WOODBRIDGE — A public hearing on a proposal to add 325 new homes in Woodbridge is delayed thanks to a judge’s decision on an unrelated case.
The Prince William County Board of Supervisors sent a proposal for a new “Ray’s Regarde” subdivision to be located at the end of Horner Road adjacent to Prince William Parkway back to the Planning Commission.
The Board was set to hear from residents on the proposal to add homes, which many have said would add to traffic congestion, and to the continuing overcrowding conditions at county schools.
The move comes as Prince William County lost in a case against Anthem Telecommunications, which wanted to erect a monopole on a separate property not associated with Ray’s Regarde in 2015.
Prince William Circuit Court Judge Carroll Weimer, Jr. in June opined that the county must provide mailed notice to property owners that would be impacted by a rezoning like this one within 30 days well before six months of a public hearing, which had been the county’s prior policy.
It takes anywhere from a week to four weeks to update the county’s homeowner recordation books, so, in turn, the county should be able to notify affected property owners sooner. The county has decided it will now notify impacted homeowners 30 days before a public hearing.
The Planning Commission approved the development proposal and sent the plan to the Board of Supervisors for final approval. While the proper notification policy was conducted prior to the Planning Commission meeting, it was not ahead of today’s hearing, said county spokesman Jason Grant.
“The Planning Commission will now schedule another public hearing on the matter, and following that hearing, the Board of County Supervisors will have to hold a public hearing in the future,” said Grant.
County residents and school officials have raised red flags over the proposed neighborhood, saying nearby Kilby Elementary School at 1800 Horner Road is already overcrowded by at least 60 students. Though the school was reconstructed in and reopened in 2017, in 10 years, that number is expected to rise to 200.
