Updated at 8:15 p.m.
Prince William County is set to reach a purchase agreement for a new homeless shelter on the same day the Dumfries Town Council is set to decide whether or not it will allow the facility — which is located in one of the regions most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Staff members recommend approving a zoning text amendment to the town’s zoning ordinance that would allow a homeless shelter in the B-1 zoning district, where businesses like retail stores, retail shops, hospitals, schools, and government offices can already set up shop.
The shelter, as we’ve reported, would be located inside the building that houses Grace Chruch, at 1006 Williamstown Drive. The town’s Planning Commission is set to hear the case for the zoning amendment at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, 2020.
The meeting won’t be held in an open setting at the town hall, but electronically on Zoom, where all of the town’s meetings have been held since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. If approved, it could clear the way for the Town Council — which meets the following night at 7 p.m. on Zoom — to approve a conditional use permit that would allow the homeless shelter to locate inside the church.
The county is in negotiations to purchase the building from the church, which has already purchase a new plot of land at the nearby corner of Route 234 and Van Buren Road to build a new church building.
Dumfries Mayor Derrick Wood is a member of Grace Chruch and, in an email to PLN, states he does not plan to recuse himself from voting on the conditional-use permit at the meeting Tuesday night.
Wood writes:
“I have nothing to gain financially and have no ownership in Grach Church. There is no conflict of interest for me to vote on a text amendment in the B-1 Zone. If it were the case then other members of the council who work in the B-1 Zone or can profit because of their professions with a zoning change would have to remove themselves from every vote. I plan to fully disclose my position as a member of the church.”
Closing the deal
The 25,000 square-food church building is on the market for $5.4 million. The county did not say how much it was willing to pay for the building, citing ongoing negotiations.
The county expects to reach a sale deal for the new building by Tuesday, Sept. 15. The purchase agreement will include the date the sale will go to closing, said Johnson.
On that night, the Dumfries Town Council is set to vote on the conditional use permit for the shelter.
The church had been listed for sale with a commercial broker until March 31, 2020. The county began formal negotiations with the church on August 14, said Prince William County Deputy County Executive Elijah Johnson.
Some town councilmembers suspect some town officials knew about the deal before others. Councilmembers told PLN they were blindsided by an 11th-hour addition to the council’s August 5 meeting agenda, where they first learned about the deal. Johnson also briefed the council about the project for the first time that night.
Later that evening, the council scheduled a hearing for the conditional use permit for September 15. Multiple councilmembers who spoke to PLN are questioning why the council had been not been briefed about the deal earlier than August 5.
“I suspect the mayor knew about this deal well before we did,” said Councilwoman Melva Willis.
Mayor Wood on August 5 told the council that, at first, he was against the idea of a homeless shelter. However, a conversation with Prince William County Potomac District Supervisor Andrea Bailey who urged him to bring the deal to the council for discussion, he said.
More than what the town asked for
Earlier this year, town officials asked Prince William County to provide more health and human services in the town, said Johnson. The coronavirus pandemic curtailed local bus service making it difficult for residents to go to the Ferlazzo government building on Route 1 in Woodbridge, where the county’s social services department has an office to serve residents who live on the eastern side of the county.
Currently, the county is housing the homeless at the Ferlazzo building, and at a motel on Route 234 near Dumfries. For those who live in the woods in Woodbridge, the Bill Mehr Drop-In Center next to the OmniRide transit center provides meals, showers, and clothing.
The new shelter would be a 24-hour operation that would provide 60 to 80 beds for single men and women, with no children, a place to sleep, eat, and receive mental health and job placement services, said Johnson. Until today, the county has declined to comment on the project.
Transportation and security
Some users of the shelter would come and go during the day, said Johnson. The county plans to use some of a $40,000 federal aid funds to provide transportation for the occupants of the shelter.
Grace Chruch is located on an OmniRide Local bus line, however, the county has not had conversations with the transit provider about increasing bus service for the would-be shelter since OmniRide in June restored regular bus service to pre-pandemic levels.
Opposition from neighbor
Both Prince William County and Dumfries town police officers would work to patrol the area around the shelter, located in a neighborhood known for its crime rate, and that already frequented by police.
The homeowners association of South Cove, a neighborhood next to Williamstown, voiced its opposition to the project in a letter to PLN.
Homeowners association president Ebony Lofton wrote:
“…I don’t have to tell you the adverse effect it will likely have on our property values. There is also the concern of excessive loitering, a rise in crime with an already diminished Dumfries Police Department, and the overall safety threat to our children and residents with such high foot traffic in close proximity to our community.”
The county, however, says it wants to assure that is working to help those who need it most.
“The more we can put resources where these conditions exist, the more we can effect change,” said Johnson.
Mayor Wood will hold a community meeting tonight at 7 o’clock to discuss the homeless shelter. While residents will be able to comment on the matter, the comments are not entered into the public record.
Public hearings on the zoning text amendment at the Planning Commission, and on the conditional use permit to be issued by the Town Council — the final hurdle for the homeless shelter — will be held at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
The Stafford Regional Airport Authority wants to celebrate the region as the “birthplace of aviation.”
At a recent meeting, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors were treated to a presentation by the Authority’s liaison Phil Hornung who proposed attracting potential tourists by leaning on the county’s connections to the beginnings of aviation.
History has always been a big selling point for tourism in the Stafford and Fredericksburg area and the Stafford Regional Airport Authority is looking to potentially tap that well in a very unexpected way.
On May 6, 1896 Professor Samuel Pierpont Langley launched his Aerodrome #5 from a boat off the coast of Chopawamsic Island which sits in the portion of the Potomac River that runs through Stafford County. This predates the famous Wright Brothers flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina by seven years.
The authority seeks to pursue a partnership with the county as well as Warrenton-based company The Wright Experience to create a display that will attract tourists interested in aviation to learn more about the events that make Stafford the birthplace of aviation. The original plan was to get the actual Aerodrome #5 on loan from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, but that was shot down by the Smithsonian.
The current plan conceived by the Airport Authority is to have a replica of the Aerodrome #5 created by the Wright Experience that will be on display in the airport’s building. The Wright Experience works on restoring and reconstructing historical aircraft.
Before the coronavirus pandemic made its worldwide impact, Stafford County was looking for ways to attract tourism to the area. While already known as the birthplace of George Washington, the county has been looking into other ways to attract people to visit Stafford.
Recent examples of such attempts involved attracting sports tourism such as bringing four games from the 2020 Jefferson Cup youth soccer tournament as well the Kayak Bass Fishing Trail Series Tournament.
Stafford County will hold a public hearing to decide whether or not to lease office space to the Virginia Department of Corrections.
The agency has outgrown its current office space it uses for its probation and parole program at Southpoint Centre Boulevard in Fredericksburg and will expand to new offices in Stafford County in order to accommodate their level of personnel. The department’s District 21 probation and parole office serves the areas of Fredericksburg, Stafford County, and King George County.
The corrections department is looking at two different buildings to lease: 85 Mine Road North Stafford, which is owned by Mine Road Square LLC., and 25 Centreport Parkway near the county’s airport, which owned by former Aquia District Supervisor Paul Milde.
According to the corrections department, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors was not required to hold a public hearing for the matter, but, was invited to hold one should they choose to do so. No date has been chosen for the public hearing.
“The district has outgrown its current building; they have more employees than offices. Stafford is the district’s busiest court and many of the folks on supervision reside in Stafford County. Stafford is also convenient to King George, which is served by this office,” stated said the department of corrections spokeswoman Lisa E. Kinney.
The department of corrections declined to respond to questions about the new office space will be used.
In the waning days of summer, people are flocking to area parks.
On afternoon of August 30, Leesylvania State Park in Woodbridge and Great Falls National Park in McLean were at the capacity that day and visitors who didn’t make it there early were being turned away.
Chris Alford, chief of Prince William Forest Park near Dumfries, said the park has seen increased visitors as well. “At this time we are on a trend to be about 10 to 15 percent higher than last year’s visitation,” Alford said in an email to Potomac Local News.
Alford said this is likely due to the coronavirus. “Due to COVID there has been a big push for people to get out of their homes and get some fresh air. This drive has opened new visitors up to the outdoors and the value of recreational opportunities for health and wellness,” Alford said.
Alford said that he has heard that other parks are also experiencing this issue.
“At this time there are no plans to alleviate visitation at Prince William Forest Park. Our visitation regularly goes up and down due to the weather and time of year. Our peaks are usually holiday weekends between mid-May and November,” Alford said.
People have also been flocking to parks in Stafford County, too. County leaders are exploring the possibility of charging users of two popular riverside parks — Historic Port of Falmouth Park on the Rappahannock River and Aquia Landing Park on the Potomac River — $10 per car to enter the parks.
The Rappahannock Regional Solid Waste Management Board (R-Board) will be restoring residential service hours.
Sunday and Monday residential service hours have been restored through CARES Act funding. Commerical hours of operation will remain unchanged.
The following schedule will be in place at the Belman Residential Convenience Center and the residential portion of the Eskimo Hill Landfill:
Sunday, September 6, 2020 – 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Monday, September 7, 2020 – Closed for Labor Day Holiday
Hour of operation beginning Tuesday, September 8: Monday – Friday – 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
The landfill had been closed on Sundays and Mondays since the end of March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Prince William fire and rescue personnel pulled a body from Quantico Creek after a fisherman reported the body to the police, a Prince William Police report says.
More from police:
Death Investigation – On September 7 at 10:24AM, officers responded to the area of the Quantico Creek located near the intersection of Old Triangle Rd. and Milroy Dr. in Dumfries (22026) for the report of an unconscious man. The caller reported to police that they were fishing in the area when they observed a body in the creek.
Fire and rescue personnel removed the body and pronounced the man deceased. The man was reported missing by family members to Prince William County police on September 6 after he was not heard from in a few days. The man was not considered endangered at the time of the report. The body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy and determination of cause of death. At the time, there is no threat to the community concerning the death. More information will be released when available. The investigation continues.
The deceased has been identified as Charles Leon BRYANT III, 35, of Dumfries
Gabriel Josue Bracamonte was born on February 19, 1998 and passed away on September 10, 2020. Gabriel was a resident of Fredericksburg, Virginia.
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The body of a Fredericksburg man who went missing over the weekend has been found in the Rappahannock River.
The Stafford sheriff’s office tells us:
The body that was found in the Rappahannock River near the King George County line on Saturday, September 5th has been positively identified as Domonic Crawford, 28, of Fredericksburg. Mr. Crawford had been reported as missing to the Fredericksburg Police Department on September 3rd.
The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office was contacted on September 5th after a witness observed a body floating in the Rappahannock River near Muddy Creek. The Sheriff’s Office Dive Team responded to the river and recovered the body. Detectives worked with the Medical Examiner’s Office and were able to positively identify the victim as Domonic Crawford.
The case has been assigned to Detective D.V. Torrice, Jr. He is awaiting an official cause of death from the Medical Examiner’s Office. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Torrice at 540-658-4400.
The Stafford Sheriff’s Office and Fredericksburg Police Department ask that you keep Mr. Crawford’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers
This is the third body found in the Rappahannock River in a week. Earlier today, the body of a Manassas teenager, who had been swimming at the Historic Port of Falmouth Park, was found in the river below the Chatham Bridge.
On September 2, the body of a Spotsylvania man who went missing while boating on the river near Fredericksburg was located.
Stafford County’s annual 9/11 Ceremony will be taking place at 9 a.m. Friday.
The county tells us:
The ceremony will be available virtually on Facebook live, but in-person attendance will be allowed as well.
“We thought it was important to go ahead with the ceremony despite the pandemic because we knew we could hold the event safely,” said Stafford Fire and Rescue Chief Joseph Cardello. “This is our way of honoring them so that their families and our community know that we will not forget them.”
The in-person ceremony will be held at the entrance to the George L. Gordon Jr. Government Center. Attendees are asked to wear masks and social distance, according to a Stafford County Press release.
From a Stafford County press release:
Order of Events
Welcome – Chairman Meg Bohmke
Benediction – Pastor Paul Toelke of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Stafford
Presentation of the Colors, and Singing of the National Anthem
Swag Laying Ceremony
Remarks – Sheriff David Decatur
Remarks – Chief Joseph Cardello
Bell Ringing Ceremony – Chief Joseph Cardello
Taps
Dismissal – Chairman Bohmke