Rural Crescent debate to Deputy CXO: Horner tapped for new role

From the Prince William County Planning office to the county executive’s suite: Rebecca Horner will replace Chris Price as a deputy county executive, who left the county last fall to take a new job as the city manager in Chesapeake.

County press release | Following an extensive national search, the County Executive appointed Rebecca Horner as a Deputy County Executive for Community Development. The Board of County Supervisors concurred with the County Executive’s decision to appoint Horner, who will begin the position effective immediately.

Horner has an extensive background and experience in public sector planning and community development. Since 2017, Horner has served as the director of the county’s Planning Office. Before that, she was the Assistant Director for the Planning Office after serving as the manager of the county’s Current Planning Division. Prior to coming to Prince William County, Horner worked as a Senior Planner for Fairfax County, the Director of the Planning and Building Department for Sarpy County, Nebraska, and the Assistant to the Director in the Planning Department in the City of Papillion, Nebraska.

In her new role, Horner will work with the County Executive to oversee the county’s departments of Planning, Economic Development, Development Services, Public Works, Transportation, and Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

Horner will make an annual salary of $190,000 and will oversee the county’s departments of Planning, Economic Development, Development Services, Public Works, Transportation, and Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

Horner found herself at the center of a firestorm last summer when she brought in a consulting firm to rehash the discussion over the county’s rural crescent, a tract of land between Quantico Marine Corps Base and Manassas National Battlefield where new homes can only be developed on 10-acre lots, and the addition of water and sewer lines to the area is frowned upon.

At the end of multiple contentious meetings, Horner recommended adding about 500 new homes to the rural area, and “transferring” the development rights to more populated areas of the county where new structures would be built, instead.

The planning department initiated its Rural Crescent Study in 2013 and completed it about a year later. It and the recommendations inside of the report were then shelved.

Some might consider re-igniting a contentious debate over the Rural Crescent during a local election year, off-off election year where each seat on the Board of County Supervisors was up for grabs, as muddying the waters. In July, I asked her why she would choose to do so.

“I’m the director of planning, and it’s my prerogative to do so,” she replied.

The Board of County Supervisors last year took no vote on how to proceed with developing the rural area. Now it’s up to the members of the new Board, of which there are six, to decide the fate of the Rural Crescent.

As of now, we don’t have an indication of when the Board will once again take up the measure.

Horner received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and her Master of Community and Regional Planning degree from the University of Nebraska. She is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners and is a Certified Zoning Administrator in Virginia.