A proposal for 104 new homes near Manassas just got pushed back

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Prince William leaders kicked the can down the road Tuesday over a rezoning that would have cleared the way for 104 new homes near Manassas.

After nearly 100 people who came to the Board of Supervisors meeting to speak on the matter, Coles District Supervisor Marty Nohe motioned to defer the decision to January 22 to give more time to for the developer to address the concerns of the community. It passed with Occoquan Supervisor Ruth Anderson voting against.

The Reserve at Long Forest is a cluster development slated for 135 acres of land near the intersection of Signal View and Moore drives. Half of the land is scheduled to be preserved as open space, while 104 new single-family homes would be built on the remaining land, on about an acre and a half of land each.

The Prince William County Planning Commission on Sept. 5 voted 7-1 to deny the rezoning application. Opponents say the density is too high, and that many homes will be crammed into such a tight space.

They argue that, while half of the land is being preserved in the cluster development, the majority of that land is unable to be developed because it lays in a resource protection area, coupled with steep slopes and streams.

Others objected due to the county’s overcrowded school population. The nearest school to the would-be development — Signal Hill Elementary — is nearly at capacity.

“At some point, we need to take a pause,” said Coles District School Board member Willie Deutsch, who spoke before the County Board. “I would encourage the Board of Supervisors to listen to the Planning Commission… we need to take a break [from approving new developments]. As a whole, we’re overcrowded.”

The developer is offering $4.7 million in proffers to the county should the development be approved. Because the project was filed before 2016, it falls under the old proffer guidelines that allow developers to offer the county cash proffers to offset impacts on schools, roads, fire and rescue, police and others.

Supporters of the project say the development will bring a newly paved Birmingham Drive, which today is a gravel road and the introduction of sewer and water to the property.

One supporter said many who opposed the project live in surrounding counties but parachute into Prince William County to oppose this and other housing development projects.

There was also a tie-in to the coming Amazon and Micron developments in Arlington and Manassas, respectively, that is expected to bring more than 26,000 new jobs to the region in the next 10 years.

This is where those employees are going to want to live,” said John L. McBride, an attorney for the five listed project applicants, to include the Sheila Long Living Trust.

This most recent deferral is another in a long line of delays of this project. The initial rezoning was taken up by the Board on July 25, 2014. Since then, it’s been on hold and under review in some shape or form ever since.