It’s shaping up to be a long night for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors on Tuesday, December 13, as it looks to approve its 2040 Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
The document’s five chapters will guide the development of housing, roads, transit, water, sewer, and electricity for the next 20 years.
According to the plan document, the region faces an “unprecedented” housing shortage. Housing that costs 30% of the household’s annual gross income or less is in high demand.
The plan proposes to preserve and enhance existing neighborhoods while building “new and diverse mixed-income housing communities that address the demand for additional housing, the demand for a variety of housing, and the demand for affordable housing.”
New housing will be placed next to transit hubs “to reduce transportation costs in terms of both time and money and encourage multi-modal options that enhance the environment resulting in a greater quality of life for residents,” the plan states. Additionally, the ocunty will look to build concentrated town center developments, creating higher-desnity neighborhoods.
Supervisors removed the bi-county parkway from the plan earlier this year for road improvements. It would have linked Interstate 95 at Dumfries with I-66 near Gainesville.
Near Manassas, a $300 million bypass road now under construction will extend Godwin Drive is being extended to meet Route 28 at Fairfax County. However, the comprehensive plan calls for additional improvements to the existing portion of Route 28 (the part the new road will bypass) between Liberia Avenue in Manassas and Fairfax County.
The Prince William Digital Gateway monopolized the supervisors’ time over the past year. On November 1, supervisors approved a plan to add data centers on more than 800 acres of land next to the Manassas National Battlefield Park in the most significant project since Disney proposed building a theme park near Haymarket 30 years ago.
Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland announced his resignation effective December 16, 2022, after Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth said he could not vote on the comprehensive plan and on land-use cases in general.
Candland had a year left in his third term in office. His family owns a home on land supervisors approved for a new data center and stands to make millions by selling his home should supervisors rezone the land for data center construction.
Candland abstained from the vote to approve digital gateway and from most data center-related items taken up by eh Board of County Supervisors in the past year. Supervisors approved the digital gateway project after a record-breaking 14-hour meeting that began on November 1, 2022. Residents who spoke in favor and against the project argued into the morning hours of the following day, November 2.
Alyson Satterwhite, a Republican who will run in a yet-to-be-announced Special Election to replace Candland, called on supervisors to delay the vote on the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
Supervisors will hear public comments on the comprehensive plan at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 13.
