Join the Rising Tide!
The destruction of our rural crescent, the integrity of our National Parks, and the risk of contamination to our Occoquan Reservoir is a regional, state, and federal issue.
But first and foremost, the industrialization of our rural crescent will have a detrimental impact on the quality of life, not only for those in close proximity to the rural areas, but for all citizens – county-wide.
The proposed industrial corridor along Pageland Lane in the rural crescent will require that the Bi-County Parkway is built, generating massive truck traffic starting in Woodbridge through to the Loudoun County line. Traffic on nearby local roads such as Route 15 and Route 234 will significantly increase. Daily vehicle trips in the Pageland area will increase from 1,931 to 27,337. Access the county trip generation memo here – CPA Attachments (last one, bottom of page), Trip Gen Comparison Memo.
The following public record information from Bacon’s Rebellion speaks the truth. These positions, taken just a few years ago, are now in stark contrast to what certain residents are today advocating along the Pageland corridor. These very same ladies now spearhead the PW Pageland Lane Digital Gateway proposal:
“The wooded hills around the Manassas battlefield are dappled now with the yellows and umbers of autumn. The fenced-in fields beside Snyder’s house are dotted with horses and geese. Her farm, where her family has lived for six generations, was the scene of military maneuvers in the Second Battle of Manassas, and Snyder has hosted Civil War reenactments there. Conservation is in her blood — indeed, the Snyder name is synonymous locally with historical preservation.”
“Ghadban’s farm borders the battlefield park as well. She keeps fit by horseback riding and taking part in the occasional fox hunt.”
“Their way of life is directly threatened by the proposed Bi-County Parkway, the central link in the planned North-South Corridor, which is guesstimated to cost as much as $1.5 billion. That corridor would route freight traffic from Interstate 95 past the Manassas Battlefield to Washington Dulles International Airport.”
“While the … women would be impacted directly — the parkway would slice through Pageland Lane, sundering their community — they argue that the project would make people miserable throughout Prince William. The highway would attract hundreds of tractor-trailers full of air cargo bound for Dulles.
“The working relationship between the Pageland populists and the smart-growth movement …messages often align.”
“They largely agree (a) that the Bi-County Parkway is a waste of public dollars, (b) that the project is driven by developers who want to enrich themselves at public expense and (c) that building the parkway is inconsistent with the goal of preserving the Civil War heritage of the Manassas National Battlefield Park and its environs.”
“…Their rhetoric is converging on the theme that powerful special interests should not be allowed to hijack the machinery of government to lavish hundreds of millions of dollars on a project that benefits only them.”
The recent community event at the Winery at Sunshine Ridge highlighted the determination of residents in Prince William County to stop incompatible development. People came from east to west to hear the conservation community speak out against the industrial sprawl into our rural crescent.
Prince William Times article – Opposition mounts against rural crescent data center plans:
Troy Hill, director of data center operations at Manassas’ Iron Mountain data center campus, a special guest at the event, said he believes data centers are not looking to develop in the county’s rural areas, however.
Hill said he was not speaking on behalf of Iron Mountain but as a private citizen of Prince William County.
“Data centers aren’t going out and requesting the land on Pageland. That’s not happening. We have plenty of land,” Hill said. “This is people wanting to get value out of their homes; people seeing the price tag of what they think they can get.”
Hill said local land speculators are asking for far more money than some data center users are willing to pay, and that there are opportunities to expand within the county’s existing overlay district.
Never underestimate a community that, over the last 25 years, has managed to beat back Disney, Til Hazel’s proposal for a Tysons Corner next to the Manassas Battlefield, and Dominion Energy.
We are NO longer living in times where we can pretend that the environment cares about borders. We do not live in a time where historical assets are not OUR collective narrative. Our nation’s story tells our past and our present, and hopefully, guides us to the right decisions for our future.
We will be relentless, we will be focused, and we will not give up.
More updates will be coming for future community collective action.
In the meantime, speak before the Board of Supervisors, bring a friend, a neighbor – get engaged. The next Board meeting is Tuesday, November 23. Public comment time is 2 PM. There is no evening comment time on this date.
Write to your national, state, and local leaders; and local planning commissioners. Here are their contact details:
US Senator Kaine: james_whaley@kaine.senate.gov – (202) 224-4024
US Senator Warner: Lauren_Marshall@warner.senate.gov, Bo_Machayo@warner.senate.gov – (202) 224-2023
US Congresswoman Wexton:
Amelia.Faraco-Hadlock@mail.house.gov – (202) 225-5136
US Congressman Wittman: Christopher.Hall@mail.house.gov – (202) 225-4261
US Congressman Connolly: Contact Gerry | U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly (house.gov)
https://connolly.house.gov/contact/zip-auth.htm – (202) 225-1492
Sen. John Bell, D-13th District
district13@senate.virginia.gov
(571) 367-9080
Sen. Richard Stuart, R-28th District
district28@senate.virginia.gov
(804) 493-8892
Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-29th District
district29@senate.virginia.gov
(571) 316-0581
Sen. Scott Surovell, D-36th District
district36@senate.virginia.gov
(571) 249-4484
Sen. George Barker, D-39th District
district39@senate.virginia.gov
(703) 303-1426
Del. Candi Mundon King, D-2nd District
DelCMundonKing@house.virginia.gov
(804) 698-1002
Del. Danica Roem, D-13th District
DelDRoem@house.virginia.gov
(571) 393-0242
Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-31st District
DelEGuzman@house.virginia.gov
(571) 403-1213
Del. Daniel Helmer, D-40th District
DelDHelmer@house.virginia.gov
(571) 445-0251
Del. Lee Carter, D-50th District
DelLCarter@house.virginia.gov
(571) 606-7299
Del. Hala Ayala, D-51st District
DelHAyala@house.virginia.gov
(804) 698-1051
Del. Luke Torian, D-52nd District
DelLTorian@house.virginia.gov
(703) 785-2224
Del. Suhas Subramanyam, D-87th District
DelSSubramanyam@house.virginia.gov
(571) 707-4566
We don’t yet have email addresses for delegates-elect Sewell and King.
PWC Board of Supervisors:
chair@pwcgov.org
jlawson@pwcgov.org
yvega@pwcgov.org
abailey@pwcgov.org
vsangry@pwcgov.org
kboddye@pwcgov.org
mfranklin@pwcgov.org
gainesville@pwcgov.org
PWC Planning Commissioners:
riccar1110@aol.com windyknoll2@gmail.com colesplanning@gmail.com planningwoodbridge@gmail.com jmcpwccommission@gmail.com occoquanplanning@gmail.com tom@tomgordy.com neabscoplanning@gmail.com
PWC Acting Director of Planning and Deputy County Executive: rhorner@pwcgov.org
PWC Director of Transportation: rcanizales@pwcgov.org
“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”