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Prince William redefines ‘parks’ and ‘open space’
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Under a measure unanimously approved by Prince William County supervisors, golf course land such as the Osprey’s Golf Club at Belmont Bay in Woodbridge will now be considered open space. – Jeff Mankie/Examiner Prince William County supervisors have unanimously approved a measure to aim for more parks and open space in the next 20 years. The Board of Supervisors Tuesday night voted to push for 70 acres of parks and open space per 1,000 residents by 2030 after months of debate over whether 25 acres was too many. By dramatically changing what constitutes open space from county-owned land to including state and federal parks, battlefields, golf courses and school campuses, supervisors were able to shoot for a target nearly triple the size of the proposed plan. The previous plan struck supervisors as an inaccurate reflection of how much open land the large suburban county’s residents already have. Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart called the goal, now adopted in the county’s master plan, “the most ambitious in Northern Virginia.” While the original plan had an estimated price tag of $1.26 billion, it is unclear how much the revised plan would cost as it seeks to add thousands of protected acres over the next 22 years. Many residents expressed concern they did not want that to diminish efforts to expand the county’s parkland by including valuable existing resources, including Manassas National Battlefield Park. The plan’s critics and supporters were still trying to get a handle on the dramatic change Wednesday. “We addressed a lofty goals proposal without dealing with the details of how we’re going to pay for it,” said Mark Granville-Smith, a homebuilder and president of the Prince William County chapter of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association. The county planning department has estimated that every new acre would cost about $80,000, but supervisors said they would push for donations and cheaper land without much development potential. Former county attorney Sharon Pandak saluted the board for committing to additional open space, saying it was a critical priority that had gone overlooked for too long. “Once open space is gone, it is gone.” dgenz@dcexaminer.com |