Opinion

In 2006 voters authorized Prince William County to issue $11 million in bonds to make improvements to park facilities in the county. Among the improvements residents wanted was an expansion of the swimming lanes at the Chinn Center. The expansion never happened, nor did any of the other promised improvements. The county reportedly issued the bonds in 2011, and has reportedly begun spending that money on other improvements to park facilities in the county.

We’re seven years past 2006 and our indoor swimming facilities are even more inadequate than they were then. School age children routinely swim at 4:30 in the morning to get practice in before school starts. Swimming lessons fill up within days of being announced. Pool space in the evening for recreation is next to impossible to find.

Dear Editor,

As a blogger myself, I’ve come to realize that the best part about blogging is also the worst part about blogging. In a world without editors, information can be posted instantly without regard for validity, content, or tone. This is great news for things that I post, mainly fliers and events provided to me by organizations, but I also take great pride and personal accountability for the information I post, because my name is on it. At the end of the day, PWCMom is me, Kristina Schnack Kotlus, and because I value my reputation, when there is an error or an oversight, I apologize and make it right.

The definition of agriculture is and has been for thousands of years, the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain human life. The word “agriculture” is the English adaptation of Latin agricultura, from ager, “a field” and cultura, “cultivation” in the strict sense of “tillage of the soil”. Thus, a literal reading of the word yields “tillage of fields.”

Prince William County is now preparing (with the Special Use Permit -SUP #PLN2012-00334) to make a decision that will set a precedent to change the definition of “agriculture” in this county, and our Comprehensive Plan and Zoning regulations, to include a recycling and landscaping supply business as an agriculture use. Approval of this SUP will forge the change to the definition and character of the rural area of Prince William County. If Madera Farm was truly a “farm,” there would be no need for an SUP.