Rural Crescent Proposals-You Can Still Comment

The comment period for the Alternatives for the Rural Crescent remains open, and the Prince William Planning Office asks that all comments be in by August 31st 2019 to give the Planning Office enough time to respond to all comments. The Planning Office will generate their plan for the Rural Crescent and make a community presentation on September 24th 2019. After that there will be a Planning Commission public hearing and a Board of County Supervisors public hearing at dates to be determined. The Board of Supervisors will make the final decision about the fate of the Rural Crescent.

Prince William Citizen involvement in developing all aspects of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan is important. It will impact your future. Share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions with the Planning Office by:

• Submitting comments on the PLANNING COMMENT FORM. (Note that there is no limit on the length of your comment. The comment box will let you type as much as you want. )
• Emailing the Planning Office at planning@pwcgov.org
• Call the Planning Office at 703-792-7615

Now is your time to comment you can real about all the proposals on the Prince William Planning Office website or on my Blog.  Changing the character of the Rural Area to include cluster development houses clustered in “transition areas” or even increasing the current population could impact water availability to the existing residents and impact base flow to our rivers. Bringing in public water and sewer connections even if they are limited to cluster development or along what they called the transition area, such expansion may exceed the capacity of the current water supply systems and require water and sewer infrastructure expansion. Clustered properties cannot rely on well and septic- they are simply too close together, clustered development will be connected to public water supplied by Prince William Service Authority.

Currently, public water in the areas adjacent to the Rural Crescent is supplied by a combination of groundwater wells and surface water supply that is purchased from Fairfax Water and Lake Manassas. There is a cost to purchase additional capacity from Fairfax Water and that water is not unlimited. Based on the PW Service Authority study of the Evergreen water system, that system cannot provide adequate water to withstand a leak or to have adequate water to recover from a problem, let alone provide supply to more homes. In addition, piping and pumps will have to carry water from its source to any new development. This would force the County to find additional sources of water at greater incremental cost to all rate payers and such sources may not even be available. In addition, water mains and sewage piping are costly not only to build, but also to maintain.

In 2018 Virginia Legislature amended the comprehensive planning process (§§ 15.2-2223 and 15.2-2224 of the Code of Virginia ) to include planning for the continued availability, quality and sustainability of groundwater and surface water resources on a County level. State law now requires that the County plan to have good quality water for all its residents present and future in the Comprehensive Plan. The proposals by the Planning Office do not address this issue.

The right of existing property owners to their water is primary and valuable and should not be compromised or impaired. It is essential if the Prince William County Planning Office to study the impact of the proposals on water resources before making decisions that will result in Prince William County having inadequate water for all its residents in the future.