Plans for mosque in Rural Crescent ready for planning commission

For the first time, the Prince William County Planning Commission will review plans for a mosque in Bristow.

The All Dulles Area Muslim Society proposes building the Gainesville Community Center, a 22,400 square foot building large enough to house 500 people inside its worship hall. The center would be located at Vint Hill Road and Schaffer Lane, just inside the Rural Crescent land conservation area.

The project would need a special use permit issued by the Board of Supervisors after the Planning Commission approves it. A planning commission hearing date has yet to be set, but one could be set soon following the submission of revised site plans in late August, said Steve Donohoe, with the county’s planning office.

A previous set of plans for the site included a right turn lane, which would provide access to the property from Vint Hill Road to the center’s parking lot, that was not up to standards set by the Virginia Department of Transportation. The applicant went back to the drawing board and came up with new plans that relocated the turn lane into another portion of the property, said Donohoe. 

The planning process for the mosque has taken more than two years, which is significantly longer than normal. The average special use permitting process takes about nine months to a year, added Donohoe. 

The public has been extensively involved, and the Muslim association went back to speak with residents, and that has prolonged the approval process. 

“In this case, when you elicit a response from the public in such a way this one has, [the applicant has] gone to the public, to the citizens, to work with them,” said Donohoe. 

The Muslim association is expected to petition the Board of Supervisors for access to the county’s sewer system. Although in the rural area, the site will already have easy access to the county’s water system because the property sits in an “edge area” along the border of the Rural Crescent.