Report Finds Coastal Bays Water Quality Degrading
Maryland Coast Dispatch; March 23 2007
Water quality in the coastal bays is getting worse, not better, reported Dave Goshorn of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Dave Blazer of the Maryland Coastal Bays Program (MCBP) to the Worcester County Commissioners Tuesday. “We have a lot of red flags going off,” said Dave Blazer, director of MCBP. Monthly water quality monitoring of the Atlantic Coastal Bays has shown a leveling off of improvement and even a decline in quality in some places, reported Goshorn. “This is a lot of relatively new information that's come forward,” said Blazer. “This is based on real data. This is on the ground. This is what we're seeing.”

House OKs developer fees
Baltimore Sun; March 21 2007
The House of Delegates approved new fees on development yesterday to pay for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, a proposal advocates say would also help reduce urban sprawl. The measure would charge developers based on the creation of "impervious surfaces" such as rooftops, driveways and parking lots that cannot be penetrated by stormwater, thus contributing to runoff into the bay. Development outside designated growth areas would be assessed at a higher rate, and builders could mitigate the fees by using environmentally friendly construction techniques.

‘Chesapeake Club' targets homeowner use of fertilizer
Virginia Farm Bureau Federation; March 15 2007
Homeowners use up to 10 times more chemical pesticides per acre on their lawns than farmers use on crops, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. During a rain, part of the pesticides and fertilizers put on lawns can end up contaminating streams or wetlands dozens of miles away. That runoff has prompted an awareness campaign urging homeowners to help keep local rivers and streams—and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay —clean.

Keeping Pollution Out Of Rivers, Bay; Low-impact development techniques making inroads here
Rusty Dennen, Fredericksburg Free Lance Star; March 11 2007
As land in the Fredericksburg area is draped with asphalt and rooftops, less water is seeping into the ground. When it rains, ever-increasing amounts of pollution-laden water and soil wind up in storm drains, running into the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers.What if more of that water went back into the ground? What if engineers could reinvent the natural process by which a forest sucks up vast amounts of water while filtering out contaminants that harm the rivers and the Chesapeake Bay ? That's the aim of a growing movement called low-impact development that is changing the face of some of the largest commercial building projects in the Fredericksburg area.

Report calls for updating flood maps
Randolph E. Schmid , Associated Press; February 2, 2007 Maps being used to calculate flood danger in the United States rely on data that are decades out of date, according to a report that calls for a new national program to remap land levels.

Recycled-water plan advances; Water board proposes rules; goal is to protect Va. rivers and aquifers
Rex Springston, Richmond Times Dispatch; March 10 2007
A proposal to recycle used water in Virginia got an initial go-ahead yesterday. The State Water Control Board proposed rules for the program, which is aimed primarily at protecting Virginia 's rivers and aquifers. Under the program, treated wastewater -- the less-than-pure liquid that sewage-treatment plants normally dump into rivers -- could be rerouted for activities that don't require drinking water.

Chesapeake Bay Health Forum Emphasizes Political Action
Washington Post; March 8, 2007
Politicians, scientists and community members met Saturday at St. Mary's College of Maryland to discuss the health of the St. Mary's River and Chesapeake Bay . Discussions centered on how to create political will and action to improve water quality but still build affordable, desirable housing for Southern Maryland's projected population growth. Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D), elected in November on a platform pledging strict enforcement of environmental laws, was the keynote speaker.

Conflict Resolution Expert to Head EPA Office
Washington Post; March 7 2007
An expert in resolving environmental disputes has been appointed to head the Environmental Protection Agency office for the Chesapeake Bay , taking over a massive but underachieving cleanup effort. … Lape will replace Rebecca Hanmer, who is retiring March 18 after heading the office for five years. He will inherit a cleanup effort that is running behind schedule: Bay program officials recently said that they were not on pace to meet goals for a healthy bay by 2010.

Virginia crab's future in a pinch; As crabbing season nears, scientists and watermen hope for a resurgence of blue crabs.
Patrick Lynch, Daily Press; March 15 2007
… But as the commercial season is set to open on Monday, the hardy, resilient blue crab - the iconic bottom-dweller of the Chesapeake , still one of the bay's most valuable fisheries - remains stuck near historic low population levels.

Think spinach is scary? What about water?
Roanoke Times; October 5, 2006
… Illegal sewage discharges used to be thought of simply as an environmental problem that affected frogs and fish. But that was before recent studies at the EPA and UCLA showed that these sewage-related diseases are now a human health- care crisis of epidemic proportions. In California , UCLA professor Linwood Pendleton estimates that 1.5 million people got sick last year in the Los Angeles area from sewage-related bacteria. The EPA says nationally 3.5 million people get diseases every year from sewage-borne E. coli. And if one-tenth of 1 percent of them die, that's 3,500 deaths a year from sewage-related diseases.

County Is Losing Woodland To Builders; Report: 20,000 Acres Have Disappeared
David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post; October 8, 2006
The Chesapeake Bay watershed is losing 100 acres of forest every day as development eats away at that crucial natural pollution filter, and more than a third of its wooded land could be gone by 2030, according to a new report. … In the Virginia suburbs, the largest losses of forest were in Fairfax County , which saw 25,000 acres, or 25.7 percent, disappear from 1984 to 2002; Prince William County , with 20,000 acres, or 16.8 percent; and Spotsylvania County , with 12,000 acres, or 6.5 percent.

Bay Program Ready to Study Less, Work More
David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post; September 26, 2006
The Environmental Protection Agency program charged with cleaning the Chesapeake Bay has decided to reorganize itself, a spokesman said yesterday, conceding that crucial goals for restoring the bay's health by 2010 are unlikely to be met without far-reaching changes. Mike Burke, a spokesman for the 23-year-old Chesapeake Bay Program, said leaders want a greater emphasis on "implementation" -- carrying out plans to solve the bay's problems.

Upgrade to Indian Head Wastewater Treatment Is Launched; $14 Million Project to Cut Nutrient Pollution in Bay
Philip Rucker, Washington Post; October 8, 2006
The Maryland Department of the Environment officially broke ground last week on a $14 million renovation of a wastewater treatment plant in Indian Head, the latest of 66 facilities across the state that are slated to be upgraded under the 2004 Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act. Renovations will enhance the Indian Head plant's nutrient removal technologies, which environmental officials said would help reduce by more than half the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus discharged into waterways.

Officials Testify at Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Hearing
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; May 4, 2006
On May 4, local, state, and federal officials provided testimony on H.R. 4126, the “Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Enhancement Act”, telling Congress that there is no way to clean up the Chesapeake Bay by 2010 as called for by the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement that was signed six years ago by the region's governors, state legislatures, and the EPA.

The Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Hearing on The Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization and H.R. 4126, The Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act of 2005
Over the last ten years, $3.7 billion in direct funding has been provided to the Program from the federal government and the states. Of this, $972 million has been provided by the federal government. An additional $1.9 billion in indirect funding has gone to programs that improve the health of the Bay. Also in the last ten years, the EPA has provided $1 billion to Maryland , Virginia , and Pennsylvania through the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund. EPA reports that some progress has been made in cleaning up the Bay, but many challenges remain. A Government Accountability Office report last year suggests that the reported improvements in the Bay may be overstated. To address the need to reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Program, our Subcommittee colleague, Wayne Gilchrest has introduced H.R. 4126, the “ Chesapeake Bay Restoration Enhancement Act of 2005.” … The bill would reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Program through 2011, with some modifications. H.R. 4126 would increase the accountability of the Program to achieve water quality goals and would increase the role of the local governments in Bay restoration. Also, the bill would increase authorized funding from $40 million to $50 million annually through 2011.

EPA Study Says American Streams in Trouble
Roddy Scheer, E-Magazine; May 17, 2006
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released some troubling findings last week from a four-year study on the condition of America 's streams. The agency concluded that 42 percent of the nation's shallow or "wadeable" streams were in poor environmental condition. Another 25 percent were considered only fair, leaving just 28 percent of streams in good condition. Perhaps not surprisingly, the streams that fared worst in the study were clustered primarily on the east coast, the most developed and crowded part of the country.

Suburban streams important to helping bay restoration
Alex Dominguez, Associated Press; May 24, 2006
Restoration efforts on streams in low density residential areas should yield the most nitrogen-reducing benefit for the Chesapeake Bay , a University of North Carolina researcher said Tuesday. … Getting the most nitrogen reduction from stream restoration also has large financial implications, Band said, noting Chesapeake Bay restoration is estimated to cost $18 billion and stream restoration in itself has become a multibillion dollar effort.

Ecosystem Health report paints sorry picture of Chesapeake; Graphs of data show no clear improvement trends for most of the parameters
Karl Blankenship, Bay Journal; May 2006
A new report on the health of the Chesapeake concludes that most of its water is “degraded,” critical habitats and food webs are “at risk” and many fish and shellfish populations are “below historic levels.” Overall, the “Ecosystem Health” report from the state-federal Bay Program paints a grim picture of the Chesapeake , showing the estuary is far away from goals set by the region's leaders to restore the Bay's water quality by 2010.

Oyster test will get closer look; U.S. Fish & Wildlife seeks Interior review of VA council's plan
Lawrence Latane, Richmond Times Dispatch; May 24, 2006
The federal government will take a closer look at a Virginia seafood-industry proposal to grow non-native oysters in the Chesapeake Bay this year. The decision yesterday comes after the discovery this month of a non-native ariakenksis oyster near Saxis Island on the Eastern Shore that was apparently left behind from a federally sanctioned test of the species in 2003.

No Shortcut to a Clean Chesapeake
Emily Saarman, Letters, Washington Post; May 28, 2006
Too much of a good thing can have unintended consequences -- even for a body of water. Excess nutrients are engorging this country's waterways, generating massive dead zones in some of the world's most valuable ecosystems, including the Chesapeake Bay . In the scramble for a solution, some regulators are casting about for quick fixes that, unfortunately, could cause more harm than good. In the Chesapeake , for example, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and several state agencies are considering the mass introduction of an exotic oyster species to clean the bay's waters.

Plant's absence is a key indicator of health of Chesapeake Bay
Scott Harper, The Virginian-Pilot; May 26, 2006
Record-high water temperatures last July and August are blamed for wiping out huge swaths of eelgrass, the dominant plant in Virginia's half of the Bay. Water temperatures rose above 86 degrees for 30 percent of the summer – a lethal statistic, plant-wise. Also known as submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV , such grasses provide vital habitat for baby crabs and fish, filter pollutants and sediments, breathe oxygen into waterways, and are staple foods for migratory waterfowl. While scientists are starting to see some recovery of grass beds this spring, they worry that another hot summer could be devastating to this canary-in-a-coal-mine species.

Bay's underwater grasses sprouting, but short of goals
Pamela Wood, Annapolis Capital; May 25, 2006
The acreage of vital underwater grasses in the Chesapeake Bay is increasing, but remains far short of cleanup goals, scientists announced this morning. Underwater grasses covered 78,260 acres of the bay and its rivers last year, an increase of 7 percent over 2004, according to a report released by the Chesapeake Bay Program, an Eastport-based joint program of federal and state governments. That acreage is just 42 percent of what the bay states hope to accomplish by 2010.

New EPA policy may put 111 Million Americans' Drinking Water at Risk Sue Mueller, foodconsumer.org; May 27, 2006
May 27 (foodconsumer.org) - Sierra Club, an environmental organization, released a report May 17 saying that more than 111 million Americans are subject to unhealthy drinking water because of the Environmental Protection Agency's policy to withhold Clean Water Act protections from headwater and seasonal streams. The report is based on EPA data, providing state-by-state information on drinking water supplies which rely, at least in part, on the small streams that are affected by the policy.

From the Source to the Tap: Why America's Drinking Water Sources are at Risk
Sierra Club; May 17, 2006
Headwater streams and wetlands — at risk because of the Bush administration's policy to withhold Clean Water Act enforcement — are critical to drinking water quality. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over 90% of surface water protection areas (for surface water intakes used for drinking water) contain headwater or intermittent streams. Furthermore, the EPA estimates that more than 110 million people get their drinking water from public drinking water systems which use these intakes (as well as other sources).

Troubled Waters: An analysis of Clean Water Act compliance, July 2003- December 2004
U.S. PIRG Education Fund; March 2006
When drafting the Clean Water Act in 1972, legislators set the goals of making all U.S. waterways fishable and swimmable by 1983 and eliminating the discharge of pollutants into the nation's waterways by 1985. More than 30 years later, we are far from realizing the Clean Water Act's original vision. Using information provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, this report analyzes all major facilitiesa violating their Clean Water Act permits between July 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004, reveals the type of pollutants they are discharging into our waterways, and details the extent to which these facilities are exceeding their permit levels.

Stafford overlay plan advances; Planning commissioners send Water Resources Overlay District ordinance to supervisors with suggestions Meghann Cotter, Fredericksburg Free Lance Star; May 18, 2006 Time for the Stafford Planning Commission to amend a proposed wetlands protection ordinance has expired. But commissioners say they aren't convinced the current product will be the most effective way to limit pollution going into the Chesapeake Bay . They voted unanimously last night to refer the ordinance to the Board of Supervisors with suggested modifications. The ordinance, called the Water Resources Protection Overlay District, would require more and wider buffers around streams, especially those next to steep slopes and highly erodible soils. County officials plan to approve guidelines for water protection, then decide which properties will be impacted.

Kaine sets high goal for Va. land preservation
Calvin Trice, Richmond Times Dispatch; April 21, 2006
Virginia has agreed with other Chesapeake Bay states to protect 20 percent of the bay watershed from development by 2010. While Maryland and Pennsylvania have met the goal, Kaine said, Virginia is 358,000 acres short. The governor said he believes the state can achieve his ambitious land preservation goal with tax credits for landowners who voluntarily set aside land for nondevelopment and through the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation.

Virginia gets breathing room on bay menhaden limits
Associated Press; May 11, 2006
Virginia has until July 1 to comply with a cap on the industrial harvest of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay . The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Menhaden Management Board could have found the state out of compliance with a previous commission order to limit the catch. Wednesday, however, the board delayed any action until its August meeting.

Justices uphold states' rights in Clean Water Act decision; Ruling affects about 1,500 power dams in 45 states
David G. Savage, Baltimore Sun; May 16, 2006
The Supreme Court sided with the environment over electric power yesterday, ruling that state regulators may require a steady flow of water over power dams to benefit both fish and kayakers. The unanimous decision holds that states may protect the health of their rivers, even though hydroelectric power dams are regulated exclusively by the federal government.

Justices Back States in Clean Water Act Ruling
David Stout, New York Times; May 15, 2006
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that states have broad authority to regulate their streams under the federal Clean Water Act, even in situations that do not involve control of "pollution" in the strict sense of the word. … "The dispute turns on the meaning of the word 'discharge,' " Justice David H. Souter wrote for the court. He went on to write that Warren 's attempts to define the word to its own purposes were not persuasive. Justice Souter wrote that the Clean Water Act, while not strictly defining "discharge," specifies that the term means a discharge of pollutants, among other things. And why not just go to Webster's Dictionary, which defines "discharge," as applied to water, to commonly mean "flowing or issuing out," the justice suggested.

Power Outage Unleashes Raw Sewage
D'Vera Cohn , Washington Post; May 20, 2006
Seventeen million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River yesterday after a three-hour power failure at the regional Blue Plains sewage treatment plant, with both the cause and impact of the accident in dispute. … it was the first total power failure at the plant, the region's largest, since 1992, when more than 17 million gallons of wastewater reached the Potomac.

Maryland Fails to Meet Bay Cleanup Goals
Connor Adams Sheets, Capital News service; March 17, 2006
The EPA now predicts that the states will collectively fail to meet certain C2K water quality initiatives by 2010. As a result, the federal agency revised its own water quality restoration plan, setting more attainable targets for the bay which will go into effect after the public comment period ends March 31. … As of 2005, only 39 percent of the C2K agreement's target - and, consequently, the existing EPA strategic plan's target - of restoring 185,000 acres of underwater bay grass throughout the bay had been achieved. Only 57 percent of the goal of full attainment of dissolved oxygen water quality standards in all of the bay's tidal waters had been reached. As a result of these shortfalls, the EPA wants to set its aim significantly lower for the two initiatives.

New bay-cleanup program proposed; Program would allow firms to trade credits as financial incentive to reduce pollution
Rex Springston, Richmond Times Dispatch; March 16, 2006
We have markets for food. We have markets for stock. Why not a market to buy a piece of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup? The State Water Control Board proposed regulations yesterday that would create such a market. Under the proposal, sewage-treatment plants and factories that reduce pollution more than the state requires can obtain credits they can sell to plants and factories that have trouble complying.

Chesapeake Bay stripers in trouble
Bill Cochran, Roanoke Times; March 16, 2006
Anglers were shocked the past weekend when news reports quoted Maryland officials who said that 75 percent of the striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay are infected with a wasting disease that can kill this popular fish and even cause a severe skin infection in humans. The epidemic is called mycobacteriosis and is the result of pollution, the officials said. The striped bass population has made a miraculous recovery, but scientists say the Bay is too polluted to support the level of life it once did.  

Chesapeake's Rockfish Overrun by Disease; Epidemic Hits Species Hailed for Revival, Then Weakened by Polluted Waters
Elizabeth Williamson , Washington Post; March 11, 2006
A wasting disease that kills rockfish and can cause a severe skin infection in humans has spread to nearly three-quarters of the rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay , cradle of the mid-Atlantic's most popular game fish. The mycobacteriosis epidemic could carry profound implications for the rockfish, also known as striped bass. The fish fuel a $300 million industry in Maryland and Virginia , but because the bacteria kill slowly, effects on the stock are only now emerging.

That'll Anacostia; A plan to spruce up D.C.'s Anacostia River has some residents anxious
Ethan Goffman, Grist Magazine; March 15, 2006
In the southeast corner of Washington , D.C. , the capital of the most powerful nation in history, lies a polluted, neglected neighborhood known as Anacostia. Slated for a grand renewal project centered on the local river that gives it its name, the area stands at the juncture of poverty and opportunity. If plans move forward, it will one day be a showcase of urban design, with revitalized neighborhoods, verdant parks, rolling pedestrian and bicycle paths, and an occasional eagle soaring overhead -- in other words, a paradise. Today, Anacostia is more of a nightmare.

A test of US authority over waterways; A high court case Tuesday probes which bodies of water fall under the Clean Water Act - and federal oversight.
Warren Richey, Christian Science Monitor; February 21, 2006
The dispute is one of two cases consolidated for oral argument Tuesday examining just how far upstream the Clean Water Act (CWA) extends federal jurisdiction. Is it limited to lakes and rivers? Or does it include remote wetlands with no link to them? At stake: how broadly the clean water law will be applied nationwide and, potentially, whether a broad application of the law is consistent with the proper constitutional balance of power between the federal government and the states. At the center of the dispute is a discrepancy between the words Congress used when it wrote the CWA and the regulations the US Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency wrote later to enforce the clean water law.

From puddles to pollution: Potomac's sewage overflow problem
Rob Carey, Bay Journal; October 2001
… Toxic sewage overflow is not a problem specific to the District, as other cities along the Potomac have also been identified with this form of pollution. The government and the public are aware of this issue and are taking steps to resolve it. But the challenges to implement a solution are monumental, and progress is slow. A historical look at the sewer systems along the Potomac explains why sewage overflows into the watershed occur.

Wildlife on the run; A two-person state office is struggling to steer development away from 925
Richmond Times Dispatch; March 24 2007
The call of whippoorwills and bobwhites is being replaced by the noise of traffic and construction. Poor water quality threatens rare mussels and other water creatures. Development, forest and farming practices are breaking up wildlife haunts. ... A two-person office in the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is trying to work with local governments to steer development in the fast-growing state away from sensitive wildlife. In Powhatan, Loudoun and Richmond counties and elsewhere, the office is trying to meet the lofty goals of a conservation plan that lists 925 creatures as imperiled. David Whitehurst, director of the department's wildlife diversity and information and education divisions, is frustrated.

Bald eagles in middle of debate on bridge; In Richmond County, 40 pairs nest within 10 miles of river bluffs
Richmond Times Dispatch; March 24 2006
... When county supervisors lamented delays in a bridge replacement last year, they made eagles the scapegoat: Construction was stalled to give biologists time to decide whether eagles would be disturbed if the new bridge was built high enough to allow motorboat traffic for the first time. "They're just a bunch of white-headed buzzards," groused Supervisor Randolph Packett, eager for a new bridge. Ultimately, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service agreed with the design of the new span, which will cross eagle-laden Cat Point Creek.

Arborists attuned to spreading chestnut trees
Fauquier Times Democrat; March 21 2007
At one time, the American chestnut tree reigned over more than 200 million acres, stretching from Maine to Florida and accounted for one in every four hardwood trees in Eastern forests, according to The American Chestnut Foundation. The tree was wiped out by the chestnut blight in the early 20th century, and in 1983 TACF formed to address the impact of the tree's near extinction.

New segments would join national one
Potomac News; March 26 2007
The Northern Virginia Regional Commission recently received more than $850,000 from federal and state governments that will go to constructing segments of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, a portion of which runs through part of Prince William County. Doug Pickford, Director of Environmental and Heritage Resources for the commission, said the $680,000 congressional earmark and the $17,000 state match, although relatively minimal, will assist at least three trails projects in Prince William, Alexandria and near the boundary of Loudon and Fairfax counties.

Brickley leads call for more area trails
Potomac News; March 26 2007
Brickley worries, though, that budget shortfalls mixed with a park authority already operating on a limited budget could have direct effects on the county's ability to expand its trail system. The ironic thing, Brickley said, is trails are among the most demanded amenities in the state. Trails for hiking and bicycling have consistently placed on the top of the Virginia Outdoors Survey, which asks Virginians what they think of the open space and natural resources in the state.

Eagle Population Up, But Prime Habitat Threatened
Elizabeth Shogren, NPR; March 14 2007
As the federal government gears up to take the bald eagle off the endangered species list, biologists worry that the fast pace of waterfront development in key eagle habitat could make the majestic bird's robust numbers fleeting.

Eagles Vie with Landowners for Waterfront Property
Elizabeth Shogren, NPR; March 14 2007
Despite the bird's booming populations, biologists are concerned that prime eagle habitat is rapidly being taken over by development. Because most of the eagles on the East Coast nest on private land, decisions made by landowners help determine the fate of the eagle.

Fairfax to lead national green initiative
Michelle Zimmermann, Fairfax County Times; March 16 2007
Fairfax will partner with the Sierra Club to develop a proposal to green up counties across the country, in an announcement made Thursday. Chairman of the Fairfax County board, Gerry Connolly (D), said that, as a result of a discussion in December, Fairfax 's environmental committee and members of the Sierra Club came up with an idea that would encourage counties across the country to embrace environmentally friendly practices. Based somewhat on the existing "Cool Cities" program, in which cities across the country sign compacts to pursue alternative energy and vehicle solutions, "Cool Counties" would take that a step further.

Big Homebuilders Lag on Green Building
Associated Press; March 7 2007
Green building as a cause has united disparate parties from environmental groups to big business to policymakers, but one key industry has struggled to react to the change in public sentiment. The major homebuilders, who account for 80 percent of all homebuilding activity in the nation, face a unique challenge in implementing green building on a widespread scale. Many have added energy-saving features and experimented with environmentally friendly materials but have not yet been able to sign on a critical mass of buyers willing to pay more for them.

America's Greenest Buildings
Hannah Clark, Forbes; February 2007
… Green building is a growing trend, in part because companies have realized they can actually save money by making a few environmentally friendly upgrades. Adobe Systems, for example, says it has spent $650,000 since 2001 to upgrade two San Jose buildings, and saved $728,000. The California Environmental Protection Agency spent $500,000 to make its building environmentally friendly, and is saving $610,000 a year. The upgrades also increased the building's value by $12 million, according to the USGBC. "The return on that investment is really high," Hicks says.

Snakeheads Appear at Home in the Potomac; Fish Are Spreading, but They Haven't Driven Out Bass
David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post; October 2, 2006
The northern snakehead fish seems to be expanding its territory in the Potomac River , government researchers say, after a year in which the toothy Asian transplant has appeared in new places and at higher concentrations across the area.

EPA chided over 'intersex' fish concerns
Brian Westley, Associated Press; October 5, 2006
Federal lawmakers Wednesday criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for not moving faster to determine whether "intersex" fish in the Potomac River and its tributaries signal the presence of pollutants that might be harmful to humans.

Shifting Course For River Festival, Before Celebration, Summit to Focus on Cleaning Patuxent
William Wan, Washington Post; October 5, 2006
The Calvert Marine Museum will host its 29th annual Patuxent River Appreciation Days this weekend with a renewed focus on the river itself. Organizers said this week that in recent years, the event has become too much like the many other annual festivals in Calvert County . And, meanwhile, the river that inspired the festivities has continued to deteriorate.

U.N. Says Sewage Growing Coastal Problem
Mike Corder, Associated Press; October 4, 2006
… "We perhaps in the 20th century thought we could use the oceans as our sewage treatment plants," Steiner told reporters in The Hague . "This sewage is not just something that goes into the sea and the sea does it for us anymore."

Going Green; With windmills, low-energy homes, new forms of recycling and fuel-efficient cars, Americans are taking conservation into their own hands.
Newsweek; July 2006
… Environmentalism waxes and wanes in importance in American politics, but it appears to be on the upswing now. Membership in the Sierra Club is up by about a third, to 800,000, in four years, and Gallup polling data show that the number of Americans who say they worry about the environment "a great deal" or "a fair amount" increased from 62 to 77 percent between 2004 and 2006. (The 2006 poll was done in March, before the attention-getting release of Al Gore's global-warming film, "An Inconvenient Truth.")

The environmental load of 300 million: How heavy? As the US population rises, environmental problems that were once pushed aside may get worse, experts say.
Christian Science Monitor, September 26, 2006
… Some experts put the average American's "ecological footprint" - the amount of land and water needed to support an individual and absorb his or her waste - at 24 acres. By that calculation, the long-term "carrying capacity" of the US would sustain less than half of the nation's current population. "The US is the only industrialized nation in the world experiencing significant population growth," says Vicky Markham, of the Center for Environment and Population, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization in New Canaan, Conn. "That, combined with America's high rates of resource consumption, results in the largest ... environmental impact [of any nation] in the world."

2 Baby Eagles Saved After Storm; Birds, Shaken but Unhurt, Are Being Raised at Va. Facility
Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post; May 24, 2006
Two baby bald eagles found themselves on the ground after a windstorm blew through Prince William County last week, toppling their tree and their nest, according to wildlife specialists who scooped up the defenseless young birds and are trying to raise them. A crew working on a housing development in Gainesville discovered the eaglets Friday near the edge of a lake on 300 acres of largely wooded land. Their nest, as well as the tree that had held it, were on the ground, according to Priscilla Joyner, a veterinarian at the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro . Workers contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which in turn notified wildlife center staff.

Tree loss costs add up to $1B for southeast Michigan taxpayers; A study shows surge in regional development and stormwater runoff that follows add up
Amy Lee, Detroit News; May 22, 2006
Cutting trees to make way for development not only hurts the environment, it hits taxpayers squarely in the wallet, a new study says. Cities in southeast Michigan have spent about $1 billion over the past 10 years to deal with stormwater runoff in places where pavement has replaced soil and tree roots, according to the report.

Baby Bear Captured In Prince William Neighborhood; Animal Control Officers Corner Bear in Tree
NBC; May 17, 2006
A baby black bear was caught wandering around a Virginia neighborhood. The bear was first spotted near Tyler Elementary School in Gainesville on Tuesday. The school was locked down as animal control officers searched for the animal, but they were unable to locate it. It was seen again Wednesday in a tree near route 29 at Linton Hall Road in Prince William County . Officers used a tranquilizer gun to shoot the bear. It was then taken to an animal control facility. The baby bear will be checked over and released back into the wilderness.

Why suburbs will never have tall trees
Kenneth Kidd, Toronto Star; May 7, 2006
… Behind the signs announcing a new subdivision, monstrous tractors and earth-moving equipment will be chugging across the landscape, preparing what might have been a farmer's field for a sea of houses. Off to one side, there'll be a giant pile of earth — all of the topsoil that had been scraped away and set aside so the machines could grade the site for drainage, sewers and roads. Then the houses duly go up, some of that topsoil gets put back for the lawns, and in come the happy new homeowners dreaming of a green and leafy suburb to be. There's just one snag: It may be decades before the place will begin to support the kind of trees the homeowners want.

Why forests matter: Not out of the woods just yet
Don Melnick and Mary Pearl The New York Times; April 20, 2006
Our forests are the heart of our environmental support system. And yet, in the 36 years that have passed since the first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970 , we have lost more than 1 billion acres of forest, with no end in sight. … Everywhere, forests prevent erosion, filter and regulate the flow of fresh water, protect coral reefs and fisheries and harbor animals that pollinate, control pests and buffer disease. That is why the single most important action we can take to protect lives and livelihoods worldwide is to protect forests. And one of the best ways to do that is to change how we think about their economics.

Area scientists try to get a handle on snakefish; Study of location, habits part of mission to 'contain,' if not 'eradicate'
Candus Thomson, Baltimore Sun; May 12, 2006
… Faced with a congressional mandate to "contain and eradicate" the invasive species nicknamed "Frankenfish," Maryland and Virginia biologists are trying to pinpoint where it lives and how quickly it reproduces. The number of reports from recreational fishermen this year indicates that the voracious predator is breeding and growing at prolific rates in Potomac River tributaries such as Dogue Creek. ... "The bottom line is, we're not going to eradicate them, so we've got to figure out how to control them," Odenkirk says.

Tax Break Credited In Saving Va. Land; State Is a Leader In Conservation Amy Gardner , Washington Pos; May 16, 2006 As growth spreads west from Washington along the Piedmont , record numbers of property owners are protecting their land from development by using a little-known state tax credit that has transformed Virginia into a national leader of private land conservation. In the six years since the General Assembly enacted a tax credit for landowners who place their property under conservation easements, the number of such easements has skyrocketed. In 1995, landowners donated fewer than 6,000 acres; last year, the figure exceeded 35,000, according to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.

Successful zebra mussel eradication in Va. could be national model Mike Rupert , Washington Examiner; May 12, 2006 The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries announced Thursday that the notorious invasive aquatic species was successfully eradicated from the Millwork Quarry — the first successful extermination of the mussels from a large, open body of water in North America and perhaps the world, officials said.

Virginia Confirms First Successful Open Water Eradication of Zebra Mussels Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries Press Release; May 10, 2006 … Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources L. Preston Bryant, Jr. said of the successful eradication, "The existence of zebra mussels in Virginia posed a very real threat to our natural resources and to our economy. The price of eradication was small compared to the potential millions of dollars that would have been needed to control zebra mussels had they escaped into adjacent waters, not to mention the permanent impact on the environment of the Commonwealth.

More shad to appear in area rivers Lillian Kafka, Potomac News; May 17, 2006 Louis Harley and his son Michael, of Harley and Sons Live Fish Co., were especially happy Tuesday as 170,000 shad fry swam from a tank into the Occoquan River . David Peterson, an animal caretaker for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, crouched at the edge of a boat ramp at Occoquan Regional Park and held a hose that spewed the tiny fish into the water.

A River Under Siege; Shenandoah Makes List of Most-Endangered Waterways
Stephanie McCrummen , Washington Post; April 20, 2006
Paved driveways, parking lots, roads and other trappings of encroaching development are threatening the health of the delicate and storied Shenandoah River , which made its grim debut yesterday on an annual list of the nation's 10 most-endangered rivers.

America's Ten Most Endangered Rivers
American Rivers ; April 2006

Waterford Foundation buys Hutchison Farm Jana Renn, Loudoun Times Mirror' May 16, 2006 The Waterford Foundation recently purchased a 25-acre parcel from the Hutchison family in the Waterford National Historic Landmark, according to Jennifer Worcester, Waterford Foundation spokeswoman. … "A conservation easement and restrictive covenants will reduce the density of the 25-acre parcel to one home site before it is resold to a conservation-minded buyer," Worcester said. The Hutchison family is also reducing the density of an adjoining 25 acres to allow only two home sites.

Prince William Probes Builders; Anonymous Letter Cites Soil Dangers
Nikita Stewart , Washington Post; February 12, 2006
Prince William County officials are investigating whether two major developers built houses on bad soil that could, over time, crack the foundations of the homes and possibly cause landslides. At issue are Port Potomac , a 982-home development in Woodbridge built by Vienna-based KSI Services, and Four Seasons at Historic Virginia , an 800-home retirement community built by national developer K. Hovnanian . Both projects are in eastern Prince William, long known for its marine clay, a temperamental soil that shrinks and swells depending on moisture.

Port Potomac OK'd for inspections
Keith Walker, Potomac News, March 4, 2006
Prince William County officials have lifted a ban on final inspections at the Port Potomac development, clearing the way for 39 homes to go to closing in the Woodbridge subdivision. … KSI hired independent engineers to test the soil and found that the soil mix was safe for building, Mays said. Sand was used to stabilize the clay, said Thomas Williamson, a senior vice president for KSI. … When they got the records, county engineers reviewed them and determined that the fill material was acceptable and the buildings were safe. "I accepted that data as evidence that the soil work was done correctly," Mays said.

County to test Four Seasons soil
Keith Walker, Potomac News ; March 17, 2006
Prince William County Building Official Eric Mays recently mailed right-of-entry agreements to homeowners in the Four Seasons development. The agreements would allow county representatives to enter private property to take soil testings. In February, members of the Four Seasons community received an anonymous letter saying topsoil may have been used as fill material during construction in the development that is west of Interstate 95 at Va. 234. County building officials want to determine if topsoil was used, Mays said. … Four Seasons developer K. Hovnanian has agreed to work with the county in testing the soil, Mays said.

Orange supervisors move ahead with water-supply planning; Orange County supervisors agree to accept grant to begin study on water supply
Robin Knepper, Fredericksburg Free Lance Star; March 16, 2006
Orange County supervisors have voted unanimously to accept state grant money to help pay for the preparation of a water-supply plan for the county. Orange County was one of six localities in the state to receive the grant funds made available by the Department of Environmental Quality. The $50,000 grant was awarded on behalf of the county, the towns of Orange and Gordonsville, the Rapidan Service Authority and the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission.

Virginia Water Supply Planning Program The Code of Virginia, as amended by Senate Bill 1221 in 2003 (Section 62.1-44.38:1) requires the development of a comprehensive statewide water supply planning process to (1) ensure that adequate and safe drinking water is available to all citizens of the Commonwealth, (2) encourage, promote, and protect all other beneficial uses of the Commonwealth's water resources, and (3) encourage, promote, and develop incentives for alternative water sources, including but not limited to desalinization.

Landfill looks to transform
Aileen Streng, Potomac News; February 12, 2006
Taking down Potomac Landfill would not pose any new problems to neighboring residents and would ultimately benefit all, according to its manager. …. Reed said they envision turning most of the land into a business and office park, which would benefit the town by adding to its tax base and increase property values in the surrounding area. Potomac Landfill also has offered to donate land to the town for recreational use.

Storm Water Ponds Draining Budget; County May Raise Fees to Meet Needs
Nikita Stewart, Washington Post; February 12, 2006
Prince William County is running out of money to manage a growing number of storm water management ponds as more houses are built. From fiscal 2002 to fiscal 2005, the number of storm water management ponds maintained by the county increased from 383 to 534, or 39 percent. … A report by the county Department of Public Works lists several costly items that far exceed the $3.8 million in fees, including $6 million to repair and build a levee for Flat Branch, a tributary of Bull Run northwest of Manassas and Manassas Park.

Prince William Probes Builders
Nikita Stewart, Washington Post; February 12, 2006
"Prince William County officials are investigating whether two major developers built houses on bad soil that could, over time, crack the foundations of the homes and possibly cause landslides. At issue are Port Potomac, a 982-home development in Woodbridge built by Vienna-based KSI Services, and Four Seasons at Historic Virginia, an 800-home retirement community built by national developer K. Hovnanian. Both projects are in eastern Prince William, long known for its marine clay, a temperamental soil that shrinks and swells depending on moisture..."

Potomac agreement vital to city's growth; City now has only 162,000 gallons of water available for new development
Business Gazette; Feb. 9, 2006
The City of Frederick is coming up dry in its search for additional sources of water and is depending heavily on the Potomac River pipeline project to provide water for new development. The city has 162,000 gallons of water left to allocate for development, and most of that is for businesses. Only 148 gallons of it is earmarked for homes. … The city is pinning its hopes on Frederick County's $100 million Potomac pipeline project to deliver up to 8 million gallons to city users over the next decade.

Prince William Probes Builders; Anonymous Letter Cites Soil Dangers
Nikita Stewart, Washington Post; February 12, 2006
Prince William County officials are investigating whether two major developers built houses on bad soil that could, over time, crack the foundations of the homes and possibly cause landslides. At issue are Port Potomac, a 982-home development in Woodbridge built by Vienna-based KSI Services, and Four Seasons at Historic Virginia, an 800-home retirement community built by national developer K. Hovnanian. Both projects are in eastern Prince William, long known for its marine clay, a temperamental soil that shrinks and swells depending on moisture.

Groundwater Toxin Found at Additional D.C. Sites; Officials Want to Know if Contaminant, Detected at High Levels, Could Reach Reservoir
Susan Levine, Washington Post, February 18, 2006
More testing for groundwater problems in Northwest Washington neighborhoods where the U.S. Army researched chemical weapons during World War I has found new locations of perchlorate contamination, at some of the highest levels detected to date, according to officials. Undetermined is whether the contamination could end up in the Dalecarlia Reservoir or the Washington Aqueduct, both of which supply drinking water to more than 1 million people in the metropolitan area.

Allegheny: Proposed Line Can't Be Buried
Winchester Star; September 29, 2006
Allegheny Power officials say they will not bury transmission lines that could obscure the views that thousands of property owners have tried to protect. … Allegheny and Dominion Power are deciding where to place a 240-mile 500-kilovolt transmission line that will connect five substations. The high-voltage line would start in Pennsylvania and cross into West Virginia and Virginia — through Clarke, Frederick, Warren, Prince William, and Loudoun counties.

Judge suggests way to settle Crow's Nest issues
Meghann Cotter, Fredericksburg Free Lance Star; September 26, 2006
A Circuit Court judge agreed yesterday to hear evidence in a case involving the denial of a subdivision plan for Crow's Nest. A trial date will be set soon. But Judge H. Harrison Braxton encouraged Stafford County to first consider giving the landowner an opportunity to resolve its issues with the Planning Commission. He cannot legally order them to do so.

New laws assist conservation easements
Charity Corkey, Clarke Times Democrat; September 27, 2006
Recent federal and state adjustments are improving tax incentives for the conservation of private land. A new federal law concerning conservation easements donated in 2006 and 2007 will raise the maximum deduction from 30 to 50 percent of a donor's adjusted gross income, permit qualified ranchers and farmers up to a 100 percent deduction of their adjusted gross income and allow donors to benefit from a deduction up to 15 years after the original donation, instead of five years.

Wolf: National Heritage Area Would Boost Tourism
Winchester Star; September 29, 2006
Legislation to create a national heritage area in the region would promote tourism, Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-10th, told the House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks on Thursday. “It will help link national parks to historical sites, package tourism opportunities, and provide financial and technical support for sites in the corridor,” Wolf told the subcommittee, according to a statement from his office in Washington . The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area would protect a 175-mile area from Gettysburg , Pa. , to Charlottesville ...

Credit Where It's Due
Editorial, Richmond Times-Dispatch; May 22, 2006
Politics can make for strange bedfellows, and strange bedfellows can make sound policy. Such is the case with Virginia 's program granting tax credits for conservation easements, which enjoys support from both right-wing tax-cutters and left-wing environmentalists. Individuals who place their land under control of a conservation easement rather than, say, sell it to a developer receive tax credits worth half the value of the easement. Land that might bring $10 million if sold for development might bring $5 million if handed over to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, a state agency. The landowner can receive further breaks on federal taxes and on local real-estate taxes, all the while continuing to enjoy the use of his property.

Crow's Nest offer is $30.5 million; Stafford supervisors are waiting to see if a McLean developer will accept that amount for land.
Meghann Cotter, Fredericksburg Free Lance Star; May 24, 2006
Stafford supervisors are waiting to hear whether a McLean developer will accept the county's offer to buy Crow's Nest for $30.5 million. K&M Properties, which plans to develop the environmentally sensitive peninsula, received the offer Friday. It must respond in 30 days. Attorney Clark Leming, who represents the company, said he has no comment at this time. Crow's Nest, which sits between the Potomac and Accokeek creeks, is home to some rare plant and animal species. It has more than 1,000 acres of virgin forest. The tract has been the subject of controversy since negotiations between K&M and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation fell through in 2004. Environmentalists want the county to buy the land for a state nature preserve. But K&M, which wants to cash-in on its long-term investment, is seeking approval to put 688 homes on 3,230 acres of the peninsula. The Stafford Planning Commission rejected K&M's preliminary subdivision plan in January. The firm has appealed that decision to Circuit Court.

BP gives 655 acres for nature preserve
Steve Vaughan, Virginia Gazette; May 24, 2006
BP America is donating 655 acres of woods and wetlands along the York River to the Nature Conservancy. It will manage the land as a preserve until it transfers the acreage to a government conservation agency. The site, which was held back from the sale of the refinery to Giant Industries in 2002, is adjacent to the refinery property, but should have no impact on the plant's newly announced expansion. … The river is becoming an environmental enclave with the BP donation following 1,600 acres donated to the Williamsburg Land Conservancy in New Kent County by the York River Preserve, out of Richmond.

Interest Surges In Saving Land; St. Mary's Seeing Record Requests for Agricultural Use
Dan Zak, Washington Post; May 18, 2006
A record number of St. Mary's County landowners have applied for a record amount of state funds allocated for agricultural preservation in Maryland for 2007. Around 1,500 acres of county land will be considered by the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, which has $89.5 million to spend in the coming fiscal year for the appraisal of properties and purchase of easements across the state.

Easement Hearing To Be Packed
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, February 11, 2006
"Fredericksburg is expecting hundreds of people to come tell the City Council what they think about a proposed conservation easement on land the city owns along the Rappahannock River. In order to accommodate a crowd that big, the public hearing on the easement, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Feb. 21, has been moved to the auditorium at James Monroe High School..."

WHO: Air Pollution Kills 2M Folks a Year
Teresa Cerojano, Associated Press; October 5, 2006
The World Health Organization called on governments Thursday to improve air quality in their cities, saying air pollution prematurely kills two million people a year, with more than half the deaths in developing countries. Reducing pollution from particles that are too small to be filtered in the nose and throat and settle in the lungs could save as many as 300,000 lives every year … Particulate matter pollution is considered the biggest health risk. But the WHO Air Quality Guidelines also recommended lowering the daily allowed limits for ozone.

Number of Smoggy Days Falls, Study Says; Region Still Needs to Cut Pollution Under U.S. Clean Air Standards
David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post; September 28, 2006
The number of dangerously smoggy days in the Washington area has declined by more than 40 percent since 2003, but the region still does not meet federal standards for healthy air, according to data released yesterday. From 2003 to 2006, the region has had 63 days in which the levels of ground-level ozone -- a harmful gas formed when the sun heats polluted air -- was high enough for Code Orange, Code Red or Code Purple warnings. From 1999 to 2002, there were 114 such days, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

Virginia Air Quality Conditions and Forecasts
The U.S. EPA, NOAA, NPS, tribal, state, and local agencies developed the AIRNow Web site to provide the public with easy access to national air quality information. The Web site offers daily AQI forecasts as well as real-time AQI conditions for over 300 cities across the US , and provides links to more detailed State and local air quality Web sites.

National Park Service Web Cameras
The National Park Service operates digital cameras at many parks to help educate the public on air quality issues. These cameras often show the effects of air pollution such as visibility impairment. Because these cameras are typically located near air quality monitoring sites, the camera web pages display other information along with the photo such as current levels of ozone, particulate matter, or sulfur dioxide air pollutants, visual range, and weather conditions.

Record Increase in U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reported
Environment News Service; April 18, 2006
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions during 2004 increased by 1.7 percent from the previous year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which released the figures Monday. This was the largest annual amount ever produced by any country on record, said The Royal Society, the UK national academy of science, warning that urgent action is needed to curb emissions.

State of the Air: 2006 Report Virginia Receives “F” for Smog and “B” for Soot Pollution; Fairfax Joins List of Top 25 Most Polluted Counties
American Lung Association; April 27, 2006

History in the Shadow of Bull Run Mountain; Evergreen Farm Residents Restoring Old Manor House
Ann Cameron Siegal, Washington Post; May 20, 2006
Living amid mountain views and manicured lawns, where only the sounds of birds or the occasional hum of golf carts break the early morning silence, it would be easy to sit back, put your feet up and not have a care in the world. And yet, as Mary Banwarth and some neighbors set out on frequent five-mile, 5:30 a.m. treks through the neighborhood, conversations turn from Evergreen Farm's resort-like surroundings to the community's current passion -- the renovation of a manor house built in 1827.

A growth spurt; Booms in 8 Va. localities make national list
Richmond Times Dispatch; March 23 2007
... Overall, Virginia's population grew 8 percent since the last census, to an estimated 7.6 million, the bureau said. The fastest growing counties, such as New Kent, are once-rural fringes of the state's cities. The national Top 100 list also includes Loudoun, Spotsylvania, Culpeper, Stafford, King George and Prince William counties, as well as the city of Suffolk.

Growth Cooling in D.C. Suburbs, Census Data Show
Washington Post; March 22 2007
The galloping growth of Washington's outer Virginia suburbs is slowing at last, according to Census Bureau estimates to be released today, with high housing costs beginning to dull the appeal of counties that have long been a magnet for newcomers. ... "There's still growth in the Washington region, and there's still migration from the inside of the doughnut to the periphery. But it's kind of slacking," said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. "From being a very fast-growing exurban place, Washington has now come down to more normal levels."

Weak Market Nationwide Reaches Area as Prices Stagnate
Washington Post; March 25 2007
Once again, it all came down to location. Even though the dizzying climb in Washington area home prices generally slammed to a halt last year, the market varied notably around the region. While Northern Virginia experienced sharply lower sales and stagnant prices, the slowdown was not as abrupt elsewhere, according to a Washington Post analysis of government sales records for single-family houses and townhouses. ... The most expensive of the 13 jurisdictions surveyed remained Alexandria, with a median sales price of $599,000 for houses and townhouses. ... Median prices also remained more than $500,000 in Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties. Prince William was the least expensive of the Northern Virginia counties, with a median price of $410,000.

A House of Dreams but Few Takers Despite Inspiring Many, Quantico's Lustrons Hard to Unload
Washington Post; March 25 2007
Grand schemes to save the Lustron homes of Quantico Marine Corps Base began floating into Prince William County last summer, not long after word got out that anyone interested in the quirky postwar-era metal houses could get one free. Some said the Lustrons should be relocated to the Gulf Coast, to be used as sturdy shelters for hurricane victims. Another proposal sought to ship them to the desert town of Snowflake, Ariz., where they could serve as hypoallergenic homes for a community of plasterboard-averse residents afflicted with multiple chemical sensitivity.

College hosts BRAC discussion
Potomac News; March 20 2007
Business owners should begin preparing now if they want to take advantage of the regional opportunities that will come to Prince William County as a result of Base Realignment and Closure 2005, economic development professionals said during a focus group Monday on the Woodbridge Campus of Northern Virginia Community College.

Growth Ushers in Stewart's Tenure, Harbor Station Expansion Passes
Timothy Dwyer, Washington Post; November 26, 2006
The Corey A. Stewart era began last week with the new chairman presiding over his first meeting of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, and the day reflected the complexities of the challenges facing the board as the county continues its unprecedented population growth and development. In Tuesday's afternoon session, Supervisor W.S. Covington III (R-Brentsville) introduced a resolution calling for a one-year freeze on housing construction. In the evening, the board voted 4 to 2 to approve 1,400 houses as part of an expansion of KSI Services Inc.'s Harbor Station development on the Cherry Hill Peninsula . Covington voted to approve the new houses. Stewart, who based his campaign for chairman on controlling growth, opposed it, as did Supervisor John T. Stirrup (R-Gainesville).

Harbor Station gets OK
Keith Walker, Potomac News; December 23, 2006
The board's approval Tuesday night of the three action items made way for KSI to build an additional 1,487 residential units, a public boat pier and a 51-acre marina with 480 slips … Prince William County Chairman Corey A. Stewart and Supervisor John T. Stirrup, R-Gainesville, voted against the package. "The one thing I cannot support is the substantial increase in the number of residential units along the Route 1 corridor," Stewart said. Stewart also objected to the order of the development. KSI could build the residential units first and ignore the commercial, he said.

Hoping Corps Lore Lures in Tourists; Triangle's $90 Million Museum Expected to Be Area's 3rd-Largest Attraction
Nick Miroff, Washington Post; November 19, 2006
With the recent opening of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, county officials are hoping Prince William will now be targeted by a massive invading force -- cash-wielding tourists. The $90 million museum is expected to draw 300,000 visitors a year, making it the third-largest tourist destination in the county, after Potomac Mills and the Manassas National Battlefield Park .

A Home for Whom? Affordable housing in Prince William County
A three-art series by Daniel Gilbert, Potomac News; October-November 2006

Down and outside
For the homeless, a home is getting harder to reach
Little about Kim Tyson's story is out of the ordinary. Kicked out of a friend's home, losing her means of transportation and her job - all well-worn steps on the path to homelessness.

Affordable no more
Housing costs cut into incomes, price some out of county
Bonnie Ditzel and L'Oreal Ramey live in a community they could not possibly afford on their own. The two single mothers are residents of a transitional housing facility in Bristow.

County Is Losing Woodland To Builders; Report: 20,000 Acres Have Disappeared
David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post; October 8, 2006
The Chesapeake Bay watershed is losing 100 acres of forest every day as development eats away at that crucial natural pollution filter, and more than a third of its wooded land could be gone by 2030, according to a new report. … In the Virginia suburbs, the largest losses of forest were in Fairfax County, which saw 25,000 acres, or 25.7 percent, disappear from 1984 to 2002; Prince William County, with 20,000 acres, or 16.8 percent; and Spotsylvania County , with 12,000 acres, or 6.5 percent.

Front-Row Seating for Nature's Parade; Wooded, Waterfront Setting Attracts More Than Just People
Ann Cameron Siegal, Washington Post; October 7, 2006
Carol Chambers once found a timber rattler napping on her front stoop. However, that unsettling occurrence has long since been overshadowed by the many delightful nature encounters she and her husband, Frank, enjoy on their wooded, waterfront property in Waterview Plantation.

Peninsula district wins OK
Elisa Glushefski, Potomac News; October 6, 2006
KSI, a Vienna-based developer, got approval from the Prince William Planning Commission for 1,487 residential units and an employment center on the Cherry Hill peninsula.

County supervisors approve new development on Centreville Road
Christy Goodman, The Examiner; October 5, 2006
Prince William County supervisors approved a 110-dwelling unit development Tuesday night on 13.5 acres off Centreville Road . The Yorkshire property will also feature four single-family homes and a 25,000-square-foot office building. … “Transportation problems are a big negative in that corridor. Converting this in the mix, over [the] commercial zoning that it was, actually makes traffic better,” said Covington , who added he hopes the office space comes online before the residential.

Planners approve topping off The Glen
Elisa Glushefski, Potomac News; October 7, 2006
The Prince William Planning Commission approved two proposals, one of which calls for 53,640 square feet of commercial space, that will top-off The Glen development off Old Bridge Road .

Catholic charity gets $500,000 to build cheap homes for county employees
Tara Slate Donaldson, Gainesville Times; September 7, 2006
A Catholics For Housing plan to build affordable homes on Linton Hall Road was saved on Tuesday when the Prince William Board of County Supervisors gave the charity $500,000. The money will be used to help build 19 homes for teachers, firefighters, police officers and other county employees.

Allegheny: Proposed Line Can't Be Buried
Winchester Star; September 29, 2006
Allegheny Power officials say they will not bury transmission lines that could obscure the views that thousands of property owners have tried to protect. … Allegheny and Dominion Power are deciding where to place a 240-mile 500-kilovolt transmission line that will connect five substations. The high-voltage line would start in Pennsylvania and cross into West Virginia and Virginia — through Clarke, Frederick, Warren, Prince William, and Loudoun counties.

Sales, and prices, dip in August
Fredericksburg Free Lance Star; September 30, 2003
The slowdown in the real estate market was reflected across the Fredericksburg area and across the state in August. … Sales across Virginia were down 24.7 percent for the month compared to August 2005. The steepest monthly sales decline was in Prince William County , with a drop of 54.3 percent.

Commission recommends denial for Caton's Ridge
Elisa Glushefski, Potomac News, September 22, 2006
With little discussion, the Prince William Planning Commission denied rezoning of the Caton's Ridge property on Minnieville Road in a 3 to 2 vote at Wednesday's public hearing.

What's the impact of Quantico jobs? BRAC committee will learn soon where job holders are likely to live
Kelly Hannon, Fredericksburg Free Lance Star; September 26, 2006
Planning for 3,000 new jobs at Quantico Marine Corps Base hinges on a few unknowns. Who will take the jobs, assigned to the base by the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission? Where are the workers likely to live? Will they bring school-age children? How many? Will Stafford , Prince William and surrounding counties need to build new schools? The Marine Corps will provide some demographic data in two months.

Redeveloping Haymarket
Tara Slate Donaldson, Gainesville Times; September 28, 2006
Haymarket residents will start seeing big changes in the small town within the next month. Owners of three local businesses have banded together to redevelop two old buildings and they expect their tenants to move in sometime in October.

Plan for Homes, Shops Approved in Manassas
Nick Miroff , Washington Post, September 28, 2006
The first mixed-use development project in Manassas was approved Monday night by the City Council, clearing the way for new homes, loft apartments, shops and a Harris Teeter market on one of the city's largest remaining undeveloped parcels.

Blink and They're Still There; Houses and Condos Are Staying on the Market Longer
Tomoeh Murakami Tse , Washington Post; May 2, 2006
… Those who study local real estate markets say the homes are lingering for two main reasons: because of a housing glut in areas where builders put up large developments during the housing boom of the past five years and because of buyers who are counting on better prices as the market cools. The neighborhoods with the most single-family houses and townhouses for sale are concentrated in Loudoun and Prince William counties. The Zip codes with the most condos on the market are closer in, most notably in Northwest Washington , the southwest portion of Alexandria , northern Reston and Aspen Hill.

On the Market
Washington Post; May 2, 2006
Number of residential properties for sale, by Zip code, on the region's multiple listing service as of April 7. The neighborhoods with the most single-family houses and townhouses for sale are in Loudoun and Prince William counties. Condo listings dominate the closer-in Zip codes.

Bruun Appointed Director of Public Works
Prince William County Press Release; May 16, 2006
At its meeting today, the Board of County Supervisors appointed Thomas Bruun as Director of Public Works. Bruun has served as acting Director of Public Works since March, 2006.

Would rezoning remake Prince William's Triangle?
Christy Goodman, Washington Examiner; May 20, 2006
Prince William County planners are considering creating a special zoning district as the first step in transforming the county's Triangle neighborhood into a more pedestrian-friendly village. … The new zoning district — which would cover the area between Old Triangle Road, Triangle Street, Fuller Road and a block south of Bradys Hill Road — would open the door for an official rezoning of the area.

Working to gain regional interest in planning
Christy Goodman, Washington Examiner; May 9, 2006
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors will likely sign on to a regional planning effort that would prepare the greater Washington area for the next 50 years of development. A larger plan is necessary to deal with transportation, housing, education and other quality-of-life issues as the metropolitan area grows, leaders say. “With 2 million more residents coming and 1.6 million more jobs coming, it can't stay the way it is,” said David Robertson, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, an organization comprising 19 local governments.

Blink and They're Still There; Houses and Condos Are Staying on the Market Longer
Tomoeh Murakami Tse , Washington Post; May 2, 2006
… Those who study local real estate markets say the homes are lingering for two main reasons: because of a housing glut in areas where builders put up large developments during the housing boom of the past five years and because of buyers who are counting on better prices as the market cools. The neighborhoods with the most single-family houses and townhouses for sale are concentrated in Loudoun and Prince William counties. The Zip codes with the most condos on the market are closer in, most notably in Northwest Washington , the southwest portion of Alexandria, northern Reston and Aspen Hill.

On the Market
Washington Post; May 2, 2006
Number of residential properties for sale, by Zip code, on the region's multiple listing service as of April 7. The neighborhoods with the most single-family houses and townhouses for sale are in Loudoun and Prince William counties. Condo listings dominate the closer-in Zip codes.

Localities Can Still Regulate Wineries
Rappahannock News; March 10, 2006
The General Assembly has decided to freeze the hostilities between Virginia's farm wineries and local governments. A bill by Delegate David Albo, R-Springfield, was overhauled in the Senate to maintain existing local regulations until July 2007. "The main theme of the compromise is that we keep everything status quo for a year, and then we put these issues into a study," Albo said.

Zoning Law Corks Plans For Winery; Vintners Seeking Changes in County
Jenalia Moreno, Washington Post: March 24, 2005; Page PW01
Winemakers John Delmare and Chris Pearmund envision building Prince William County's first winery along the slopes of Bull Run Mountain. ... There's one problem: Local zoning laws permit vineyards, winemaking and even food, as long as it's packaged cheese and crackers. The existing laws don't allow such a business to prepare meals, however. So, before the proposed vineyard can bear its first fruits, the Board of County Supervisors would have to amend its zoning ordinances to permit food service.

Belmont residents say they won't sell
Keith Walker, Potomac News; March 3, 2006
Hell no, we won't go, was the prevailing sentiment among Belmont Community residents Wednesday night. Roughly 100 residents met to discuss Centex Homes' proposal to buy and raze their houses to make way for redevelopment.

Belmont homeowners warned
Keith Walker, Potomac News; March 14, 2006
Neighbors to the north have warnings for Belmont residents. Paul Rice and Bettie Pell, along with many of their Poplar Terrace neighbors in Fairfax County, signed contracts to sell their homes to Centex Homes three years ago. They were supposed to settle in January, but the deal fell through, Rice said. "Tell those people in Belmont , 'Don't do it,' " said Rice, a building inspector.

Winery at La Grange to Open Near Haymarket
Wine Business Monthly; February 15, 2006
Leading Virginia winemaker, vine grower and wine industry notable Chris Pearmund announced that he is leading a team of investors to establish a new vineyard and winery in Prince William County. The winery and vineyard will be named "Winery at La Grange" and will be located on the historic La Grange property on a 20-acre site only three miles from historic Haymarket. ... The Winery will have a tasting room, room for production and sales, outdoor recreation areas and will be able to accommodate tours, dinners and special events. Land at the Winery at La Grange will be planted to several different varieties, all farmed organically.

Prince William wants to freshen 'stale' zoning; Units approved 40 years ago now being built
Christy Goodman, D.C. Examiner; February 7, 2006
The county has more than 30,000 residential units of "stale zoning" that were approved as long ago as 40 years that "can be built at any time without any oversight by the county," said Sean Connaughton, chair of the Board of County Supervisors. … "Our tools are limited, but at the end of the day, even if we tried to [take more action], the courts might see differently," said Stephen Griffin, the county planning director.

Manassas Park Comprehensive Plan approved
Jaclyn Pitts, Potomac News; February 9, 2006
One change to the plan involves a 6.44-acre tract of land at the intersection of Andrew and Manassas drives. The land was proposed for commercial use in the new comprehensive plan, but the council voted to keep it designated for public use at residents' requests.

Big, but not alone
Springfield Times; February 8, 2006
At 800 residential units, KSI Service's Midtown Springfield development is most decidedly big. But, it's not alone. Here are some other communities developers are building or hoping to build in Fairfax County.

Prince William Probes Builders; Anonymous Letter Cites Soil Dangers
Nikita Stewart, Washington Post; February 12, 2006
Prince William County officials are investigating whether two major developers built houses on bad soil that could, over time, crack the foundations of the homes and possibly cause landslides. At issue are Port Potomac, a 982-home development in Woodbridge built by Vienna-based KSI Services, and Four Seasons at Historic Virginia, an 800-home retirement community built by national developer K. Hovnanian. Both projects are in eastern Prince William, long known for its marine clay, a temperamental soil that shrinks and swells depending on moisture.

Traffic and Density Worries Drive Debate on MetroWest
Lisa Rein, Washington Post February 9, 2006
The 2,250 homes Pulte Home Corp. would build just south of the Metro [on 56 acres, density about 40 homes/acre] would become one of Fairfax's densest developments and test the county's vision of what officials call transit-oriented development -- the concentration of homes, jobs, shopping and entertainment around train stations. Similar growth is planned for Tysons Corner when Metrorail comes to that area of the county.

Metrowest Quick Facts provided by developer Pulte Homes
Community Concerns about Metrowest Provided by the Fairfax Citizens for Responsible Growth

Commerce Bank sets sites on Washington-area expansion
Jeff Clabaugh, Washington Business Journal; January 30, 2006
Commerce Bank, which has said it would like as many as 200 branches in the Washington and Baltimore markets by 2010, has set its goal for 2006. The bank wants to open 10 to 15 branches in the Washington area this year. It has seven local branches currently in the District, Fairfax County, Alexandria and Prince William County. Commerce Bank will expand in those locales and add its first branches in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

Harris Teeter, condos on tap for firm's Manassas project
Joe Coombs, Washington Business Journal; January 20, 2006
… The Bethesda-based developer has proposed a Harris Teeter-anchored retail complex and more than 200 residential units for a vacant parcel on the city's south side. … one company official said Opus East wants to bring the city's first Harris Teeter to the proposed 130,000-square-foot Hastings Marketplace at the juncture of the Prince William Parkway and Lake Jackson Drive. The 29-acre parcel, which Opus East owns, is one of the city's few remaining large plots of open space controlled by one owner, making it easier to plan a sizable development, says Liz Via, director of community development for Manassas.

County's first winery to open
Potomac News; December 30, 2005
The first wine from grapes grown at the Winery at La Grange won't be ready for tasting until the fall of 2007 but Chris Pearmund will open Prince William County's first winery in August. The historic La Grange farm in the foothills of the Bull Run Mountains, just west of Haymarket on Antioch Road, will be the site of the 20-acre vineyard.

Board defers Crescent proposal
Keith Walker, Potomac News; March 15, 2006
People were mainly interested in two of the comprehensive plan amendments before the Prince William Board of County Supervisors on Tuesday. At least 40 people stood during citizens' time at the board meeting, mostly to speak against an amendment to allow building on 23 acres at the American Legion Post at 3002 Jenny Lane and against an amendment to allow higher density development at the edge of the Rural Crescent. Supervisors deferred the first and took no action on the second.  

Rural crescent under fire
Jaclyn Pitts, Potomac News; March 8, 2006
Two comprehensive plan amendments are back from 2005 and plan to bring more than 1,000 homes to the Rural Crescent . One returning application is the Mid-County Semi-Rural Residential project proposed by developer Mark Granville-Smith.  

Rural Crescent again draws fire, support
Tara Slate Donaldson, Gainesville Times; March 17, 2006 It's been eight years since the Rural Crescent was created and the controversy still hasn't died down. On Tuesday, more than 100 people signed up to speak out on Comprehensive Plan amendments and most of the speakers were there either to criticize or to defend the county's agricultural area. Thirteen applicants have asked the Board of County Supervisors to change the long-range planning designations on their land, a move that usually precedes the construction of more homes. On Tuesday, the supervisors agreed to initiate nine of those amendments, including the controversial Avendale development in Nokesville.

Developer, residents discuss Rural Crescent
Jaclyn Pitts, Potomac News; February 10, 2006
One local developer is looking to develop two subdivisions within the Rural Crescent , a prospect he had attempted in 2005. … In addition to Granville-Smith's proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment, 12 other amendments have been proposed, which will go before the Board of County Supervisors on March 14 to decide if there will be further review. Granville-Smith will meet with residents for discussion at 10 a.m. Feb. 18 at 12585 Bristow Road in Nokesville.

Builders Wedge Homes In on Oddly Shaped Lots June Fletcher, Wall Street Journal; March 16, 2006 … The shape of things to come in suburbia is... weird. After a real-estate boom that has made land in desirable neighborhoods scarce and expensive, more builders and homeowners are buying up the strips and scraps. It's the real-estate version of quilting. They're squeezing expensive homes onto properties once considered uninhabitable, and carving gerrymandered parcels out of wetlands and steep hillsides. Odd lots are also bringing in speculators, who are buying up tiny triangles and roadside strips at auction, then bundling them for resale and profit.

Officials oppose Crescent plan
Jaclyn Pitts, Potomac News; March 13, 2006
Developers are looking to take chunks out of the Rural Crescent with proposed comprehensive plan amendments, but the Prince William County planning staff thinks that might not be such a good idea. County planner Debrarae Karnes said the planning staff recommends the Prince William Board of County Supervisors not initiate a proposed amendment that plans to take more than 1,400 acres out of the crescent.

Zoning Laws Are Looser for Some Family Ties; Suburbs to Scrutinize Loopholes That Allow Dense Building
Nikita Stewart and Nancy Trejos , Washington Post; March 13, 2006
On the outskirts of the Washington region, where local officials have tried to protect farms and rural vistas from encroaching suburbia, more and more landowners are turning to a loophole that allows them to carve up their land for new houses. The measure -- often referred to as a family subdivision -- allows property owners to skirt zoning laws in rural areas and subdivide land for the use of their relatives. In Prince William and Montgomery counties, it has become a common practice, and officials in both localities are beginning to scrutinize it.

Crescent Exceptions Are Sought; Projects Would Surpass Allowed Density in Area
Nikita Stewart , Washington Post; March 12, 2006
… County planners are recommending that the board reject four proposals, including the one by Granville-Smith and area residents, without further study. Elena Schlossberg-Kunkel, a representative of Advocates for the Rural Crescent, said the county's annual process of considering amendments to the Comprehensive Plan conflicts with the blueprint itself.

Developer, residents discuss Rural Crescent
Jaclyn Pitts, Potomac News; February 10, 2006
One local developer is looking to develop two subdivisions within the Rural Crescent, a prospect he had attempted in 2005. … In his proposal, if the zoning designation is reinstated, 381 to 454 lots could be developed on the 540 acres of land he owns in the Crescent. Currently, about 190 lots can be developed with the 10-acre lot by-right regulation. Granville-Smith emphasized that 13 other Rural Crescent land and homeowners have agreed to join his amendment because they want to regain the value to their land as it was prior to the Rural Crescent designation in 1998.

Planning Commission says no to Vulcan quarry
Tara Slate Donaldson, Gainesville Times; April 28, 2006
Round one in the quarry war went to the opposition last week as the Prince William Planning Commission voted unanimously against Vulcan's request to mine for stone in the small farming community. The scene was a madhouse last Wednesday as more than 300 Nokesville residents, building industry workers and Vulcan employees gathered at the McCoart Building for a public hearing on the quarry.

Residents fight quarry proposal
Christy Goodman, Washington Examiner; April 21, 2006
Prince William County Board residents have won two battles in their effort to block a proposed quarry in Nokesville, but they face one more when the county supervisors vote on the idea this summer. The County Board of Supervisors will vote in June on Vulcan Materials' proposal to dig a quarry on 536 acres north of Fauquier County and south of Route 28. County staff and the Planning Commission recently recommended the supervisors deny the proposal.

Nokesville Quarry Has a Rocky Start
Nikita Stewart, Washington Post; February 10, 2005
Vulcan Materials Co., the nation's largest producer of crushed stone, mines about 4 million tons of hard, black rock each year from a mile-long swath of land in Prince William County.

Planners again spurn quarry
Jaclyn Pitts, Potomac News; April 21, 2006
Vulcan Materials has tried to open a quarry in Nokesville three times in the past 34 years but has been unsuccessful. The company's proposal came before the county Planning Commission Wednesday night for a fourth attempt to mine in Nokesville, but commissioners unanimously recommended against the application. The quarry proposal will go before the Board of County Supervisors, who will make the final decision, on June 27.

Plan staff denies quarry bid
Jaclyn Pitts, Potomac News; April 19, 2006
Despite water supply assurances and $2 million for county road improvements, the Prince William County planning staff is recommending denial for Vulcan Materials' Prince William quarry application. Vulcan's proposal encompasses 536 acres on the Prince William/Fauquier county line near Va. 28 in Nokesville.

Nokesville citizens opposed to quarry
No28Quarry.com

Plan it, Harriet; D.C.'s new planning boss sets her sights on making the city affordable, walkable
Washington Business Journal; March 23 2007
... As the District's new director of the Office of Planning, Tregoning hopes to carry out her vision of D.C. as a transit-based, walkable community with plenty of retail. A place, she says, where middle-income people can afford not only to live -- but also to have enough spending money left over every month to prime the city's economy. "The District needs to reframe itself as a sustainable, green city," she says. "We need to have the kind of growth and development in our city and region that benefits the environment, enhances our economy, makes it stronger and more robust and engages more of our city in the economy and in civic life. We want to be a place where quality of life and community is so attractive that everybody wants to be here."

Commission OKs New Baltimore Service District plan
Don Del Rosso, Fauquier Times Democrat; October 4, 2006
As expected, the Fauquier Planning Commission last week recommended adoption of the revised New Baltimore Service District plan. The amendments address zoning, public utility, school sites, transportation and recreation issues affecting New Baltimore. …

Transition CPAM Gets Second Hearing
Dusty Smith, Leesburg 2Day; October 5, 2006
The board of supervisors Tuesday scheduled a second public hearing on its controversial proposal to permit construction of more than 33,000 new homes in the county's Transition Policy Area at the same time it agreed to scale back the geographic area under consideration. The removal of the area south of Braddock Road from the proposed comprehensive plan amendment effectively strikes down more than one-third, or nearly 6,000 homes, of the plan developer Greenvest has proposed; however, associated rezoning applications for that area will continue to move through the county approval process.

Most Blacks, Hispanics in Area Own Homes; Washington Region's Climbing Rates Top Nation's Among Several Ethnic Groups
Lyndsey Layton and Dan Keating , Washington Post; October 3, 2006
A majority of black and Hispanic households in metropolitan Washington now own their houses instead of renting, according to new data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.The new numbers, reflecting changes from 2000 to 2005, underscore the Washington region's affluence and strong economy. During the half-decade of soaring housing prices, whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics were all more likely to own their homes in the region than nationally.

Planners poised to OK New Baltimore land-use plan
Don Del Rosso, Fauquier Times Democrat; September 27, 2006
Fauquier's Planning Commission next week probably will endorse a batch of changes to the New Baltimore Service District plan. The long-range land-use document focuses on transportation and utility and other public infrastructure issues. … Under the proposed changes, more than 200 acres of farmland would be removed from the New Baltimore Service District.

Urban Planning, with Fore-sight; Ballston's mini-golf project creates nostalgia, controversy.
Seth Rosen, Fairfax Connection; September 27, 2006
… County officials believe a miniature golf facility outside the mall will serve as an economic boon for Ballston, bringing more families into the rapidly changing neighborhood. The Ballston Common Mall is in the midst of a major transformation: Hecht's has become Macy's, the County Board has approved more than $4 million in funding for parking garage renovations, and a rink with two sheets of ice that will serve as a training facility and headquarters for the Washington Capitals is expected to be completed next month. McPartlin and other officials have been meeting with surrounding neighborhood associations on the mini-golf concept, and the reaction has been positive.

When Is A Mall Not Just A Mall? When It's A Mini-city
Washington Post ( 9/28/06 )
Fairfax County 's effort to turn Tysons Corner into a vibrant, walkable downtown might well center on the place where everything began more than three decades ago: the mall. Next week, the owner of Tysons Corner Center , whose opening put Tysons on the map 35 years ago, will go before the county Planning Commission with plans to transform the shopping center into a mini-city. The plans entail surrounding the mall with apartments, offices and a hotel in towers as high as 350 feet...

Buying a Home . . . a Park and a Road; Developers Shift Infrastructure Costs to Current -- and Future – Residents
Amy Gardner, Washington Post; May 28, 2006
Northern Virginia developer Greenvest has promised to build about $400 million in roads, schools, parks and utility lines if it wins approval to put up 15,000 houses along Route 50 in southeastern Loudoun County. It also has promised to start much of the work upfront -- before a single home is sold. But Greenvest wouldn't actually pay for most of these improvements. The people who buy the houses would.

Restrictions Causing Sprawl, Study Says; Builders Sponsored Analysis of Laws
Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post; May 25, 2006
A recent University of Maryland study casts doubt on local laws that require developers to demonstrate that there are enough roads, sewers, classrooms and other infrastructure in place before a project can be built. The study, conducted by the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, was sponsored by two builders groups and was made public last month. It examined adequate public facilities ordinances, or APFOs, which are meant to discourage urban sprawl, and found that heavy reliance on them can create more sprawl.

Developers target Springfield for overhaul
Associated Press; May 28, 2006
Developers are targeting an area of northern Virginia that is perhaps best known for its traffic, construction and late-night detours. … Developer KSI wants to turn nine acres now occupied by smaller businesses into three towers with 800 apartments and condominiums. The plan also calls for a hotel, 40,000 square feet of offices and up to 100,000 square feet of retail space, all of which would be surrounded by a public area--a project called "Midtown Springfield." … There are still plenty of things that need to be worked out before major development can begin. One of them is limited access to Metro and the commuter rail station. Residents at the KSI site would have to ride shuttle buses to get to Metro. The mall is closer to the station, but getting there requires walking through a station parking garage and then across a busy highway.

KSI makes Midtown pitch in West Springfield
Jason Jacks, Fairfax Times; May 4, 2006
Gregory Riegle, a land-use attorney representing KSI, told a packed room of more than 100 people at the West Springfield Government Center that a public hearing in front of county planners has now been moved to late September. After the meeting, Riegle also confirmed the company is no longer considering Richard Byrd Library in its Midtown plans. On nine acres near the Tower Shopping Center , the company is proposing 800 residential units, retail, offices, parking garages and a civic arts center all surrounding a plaza. The company is hoping Midtown will spur on additional development around the site.

Planners Back Vienna Project; Panel Sends a 'Better' MetroWest to Fairfax Supervisors
Alec MacGillis , Washington Post; March 16, 2006
The contentious proposal to build 2,250 homes near the Vienna Metro station is headed to its final reckoning before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors this month, after the county Planning Commission voted last night to recommend its approval. Before their vote, which was unanimous with two abstentions, commissioners said the proposal had been improved over the course of two years of debate. At the same time, they discounted some long-standing criticisms that the project would overwhelm schools and roads.

Fairfax Citizens for Responsible Growth
FairGrowth - Transit Oriented Development with Community Input
The Fairfax County Planning Commission approved the MetroWest re-zoning application on March 15, 2006 . The matter is scheduled for final consideration by the County Board of Supervisors on March 27th. Read more …

Washington's Got Enough Growth to Share
Steven Pearlstein , Washington Post; March 17, 2006
Yesterday's report by my colleagues D'Vera Cohn and Amy Gardner on the explosive growth in King George and Caroline counties should dispel any fantasy that we're finally getting sprawl under control. Like it or not, the Washington regional economy remains among the hottest in the country, with most of the growth going out rather than up, west rather than east, toward the exurbs rather than the inner city. … We might use this moment to recall the First Rule of Holes, which holds that when you're in one, stop digging. It should be obvious, even to the most determined of local boosters, that we won't be able to grow our way out of the problems of inadequate transportation infrastructure, the overcrowded schools, the overtaxed local budgets.

Sursum Residents Fear Loss of Homes, D.C. Seeks Use of Eminent Domain in Area North of Capitol Lori Montgomery , Washington Post; March 16, 2006 … The resident-owned housing complex cut a deal last year with KSI, a Virginia developer, to save the property from foreclosure by federal housing officials. That deal, which guarantees each of 170 Sursum families an $80,000 cash payment or $80,000 toward the purchase of a new home, assumes that KSI would build as many as 500 townhouses and apartments on the property. The city, however, has insisted for months that the complex should be replaced by fewer than 200 townhouse units to provide low-density housing for larger families. The city is asking for the power of eminent domain to try to force a compromise.

KSI pulls bid for Reston church; Fate of property near Lake Anne left uncertain John C. Marcario, Reston Times; March 15, 2006 One of the region's largest development companies, KSI Services Inc., has withdrawn its application to purchase the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church property near Lake Anne . … A request made by KSI last October to the review board was rejected for a number of reasons, according to Chairman Richard Newlon. “It covered almost all the property, side to side and edge to edge,” said Newlon, who called the project ill conceived.

Board Oks Transfer Of Development Rights
Arlington Connection; March 10, 2006
"The County Board has given itself the authority to transfer development rights between parcels of land in Arlington, in a move county officials said would provide for the preservation of more open space and creation of a greater number of affordable units...IN MARCH 2005 the Virginia General Assembly granted the county the authority to allow for transfer of development rights. Arlington was the only jurisdiction in the state to receive this power, and has until 2008 to change its zoning ordinance." House Bill 1435, passed 75-25 by the House of Delegates, originally exempted farm wineries from many local regulations in the name of promoting their goods."

McMansion or Not? Is Your House Too Fat?
Austin Chronicle; March 10, 2006
Web site, Web site on my desk, Which McMansion is the ugliest? Your neighbors think it's ugly. You think it's hot. They say it's a McMansion. You say it's not. There's only one way to know for sure: The official 'Austin Chronicle' Bloat-o-Meter!

Bringing Community to the City; New urbanism takes hold in townships sprouting up across the U.S., changing the landscape and American lifestyle
Business Week; February 2, 2006
Atlantic Station is the latest example of "new urbanism," a trendy antidote to the suburban and exurban sprawl that has defined the American way of life for the past five decades. It's a shiny new town, complete with city blocks, sidewalks, street parking, a train station, parks, schools, offices, town houses, and even loft residences right above the retail stores.

Washington Gets Its Stadium Issue Almost Right
Wall Street Journal; February 9, 2006
When communities consider welcoming professional sports facilities and teams, they should understand two lessons that economists have learned from the building of dozens of arenas from New England to San Diego. First, by themselves sports facilities can do very little for a community, but if they are part of a development plan tethered to private money, some economic magic can result. The presence of a team does not fuel regional economic development, but it does help decide where entertainment dollars are spent. The concentration of these dollars can make some jobs more accessible and bring people back into the urban center of a region.

Finding a House Gets Easier; Inventories Rise Sharply In Many Major Markets As Some Buyers Hang Back
Wall Street Journal; February 8, 2006
With the key spring selling season about to get under way, the inventory of homes on the market is climbing sharply in a number of major cities. It is the latest sign that the balance of power between buyers and sellers is shifting as the once red-hot housing market continues to cool. The slowdown is affecting both existing homes and new homes. … The changing climate is particularly noticeable in once-hot markets such as Miami, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., and in areas such as Detroit, where price increases have been modest but the job market is weak.

Budget Deal Nets Raise for Teachers; Projects Trimmed to Provide Funds
Ian Shapira, Washington Post; March 25 2006
Maybe all the budget wrangling finally sapped the gravitas out of Lucy S. Beauchamp, the longtime Prince William County School Board chairman. Or maybe she was just steamed and needed to vent. "This budget stinks," Beauchamp said at the School Board's Wednesday night meeting. "This budget stinks. . . . It truly does." On Wednesday, the board completed its most contentious budget negotiations in more than a decade, approving a $762.1 million operating budget for fiscal 2008 that extends all-day kindergarten to all elementary schools but delays construction projects, increases class size and offers raises to teachers who will remain among the lowest paid in Northern Virginia.

Board approves school budget
Potomac News; March 23 2007
The Prince William County School Board unanimously approved a fiscal 2008 budget Wednesday that includes a 2 percent cost of living adjustment for employees. The vote came at the end of a six-week budget process in which school officials made multiple cuts to an increasingly shrinking budget.

County schools enrollment up
Amanda Stewart, Potomac News; October 6, 2006
Prince William County schools continued a growing trend this year. As of Sept. 29, a total of 70,723 students were enrolled in county schools, a 3.6 percent jump over last year's enrollment.

30,000 more Va. students by 2010; Public school costs will rise by $275 million in 5 years, U.Va study finds
Shaun Bishop, Richmond Times Dispatch; September 4, 2006
… Twelve districts are expected to grow by more than 1,000 students by 2010, many of them in Northern Virginia . The two largest increases will be in Loudoun County , which he forecasts will grow by 21,350 students, 46 percent, and Prince William County , which will see 16,298 new students, a jump of 24 percent.

Commission shoots down proposed middle school in Prince William
Christy Goodman , Washington Examiner; May 19, 2006
A proposal to build a new $26.6 million middle school on Davis Ford Road was rejected recently by the Prince William Planning Commission because of environmental, traffic and road safety issues. The school would bring additional traffic to Davis Ford Road — a road citizens had refused to let the county widen a few years ago, said Ron Burgess, commission chair. … The transportation and environmental elements of the plan were also considered weak, according to Ray Utz, the county's long-range planning chief.

Does Higher Per-Pupil Spending Guarantee Success? The Numbers Say No Ian Shapira , Washington Post; May 18, 2006 Some parents say that Prince William needs to spend more per student -- and hire more teachers to reduce class sizes, for example -- because the county is lagging behind Fairfax and Loudoun on state standardized tests and SAT scores. …. Prince William school officials, however, say that although their students' SAT scores are among the area's lowest, they think they are doing a better job than their neighbors in closing the achievement gap between whites and minorities …

Parks plan to cut services due to budget
Keith Walker, Potomac News; March 14, 2007
… The Prince William Park Authority, which gets 54 percent of its budget from the county, will have to forego $908,397 from the general fund in fiscal 2008, said Jay Ellington, the executive director of the park authority. The park authority's solution is to raise fees, cut services and let people go.

Park authority makes profit
Keith Walker, Potomac News; October 6, 2006
About 4.5 million people used Prince William County parks and recreation centers last year, allowing the Prince William Park Authority to come out $106,000 ahead on its budget for fiscal 2006. "The county, through its tax revenue, is only supporting about 50 percent of the total park authority," Liedel said. … The four golf courses and two water parks netted $900,000 last year, but the park authority paid $1.58 million in golf course and water park construction debt, a loss of $688,000. The park authority covered the losses with money generated by the 3.1 million visits to the recreation and aquatics centers and 1.4 million people who paid to participate in sports activities at county parks, Liedel said.

Community to receive park
Christy Goodman, The Examiner; October 4, 2006
K. Hovnanian, the developer of a Dumfries ' subdivision, will turn over 20 acres of land to the community for a park. … “The parcel itself, which was before going to be conveyed to the county for parks and recreation, will now be conveyed to the homeowners' association for open space,” said Michael Lubeley, representing K. Hovnanian.

Long Regional Park expansion begun
Jaclyn Pitts, Potomac News; October 7, 2006
Despite the recent development boom in western Prince William, county officials celebrated the expansion of something else Friday: open space.County officials gathered with representatives from luxury home developer Toll Brothers on Friday afternoon to break ground for the expansion of James S. Long Regional Park near Haymarket.

Trail packages Va. attractions in a new way; Travelers are directed to sites connected to Captain John Smith
Rex Springston, Richmond Times Dispatch; October 3, 2006
… The creation of trails for travelers is a national trend, said Martha Steger, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Tourism Corp., which promotes the state to visitors. Virginia also has driving trails linking Civil War and wildlife-watching sites. A trail gets people to look more closely at Virginia 's features, Steger said. "It packages those attractions in a whole new way and captures the interest of people who may not have realized they were interested."

Planners defer vote on open spaces
Elisa Glushefski, Potomac News; September 23, 2006
"The devil's in the details," as one county resident put it, and the Prince William Planning Commission decided the details weren't solid enough to approve amendments to chapters of the Comprehensive Plan relating to parks and open space at Wednesday evening's public hearing. After extensive discussion, the commission voted to defer a decision to a special work session on Jan. 24, 2007 .

County erred in taking American Legion land
Tara Slate Donaldson, Gainesville Times; March 17, 2006
Avendale and the Mid-County SRR weren't the only controversial comprehensive Plan amendments to come before the Board of County Supervisors on Tuesday. Supervisors also took up what they said was a serious problem in the Occoquan District that may have far-reaching effects. The controversial proposal was a request from the American Legion to redesignate a piece of land in Occoquan from Parks and Open Space to Suburban Residential Low. Part of the land is currently being used for Little League baseball fields. If the request is approved, the ball fields could be destroyed and houses built in their place.

Study reveals park preferences
Keith Walker, Potomac News; April 12, 2006
Prince William County residents want their parks to be connected, want more open spaces with walking and hiking trails, and want the county to coordinate with other agencies - including the state and federal government - to get more usable open space.

Silver Lake

BRAC shift could increase the need for office space
William Flook , Washington Examiner; March 14, 2007
… Commercial tax dollars are now, in large part, propping up the county's budget in a stagnating housing market, though Fairfax County 's executive has warned that source of revenue also could shrink in coming years. New office construction as a result of BRAC, officials hope, would strengthen that revenue stream. “Typically, commercial [space] brings in more [revenue] than the services that have to be provided,” Lee District Supervisor Dana Kauffman said. “If somebody is commuting from Prince William County to work in office space in Springfield , Prince William has to educate the kids, we get the revenue from the office space, and their lunch money.”

Airport comment shift draws ire
Alexander Granados, Potomac News; October 6, 2006
The Manassas Airport Commission recently changed its policy on public comments during meetings, leading some Manassas Regional Airport tenants to cry censorship. The policy change restricts public comments to "current or prospective airport activities," or topics under consideration by the commission.

Micron pushes benefits to city
Alexander Granados, Potomac News, September 20, 2006
Micron Technology, a leading producer of semiconductors, provides great benefits to the City of Manassas. And it wants the Manassas government to know it.

Small Firms Work As Heavy Lifters Of Area Economy
Cecilia Kang , Washington Post; March 13, 2006
The Minnieland chain of day-care centers, started in 1972 so Jackie Leopold could afford to stay home with her toddler son, now generates $50 million in annual revenue and employs about 1,300 people. It has a full-time real estate scout to research new locations and recently hired an operations director with a doctorate in childhood development. The Woodbridge company is not listed in the glossy business directory published by the Prince William County Department of Economic Development or trumpeted alongside Fortune 500 companies such as Eli Lilly and Co. and America Online Inc. as symbols of the suburban county's budding economic clout.

Winery at La Grange to Open Near Haymarket
Wine Business Monthly; February 15, 2006
Leading Virginia winemaker, vine grower and wine industry notable Chris Pearmund announced that he is leading a team of investors to establish a new vineyard and winery in Prince William County. The winery and vineyard will be named "Winery at La Grange" and will be located on the historic La Grange property on a 20-acre site only three miles from historic Haymarket. ... The Winery will have a tasting room, room for production and sales, outdoor recreation areas and will be able to accommodate tours, dinners and special events. Land at the Winery at La Grange will be planted to several different varieties, all farmed organically.

County Looks to Attract Businesses, Residents to Potomac Center
Hank Silverberg, WTOP Radio; February 9, 2006
Halfway between Fort Belvoir and Quantico along Route 1 in Prince William County look for a new development aimed at attracting people to live and work in the county, rather than commute to D.C. and Fairfax County. The upscale, mixed use development between Opitz Boulevard and Dale Boulevard will include 500 condominiums, an 8- or 9-story hotel, a Wegmans grocery store, a Macy's, other retail stores and 100,000 square feet of office space to start. In time another 400,000 square feet of office space will be added.

Commerce Bank sets sites on Washington-area expansion
Jeff Clabaugh, Washington Business Journal; January 30, 2006
Commerce Bank, which has said it would like as many as 200 branches in the Washington and Baltimore markets by 2010, has set its goal for 2006. The bank wants to open 10 to 15 branches in the Washington area this year. It has seven local branches currently in the District, Fairfax County, Alexandria and Prince William County. Commerce Bank will expand in those locales and add its first branches in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

Exalted HOT Lanes Leave the Average Joe in the Dust
Marc Fisher, Washington Post; March 25 2007
Nobody asked you, you probably don't like it, and it could well cost you a bundle: Both Maryland and Virginia are charging full-steam ahead with plans to build Lexus lanes, the trendy new way to expand highways with sky-high tolls for the privilege of speeding past the regular Joes over in the slow lane. Lexus lanes -- the experts say we must eschew such denigration of the affluent and instead call them HOT (high-occupancy toll) lanes -- are widely loathed by actual commuters everywhere they are proposed. Yet they're coming down the pike, and you can't do a thing about it. Why? Because the list of folks who think this is one fantabulous idea reads like a power map of the nation.

HOT lane on faster track; Interstate 95 toll lane will reach North Stafford by 2010
Fredericksburg Free Lance Star; March 21 2007
... Two companies building toll lanes in the median of I-95 plan to accelerate construction of one lane south of Quantico Creek, where high-occupancy vehicle lanes end. A nine-mile, single toll lane, or high-occupancy toll lane, would be built from just south of State Route 234 to north of Exit 143 at Garrisonville Road, said Tim Young, development manager for Transurban (USA) Development Inc. Tolls would be paid by motorists with fewer than three occupants in their vehicles.

Riders crowd public transit systems
Barbara Hagenbaugh, USA Today; March 12, 2007
Ridership on public transportation jumped to the highest level in nearly five decades in 2006 as high gas prices and expanded bus and train service enticed people to park their cars. More than 10 billion trips were taken on buses and rail lines last year, the American Public Transportation Association says in a report to be released Monday. That's up 2.9% from 2005 and the highest level since 1957. Ridership rose three consecutive years through 2006 and increased 28% in the 10 years since 1996.

Revenue projection so far unmet; Tax collections this fiscal year have grown just 4.1%; the state forecast was 6.5%
Michael Hardy, Richmond Times Dispatch; March 15 2007
As Republicans and the Democratic governor wrangle over taking more money for roads, a report shows the state is straining to meet its revenue goal for the fiscal year ending June 30. With two-thirds of the year over, tax collections have grown only 4.1 percent above the same period a year earlier, or about $9.7 billion this year versus $9.3 billion last year. The administration had forecast a rise of 6.5 percent, which would be necessary to pay for services in the state budget.

Transportation bill a 'non-starter,' Kaine insists
John H. Arundel, Michelle Zimmerman and Tara Slate Donaldson, Gainesville Times; March 14 2007
Kaine met with 13 Northern Virginia political leaders from Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties who oppose the plan because it forces them, instead of the state legislature, to raise the taxes and fees to fund more than $1.5 billion a year for needed road and transit improvements. "As it stands right now, that's a non-starter," Kaine said afterwards in a conference call with editors from Times Community Newspapers. "Suffice to say, there was 100 percent agreement that the bill needs work. ... My goal is to fix it between now and the 26th."

Lawsuit to halt Metro extension begins
Dan Roem, Gainesville Times; March 14 2007
Arguments began last Tuesday afternoon in a Richmond courthouse on behalf of two people who want to stop the extension of rail to Washington Dulles International Airport . The suit states that the state did not have the right to transfer control of the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority because the transaction was not approved by the Virginia General Assembly, thus invalidating the power to tax.

Skeptical, Downey takes hard line on bypass plan
Don DelRosso, Fauquier Times Democrat; November 14 2006
It will take a lot of convincing to win his support for a Buckland/Gainesville bypass. Fauquier Supervisor Bill Downey ( Scott District ) believes a four-lane highway from U.S. 29 at New Baltimore to Interstate 66 could expose the largely rural area to massive growth pressure. "The mistakes of what's happening in Gainesville , we are at risk of repeating again with any bypass," Downey said in an interview. Rather than ease area traffic, a bypass could very well exacerbate the problem by creating another development corridor, he warned. Last week, Prince William County released the "
Buckland/Gainesville Bypass Study Report ."

Gainesville-Buckland Bypass Routes Studied; I-66 Shortcut May Be Controversial
Nick Miroff, Washington ; November 26, 2006
A new study has outlined three possible routes for a Gainesville-Buckland bypass designed to reduce traffic on Route 29 and soothe some of the region's most road-weary commuters with a high-speed shortcut to Interstate 66.Whichever course the road eventually takes, though, it's likely to carve a costly and contentious path through the western edge of Prince William County.

Transportation, battlefield dominate service district hearing
Don Del Rosso, Fauquier Times Democrat; November 14 2006
… The save-the-battlefield people believe widening U.S. 29 would do little, if anything, to relieve short- or long-term congestion along the traffic-clogged roadway. They believe a Buckland/Gainesville bypass linking U.S. 29 at New Baltimore to Interstate 66 would move regional and local traffic more efficiently than six-laning U.S. 29 to Gainesville . More importantly, they argue a bypass would accomplish that without ravaging the battlefield. Downey and others worry that a Buckland/Gainesville bypass would create just another development corridor, pushing development further west of Gainesville .

Two Occoquan transportation projects make new progress
Christy Goodman, The Examiner, October 4, 2006
The Horner Road commuter lot is one step closer to adding 800 more spaces, according to Prince William County Supervisor Corey Stewart. Stewart, who represents Occoquan, reported that the lot expansion received federal approval and has the entire state delegation behind it to ask for the $4 million in funding in the next session. … In other Occoquan transportation news, the county is moving ahead with the Old Bridge Road trail and sidewalk project. The Board of Supervisors approved $75,000 to complete the design work on the project which will stretch from the west end of Oakwood Drive to Old Bridge Elementary School.

Board expresses dismay
Keith Walker, Potomac News; October 4, 2006
"Throw the bums out" was the sentiment expressed by Supervisor John D. Jenkins, D-Neabsco, after a briefing Tuesday on the 2006 Virginia General Assembly. The General Assembly failed to find money to ease the area's transportation problems after a special session last week.

County seeks bypass review
Keith Walker, Potomac News; September 20, 2006
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted Tuesday to seek approval from the state to enter into construction contracts without having to go through a review process. During its last session, the Virginia General Assembly decided to allow counties with populations of more than 100,000 to forego review by the Virginia Design - Build Construction Management Review Board if the county could prove that it had the personnel, procedures and expertise to enter into construction contracts.

Va. Transportation Funding Talks Die
Amy Gardner and Tim Craig, Washington , September 29, 2006
The Virginia General Assembly left town Thursday night after failing to reach an agreement on a long-term transportation solution, ending months of efforts by lawmakers and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to improve the state's highways and transit systems.

Linton Hall widening hits federal road block
Christy Goodman , Washington Examiner; May 18, 2006
Widening the traffic nightmare that is Linton Hall Road to a four-lane divided highway between Sudley Manor Road and Route 28 in Prince William County may be blocked by federal rules. The Federal Highway Administration has notified the county that the $37 million project must follow federal guidelines, adding a significant yet undetermined amount of time and money to the effort.

Bull Run residents say they'll pay more for road improvements
Christy Goodman, Washington Examiner; May 15, 2006
More than 600 Bull Run Mountain residents want Prince William County to raise their taxes for road improvements. The Bull Run Civic Association requested that the county raise the special district's tax from 10 cents to 12 cents per $100 of assessed property value to help pay the $1.3 million to tar and chip the private gravel roads on the mountain.

Study: Signal priority fails to ease congestion
David Francis , Washington Examiner; May 10, 2006
A Virginia Tech traffic study on Route 1 in Northern Virginia found there is no benefit to giving transit buses signal priority, or the ability to extend green lights or shorten red lights in order to prevent traffic gridlock. “Basically, you're trying to reduce bus delays, but you're increasing car delays. The buses are speeding up and the cars are slowing down,” said Hesham Rakha, an engineer at the Virginia Tech Traffic Institute.

Drivers getting a wider, safer Spriggs Road
Christy Goodman, Washington Examiner; May 6, 2006
More than 22,000 Prince William County drivers will see some relief on Spriggs Road. County leaders will cut the ribbon Saturday on the four-lane divided road, complete with a new bridge over Powell's Creek, sidewalks and trail. The $9.4 million county project from Forest Park Drive to Minnieville Road that began in December 2003 also realigned the Minnieville and Spriggs intersection to improve a sharp turn because it was “a safety hazard for a lot of young drivers,” said Tom Blaser with Prince William County's transportation department.

A little good news for those stuck on Route 28
Potomac News; May 11, 2006
According to the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance Alert, $25 million has been approved for Phase 3 of the improvements for Va. 28. At a dinner last night held by the Dulles Area Transportation Authority, Gov. Tim Kaine announced the authorization of the funds from the Commonwealth's Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund.

County readies for Marine museum; Joplin, U.S. 1 to be improved for museum opening
Keith Walker, Potomac News; May 1, 2006
The county is set to start work on Joplin Road and U.S. 1 in preparation for the November opening of the National Museum of the Marine Corps and Heritage Center. The Prince William Board of County Supervisors will vote on whether to award a $2.6 million contract to the Tavares Concrete Company to construct a right-turn lane from Interstate 95 north onto Joplin Road to the existing right-turn lane on Joplin Road at U.S. 1 south. Additional work will include a right-turn lane on U.S. 1 south from Joplin Road to the entrance of the the museum and an opposing left-turn lane from U.S. 1 north into the museum entrance. Money for the project would be reimbursed through the Federal Public Lands Highway Discretionary Funds.

Prince William grapples with transportation tradeoff
WAVY TV; March 2006
Commuters have been waiting more than ten years for Virginia to fix the clogged interchange of Interstate 66 and Route 29 in Prince William County . Officials are finally considering an offer for the job. But it's coming from a developer -- not the state. Brookfield Homes is offering to pay tens of (m) millions of dollars for the project in exchange for approval to build 68-hundred homes nearby. The company is also offering 50 (m) million dollars to extend Virginia Railway Express to Gainesville . Ronald Kirby of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments says the proposal shows how desperate the area is for improvements. Critics say the influx of homes would just bring more congestion.

Prince William County Considers Taking Control of its Roads from V-DOT Prince William County wants to take transportation issues into its own hands. The county is proposing creating its own transportation department, stripping itself away from the Virginia Department of Transportation. County Executive Craig Gerhard on Tuesday proposed the separate agency. He says it's necessary to address dissatisfaction with worsening traffic in the once-rural county.

Prince William Considers Dropping Auto Decal Tax
ABC News; March 17, 2006
The Prince William Board of Supervisors is the latest county government to consider repealing vehicle decals and their corresponding tax. The green windshield stickers generate about $7 million in taxes for the county and show that vehicle owners have paid their car tax. But many residents consider the decals outdated because so much vehicle information is available on the Internet.

Metro calls Prince William County cheap
DCist; March 10, 2006
Metro's Board of Directors yesterday expressed its annoyance that Anne, Howard, William and Loudoun, which add 73,500 daily riders to the already congested system, aren't paying their way. If anything, they're jumping in on the millions paid by the District and the inner-ring of suburbs in Virginia and Maryland . But NBC 4 reports that it was William that got the strongest tongue-lashing, because it was he who recently killed a measure in the Virginia General Assembly to raise the state's sales tax by a quarter cent so as to provide Metro with a dedicated source of funding and, most importantly, access to $1.5 billion in federal funding proposed by Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.)

Metro Board Questions Why Outer Suburbs Aren't Pitching In Survey: 10 Percent Of Riders Live Outside District, Inner Suburbs NBC News; March 10, 2006 Metro Board members plan to write to Virginia legislators to point out the benefit residents get from the transit agency -- even those from counties not paying for it. A survey released Thursday shows 10 percent of Metro riders -- more than 73,500 -- live outside the District of Columbia and its inner suburbs, the jurisdictions paying millions of dollars each year to help subsidize the system.

Metro officials upset at county
Heather Greenfield, Associated Press; March 10, 2006
Metro Board members plan to send a letter to Virginia legislators pointing out the benefit residents get from the transit agency -- even those from counties not paying for it. A survey released Thursday shows ten percent of Metro riders -- more than 73,500 -- live outside the District of Columbia and its inner suburbs, the jurisdictions paying millions of dollars each year to help subsidize the system.

Kaine Set For A Tour To Promote Higher Taxes For Transportation
Washington Post; March 20, 2006
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine plans to barnstorm this week on behalf of higher taxes for roads and transit, holding town hall meetings in southwest Virginia even as lawmakers remain deadlocked on the state's budget. Back from a week-long trip to visit National Guard troops in Iraq and Afghanistan , Kaine (D) will stump for his $1 billion-a-year transportation plan in Bristol and Hillsville at the beginning of the week.

About Face; Gov. Tim Kaine has backed away from the land-use legislation he touted during the 2005 campaign. Bob Burke, Bacon's Rebellion; March 16, 2006 As a candidate Tim Kaine promised frustrated commuters in the state's most congested regions that he would “give local communities more power to say ‘NO' to out-of-control development.” But supporters of increasing that link between land-use and transportation say that in this year's General Assembly session Kaine is not backing up his campaign talk.

June opening scheduled for new Wilson Bridge
Fredericksburg Freelance Star; March 15, 2006
The new Woodrow Wilson Bridge is scheduled to open in mid-June. It's the first of a two-span construction project that will double the number of interstate traffic lanes crossing the Potomac River by 2008. Beginning on a Saturday in June, with the exact date to be announced later, traffic on the Capital Beltway's Outer Loop will switch to the new bridge, according to a news release from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project. Five or six weeks later, traffic from the Beltway's Inner Loop will join the new bridge. The old, six-lane Woodrow Wilson Bridge will be demolished. With the opening of the new bridge, the $2.4 billion project is more than halfway complete.

Legislators, activists aim to tie development to transportation
Tara Slate Donaldson, Gainesville Times; February 10, 2006
... Fauquier Del. Clay Athey (R-18th) agreed, echoing the sentiments of the smart-growth activists who contend that simply building more roads won't fix gridlock. "We don't believe ... that the answer is to asphalt everything in Northern Virginia," Athey said. "The reality is you can't build your way out of this problem."

After rally, panel takes action; Local government in general, and Suffolk in particular, may get more options to manage roads and development.
Daily Press; February 8, 2006
Activists who see a connection between runaway development and highway gridlock rallied on Capitol Square Tuesday, then watched as a Senate panel endorsed a bill meant to break that cycle. … Later in the day, the Senate Local Government Committee passed a bill that requires the state to weigh in on the traffic impact of local planning decisions. The Virginia Department of Transportation would comment on comprehensive plans, rezoning requests and proposed subdivisions. Local officials must consider the state's findings, but still get final say. Or as Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, noted wryly: "The local governing body can still make the wrong decision if they care to."

Buckland, VDOT at odds over bridge
Keith Walker, Potomac News; February 10, 2006
The people of Buckland don't want the new bridge the Virginia Department of Transportation wants to build on U.S. 29 across Broad Run. … The preservation society wants VDOT to continue to repair the bridge and study the possibility of putting a limited-access bypass around Buckland. Blake and about 30 of the preservationists attended a Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting Tuesday to speak against the bridge when Roper briefed the supervisors.

Editorial: Transport Tussle
Opinion, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star; February 12, 2006
"WILL THIS SITTING of the General Assembly be, as Yogi Berra famously said, dejà vu all over again? The resemblance between this budgetary session and the one in 2004 is striking. Then, recall, the governor, the Senate, and the House all had their own notions of how to meet state needs deepened by a revenue drought. The result was a $1.4 billion tax increase, about what Gov. Warner sought. The Senate wanted twice that, the House no hike at all. Agreement--if talks so vituperative can wear that word--occurred in part because the Senate put off transportation funding to another day.

Budget Deal Nets Raise for Teachers; Projects Trimmed to Provide Funds
Ian Shapira, Washington Post; March 25 2006
Maybe all the budget wrangling finally sapped the gravitas out of Lucy S. Beauchamp, the longtime Prince William County School Board chairman. Or maybe she was just steamed and needed to vent. "This budget stinks," Beauchamp said at the School Board's Wednesday night meeting. "This budget stinks. . . . It truly does." On Wednesday, the board completed its most contentious budget negotiations in more than a decade, approving a $762.1 million operating budget for fiscal 2008 that extends all-day kindergarten to all elementary schools but delays construction projects, increases class size and offers raises to teachers who will remain among the lowest paid in Northern Virginia.

Tax rate now likely to increase slightly
Gainesville Times; March 21 2007
It now appears likely that the county's real estate tax rate will be set somewhere around 78.7 cents per $100 of assessed value for the coming year, which would mean the average tax bill would drop slightly, but not as much as expected when the issue was first raised several weeks ago. Tuesday's vote by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors was supposed to be a formality. Before the coming year's budget can be adopted, a public hearing must be advertised, and the advertisements must state the highest possible tax rate that the supervisors are considering. Once the advertisements have been placed, the tax rate can be set lower than advertised, but not higher.

Board approves school budget
Potomac News; March 23 2007
The Prince William County School Board unanimously approved a fiscal 2008 budget Wednesday that includes a 2 percent cost of living adjustment for employees. The vote came at the end of a six-week budget process in which school officials made multiple cuts to an increasingly shrinking budget.

Board sends budget letter
Amanda Stewart, Potomac News; March 16, 2007
The Prince William County School Board sent a request for additional funds to the Board of County Supervisors Thursday. School Board Chairman Lucy Beauchamp and Vice Chairman Michael Otaigbe met with Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, R-at large, and Vice Chairman Martin E. Nohe, R-Coles, early Thursday evening to deliver a letter requesting an additional $11.5 million for the School Board's fiscal 2008 budget.

Discretionary funds draw fire
Keith Walker, Potomac News; March 15, 2007
John Crone has been hammering the Prince William Board of County Supervisors during citizens' time at recent board meetings. He wants them to relinquish their so-called discretionary funds. He said the money should be used to help balance the budget. "They want to cut different things for the people when they've got over $1 million sitting in their discretionary funds unused," the 73-year-old Crone said.

Don't Cut Property Taxes, Some Residents Urge
Timothy Dwyer , Washington Post; March 15, 2007
It is not very often that citizens come out to tell elected officials that they don't want their taxes cut, but that's what happened at Tuesday's meeting of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors . Roger Snyder of Manassas , who has lived in the county for 25 years, put it simply when he told the board: "Please set the tax rate slightly higher."

Parks plan to cut services due to budget
Keith Walker, Potomac News; March 14, 2007
… The Prince William Park Authority, which gets 54 percent of its budget from the county, will have to forego $908,397 from the general fund in fiscal 2008, said Jay Ellington, the executive director of the park authority. The park authority's solution is to raise fees, cut services and let people go.

Budget flexibility possible
Keith Walker, Potomac News; March 14, 2007
… The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted in January to have staff draw up a budget using a flat-tax rate of 75.8 cents per $100 of assessed value with a 4.6-cent fire levy. With a tax rate of 75.8 cents, the average tax bill would be cut about $138 due to lower property assessments, sales taxes and recordation taxes. Prince William Finance Director Christopher Martino said a penny increase in the tax rate raises an additional $5.75 million. … The board will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget at 7:30 p.m. on April 2 at the McCoart Administration Center . County Executive Craig Gerhart will recap the budget at 2 p.m. on April 10 at McCoart. The board of county supervisors will make final changes to the budget at the 2 p.m. session at McCoart on April 17 and adopt the budget on April 24.

PWC Proposed FY 2008 Fiscal Plan County Executive's Presentation on the Proposed FY 2008

Fiscal Plan PWC Proposed FY 2008 Capital Improvements Plan

County Executive's Presentation on the Proposed FY 2008 Capital Improvements Plan

Public Funds Spent at Officials' Whim; Cash Allotted to Each Supervisor Often Saved for Election-Year Gifts to Pet Projects
Nikita Stewart , Washington Post; May 16, 2006
It's a little-known tradition of Prince William County politics: Members of the Board of County Supervisors get $47,500 a year in public money to put into individual "discretionary funds." …The current board has amassed nearly $800,000 to spend between now and next year's elections. There are few restrictions on how a supervisor can spend the money; the board has never rejected a colleague's donation request. Unspent money does not have to be returned at the end of the year.

Battle Over Home Prices Heating Up In Prince William; Proffer Fees Causing Debate
NBC News; April 24, 2006
Officials said proffers for single-family homes will increase from $23,000 to about $38,000. They also said townhouse proffers will go up by about 47 percent to more than $31,000; and multifamily units will increase 74 percent to almost $20,000. Housing prices in Prince William have doubled in the last two years, according to county officials.

New Money for Aging Amenities; Lake Ridge, Reston Start Charging New Homeowners a Fee for Facilities Upkeep
Nikita Stewart , Washington Post; May 20, 2006
When Lake Ridge in Prince William County and Reston in Fairfax County were built in the 1960s, they were among the first and largest planned communities in the nation. … But both communities are learning the hard way that those aging amenities cost more money to maintain than anticipated. Reston 's leaders have found out they need to spend $21 million during the next 30 years to replace facilities. Lake Ridge raises just $115,000 a year in homeowner fees to spend on capital improvements, but repairing a pool can cost $100,000.

Devlopment Center gets approval
Keith Walker, Potomac News; May 20, 2006 Greater Prince William Community Development Center recently got a nod and $250,000 from the Prince William Board of County Supervisors . … During one-year program, or "phase one," the center will develop plans to build up to 1,000 units within five years, obtain agreements from faith-based organizations and enlist private developers and lenders to finance and build the units. If phase one is successful, the development center will return to the county for an additional $200,000 annually over the next four years to keep the program going.

County assessments rise
Keith Walker, Potomac News; March 16, 2006
The county's real estate tax base increased about 32.1 percent last year. Market appreciation accounted for about 25.2 percent of the increase. New growth increased the tax base by about 6.9 percent, according to the release. Last year the average assessed value on existing single-family homes, town houses and condominiums increased from $333,510 to $423,403. That's an average 27 percent increase, though in some neighborhoods, assessments increased as much as 40 percent, according to the release. This year's recommended tax rate is 76.7 cents per $100 of assessed value. At that rate, the average tax bill for all residential property in the county will increase from $3,035 to $3,248. There were about 5,640 new homes built in the county last year. The average assessment on the new homes was $548,619, according to the release. Commercial and industrial property values went up an average 20.75 percent. The county added about 2 million square feet of commercial property last year.

Pr. William May Take Tax-Rate Crown; County Proposes Deeper Cut Than Arlington as Both Unveil Budgets
Nikita Stewart and Leef Smith, Washington Post; March 1, 2006
The rate cut would keep the average Prince William tax bill the lowest in Northern Virginia , county officials said. But property owners still would pay 5.7 percent more in taxes than last year in part because the county had the region's highest average increase in assessments, 25.5 percent.

Department of Energy Releases Updated Report Tracking Resurgence of Coal-Fired Power Plants
Fossil Energy Techline; May 1 2007
A newly released Department of Energy report shows that many power producers are turning to coal as the most economic and abundant national resource for electricity generation. The report, titled Tracking New Coal-Fired Power Plants, was developed by the Office of Fossil Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to provide a snapshot of coal's resurgence in the generation of electric power.
Click here to read the report.

A Power Line Coming Soon to a Neighborhood Near You
Bacon's Rebellion; April 26 2007
The Department of Energy has moved a step closer to designating a swath of Virginia as part of a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor in the Mid-Atlantic region, one of two in the country. (See DOE press release.) The practical import: If Dominion gets turned down by the State Corporation Commission in its bid to build a high-voltage electric power line through the northern Virginia piedmont, it could appeal to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the grounds of national interest.

Fixing the grid Everyone wants electricity, but no one wants new power lines in their backyard, says Fortune's Marc Gunther
CNN Money; March 22 2007
... This isn't just a New York issue, of course. In northern Virginia, a plan by Dominion Power to build a 240-mile power line has run into a buzzsaw of opposition, including a lawsuit by one of the region's most powerful developers, whose family lives nearby. American Electric Power has also met initial resistance as it seeks to develop a major transmission line from West Virginia through Maryland and Pennsylvania to New Jersey. To be sure, these billion-dollar construction projects may - or may not - make sense as planned. Other solutions to relieving grid congestion may be preferable, including energy-efficiency programs, pricing strategies to reduce demands during peak periods or more distributed or localized generation, such as small-scale solar and wind projects.

Ten Green Giants; These companies have gone beyond what the law requires to operate in an environmentally responsible way
CNN Money

Living Lightly on the Grid; Takoma Park Man Saves Energy, Sets Example in Fight Against Climate Change
David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post; March 6, 2007
Mike Tidwell's electric meter was spinning in reverse. He was standing outside his Takoma Park house watching the metal disk count down. "I'm selling it to Pepco right now," he said one day recently.

His energy bill is $0.00; A New Jersey civil engineer powers his home with solar panels and hydrogen tanks. Can it work in the mainstream?
Jared Flesher, The Christian Science Monitor; March 15, 2007
Mike Strizki lives in the nation's first solar-hydrogen house. The technology this civil engineer has been able to string together – solar panels, a hydrogen fuel cell, storage tanks, and a piece of equipment called an electrolyzer – provides electricity to his home year-round, even on the cloudiest of winter days. Mr. Strizki's monthly utility bill is zero – he's off the power grid – and his system creates no carbon-dioxide emissions. Neither does the fuel-cell car parked in his garage, which runs off the hydrogen his system creates.

Virginia reviews re-regulation plan; Various parties weigh in as legislation amendments are under consideration
Greg Edwards, Richmond Times Dispatch; March 18 2007
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine aims to protect consumers and the environment should he amend General Assembly-passed legislation re-regulating Virginia electricity sales, his spokesman says. … Kaine has until March 26 to sign, veto or offer amendments to the legislation. The assembly will reconvene at the renovated State Capitol on April 4 to deal with vetoes or amendments on all legislation passed this year. The legislation, which enjoyed Dominion Virginia Power's strong support, represents a sharp departure from traditional state utility regulation and proved controversial.

North Anna has another incident; Emergency generator, pump malfunction at North Anna nuclear power plant
Rusty Dennen, Fredericksburg Free Lance Star; March 9 2007
… North Anna, and its Surry sister nuclear plant on the James River , together generate about 34 percent of Virginia 's electricity. Demand continues to soar: Dominion set a new record for winter peak power demand on Feb. 7, during a prolonged cold snap. It supplied 18,079 megawatts of electricity to its 2.3 million customers between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. that day. … Dominion has applied to the NRC to add up to two more reactors on the property.

Town, power company at odds
Larry Bria, Outer Banks Sentinel; March 17 2007
Dominion North Carolina Power has plans to install new 115 kilovolt, high voltage transmission lines along US 158 in Kill Devil Hills but the town's Board of Commissioners has opposed the project and adopted restrictive language in 2006 to require Dominion to place these lines along a single corridor — either along US 158 or along the existing Bay Drive utilities easement. New LIPA Chairman

Stressing Conservation
John Rather, New York Times; March 18 2007
… Conservation, which the authority has already made a focus of a 10-year, $351 million program, would have to buck a trend of increasing electricity demand. The average customer used 21 percent more electricity in 2005 than in 1998, authority figures show. LIPA set a one-day demand record, 5,792 megawatts, on Aug. 3. … Gordian Raacke, the executive director of the nonprofit group Renewable Energy Long Island, estimated that conservation and energy-efficiency programs could save 500 megawatts of electric capacity. “It's a big untapped potential, and Kevin is right in what he's saying,” he said.

A world without waste
Jessica Winter, Boston Globe; March 11, 2007
The 'zero waste' movement imagines a future where everything is a renewable resource. Sound impossible? From New Zealand to New England , it's already changing the way governments and companies do business.

Power Line Proposal Looms Over Communities; Opponents Out in Force At Dominion Meeting
Sandhya Somashekhar, Washington Post; November 30, 2006
Hundreds of environmentalists, property owners and slow-growth activists piled into the Middleburg Community Center on Tuesday evening to learn more about a high-voltage power line planned for parts of Loudoun, Fauquier and Prince William counties, a plan that has been met with vehement opposition in growth-resistant northwestern Virginia.

Proposed Power Line Routes Traverse Sensitive Areas
ABC News; November 28 2006
Dominion Virginia Power has revealed proposed routes for a high-voltage power line that would cut through Civil War sites and some of Virginia 's unspoiled natural land. The company proposed a handful of routes on Monday that mostly follow the Interstate 66 corridor and cut through parts of Prince William, Loudoun and Fauquier counties.

North Anna reactor proposal passes big test
Scott Harper, Virginian –Pilot; November 22, 2006
Plans for building two more nuclear reactors at the North Anna power station near Richmond are consistent with state environmental rules and can move forward, Virginia officials announced Tuesday. The decision is a victory for Dominion Virginia Power, the state's largest electric utility, which is seeking an early-site permit for as many as two new reactors at North Anna, a nuclear plant in Louisa County on Lake Anna , about three hours from downtown Norfolk.

New plan for power line tracks Route 66
Shannon Sollinger, Reston Times; November 22 2006
Dominion Virginia Power presented its case Friday to the Times Community Newspapers editorial board for building a 40-mile, 500,000-volt power line through Loudoun, Fauquier and Prince William counties. Dominion will finalize maps of specific routes that are being considered for the power line before it holds public workshops, starting Nov. 28 in Middleburg. According to the revised study area, it appears the most likely path tracks Route 66 from Allegheny Power's Meadowbrook substation south of Winchester to Dominion's substation east of U.S. 15 in Aldie. Dominion has not confirmed this.

McDonnell wants state consulted in power line project
WAVY TV; November 20 2006
Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell is the latest Virginia official to weigh in on a plan by power companies to build a high-voltage power line in northwest Virginia . McDonnell wrote a letter to U-S Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman about a study by the Energy Department in August that named portions of Virginia as part of a critical congestion area. That designation would allow for the condemnation of land to create corridors where power lines can be built. McDonnell says the department is moving ahead without consulting Virginia . He's concerned that P-J-M Interconnections the company that manages the mid-Atlantic power grid could break local and state conservation easements.

New map for power line
Loudoun Times Mirror; November 14 2006
Dominion Power will conduct three public workshops to discuss plans to run a 500,000-volt power line from just south of Winchester in Frederick County to east of Aldie in Loudoun County. It has removed Clarke County from its planning area for the new line, leaving parts of Loudoun, Fauquier, Warren, Frederick and Prince William counties within the revised area.

Loudoun Excluded From Utility Route
Sandhya Somashekhar, Washington; November 16, 2006
Dominion Virginia Power has excluded most of Loudoun County as a potential route for a power line in northwestern Virginia , putting to rest fears that steel lattice towers and high-voltage cables would slice through parts of the county with deep natural and historic significance. … The strip includes parts of Frederick, Warren, Fauquier and Prince William counties and broadly follows Interstate 66, ending at a substation in southern Loudoun. A series of 15-story towers would be built to support the power cables in a swath of land cleared of trees, 150 feet wide and 240 miles long.

Allegheny Power planning new transmission line
Associated Press
Allegheny Power has begun preliminary work on planning a 240-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line it proposed last February. ... The project, the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line, would extend from southwestern Pennsylvania to existing substations in Mount Storm, W.Va., and Meadow Brook, Va., along with an interconnection with Dominion Virginia Power and continuing east to Dominion's Loudoun Substation.

Dominion to Sell Off Production Assets; Oil, Gas Reserves Valued at $15 Billion
Steven Mufson , Washington Post; November 2, 2006
Dominion Resources Inc., the nation's second largest utility owner, said yesterday that it would put most of its oil and natural gas production assets up for sale, and industry analysts said they could fetch more than $15 billion. … The restructuring would leave behind a firm more focused on its electric utility in Virginia, a natural gas distribution company in Ohio and electric power plants in New England, Wisconsin and other parts of the country. Dominion executives said they hoped that the divestiture would boost the stock price for shareholders who are seeking a less volatile, more stable business and source of dividends.