Planners Oppose 6,000-Home Project for Gainesville

Citing the impact of increased traffic congestion, county planners are recommending that supervisors reject a developer's proposal to build more than 6,000 houses and several shops, restaurants and office buildings near Gainesville.

But two supervisors -- W. S. Covington III (R-Brentsville) and John T. Stirrup Jr. (R-Gainesville), who represent the two districts that the 1,500-acre project would straddle -- say they would like to consider the proposal because the developer, Brookfield Homes, is promising to offer an unprecedented $100-million-plus in road improvements to the area for the chance to build what it's calling the Brentswood Community.

"The opportunities there are too valuable to not have a discussion," Covington said.

Brookfield Homes has said it would extend carpool lanes on Interstate 66 by nearly two miles, widen the interchange at I-66 and Route 29, and build an overpass that would get rid of a railroad grade crossing on Route 29 that ties up traffic and is often the scene of crashes.

But the Office of Planning and Zoning did not factor in those incentives in its recommendation because those proffers, fees or infrastructure improvements would be part of a rezoning application that has not yet been filed, board Chairman Sean T. Connaughton (R) said. "The staff has done its job and shown us the worst-case scenario," he said.

The planning department's advice on Brentswood is part of the recommendations it will make to the board Tuesday on nine proposed amendments to the county's Comprehensive Plan. The board is to consider whether to initiate further study of the nine proposals. If the proposals are approved, the Planning Commission would hold public hearings on them and the amendments would then go back to supervisors.

At Tuesday's meeting, the planning department also will recommend that the board reject two proposals and approve two others to build high-density housing in the Rural Crescent, an 80,000-acre swath that the county is using to preserve open space by limiting houses to one per 10 acres. All four proposals call for changing the zoning to build on 2.5-acre lots.

Planners will not recommend the proposed Classic Lakes and Liberty Oaks developments, which would eat away about 760 acres of the crescent in Brentsville and would result in the construction of 277 houses. The proposed developments would be too deep in the rural preserve and would not be in keeping with surrounding properties, said Raymond Utz, county chief of long-range planning.

Although the proposed Avendale development of 365 houses on 121 acres would also be in the Rural Crescent, it would abut dense subdivisions in Brentsville and would follow Vint Hill Road. County planners therefore support that development.

Another wished-for development, the small 15-acre Van Nostrand property off Route 15, should be approved for further study, the planning department said.

"Its inclusion within the rural area is no longer warranted by the surrounding pattern of land development," the recommendation reads.

The proposal calls for building 10 houses, but the planning department says the property can handle only six.

Covington said he would probably follow the department's recommendations on the Rural Crescent developments because he has received numerous calls from constituents opposing Classic Lakes and Liberty Oaks.

The planning department also will advise the board to give a green light for further study of two mixed-use developments in Brentsville and a third development of 60 houses in Coles.

On the eastern end of Prince William, the department will advise the board to reject a plan to build a high-end retail mall, 433 apartments and several restaurants and offices across from Potomac Mills Mall because the project wouldn't comply with the county's master plan, which calls for office space on the 95 acres.

Connaughton and other supervisors, however, see the project as a chance to bring upscale shopping to Prince William, whose demographics are quickly changing to include more wealthy residents.

"I can say I have heard more than one complaint about the lack of higher end retail in the county," Connaughton said. "As the county becomes more affluent, there does tend to be a fairly big hole in our market."