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Keeping a Close Eye On the Master Plan
Dominion Valley residents say a water tower's size took them by surprise.
(Courtesy Of Paul Meyer)
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County Supervisor John T. Stirrup Jr. (R-Gainesville) says he did "my own due diligence" after a community meeting in October drew about 100 people.
"One of the things that was pretty crystal clear to me," said Stirrup, was "that we did ask for and receive their disclosure agreements that all property owners have to sign. . . . and there was one for the water tower and one for the fire station."
Stirrup added that the community needs the facilities. "When it's completed, there will be over 10,000 residents who will need fire and rescue protection," he said. The two fire stations now serving the area "are really outside of the acceptable response time."
County officials agreed in October to consider the residents' requests for more trees to screen the tower and the fire station and to look at concerns about the route the firetrucks would take through the development to reach other areas. Residents also asked county officials to consider moving the fire station to another site, but Stirrup said moving it could "significantly delay" completion.
Steve Griffin, director of planning for Prince William County, said a county task force has been set up to examine the concerns. A timetable for a response has not been set.
Griffin said it is important "that buyers not just rely on what a developer shows in his plans or on the model that they have in their sales office, but also that they look at what the official county records show for that area."
Lisa Hoess, a newcomer to Dominion Valley from Reston, said she understands the need for a fire station and the benefits it would bring, and she said it was disclosed when she and her husband signed a contract in April 2004.
But she thinks even more detailed disclosure was needed. She is "disappointed" that firetrucks will be going through the development on a nearby street. "Since we have two young children, this is an issue for us and would probably have been enough incentive to keep my husband in Reston -- at least temporarily," she said in a recent e-mail. "The only reason we came out here was to provide a safe, family-oriented environment for our children."
In an interview, Hoess said: "We definitely should have checked the plans."
But even checking the plan isn't always enough, said Clarksburg Town Center resident and key critic Amy Presley. "The problem [in Clarksburg] . . . did not really lie in the planning, it was in the implementation. You gotta keep an eye on the developers."
