In a 6-1 vote — Christopher Carroll, who represented the Brentsville District, left the Commission before the decision — the Planning Commission is passing along the project to the Board of Supervisors for their consideration.
The project spans 1,123 total acres with 1,058 units across three developments. One of the developments is adjacent to the Prince William Golf Club and the Longleaf Nature Preserve and is aptly named “Long Leaf at Kettle Run.”
The other two are farther along Vint Hill Road. The Alderwood development is next to the Alderwood Fields, and the Hawthorn development is next to Patriot High School and the Burnside Farms location.
According to attorney Jonelle M. Cameron of Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh, who represents the developer, there would be 855 single-family detached homes and 136 single-family attached units (or townhomes) across the three properties.
Cameron also said the developer has planned for 712 of the more than 1,100 acres to be dedicated to open space, with around 10 miles of trails nestled within the expansive development.
In addition to seeking approval for the developments themselves, the properties required rezoning. The Hawthorn development, next to Patriot High, is currently zoned for agricultural uses, but the developer is seeking a change to planned mixed residential. Long Leaf and Alderwood are also zoned for agriculture, but were approved to be rezoned to conservation residential.
Cameron emphasized that the developer will abide by conservation easements placed on the areas to protect the forested areas and farmlands.
“Burnside Farm … will retain its [agriculture] zoning designation so that it can continue its bona fide agricultural use,” Assistant Planning Director Alex Vanegas said. “It will be part of that agricultural conservation resource area and shall be placed with a deed restriction committing the use to agricultural purposes as well as permanently preserv[ing] and protect[ing] the area.”
Included in the lengthy proffer statement agreed upon between the county and the developer were transportation improvements to Vint Hill Road.
“One of the biggest improvements that is being done from a transportation perspective as part of this proposal is realigning Vint Hill Road,” Vanegas said. “Currently, when you come down Rollins Ford Road at Vint Hill Road, there is a curve that’s pretty steep in this area here. The applicant is realigning that curve, so it will now … be less steep.”
Vanegas also noted that the developer will have to adhere to strict design guidelines to maintain the area’s character.
“One of the important elements that we asked with all these applications is to keep consistency with the design elements so that when you drive down Vint Hill Road, you see a uniformity of the various entrances and signage, as well as the trees,” Vanegas said. “And each site will have a berm associated with it so that when people are driving, they really don’t see into the residential areas.”
But, more than 20 residents came out in opposition to the project, saying the sheer number of homes slated for the traditionally rural area is not in line with the community’s goals.
“We’re losing what is our farmers and the rural people that make up this part of the county. Please note that I think the deception here is that when you overpopulate, when you crowd people into what is the rural area, you are deceiving these people [into] thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to move to a nice rural area,'” resident Dan Scott told the Commission. “When in actuality, they’re moving exactly from where they thought was congestion to another congestion.”
Paul Dressler, a local resident, echoed Scott’s points that western Prince William County is unique.
“It’s going to take us one step further to being East Prince William County, and that’s really a place a lot of us don’t want to be, and that’s why we live where we live,” Dressler pointed out. “We are pretty happy with the area just the way it is, and we don’t see a need for change, and we don’t see any advantage to Prince William County to change it. I mean, there’s nothing to gain by overdeveloping the area and basically changing people’s lives the way we’ve lived.”
Lake Ridge Occoquan Coles Civic Association president Jack Kooyoomjian said it was important for the Commission not to let Prince William County become “Anywhere U.S.A.”
“The character that we have in our rural area is precious to many people. … We have to respect those people [who] have chosen to live there, make the biggest investment there, raise their children there and are proud to be there,” Kooyoomjian said. “The [agricultural] area, the rural area, provides a choice that is unique, that a lot of other areas don’t have. Once you develop it, it goes away.”
Yahia Saad, a local mother, said this development may be a prime opportunity for her to own a home rather than continue renting.
“A lot of families like myself are struggling to find housing. A lot of us are stuck renting and renting and renting. And the choices and the supply of housing are very constrictive,” Saad said. “I represent a lot of my community who want to live near our place of worship — which is off the Vont Hill Corridor. And while I want to make sure that the rural community is preserved and respected, we also need to balance making sure that housing is available for folks.”
And what the developer pointed out was that they’ve maintained some land for public school sites that will likely be needed with an influx of families into the area.
“What these developers did was look at possible redistricting for their properties to allow for the students to be able to go to schools that have capacity,” Cameron noted. “In addition, as part of the Alderwood project, the applicant has proffered a public school site, and the county School Board, county school staff have accepted that site and have said that they want that site for a potential middle school.”
Commissioner Mark Scheufler made the formal motion and recommended the developer work with both the Prince William County School Board and Board of Supervisors on potential redistricting opportunities in the future.
The developments were approved in a 6-1 vote with Gainesville Commissioner Blake Ross the sole opposition vote.
