Your Piece of the Planet

The Washington Post reports that Virginia will commit state funding to support an extra Amtrak train through eastern Prince William on the CSX corridor, and a second train through Manassas on the Norfolk Southern corridor.

Hey, if the governor wants to throw money at rail transportation, this is a pretty good toss.  The extra train through Manassas will expand service to Culpeper, Charlottesville, and Lynchburg – but these Amtrak trains won’t stop at Bristow, Nokesville, Calverton, Midland, Bealeton…

Whew!  We dodged another bullet in the never-ending push for the public to subsidize the efforts of private developers to suburbanize the rural areas on the southwestern periphery of ever-expanding Northern Virginia.

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The Portland (Oregon) Metro system is planning to expand high-capacity transit into the suburbs of that metropolitan region.  Their criteria on where to expand make a lot more sense than the simplistic “gee, let’s build new VRE stations wherever the Orange and Alexandria or the Manassas Gap railroads built stations for dairy farmers before the Civil War” approach.

Six of the seven screening criteria are based on existing conditions or future economic circumstances, but local elected officials have the power to affect one of the seven. 
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A. Barton Hinkle said “The Kaine Administration’s proposal seems to strike an eminently sensible balance” in his March 27 column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (“Gov. Kaine Proposes a Sensible Cul-de-Sacre Bleu!“).

He was referring to new Secondary Street Acceptance Requirements (Chapter 382 regulations) stating that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will no longer accept cul-de-sac subdivision roads into the state-maintained road network.  New subdivisions must have two entrances/exits.   Developers may build future cul-de-sacs with just one entrance/exit, but VDOT will not maintain those new roads.

Interesting – but I’m waiting for the real bombshell to drop, comparable to the 1949 decision to define minimum standards before the state would agree to maintain new subdivision streets.

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…the Capital/Bond program will not be able to complete the priority projects identified in the County’s Strategic Plan.”

That’’s the conclusion of the county staff report on Transportation, prepared for the Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) budget work session on March 24.

Expect to see reliable and consistent transportation funding over the next 20 years?  Are you still looking for the Easter Bunny too?

Our county supervisors have three choices: Read the rest of this entry »

After two (count ‘em, 2) years of preparation and review, on March 18 the Planning Commission voted 4-3 to scheduled a public hearing and consider two drafts of the Land Use Chapter in the Comprehensive Plan.

EEEK!  There may be an end to the Comp Plan update process for this chapter.  We might even see a decision by the Planning Commission on land use, as early as April 15.

The key distinction between the two versions: only one defines a small number of areas where high-density development will be encouraged.

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Here’s my tally on PWC Supervisors decisions on the Comprehensive Plan Amendments (CPAs) requested by developers.  I was at McCoart viewing events from the lobby, which can be distracting… hopefully others can share more news and views about the outcome.

Supervisors voted to initiate 12 of the 19 Comprehensive Plan Amendments (CPAs) submitted by developers. All proposals to take land out of the Rural Crescent were rejected.

Semi-Rural Residential properties, intended to buffer the Rural Crescent and protect the Occoquan Reservoir, did not fare as well. Read the rest of this entry »

If you found a stack of boards, nails, and tools in the garage, would you start hammering and cutting in order to build a bookcase before looking at a finished blueprint?  Only if you want to partially-assemble the bookcase, then rip it apart for later corrections.

So why would the Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) initiate projects to approve houses in new subdivisions scattered across Prince William now, before completing the Land Use Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan? Read the rest of this entry »

The Virginian-Pilot editorialized on March 16 that a new light-rail line should be extended from Norfolk to the Atlantic Ocean coastline of Virginia Beach.  The rail line parallels an existing expressway, and the city is breaking from the just-widen-the-highway-again approach.

The mayor of Virginia Beach says it’s time to start “weaning ourselves off the stranglehold of automobiles.”  The newspaper editors warned that, without mass transit, “the city and the region will be stuck with a transportation system designed for the 1960s, when land was plentiful and fuel cheap.”

Yup, we know that problem in Northern Virginia… but is light rail the solution for Prince William County?
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Bluebird Eggs

Not all nesting boxes provide a safe refuge for Bluebirds. Bluebirds have many predators, including snakes, raccoons, ants, squirrels and cats. Also, other birds, such as House sparrows, wrens, chickadees, and tree swallows, compete for available nesting sites.

Successful nesting boxes are constructed to protect Bluebirds from predators and discourage competition from other species. Snakes love to eat tasty bluebird eggs and young birds. Adding a baffle made of round metal ducting material on the mounting pole prevents snakes from slithering up the pole and entering the box. It also protects the nesting box from climbing cats, racoons and squirrels. Read the rest of this entry »

As a result of citizen involvement, Prince William’s Parks, Trails and Open Space policies (adopted in April 2008) call for the establishment of a trails and blueways advisory committee “to serve as the focal point for developing a comprehensive network of trails (including blueways) in Prince William County.”

On February 25, 2009 the Prince William County Park Authority Board voted to approve draft by-laws for a Trails and Blueways Council, a first step toward making this goal a reality. Before the Council can be formed, the Board of Supervisors must approve the by-laws. No date has currently been scheduled for a Board vote, which will not likely require a public hearing. Read the rest of this entry »