number of homes originally planned. Adding more homes to the Rural Crescent overcrowds our schools and roads and increases the burden on county services.
This destruction was unimaginable two years ago when protecting the rural area was a bipartisan effort of the Board. It is time for my colleagues to start listening to county residents again. This assault on the Rural Crescent needs to end.
The photos above depict images of just what we have to look forward to if mammoth data centers are built in our beautiful rural areas, such as near the National Battlefield Park or on Rollins Ford Rd.
It is the responsibility of all Supervisors to protect our critical county resources for everyone. There will be two significant votes this week regarding the Rural Crescent area on Tuesday and Wednesday evening at the McCoart Building. It is crucial that every single person who cares, speaks up and takes action now!
Please email, and speak in person or virtually at both these meetings listed below:
Tuesday, 3/16 7:30 pm BOCS Meeting
Virtual Speak Sign Up Link (no later than 5pm Monday)
Email BOCS@pwcgov.org
Wednesday, 3/17 7:00 pm Planning Commission Meeting
Virtual Speak Sign Up Link (no later than 5pm Tuesday)
Email ClerkPC@pwcgov.org
We need to work together to protect a sustainable future for this generation and the next.
Regards,
Jeanine