Pond at Merrimac Farm

Community Report, December 18 2021; read online here.

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First Day Walk: Manassas Battlefield

Meet at the Brawner Farm parking area, 6501 Pageland Lane, Gainesville.

Saturday, Jan 1 at 1:00pm, register here.

Start the new year off right with a walk through the historic area of Brawner Farm, near the proposed "Digital Gateway." The National Park Service manages this area to preserve history and restore wildlife habitat. Nearby, land speculators are trying to create an industrial zone for data centers. 

Come enjoy the great outdoors. Learn more about Manassas National Battlefield Park as well as the current development proposals that threaten the quality of this National Park. The tour will cover about 3 miles on flat ground.

Occoqouan Reservoir

Smart Growth Protects What We Have!

A discussion on Data Centers... from the Rural Crescent to the Occoquan Reservoir

Thursday, January 6, 7:00pm Webinar, Register HERE

Landowners on Pageland Lane have filed a data center development proposal to create an industrial corridor through the Rural Crescent, covering more than 2,000 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield Park and Conway Robinson State Forest.

Although the plan appears to focus on data centers, it also opens the door to other industrial uses, such as warehouses, that generate truck traffic and the need for a major new road connecting I-66 with the back side of Dulles Airport (Bi-County Parkway).

This proposal offers a false choice between building data centers to boost our commercial tax base OR protecting our national parks, Rural Crescent, and drinking water supply. We can do both! Land is available in the Data Center Overlay District, which means we can build more data centers in the right spot AND protect our environmental assets.

Protecting the Rural Crescent and our national parks helps us meet climate change goals. These assets encourage tourism, create attractive, desirable communities, protect our water supply, direct infrastructure improvements to underserved areas, and safeguard high quality habitats for wildlife.

Panelists:

Dr. Jack Kooyoomjian, ret. US EPA and LOCCA, shares information on storm water runoff and sedimentation, which historically is responsible for the loss of one billion gallons of water storage in the Occoquan Reservoir. Learn why retention of the Rural Crescent is a significant land-use strategy and key in protecting both our ground water and surface drinking water supplies.

Julie Bolthouse, Piedmont Environmental Council, discusses the land use changes being proposed, from data centers to warehouses. She explains how the proposal would impact the Rural Crescent, Manassas National Battlefield Park, and Conway Robinson State Forest, places that have irreplaceable scenic, historic, tourism, and economic value. 

Stewart Schwartz, Coalition for Smarter Growth, highlights the impact of a Bi-County Parkway as part of long-controversial Outer Beltway proposals, which would impact communities from Dumfries to eastern Loudoun. By protecting the Rural Crescent the county will avoid generating thousands of additional vehicle trips, and save hundreds of millions in tax dollars for roads and other infrastructure.

Sponsored by Prince William Conservation Alliance with the Piedmont Environmental Council, National Parks Conservation Association 

In the News:

Opposition Mounts Against 'Rural Crescent' Data Center Plans

Prince William Times, Nov 18

The organizations are sounding the alarm about the impact of "industrial sprawl" on rural communities, historic sites, wildlife and the Occoquan watershed in Prince William County, where thousands of acres are being considered for potential data centers and other industrial uses. 

Rural Crescent Data Center Plan Resurrects Bi-County Parkway Debate Prince William Times, December 1

As new details emerge about a plan to turn a mostly undeveloped area of western Prince William County into a 2,133-acre data center corridor, some elected officials and civic groups are increasingly concerned it could resurrect the Bi-County Parkway, a controversial 10-mile bypass once planned to connect Interstate 66 with U.S. 50 in Loudoun County. 

GUEST OPINION: Data centers, the Bi-County Parkway are Too Much for the Rural Crescent By Danica Roem

Prince William Times, December 2

As I've stated for years now, I oppose all data centers being built north or west of Innovation Park in Manassas, and especially data centers being built near either Conway Robinson Park or Manassas National Battlefield Park.

Battlefield superintendent calls data center plan the 'single greatest threat to the park' in decades

Prince William Times, December 2

Manassas National Battlefield Park's superintendent has issued two letters opposing a plan to allow data centers on 2,133 acres of land adjacent to the park, calling it "the single greatest threat to Manassas National Battlefield Park in nearly three decades." 

Battlefield: Pageland data centers would have 'negative impact' on historic resources

InsideNova, December 14

Manassas National Battlefield Park "strongly opposes" the potential of data centers along Pageland Lane. Then-Park Superintendent Brandon Bies sent a letter to Prince William County on Dec. 3 opposing the proposed PW Digital Gateway.

Bipartisan opposition to Pageland data center plan emerges at Heritage Hunt meeting

InsideNova, December 16

Prince William Supervisor Jeanine Lawson and Virginia Del. Danica Roem are leading a bipartisan fight against a potential data center complex along Pageland Lane. On Wednesday night, they took the fight to the Heritage Hunt clubhouse, where nearly 300 people came to learn more about the proposed PW Digital Gateway, which would be near their community.