Changes proposed for the 2003 replacement of the 1998 Comprehensive Plan update could result in 2.5 times more houses in mid-county (from Liberia to Hoadley Road between the Occoquan Reservoir and the Rural Crescent at Route 234), and in western Prince William County on Broad Run and outside Haymarket.
The Comprehensive Plan currently recommends that residential development maintain an average density of one home for every 2.5 acres in the SRR areas. Developer-proposed changes would remove this requirement and pave the way for up to 2 1/2 times more houses in the Mid County and Rural Crescent buffer area.
The SRR category was intended to (1) provide a buffer between the designated rural area (Rural Crescent) and the development area's high densities, and (2) to slow growth in an environmentally sensitive area that already has more development than schools, roads and natural resources can accommodate.
The primary SRR area is mid-county between Hoadly Rd. and Liberia, borders the Occoquan Reservoir and extends to the Rural Crescent.
Soils in the mid-county area are highly erodible. Landscape conditions include steep slopes and much of this area is forested.
This proposal targets environmentally sensitive areas. Prince William could instead follow the Fairfax example and move to decrease allowed densities in this area to protect our public water supply and valuable natural resources.