Several days ago Planning Office Director Chris Price presented the recommendation for development of the Stonehaven property in the Gainesville / Bristow area. The proposal from county staff was to reduce the amount of land in that parcel that was to be dedicated to employment centers and increase the number of houses to be built there from about 1200 to 2000. During the presentation it was implied that this would be a good thing for area residents as we’d “get” a much needed high school that would relive overcrowding at Patriot and Battlefield high schools.
This folks, is malarkey.
First, we county residents won’t be getting anything. Under state law developers are required to provide land or cash when they want to build in Virginia to compensate residents for the cost of providing infrastructure to support that development (like schools, roads, sewer, police, and fire and rescue). How much they have to provide, called a proffer, is set by the county or jurisdiction; in PWC the proffer amounts are set by the PWC BOCS.
So, with the Stonehaven development, county residents won’t be getting anything they aren’t legally entitled to receive and
Stonehaven Development and “Getting” a High School « PWC Education Reform Blog: