High-Rise Proposal Defeated

Commissioners Vote Against Route 1 Plan

A proposal to build high-rise apartments in Prince William County collapsed Tuesday, as the Board of County Supervisors rejected a request by Fairfax developer Hazel Land to rezone land in Woodbridge.

Hazel Land, headed by John T. "Til" Hazel, the man who helped build Tysons Corner, envisioned four high-rises -- eight to 16 stories high, with a total of about 1,000 units -- overlooking the Potomac River and close to the Virginia Railway Express Rippon station, which is near Route 1 in Woodbridge.

The 6 to 2 vote Tuesday may have killed any immediate opportunity to develop housing on the land off Route 1, now zoned for industrial use, said Pat Thomas, a county planner for Potomac Communities, Prince William's revitalization plan for Route 1. "This could be the end of it," she said in an interview.

Most supervisors cited increased traffic congestion on Route 1 and a distaste for high-rises when they voted against the resolution, which would have amended the county's Comprehensive Plan to allow 90 units per acre and to require just 50,000 square feet of nonresidential development on the 11-acre site.

The vote may mean the that county plans to steer away from high-rise developments. But Supervisor Hilda M. Barg (D-Woodbridge), who supported the amendment along with Chairman Sean T. Connaughton (R), said there should have been a public discussion on the subject.

Tuesday's vote was not about approving Hazel Land's proposal but about giving the public a chance to hear it, because the law calls for a hearing on amendments to the Comprehensive Plan. "Are we going up or are going to continue to spread out?" Barg asked.

The creation of the Rural Crescent, an 80,000-acre area where development is limited to one unit per 10 acres, proves that residents are reluctant to spread out, Connaughton said. The county must consider other ways to develop if new residents continue to move to the county in droves, he said. "If we turn this down, even listening to this, it sends the signal that we are not serious about the things we've been talking about," he said.

Supervisor Corey A. Stewart (R-Occoquan) said he opposes high-rises and any dense development. "All it's doing is congesting our commuter routes. This is not the road that we want to go down," he said.

Although Hazel Land promised to build a parking lot with 400 spaces for VRE, opposing supervisors said they feared more people would be driving than riding the train, and expressed concerns that the housing would be completed before the spaces, putting a strain on clogged thoroughfares.

The supervisors' comments were not new. Last March, the supervisors adopted an amendment to Hazel's plan that included a maximum of 50 units per acre and required that 50 percent of development be nonresidential. Hazel Land could not make the development work under those restrictions, Thomas said. Two Hazel Land representatives, visibly upset after the supervisors voted on Tuesday, would not comment.

Thomas said Hazel Land could choose to develop the land under the 50-units-per-acre restriction, but she did not know the developer's plans.

Large-scale developments of single-family homes have been built throughout the county, but communities in eastern Prince William that are older and more densely populated don't lend themselves to the 2,000 single-family home developments seen in Gainesville and Haymarket.

While home values throughout the county rose 8 percent between 1990 and 2000, values around Route 1 stayed the same, according to the U.S. Census.

The Potomac Communities plan is designed to give Route 1 -- known for its aging apartments and strip malls -- a much-needed face-lift.

The plan aims to promote a mixture of housing, retail and businesses. But Stewart said Hazel Land's proposed development, called Riverside Station, could be used for affordable housing, which he said means "low income."

Connaughton countered, "Guess we just don't want these policemen, firemen and teachers living in our community."

Thomas said Hazel Land did not specify prices of housing units in its proposal but said she expected some of the condominiums overlooking the Potomac to be "high end."

The Potomac Communities plan is looking to give Route 1 some prestige.

The first luxury hotel in the county is being planned for the area as the centerpiece of the 1,700-acre Harbor Station development, which also will feature 2,500 homes, office space and another Virginia Railway Express commuter station. It is being built on the Cherry Hill Peninsula on the Potomac River.

Quantico's Marine Corps Heritage Center, which is under construction, and the planned Belmont Bay Science Center in Occoquan are being promoted as tourist attractions that could spur economic development at the county's northern and southern ends of Route 1.