What are some of the problems in controlling growth in Triangle?
The Virginia Supreme Court has overturned a 1998 decision by the Board of County Supervisors that would have limited the number of new homes that could be constructed in the Triangle area. As your representative, I initiated the down zoning action because of the lack of adequate infrastructure to accommodate the potential growth on almost 500 acres of land between the Thomasson's Crossing and Graham Park Shores communities. It was, and remains, the prudent thing to do! This ruling by the Supreme Court overturns a decision by the Circuit Court that supported the Board following the Judge's actual walking of the area to see that the land could not support the anticipated sprawl.
The Supreme Court case was initiated by the Turner family from Maryland who owns the preponderance of the land in question. They have enjoyed low tax agricultural assessments for many years. Their attorney, John Foote, was quoted in the March 3, 2002 edition of the Washington Post as saying "As you might imagine, the family is elated. The more lots, the more value". That brash statement was made at the resulting expense of the existing long-term residents of the area who will suffer particularly from increased traffic and overcrowded schools. Some of us on the Board try very hard to manage the growth in the County at manageable levels. Mr. Foote's comments are typical of what we deal with at the Board of Supervisors meetings. Land use attorneys seem to focus only on a profit factor without consideration of the quality of life in Prince William County. We hear constantly from owners of major tracts of land about property rights. I agree that property rights are important but should never be the prime consideration in development issues to the detriment of existing residential neighborhoods. Those taxpayers who have been residents for several years also have rights. Having been zoned as agricultural property back in the 1950's, it has no associated proffers to help defray infrastructure costs. It is truly unfortunate that existing taxpayers are penalized by congestion and disruption to their lives. Schools Superintendent Edward Kelly is quoted in the Potomac News saying there are no school sites anywhere in the area and existing schools are already overcrowded.
The bottom line is that people who own large tracts of land do indeed have rights but they need to be weighed against the impact on long time residents. The Virginia Department of Transportation has no plans to widen affected secondary roads. As you have read in the press, there is no money for roads in Richmond to help with the anticipated growth.
