Lake Ridge, Va. — Occoquan residents and the town’s mayor have reacted to Prince William officials’ decision to allow construction of an office building just outside the town limits.
Mayor Earnie Porta and many town residents opposed the rezoning approved on Jan. 10 by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. The ruling will allow construction of the three-story Oaks III office building and a single family home at the corner of Old Bridge and Tanyard Hill roads.
The rezoned property is owned by Ken Thompson, developer of the adjacent Oaks I and II properties. Thompson did not return repeated requests for comment for this story.
“Obviously, everyone on the Town Council is disappointed with the BOCS vote, but we are also very appreciative of Supervisor May’s steadfast and able support of the town and the surrounding community on the issue, and for Supervisor Principi’s and Supervisor Nohe’s considered and principled votes,” said Porta in an email.
Prince William Occoquan District Supervisor Mike May, whose magisterial district lies outside the town of Occoquan, and Prince William Supervisors Frank Principi and Marty Nohe supported Porta in opposing the rezoning, which ultimately passed the Prince William Board by a five to three vote.
Porta thanked Occoquan residents for their support in opposing the development.
“Of course, we are especially grateful to all the town residents, business owners, and friends from the surrounding community who wrote emails and attended the BOCS hearing to make their views known,” said Porta.
The mayor still expresses his concerns for the potential issues that may be brought about or exacerbated by the development.
“In addition to the traffic impacts the town will experience from this project, and the missed opportunity to address existing storm water problems to which the developer is currently contributing, it is especially unfortunate that a majority of the BOCS chose to reward developer behavior that should be strongly and actively discouraged in the county. The Town Council, residents, and businesses will, of course, be investigating all feasible options and paying very close attention to the project’s progress,” said Porta.
Porta, and Acting President of the Occoquan Society James Phelps, said Thompson could have done a better job at addressing town residents’ concerns about the development.
“He met once with the Town of Occoquan, to fulfill the requirement to offer a courtesy review of the plan, after he had been approved at the [Prince William County] Planning Commission. He made it clear at that meeting that he was there to explain the plan, not to alter it in any way. To this day, he has never appeared to explain the plan to the Occoquan Town Council, nor has he met with the adjacent land owners, or with any of the other communities affected by the development,” said Phelps.
The Jan. 10 Board meeting was attended by more than residents who opposed the rezoning.
