Stafford County’s Economic Development Authority is urging the Board of Supervisors to send a message to merchants: “We’re open for business.”
EDA members at a joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors at Stafford Hospital on July 7 urged supervisors to consider rezone more land, leading to the development of more homes.
This, they said, would pique the interest of larger retailers who have traditionally skipped Stafford County, opting to build stores in neighboring Prince William and Spotsylvania counties.
“Stafford has a reputation that ‘we’re closed,’ and of that ‘we want to be the little rural county south of D.C.,” said EDA Chairman Joel Griffin.
Businesses have located in Prince William County, especially the eastern portion of the county along Interstate 95, due to the sheer density of homes. In Spotsylvania, leaders there have indicated they’re amenable to rezoning, turning farmland into subdivisions which, in turn, brings commercial developers to the table, he added.
The EDA pointed to mixed-use Embrey Mill planned community in the center of the county soon to be home to a new Publix grocery store, and the site of a sports and recreation center, as the future model of development for the county.
It also says the county needs more destinations where people can gather for experiences and share ideas.
“What do people want? Farm Brew Live in Manassas is what people want,” said EDA member Skip Causey, describing the complex in Prince William County that includes a brewery, restaurant, and live music venue.
The EDA also continued to push for the development of a mixed-use neighborhood next to the county’s courthouse, dubbed “downtown Stafford,” as a place that could house small retail shops and restaurants, as well a destination for people to gather.
The wheels on this project, which includes widening Route 1 in front of the courthouse, and a land swap involving the county government and the owners of a property located adjacent to the courthouse, stalled Tuesday when Supervisors deferred a vote on the land swap to its meeting in August.
“[Sales tax] revenue is hemorrhaging out of the county and going to Fredericksburg and Woodbridge, and as far as Tysons corner, because there’s a place for people to go. They’re not going to go to [Garriosonville Raod] and walk around Target for four hours,” said Griffin.
Most of the county’s businesses are located along two corridors: Garrivonville Road (Route 610) and Warrenton Road (Route 17). And, according to the county’s land-use plan, that’s where they want them. The EDA suggested more development be approved along the Route 1 corridor.
Last year, the county explored the option of expanding the transfer of development rights (TDR) areas in the county, which would allow property owners in rural areas to sell their development rights to commercial developers that would use them to build more high-density developments. In turn, property owners in the rural areas could never sell their property to a developer but could keep it for farming.
The possibility of downzoning land — where the local government reduces the number of homes that can be built per acre — is still on the table.
“What I hear you saying it’s that we need to downzone,” said Rockhill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch.
Opponents of downzoning say such a move makes their property less valuable to developers because they can’t build as many homes per acre on the land, effectively reducing the developer’s profit margins.
