Developer plans over 500 new homes; town hall scheduled tonight

Residential developers once again have their eyes set on western Prince Willam County.

A plan to build up to 516 new single-family homes is expected to bring out county residents to a town hall meeting at 7 p.m.

The event at Chris Yung Elementary School, at 12612 Fog Light Way near Gainesville, will be hosted by Prince William County Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson.

“A development this dense will have a considerable impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. At this time, I have concerns about the additional strain on our schools, our roads, and other
services,” Lawson penned in a press release announcing the town hall.

The planned community would be located on the north side of Linton Hall Road, between Devlin Road and the Piney Branch. The homes would sit on about 270 acres of land. That property must be rezoned from A-1, agricultural land to PMR, planned mixed-use residential land by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors before anything is built.

The Board is expected to hear the case at 7:30 p.m. March 10, at the McCoart Government Center at 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge.

This marks the first big land-use case for the new Board of County Supervisors, of which Democrats took control over on January 1.

“New Democratic [Board of County Supervisors] Chair Ann Wheeler has promised a new, fully-inclusive Prince William County… more functional, less overcrowded, more effective schools and transportation/roads. At least some of the incoming new Democratic supervisors have expressed a desire to shift at least some renewal/redevelopment to underserved areas in east county, rather than the old pro-developer policy of building more and more high-density houses in west county,” states Ralph Stephenson, of
Prince William Citizens for Balanced Growth

The area near the property in question is surrounded by not only Chris Yung Elementary School, but other neighborhoods of single-family homes.

And, it’s not the first time this property has been at the center of the development debate. In 2015, there was a similar rezoning request for a development then known as Stonehaven, which included 1,006 homes that would have been built on about 720 acres of land.

Also attached to the proposal was 1.1 million square feet of office and light industrial space, and the donation of land on which to build a high new school. It failed when the developer pulled the application for the project.

Overall, Prince William leaders are tasked with determining the future of development in the county. Many on the Board of County Supervisors have expressed interest in looking for ways to develop the Rural Crescent, a swath of land protected for the past 20 years, that requires new homes to built on 10 acres of land apiece.

Proponents of developing the rural area say it’ll bring in new tax revenue for the county, and provide much-needed homes for the growing area.

Opponents say the county should leave its last remaining rural land — some of the last in Northern Virginia — intact and focus instead on building denser developments in already heavily-populated Woodbridge.