Question: Unmanaged development has a significant impact on the ability of localities to protect green open space and natural resource areas. The Virginia General Assembly has said that local governments have the tools they need to manage and contain growth within their jurisdictions. These tools include (1) the proffer system; (2) the issuance of permits for building and sewer hook ups; (3) planning and then legislating dedicated local funding mechanisms to leverage state and federal dollars for acquisition of parks and open space; and 4) comprehensive planning, zoning, and use of tax assessments to encourage/discourage types of development.

How will you use these tools to manage the pace of development and direct where growth occurs?

FRIEDMAN: I support Adequate Public Facilities and Developer Impact Fees legislation from Richmond, both of which would be helpful tools in rapid development localities. However, even without those, we already have important tools, (the four mentioned in your question), to adequately cope with development issues. But, we need the political will to use them. I will bring to the board a willingness to engage the full range of proper and appropriate measures, as needed. Development practices should be economically balanced, ecologically and socially responsible. The proffer system needs to be upgraded to fully mitigate the public costs new development accrues. We can and should measure the pace of the issuance of permits for building and sewer hook ups to a level compatible with what public facilities can handle. A serious commitment needs to be made at the local level to provide the funds needed, in conjunction with state and federal funding sources, to secure protections for open space and natural resource areas. Official planning documents, zoning ordinances, and local tax structures should reflect a clear, positive commitment to protection of rural areas from encroachment, to maintain the integrity of transition areas, and to encourage and intensify densities in the designated development areas.

WILBOURN: The County, through its Comprehensive Plan, manages where and what type of growth and parks/open space will occur in the County. Proffers are used to mitigate impacts and should be assessed at levels to ensure the overall project is not negatively impacting the community.

Economic development, job growth, interest rates, quality school systems, and a well managed government all impact the desirability of a community and how fast it grows.

The Board of County Supervisors controls where it grows, the quality of the growth, and the type of growth. Our long range plan should help us determine build-out and when it should occur to support quality of life for our residents.

The jury is still out on programs to purchase open space, especially given the Washington Post series of articles critical on this, which began on May 4, 2003.

Question: Inadequate infrastructure - including storm water management, transportation, school and public safety systems - results in preventable increases to pollution levels, reduces quality of life for residents and challenges the integrity of valuable natural resources. There are currently 34,000 residential units approved for development in Prince William County that could accommodate 100,000 more people, increasing the current population by one-third.

What will you do to improve the current Levels of Service, and how will you ensure that new rezoning requests to accommodate new development will not make the current problems worse?

FRIEDMAN: Levels of Service proffers need to be improved so that development truly pays for itself by making provision for capital requirements. The sprawling development that has occurred throughout the county within the last several years has been "revenue negative". We know this because local taxes have been increasing as a percentage of household budgets. I have a five-point evaluation system I use for rezoning and special use permitting requests. The components are: (1) a taxpayer impact analysis; (2) compatibility with the existing surrounding community; (3) levels of support from current residents within the effected area; (4) consistency with Comp Plan designations, Levels of Service objectives, public safety considerations, and environmental impact; and (5) impact on the quality of life of those current citizens most likely to be effected. This system ensures only rezoning and special use permitting requests that can demonstrate positive contributions to the overall well being of the community will warrant my support.

WILBOURN: The 34,000 residential units, for the most part, were zoned decades ago. It has been our experience over the past several years that most of these zonings will come to the Board for zoning amendments. We have been able to reduce the legally allowable densities substantially when that occurs.

County staff in their 20-year projections also discounted the inventory to account for market adjustments. The new developments must show they improve or maintain current levels of service. The County knows where and how our growth will occur and we can require that it be mitigated by the developer. We cannot control or mitigate the impacts from those jurisdictions outside our borders.

Question: Prince William County's current transportation system cannot accommodate traffic from existing development. The resulting traffic congestion increases automobile emissions into the air within the Northern Virginia region, recently reclassified as "Severe" for air pollution. The 2000 Census shows that only 3.2% of Prince William County residents use public transportation to travel to and from their place of employment.

What would you do to increase public transportation options for local residents and/or revamp land use patterns so jobs and housing are closer to each other within 20 years, especially in areas where redevelopment opportunities can maximize investments?

FRIEDMAN: There are numerous opportunities within the county to promote the use of more efficient modes of transportation including public transit. However, none of them will ever make even a dent in our traffic congestion problems if we do not formally link land use planning with transportation planning. For example, in Gainesville, the current board recently approved a sector plan in which the land use plan will result in widespread failure of transportation intersections within the sector. Land use plans that ignore adverse impact on transportation systems will not receive my support. In general, when we plan our major thoroughfare links we must do so with transit opportunities in mind. We must focus development, and encourage intensification of it, around major public transportation nodes. I support planning for development that encourages the integration of light rail, monorail, BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) terminus points, Omni-Link, and carpooling at key locations within the development areas. Our neighborhoods should be more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. I support planning that promotes neighborhood commerce, appropriately scaled and proportioned, to make our communities more convenient, more livable and more likeable. This is what has come to be known as the Smart Growth model. For many years I have advocated this model as a common sense solution to some of our growth related problems. Many of those who in the past have opposed Smart Growth principles, politicians and even members of the development community, now agree that this makes good sense and is the best way to promote economic development, to sustain prosperity, while fulfilling civic responsibilities.

WILBOURN: Your question suggests that it is the County's responsibility to correct traffic on I-66, I-95, Rt. 123, Rt. 234, Rt. 15, Rt. 28, Rt. 29, Rt. 1, and Rt. 55. All of these roads are being severely impacted by out-of-County growth. The County does transportation analyses on all new zonings. Those zonings are required to mitigate their impacts.

The current Board of Supervisors supported adding more Omni-ride commuter bus service, including service to the Linton Hall corridor up to Rt. 29. VRE is studying the addition of service to Gainesville, and recently approved rezonings in the area were planned to accommodate this possibility.

As for the 3.2% of Prince William residents using public transportation, the logical reason for this is that public transportation links a very small percentage of our population to their destinations and most of our labor force has jobs that are not conducive to public transportation.

What does 3.2% of our population equate to in terms of pure labor force? I feel it's better to provide higher paying jobs in the County to help eliminate long commutes.

Question: The rapid pace of development in Prince William County challenges government capacity to adequately enforce existing Chesapeake Bay and other environmental regulations. And when infractions are identified, the current penalties are often insignificant compared to the financial benefits that can be realized through noncompliance. As a result, many infractions are either not corrected in a timely manner or not addressed at all.

What would you do to ensure regular, timely and comprehensive enforcement of existing regulations to safeguard Prince William's valuable natural resources?

FRIEDMAN: Since there are no enforcement powers included in the Chesapeake Bay Act, it is left to localities to determine just how seriously they take the worthy goals of the Act. I believe Prince William County was the first local jurisdiction to sign on to the Act's objectives. Without the political will to take the goals of the Act seriously, it is easy for infractions against environmental protections to receive minimal penalty, if any. I will take Chesapeake Bay Act objectives seriously. I will promote measures that give county staff the tools they need to monitor and enforce compliance. I support strengthening zoning ordinance texts so that environmentally sensitive areas, such as the Cherry Hill Peninsula, will be better protected. I support protecting the land from stripping and clear cutting. I support the preservation of natural ravines. I support active measures to avoid silting of streams. I support protecting the sensitivities of steep slopes and soils from erosion. Protective ordinance violations should carry significant sanctions, such as the possibility of density adjustments. Further, the monitoring and enforcement measures needed to ensure that enhanced protections are respected must be funded at the source of encroachment.

WILBOURN: First, I would put more focus on finding the source of environmental impacts on the bay and concentrate on eliminating them. The Chesapeake Bay Regulatory Agency does little to find sources or causes of non-point pollution, nor do they support technology to address non-point pollution of the bay.

I would start by finding and eliminating the number one cause of the pollution problem and assess heavy penalties on violators causing the problem. What good are more restrictions if they never focus on the real cause of the problem?

Question: As a signatory partner to the Chesapeake Bay agreements, Virginia has committed to invest in productive strategies that support better ecological health of the Chesapeake Bay. Prince William has taken positive action to fulfill this commitment through efforts that begin to assess the ecological health of many County streams.

Do you support a comprehensive stream protection strategy similar to that in Fairfax County, including the development of management strategies for the protection and/or restoration of County subwatersheds?

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

WILBOURN: Without a complete evaluation of Fairfax strategy and its benefits, I cannot comment on it. I do support development of management strategies for the protection and restoration of County sub watersheds.

Question: Steep slopes and highly erodible soils characterize many of the remaining undeveloped parcels in Prince William's designated development area. These landscape conditions necessitate the use of cut-and-fill development practices and have significant negative impacts on water quality, protected stream buffers and other natural resources. Although prevention is considerably more economical than mitigation, current regulations and requirements provide little, if any, protection for these valuable natural resources.

What tools and/or strategies would you use to protect these environmentally sensitive areas?

FRIEDMAN: I believe I have already addressed this concern in my answer to question Number 4. However, I wonder if the premise of the question, that cut-and-fill development practices are necessitated, is correct. Could it be they are simply convenient for, or preferred by the developer?

Question: Prince William's designated rural area (Rural Crescent) was adopted in 1998 to preserve open space, agricultural resources and our groundwater supply. Since that time, development pressures continue to challenge local capacity to sustain these goals. Other open space areas protected by state and federal agencies are threatened by encroaching development. Prince William surveys repeatedly show that residents want more green, open space and passive recreation opportunities, such as birding, hiking, photography and other nature explorations.

What tools, strategies and/or funding mechanisms would you use to protect and increase green, open space areas and agricultural resources? Would you support a comprehensive system of greenways and trails connecting parks in the county?

FRIEDMAN: First question: Prince William must get serious about protecting the beautiful vistas of our county before it is too late. We owe it to future generations to be as vigilant, or more so, in our stewardship of the land, as prior generations have been for us. Fortunately, there are some relatively new tools to help us to do that. Some are built right into the state and federal tax codes.

The county should develop and adopt a PDR (Property Development Rights) program to help private large landowners who don't like being pressured by developers to sell their land. A strong PDR program can give these property owners access to just and fair compensation for placing protective devices, such as conservation easements, on their property. This gives the property owner good options and opportunities to ensure a lasting legacy for their children and grandchildren. The county and public will benefit as well. Funding for PDR programs can derive from a variety of sources. It can become a part of the proffer system. Our neighbors in both Loudoun and Fauquier counties have seen the wisdom and fairness in such approaches. I will help Prince William County develop and promote such protective voluntary programs. Beyond that, we owe it to ourselves to keep our word about protecting the Rural Crescent and the SRR buffer areas designed to transition from the development areas. I take very seriously the trust voters place in their elected officials to keep faith with the citizens, who overwhelmingly support protection of our rural areas.

Second question: Yes, I support a voluntary comprehensive system of greenways and trails connecting parks in the county. In evaluation of rezoning requests, inclusion of such amenities in the development plan ought to be expected.

Question: Over 80% of Prince William public water users rely on the Occoquan Reservoir for clean drinking water. Although it is now too late to protect lands along the southern side of the reservoir, much of the headwaters lie in western Prince William. Conservation and preventative efforts offer significant economic advantages over technological solutions, as documented by the EPA in their assessment of New York City's successful watershed protection strategy.

What tools, strategies and/or funding mechanisms would you use to protect the public drinking water supply? How will you protect the headwaters of the Occoquan Reservoir as development increases in the upstream sections of Bull Run, Cedar Run, and Broad Run watersheds?

FRIEDMAN: I have already addressed this issue in my answer to question Number 4. I will add that I fully agree with the wise saying that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". We need to respect the importance of the county's western regions. They are vital to the ecological health of the entire county and beyond. I support ordinances, planning, monitoring and enforcement functions that reflect a serious commitment to maintaining the integrity of these crucial watersheds. It will be a priority with me to strengthen our commitment to conservation measures.

Runoff from growth areas is controlled by state and county regulations ranging from Best Management Practices to wetlands mitigation.

We need to enforce the regulations in place and focus on finding and eliminating non-point pollution sources which the Chesapeake Bay regulations fail to address.

For at least two of the streams mentioned, part of the problem originates outside of our jurisdiction and needs to be addressed multi-jurisdictionally.