Category: In the News

Agritourism and Arts Overlay District (AAOD) – Resolution 02/16/21

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://eservice.pwcgov.org/documents/bocs/agendas/2021/0216/14-E.pdf http://eservice.pwcgov.org/planning/documents/CPU/AgritourismArtsOverlayDistrictDRAFT.pdf MOTION: February 16, 2021 Regular Meeting SECOND: Ord. No. 21- RE: ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT #DPA2016-00007, AGRITOURISM AND ARTS OVERLAY DISTRICT – COUNTYWIDE ACTION: WHEREAS, on May 20, 2014, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors (Board) in Resolution Number (Res. No.) 14-353 initiated Read More …

Greater Greater Washington: The region has built a lot of housing – but not enough, and not in the right places

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://ggwash.org/view/amp/72127 HOUSINGBy Jaclene Begley (Guest Contributor), Leah Brooks (Guest Contributor), Brian McCabe (Contributor), Jenny Schuetz (Guest Contributor) May 16, 2019 14 comments   Moon rise over DC by thisisbossi used with permission. Walk through downtown Washington, DC these days, and it looks like we’re in a construction boom. Cranes tower in the background of Nationals Read More …

Prince William Times: County supervisors OK new rules aimed at boosting local agritourism

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/county-supervisors-ok-new-rules-aimed-at-boosting-local-agritourism/article_e505d412-7157-11eb-96e7-fb77d58b1252.html By Daniel Berti Times Staff Writer Feb 17, 2021 A view of the tulip fields at Burnside Farms, an agritourism pick-your-own flower farm in Nokesville.   More farm stands, hayrides and breweries could be on the horizon for Prince William County.  The Prince William Read More …

Prince William Times: In the ‘rural crescent’ debate, some see conservation, others see exclusion

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/in-the-rural-crescent-debate-some-see-conservation-others-see-exclusion/article_e203729a-7217-11eb-b00b-bb600d8796bf.html By Daniel Berti Times Staff Writer Feb 18, 2021 Who’s left out of the ‘rural crescent?’ Prince William County’s rural area, known as the ‘rural crescent,’ is home to small farms, like the one on the left on Aden Road, as well as new Read More …

Prince William Times Opinion: Prince William County’s solar approval process needs improvement

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/opinion/letter-prince-william-countys-solar-approval-process-needs-improvement/article_4559a170-6fca-11eb-a359-d7c150fed82e.html#tncms-source=login Prince William County homeowners have no current county or state incentives to install renewable energy solar systems. If, in spite of this, they do choose to install a solar system, navigating the current county process is a true disincentive. The process is too expensive and Read More …

Prince William Times: Democratic supervisors open to more homes, industrial uses in the ‘rural crescent’

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/democratic-supervisors-open-to-more-homes-industrial-uses-in-the-rural-crescent/article_2542edd4-619b-11eb-918e-1fccd42bd995.html By Daniel Berti Times Staff Writer Jan 28, 2021 Updated Feb 1, 2021 An aerial view of one place where the county’s protected “rural crescent” buts up against development in western Prince William. Roger Snyder Following a controversial party-line vote to approve a 99-home development in Read More …

InsideNoVa: Planners table proposal for new hotels near Haymarket

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/planners-table-proposal-for-new-hotels-near-haymarket/article_063f01de-68a3-11eb-8871-3b4835a0ce34.html By Nolan Stout Feb 6, 2021 The proposed Centre at Haymarket would be between John Marshall Highway and Interstate 66 just west of the town of Haymarket.  Prince William County planners have pushed off approval of a proposed development near Haymarket over traffic concerns. Read More …

InsideNoVa: ‘Rural Crescent’ out to pasture? Board majority seems willing to eliminate tightest controls

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/rural-crescent-out-to-pasture/article_0fc77c4c-6711-11eb-b261-ef9ee6af8579.html By Jared Foretek Feb 4, 2021 In clearing the way for a 99-home development in what’s known as Prince William County’s “Rural Crescent” last month, Democrats on the Board of County Supervisors have signaled a willingness to do away with some of the tightest Read More …

PWC BOCS Resolution 20-773: Regional Climate Mitigation and Resiliency Goals

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://eservice.pwcgov.org/documents/bocs/agendas/2020/1117/13-D.pdf November 17, 2020 Res. No. 20-773 RE: ENDORSE – REGIONAL CLIMATE MITIGATION AND RESILIENCY GOALS ACTION: APPROVED WHEREAS, in 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change updated its guidance to recognize that the world is already experiencing the impacts of global warming and that Read More …

Jeanine Lawson: The Rural Crescent Suffered a Significant Blow

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

The beginning of this week, I emailed about a critical vote that would significantly weaken the Rural Crescent While the community overwhelmingly objected to this development, the majority of the Board of Supervisors ignored the community. On a 5-3 party line vote, the Preserve at Read More …

Prince William Times: Board approves controversial 99-home development in county’s ‘rural crescent’

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

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 Read More …

PW Times: Proposed 102-home ‘Preserve at Long Branch’ sparks rural crescent debate

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/proposed-102-home-preserve-at-long-branch-sparks-rural-crescent-debate/article_8a40b7f8-0e20-11eb-be2e-db95f6397038.html Daniel Berti – Times Staff Writer Oct. 14, 2020 Karen Sheehan, a resident of the county’s rural area, with one of a handful of roadside signs recently erected to oppose the “Preserve at Long Branch” development which will be before the Prince William County Read More …

PWCA: Rural Crescent At Risk (Again!) Why Should You Care?

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

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, Read More …

Derecho: A Rural Crescent FYI And Reminder To Ann

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

http://thederecho.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-rural-crescent-fyi-and-reminder-to-ann.html I will leave it to the learned readers to develop their own conclusions.  I simply present a copy of Chair Wheeler’s Rural Crescent Pledge from 2011 and a excerpt from a 2011 article in the Washington Business Journal regarding her race against Pete Candland for Read More …

Washington Post: Plan Would Encroach on Rural Crescent

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/05/15/plan-would-encroach-on-rural-crescent/cee9c6b5-511e-4b5c-ba1f-cbd07e0f90df/ By Michele Clock May 15, 2003 Three years ago, Elena Schlossberg and her husband, Scott Kunkel, purchased a 10-acre property in Haymarket. Ready to raise a family, the couple moved from Centreville to a less populated section of Northern Virginia: western Prince William County’s Read More …

Prince William Times: Data centers must stay in their zone – and out of the rural crescent

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

Oct. 7, 2020 At present, it’s difficult to recall a time when citizens and local government worked collaboratively. Yet, in 2016, that rare event did indeed occur. When an Amazon Data Center’s need for power in the western end of the county resulted in chaos, Read More …

Washington Business Journal: Microsoft adds to its N. Va. data center land holdings

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2020/10/02/microsoft-buys-prince-william-data-center-land.html     Microsoft is buying up large tracts across Loudoun and, now, Prince William counties for data center development. By Michael Neibauer  –  Managing Editor, Washington Business Journal Oct 2, 2020 Updated Oct 2, 2020, 5:49pm EDT   Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is at it again, acquiring 46 acres Read More …

Prince William Times: Supervisors to consider bi-county parkway, more data centers as part of COVID-19 economic boost

Posted onAuthorKaren Sheehan

By Daniel Berti Times Staff Writer The Prince William Board of County Supervisors will consider a proposal Tuesday to resurrect the bi-county parkway and expand the county’s data center overlay district as part of an economic development plan aimed at boosting a local economy struggling Read More …