A memorial for Wilson stands at the entrance of Catharpin Park, located about 10 miles west of Manassas, at the park entrance at Route 234. The road within the park, Kyle Wilson Way, is named for Wilson, who died while battling a house fire in Woodbridge in 2007.
Candland said he is working with the county's parks and recreation department to create a new memorial for Wilson that will stand in a more prominent spot in the park, next to the park's concession stand.
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Concrete slabs fell off the back of a truck, delaying drivers headed toward Washington, D.C. Road crews called a wrecker to remove the slabs.
The crash occurred at about 7 a.m. and was cleaned up in about an hour and a half. No injuries were reported.
Here is a view of the concrete slabs that were removed from the roadway. Two lanes are now open with the left lane still temporarily blocked. Pls use caution and watch for crews still on the roadway. https://t.co/PuJW9DK9dQ pic.twitter.com/fJv04FzzNZ
— VDOT Northern VA (@VaDOTNOVA) November 21, 2022
Prince William police report an indecent exposure that occurred on November 14 at 3:15 p.m.
Officers responded to a Dollar Tree located at 14610 Lee Highway in Gainesville (20155) to investigate an indecent exposure. The investigation revealed an unknown man approached and exposed himself to a female employee in the business.
The employee yelled at the man, who then left the store and got into a dark-colored Toyota vehicle. No injuries or physical contact occurred between the employee and the man.
The suspect was only described as a Hispanic male in his mid-to-late 20’s, wearing a jacket and beanie-style cap.
Prince William County Supervisors voted to amend its comprehensive plan to allow up to 27 million square feet of data centers to be built next to Manassas National Battlefield Park.
It’s the largest, most transformative land-use case in county history.
The vote on the project, the Prince William Digital Gateway, came just before 9 a.m., following a marathon meeting lasting 14 hours and 20 minutes. The party-line vote saw five Democrats voting in favor, two Republicans opposed, and one Republican, Peter Candland, abstained.
Candland lives where data centers may be built and did not attend the meeting.
The vote clears the way to allow Prince William County to rival neighboring Loudoun County, which, today, has more data centers than anywhere else on the globe. Under the Prince William Digital Gateway Plan, 1.300 acres of land next to the national park would be used for data centers, 800 acres would be reserved for parks, and 10 acres would be used to mark historic sites.
Since the battlefield park is hallowed ground and the site of two major Civil War battles, there is a strong possibility that developers will find human remains buried on the site. Developers must conduct land surveys when submitting a rezoning application for new data centers.
The project will add to many data centers already in the area or are now under construction. The project’s supporters say the centers will generate more cash for government services like police, fire and rescue, and local schools.
Opponents say data centers will ruin the rural landscape next to the battlefield, and that cooling fans atop the 45-foot-tall buildings will produce unwanted noise. That stormwater runoff from the new facilities will pollute the Occoquan Reservoir, which provides drinking water to 1.5 million in Prince William and Fairfax counties.
The Prince William Digital Gateway comprehensive plan amendment was the only item on the Board of County Supervisors’ agenda. The meeting began at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 1, and ended at 9:50 a.m. Wednesday, November 2.
The Digital Gateway is the largest land-use case in county history. Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, who voted against the project, said it was the most significant case since Disney’s failed proposal to build a theme park in Haymarket in 1993 called Disney’s America.
Stay with us. This story is developing.
Fire crews were dispatched to Virginia Flooring Supply at 8683 Virginia Meadows Drive in Gainesville for a report of a commercial warehouse structure. When crews arrived, a second alarm was requested due to the conditions and building size, said Prince William fire and rescue Assistant Chief Matt Smolsky.
Crews found the fire was located inside the warehouse and extinguished the flames. The building sustained moderate damage. No injuries were reported.
No one was inside the business when flames broke out, said Smolksy. The Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire was accidental and originated in the warehouse’s refrigerator area.
The Building Official determined the structure was unsafe to occupy.
Smolensky said this incident illustrates the successful operation of an early notification and sprinkler system, which helped to keep the fire under control). The county’s building code requires the system, he adds.
“Had the structure not been equipped with these systems, the loss would have been more substantial, and the risk to firefighters would have been greater,” added Smolsky. “Business and homeowners are reminded to make sure your fire protection systems are properly maintained and tested as required.”
On Sunday, September 25, at 5:50 p.m., officers were called to the 14400 block of Club House Road in the Virginia Oaks neighborhood in Gainesville to investigate a shooting. The investigation revealed a man was walking along the street and pointing a firearm at passing drivers.
One of the motorists, an off-duty federal law enforcement officer with the Department of Homeland Security Federal Protective Service, pulled to the side of the road a short distance away and observed the accused firing into the air.
The off-duty officer warned nearby homeowners before contacting the police. The accused continued walking before being confronted by the off-duty officer as he approached the driveway of a nearby residence.
The off-duty officer identified himself as law enforcement and commanded the man to drop the weapon. During the encounter, the off-duty officer fired his department-issued weapon, which struck the suspect in the upper body.
Officers arrived at the location shortly after and provided immediate first aid to the accused until rescue personnel arrived and transported him to an area hospital. His injuries were determined to be non-life threatening, police said.
No additional injuries or property damage were reported. A firearm was recovered at the scene.
Pete Donovan Womack, 29, of 14595 Crown Hollow Court in Gainesville, is charged with one count of reckless handling of a firearm, one count of shooting within a roadway, and three counts of brandishing a firearm. His court date is pending and he remains hospitalized
Home invasion
On Saturday, September 24, at 6:45 p.m., officers were called to a home in the 1500 block of Carter Lane in Woodbridge, near Hammill Mill Park, to investigate a home invasion.
A 60-year-old man tried to enter his home when someone snuck up from behind and struck him in the head. The victim fell to the floor, and the intruder continued to strike the victim before demanding the victim’s property.
During the encounter, the suspect also brandished a gun, took his property, and fled in a white Chevy Equinox. While investigating the incident, officers located a bullet in the roadway and damage to a living room wall, consistent with being struck by a projectile.
The victim was treated at the scene by rescue personnel. Officers and helicopter assistance from Fairfax County police searched the area for the suspect and the vehicle, neither of which were located. An undisclosed amount of money was reported missing.
Suspect Description:
A male wearing a black wool hat, a stocking-style mask, a black jacket, and jeans
Chair Ann Wheeler acknowledged that the Prince William Digital Gateway CPA review was “confusing” and announced a delay in bringing it to the Board of County Supervisors for a vote.
Despite the compromised nature of the September 14th Planning Commission public hearing, there was no mention of invalidating its recommendation or conducting a new hearing under more trustworthy conditions. So, you can expect the pause is merely designed to give weary citizens time to forget.
Now we must pivot almost immediately to another public hearing on updates to the county’s comprehensive plan this Wednesday evening.
The comprehensive plan is an exhaustive document that the average citizen cannot possibly digest and review in a single evening. We would normally rely on professional government staff and our elected officials to look out for our best interests.
Unfortunately, we have very recently been reminded that they cannot be trusted to do so. It is far more likely that they intend to sneak sweetheart deals for their developer cronies past us, literally in the dark of night.
Unless you have the time and expertise to interpret the myriad changes, you won’t notice subtle alterations with significant impacts. Watch for blanket zoning recharacterizations that sidestep contentious CPA reviews and surreptitiously authorize data centers where public outcry would have created obstacles. I would specifically watch for this to happen in the areas where Devlin Technology Park and John Marshall Commons were contested.
The Comprehensive Plan update is too important and sweeping to be relegated to late-night railroading. If the Prince William Board of County Supervisors is confident of their vision for the future of this county, they should exhibit the transparency to explain it to the citizens and the courage to debate it during the upcoming 2023 election cycle.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
The nine-mile western segment, which spans Route 29 in Gainesville to Route 28 in Centreville, opened ahead of schedule on Saturday, Sept. 10. This westernmost portion is the first section of the 66 Express Lanes to open, and will provide early benefits to I-66 travelers including added capacity, smoother pavement, better travel reliability and new connections. The remaining 13 miles of new express lanes along I-66 between Route 28 and I-495 (the Capital Beltway) are scheduled to open in December 2022.
“Today’s early opening of the first section of the 66 Express Lanes allows the Commonwealth and its partners to begin providing long awaited relief to drivers who have dealt with daily congestion, unreliability, and most recently, five years of heavy roadway construction,” said Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shep Miller. “By the end of this year, we expect to open the remainder of the more than $3-billion 66 Express Lanes megaproject, benefitting I-66 travelers, and becoming a critical part of the Commonwealth’s planned 90+ mile express lanes network in Northern Virginia.”
The new western section of E-ZPass lanes is open to all traffic toll-free initially so that motorists can benefit from the additional capacity, become familiar with the new express lanes and access points, and open an E-ZPass account, if needed. Tolling and HOV rules are expected to begin by the end of September.
“Extensive planning and design, ongoing collaboration and hard work have made today’s early opening of the western section of the 66 Express Lanes Megaproject a reality,” said VDOT Commissioner Stephen Brich. “We are proud to be able to start delivering positive results to I-66 travelers earlier than expected, despite experiencing unprecedented times and a global pandemic for the last few years. Drivers should remain alert to the continued construction occurring on the eastern end of the corridor, as our team focuses on completing and opening this remaining section of 66 Express Lanes by the end of the year.”
Drivers can access the newly opened western end of the 66 Express Lanes through a variety of entrance and exit points including access from the general purpose lanes at each end of the segment, and via new dedicated ramps at Route 234/Sudley Road, Route 28, and Braddock and Walney Roads. Direct access is also available from two new commuter parking lots at University Boulevard (Gainesville) and Balls Ford Road/Century Park Drive (Manassas), which were built as part of the overall Transform 66 Outside the Beltway project.
Once tolling operations begin, eligible high occupancy vehicles (HOV) with an E-ZPass Flex set to “carpool mode” will be able to travel the 66 Express Lanes toll-free. The express lanes will also be available for motorists who choose to pay a toll, using either E-ZPass or by paying online at Ride66Express.com. In the initial tolling phase of the western segment, vehicles must have two or more occupants to qualify as HOV, and may include carpools, vanpools and commuter buses. Additional information on how to use the 66 Express Lanes can be found at ride66express.com.
The lanes will operate similar to those on I-95, 395, and 495.
Opponents of data centers will hold a protest outside the Prince Wiliam County Government Center.
Drivers on Prince William Parkway should see the protesters at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 13, at the county government center, 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge.
