Our goals were to (1) ensure that community views are represented in the planning process; (2) provide a logical and readable foundation for establishing and maintaining high quality systems of parks, trails and open space. Highlights of our draft plans include:

• Clear definitions;

• Expanded level of service criteria;

• Establishes a broader vision, to help the County meet existing needs as well as attract new business and high quality residential development;

• Responds to neighborhood needs and provides a framework to upgrade underserved areas, such as Dale City and the Route 1 corridor;

• Promotes pedestrian and bicycle networks countywide;

• Emphasizes opportunities for water-based recreation;

• Establishes criteria for permanent protection of parks, trails and open space for future generations;

• Identifies specific opportunities for high priority places for parks, trails and open space (including some already owned by the County);

• Promotes creative approaches to overcoming implementation challenges, i.e., forming a Trails Commission;

• Highlights partnerships with neighboring localities as well as state and federal agencies;

• Promotes an integrated approach, including specific recommendations for updating other Comprehensive Plan chapters and related ordinances;

• Ensures a greater level of citizen involvement in future planning and implementation of goals;

• Acknowledges development needs while conserving natural and cultural resources.

• Provides a broader vision on how to fund park improvements and development needs;

• Includes strong natural and cultural resources language;

• Minimizes implementation costs by relying on existing County resources, such as the County Mapper and the Adopt a Stream program, where possible;

• Responds to citizen views as expressed in public meetings, County-led focus groups, the 2002 Park Authority Park Needs Assessment and Prince William County Citizen Satisfaction Surveys.

UPDATED: September 11 2007
Parks, Trails, Open Space & the Prince William County Comprehensive Plan - What's Your Open Space Vision?

Click here to skip to the Community Coalition of Citizen Groups' comments on Planning staff's latest revision!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Planning Commission Work Session on Parks, Trails and Open Space Proposals

• When - Wednesday, September 12, 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
• Where - Government Services Building, Room #202, 5 County Complex behind the McCoart building, directions
• Planning Commissioners will talk with citizens, Park Authority Board Directors and Park Authority staff for the first 30-60 minutes, followed by a Planning Commission discussion.

Community Forum on Open Space

• When - Wednesday, September 24 at 7:00 p.m.
• Where - McCoart Government Center, Board Chambers, 1 County Complex, directions

Planning Commission Public Hearing and Vote on Parks, Trails and Open Space Proposals

• When - Wednesday, September 26 at 7:00 p.m.
• Where - McCoart Government Center, Board Chambers, 1 County Complex, directions

• Tuesday, October 16 at 7:00 p.m.
• Where - McCoart Government Center, Board Chambers, 1 County Complex, directions

Community Comments on Planning Staff Proposed Revisions to Parks, Trails and Open Space Draft Plans

Send you own comments! Click here for email address.

We reviewed the Planning staff comments on the draft plans for Parks, Trails and Open Space and we continue to support our proposal for Parks, Trails and Open Space Chapters of the Comprehensive Plan, as submitted to the Planning Commission.

We are disappointed that, despite significant community input showing broad support for high standards, the Planning staff recommendations continue to aim low, use confusing language that would hinder implementation, and minimize the need to provide parks in the more-developed eastern end of the county.

1. Public parks are areas of land set aside for public, not private, recreational uses. Including a credit for privately-owned parks (such as the basketball court at Old Bridge Estates) creates an illusion that sufficient parkland is already available when calculating proffers for future developments in the area. Local residents will be left without adequate facilities when private property is converted to non-park uses.
   
   Counting land/facilities that are open only to members of an HOA as a "public park" ignores the reality that residents of an HOA will join their friends and use county facilities in other neighborhoods. Counting privately-owned parkland in the inventory of "public" parks covers up the deficit between existing vs. desired facilities, and limits opportunities to attract external funding for acquisition and improvements to local, public parks.
   
   Also, please note that, at the top of Page 10, the staff revision misrepresents the citizen draft. We strongly disagree with the statement that "Neighborhood park sites and facilities should be provided primarily by HOA's�"
   
2. Acreage and facilities proffered for parks should not be double-counted as a school proffer. Public use of school facilities is very constrained. The Park Authority and the School Board should be commended for creative management to provide some public access to school facilities, but proffers for new development should not assume the best-case scenario.
   
3. Limiting one-acre neighborhood parks to �urban� areas will leave suburban residents and others with inadequate services. In addition, "urban" areas are not clearly defined or mapped in regard to parks, so the full impact of this proposal is impossible to evaluate.
   
4. Parkland standards included in the Prince William County Comprehensive Plan, Park Authority Comprehensive Plan and the Policy Guide for Monetary Contributions should be consistent. The monetary contribution to acquire land for schools or parks should be the same.
   
5. Eliminating the 10% goal to match Fairfax County in the percentage of land managed as county parks, and offering no alternative metric, does not match the �aim high� vision expressed by citizens at public meetings.
   
6. Key responsibilities of the Trails Commission, including the review all land use development applications, should remain in the Comprehensive Plan. The details of the Trails Commission can be defined in a charter, but the Comprehensive Plan should include the major responsibilities, comparable to the guidance in the Comprehensive Plan for the Historical Commission.
   
7. Edits that called for action items just to be "considered" (i.e, changing "The Board of County Supervisors shall charter" to " The Board of County Supervisors should consider the creation of�") weaken the clarity of the plan and minimize the commitment to implement guidance in the plan.
   
8. Open space should be protected in perpetuity. Allowed open space uses should be clearly identified.
   
9. County-owned open space properties should have management plans that include a list of allowed open space uses as well as information on how these areas will be managed and protected in the long-term.
   
10. The County should develop and maintain an online inventory of all parcels that qualify as Protected Open Space including the property address, Grid Parcel Identification Number (GPIN), number of acres, allowed open space uses, organization responsible for the long-term protection of the open space properties, such as the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, and the instrument documenting the level of protection.
    
11. All open space goals, policies and action strategies should be included in the Open Space Chapter, not scattered throughout the entire document.

Finally, a note about the process.  As you know, the county staff has now developed four drafts to revise the Parks and Open Space chapter in the Comprehensive Plan.  The Planning Commission did not adopt the first draft in September, 2006 or the second draft in January, 2007 after citizens objected in public hearings to the "aim low" objectives, vague definitions, and other substantial weaknesses.

Within 60 days after the Planning Commission took no action on the January draft, a Coalition of Concerned Citizen Groups began to prepare complete new chapters for Parks, Open Space, and Trails.  We submitted those chapters to the Planning Commission on April 12.

At the end of July, more than three months after our submission, Park Authority staff identified about a dozen specific concerns.  The Coalition of Citizen Groups incorporated the recommended changes from the Park Authority staff, and submitted slightly-revised chapters at the end of July to the Planning Commission. We presented information and answered questions at a Planning Commission work session on August 1.

We reviewed the three chapters with the Planning Department on July 23, with the understanding that the discussions would continue as Planning Department/Park Authority staff identified additional concerns.  The citizen group declined a last-minute invitation to have one person participate in those staff discussions, because no single individual in the coalition was going to be able to negotiate changes in the citizen drafts, which were completed through a consensus process.

Instead of working through August and continuing a dialogue with the coalition, the county staff chose to wait until September 5 to release its changes.

Since we were allowed only one week to react to the staff-developed drafts prior to the work session on September 12, we have chosen to submit comments on the substance of the dramatically revised version of the citizen-prepared chapters.  Thank you for the opportunity to provide our comments.

August 2 2007 Update:

The Citizen Coalition presented their proposals for Parks, Trails and Open Space policies to the Planning Commission on August 1.

Liz Cronauer shared highlights from the TRAILS Chapter. Although county and state surveys consistently show that trails are a priority for residents, Prince William's trail network is virtually nonexistent. We're late to the game and starting from scratch.

Our Trails proposal recognizes the serious challenges we face and calls for accurate baseline data to get us started in the right direction. We need a very basic item - a map to show the few trails we have today, and where we want trails in the future. Noting the existing gap in leadership for trails, the proposal also calls for a Trails Commission to engage a variety of interested individuals, organizations and government agencies.

The proposal covers a range of trail types - hiking, biking, fitness, equestrian and water trails. It calls for the development of a countywide trail network, including a mapped version, and includes specific actions to implement the plan.

Charles Smith presented information on our PARKS proposal. We focused on the considerable citizen input we received. In particular, citizens expressed a desire for large land areas to be acquired permanently for parks and open space. They also wanted more space for active recreation that was guaranteed for non-school uses, facilities that were designed and maintained to high standards, and opportunities to walk through undeveloped woods (trees and trails) .

The Parks chapter goals apply to county-owned parkland. The draft would require the county to develop an accurate inventory of existing public parkland and facilities to establish an accurate baseline.

Prince William is home to approximately 381,000 people. The Prince William County Park Authority currently owns approximately 3,250 acres of parkland. That's less than 9 park acres per 1,000 residents, well below the county's own goal of 13.8 acres per 1,000 residents. Current policies are not helping us close the gap. Total park acreage per thousand residents decreased by 15% from 2000 to 2005.

The goals in our Parks chapter reflect citizen input and propose significantly increased standards. The proposal recommends a 30-year goal that 10% of all land acres in Prince William (approximately 216,000 land acres) be owned by the Prince William County Park Authority for public recreation uses.

This matches the Fairfax County goal. Matching their percentage is consistent with economic development claims that Prince William County should attract new business due to our "quality of life." Fairfax just reached that 10% goal in the last year, after many years of steady effort.

We recognize that the county has a long way to go and we have confidence that we can get there over time. The proposal includes actions that target underserved areas (such as Dale City, Dumfries and Woodbridge) as well as rapidly developing areas (such as Gainesville), and encourages partnerships as well as the use of a range of funding sources to help us reach the goals over time.

Neil Nelson covered our recommendations for OPEN SPACE policies. Consistent with our Parks and Trails proposal, this chapter focuses on clear definitions and calls for the development of baseline data. We need to know where we have open space now, so we can protect it - because once we build houses or strip malls, that open space is gone gone gone.

To create a level playing field, the proposal deals only with open spaces that are protected in perpetuity. Other potential "open" space areas - such as the Rural Crescent, agricultural and forestal lands, and other private properties (such as the American Legion parcel) - are subject to development at any time.

Without formal protection, all undeveloped land in Prince William is planned for development. Haven't you already witnessed the conversion of open fields and woods in your neighborhood or along your commute into new housing/retail/commercial developments?

County officials have justified the Rural Crescent's low densities based on the need to protect our remaining rural area from development. However, Supervisors have failed to follow through and enact the ordinances needed to ensure their plan is successful. Although some people do view the Rural Crescent as warehouse for open space, many more are getting concerned that it is really a holding area for major new roads.

Currently threats to the Rural Crescent's low densities include the family subdivision ordinance, the rural cluster ordinance and the Comprehensive Plan Amendment process. County Supervisors could change the character of this area in short order at any time.

Restricting access to public sewer has proven to be an artificial protection tool for the Rural Crescent, especially given the advanced alternative septic systems that are now widely available. If Prince William County is serious about maintaining the Rural Crescent, officials need to follow through with meaningful tools and act to preserve the little that is left.

Our Open Space proposal addresses these needs by requiring permanent protection for open space properties. The chapter calls for implementation of an Open Space Overlay District to protect the Rural Crescent and other valuable properties in the Development Area. It also encourages adoption of a Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) program and other opportunities to provide landowners with incentives to protect potential open space properties.

Our proposal calls for increased attention to wetlands, intermittent streams, floodplains and other environmentally valuable lands during the development process. The chapter would require developers to show all environmental features at the time of the rezoning and supports incentives to protect these areas.

Resource Preservation Areas (RPAs) are included as Protected Open Space and the proposal would require the county to complete a study showing the location of these areas so property owners could be fully informed.We need to know where we have open space now, so we can protect it.

Again, we set a high goal and recommend that 39% of the county be protected as open space. Again, we understand that we have a long way to go. Our proposal acknowledges that we cannot expect developers to satisfy all our open space needs. The draft includes a variety of actions and tools that can help the county ensure adequate open space and good quality of life conditions today and in the future.

At the work session, Planning staff said they could provide comments on the three draft chapters by the end of August. The Planning Commission tentatively scheduled a 45-minute work session for September 5 at 6:00 p.m. and a public hearing for Wednesday, September 29, 7:00 p.m.

Our Community Coalition has committed to seeing the process through to the end. We have conveyed our willingness to attend additional work sessions and meet with Commissioners to answer questions and hear their ideas. We appreciate citizen interest and encourage people to loop in at any time! Please contact us at alliance(at)pwconserve.org or call 703.499.4943 for more information on how you can help.

If you're short on time, we hope you can take a minute to share your views with decision makers! Officials are supposed to represent the views of the community ... which is possible only if officials hear from citizens. Decisions are made by the people who show up.

Comment early and often! Click here for contact info and email officials your views about Parks, Trails and Open Space. Click here to email the PWC Board of Supervisors ... and here to email the Planning Commission.

July 31 Update: The County's process to upgrade Parks, Trails and Open Space policies has been ongoing since December 2004 with no resolution and many people are getting worried that there's no end in sight.

Nearly one year ago, and two Planning Commission deferrals, the Prince William Conservation Alliance and interested citizens formed a coalition to advocate for new policies that set high standards.

We've been trying to work with the process but we are not sure this is working out. We held public meetings to gather citizen input, wrote draft proposals for Parks, Trails and Open Space, and presented the drafts to the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission sent our drafts to the Prince William County Park Authority (PWCPA) and requested their comments. PWCPA Board Chairman Brenda Gardziel established the timeline in a June 12 2007 memo to Planning Commission Chairman Martha Hendley, saying the PWCPA would forward their comments by the end of July.

Citizens committed significant hours to work with the process, meet with PWCPA staff and Board to answer questions, review concerns and explore consensus opportunities. In late June, PWCPA staff shared a list of 24 issues and requested a response from the Citizen Coalition. Click here to read the PWCPA comments and citizen responses.

However, on July 20, three work days before the PWCPA Board's last scheduled meeting until September, PWCPA Executive Director Jay Ellington issued a memo to the PWCPA Board describing a new process. This new process continued this comment period to late September and joined the PWCPA with Planning staff in a joint comment process.

Although the PWCPA Board had not yet shared their comments, the Planning Commission is moving forward and holding a work session to review the Coalition draft proposals on Wednesday, August 1 2007, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the McCoart Government Center. Citizens will present an overview of their proposal and answer questions.

This meeting is a great time to find out more about the Citizen Proposals for Parks, Trails and Open Space!