Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Using a simple shuttle bus to reshape land use and transportation
As reported by the Washington Post, Fairfax County is exploring how to move commuters from the Silver Line stations that open in 2012 to office complexes and shopping malls. New Federal grants “give priority to transit projects that support the redevelopment of communities into mixed-use, high-density areas.”
Fairfax recognizes that Metrorail at Tysons Corner is only a part of the solution. Few people walk more than 1/4 mile (about four football fields…) to a transit station, especially in rain, snow, or August heat. Shoppers carrying bags, and parents with children, are even less inclined to hike a long distance. A shuttle bus can move people beyond the rail corridor, expanding the economic advantages of the transit system and increasing property tax revenues for Fairfax County.
Hmmm… where could we do the same in Prince William?
Read the rest of this entry »
New location for Lake Manassas work session
The Manassas City Council work session on opportunities to provide public access to Lake Manassas has been moved from City Hall to the the Public Works building, 8500 Public Works Drive, Manassas 20110, directions. Click here and here for more information about the current proposal.
Should county government condemn private land to develop a “center”?
You’d think this question would have an obvious answer – but note how Roanoke has operated recently.
The Prince William County Planning Department proposed in its draft Land Use Chapter that Yorkshire should become a “Center of Community.” There are similar proposals to develop North Woodbridge.
At both sites, land ownership is fragmented. Assembling enough property to create a mixed use, walkable community, one that was large enough to justify public investment to provide transit services, would not be a simple challenge in either location.
There’s one way to ensure enough acreage is available to attract a private developer: acquire land through government condemnation, then sell it to a private company for development as a “town center.” The US Supreme Court ruled in the Kelo decision that government seizure of private land, for resale to another private company, is legal.
Think it can’t happen here? Look south to Roanoke – that city just demonstrated what’s wrong with the condemn-and-resell approach.
PW County’s “Principles of Sound Financial Management” and Comprehensive Plan revision
The Board of County Supervisors is planning to update the county’s Principles of Sound Financial Management. The revised principles will still include three key statements regarding the financial health of the county.
Those three statements should guide the revision of the Transportation, Land Use, and Environment chapters of the Comprehensive Plan, if we want to emphasize local jobs, low property taxes, and economic stability of the county.
Right now, all three proposed drafts of the Land Use Chapter, and the draft of the Transportation Chapter approved by the Planning Commission, are fiscally irresponsible. Only the draft of the Environment Chapter is designed to reduce county costs and face long-term economic realities.
If the Board of County Supervisors considered the financial impacts by 2030 of the proposed long-term Comprehensive Plan updates… the need for dramatic revisions in Land Use and Transportation drafts would become clear.
“The buzz about nanobees…”
The Prince William Regional Beekeepers Association will speak at the First Thursday Nature Tales on Thursday night, October 1. They’ll be discussing the life cycle of bees, how we get honey, what is “sustainable” beekeeping in our region, etc. It will be a fascinating and fun conversation.
But meanwhile, over in the not-so-weird-scientist labs, the wizards keep expanding the frontiers of knowledge. According to the Wall Street Journal, doctors – with the assistance of nanoparticles – may be able to direct bee venom to attack cancer cells one day soon.
Sweet, eh?
The Monarch butterfly has a GPS capability… and a clock
Our monarch butterflies migrate from Prince William to Mexico every Fall. This week is normally the peak migration season for our area, according to Journey North.
To get to the single forest in Mexico where the insects over-winter, they need a compass and a clock. The butterflies use the sun to determine direction – but because the sun moves throughout the day, the monarchs also need a clock.
After all, setting your path by the sun at 9:00am will send you in one direction, but if you fly at the same angle to the sun at 3:00pm you’ll end up going in a very different direction. (Ask anyone who lives west of their job. They commute east into the sun in the morning – and back home, into the sun again, in the evening.)
Scientists have just discovered that the biological clock that enables monarchs to use the sun as a compass is located in their antennae, not in their brain. Guess there really is something new under the sun, occasionally… (For more, see article in Wired.)
Before we define solutions, let’s define the problem
The demographers predict in the March 15 Demographic Factsheet that 165,000 new residents will come to Prince William over the next 20 years. To absorb the new residents, Prince William will need about 55,000 new residential units by 2030.
The March 12, 2008 Build-Out Analysis says “In summary, there is capacity for 46,336 additional dwelling units to be built.” Without any changes in the current Comprehensive Plan, we could absorb about 135,000 new residents in those already-planned residential units.
To house the last 30,000 arrivals, we need to build 20% more houses than would be permitted in the current Comp Plan. Right now, however, we have vast amounts of property ready for developers that could accommodate 15 years of population growth. (The extra 30,000 more people predicted by 2030 that will need housing? They ain’t on the doorstep now.)
So why are our planners trying to up-plan and up-zone for even more people? What problem are they fixing?
You’re Invited!
PWCA Green Breakfast — From Your Backyard to the Bay
WHEN: Saturday, February 28 at 9:00 a.m.
WHERE: Wetland Studies & Solutions, 5300 Wellington Branch Drive, Gainesville
REGISTER: Click here to download the flyer and registration form.
SPEAKERS: Tom Davis, Charles Smith and Mike May
Green is in and the benefits of acting locally have never been more apparent. From the Obama administration to the state’s Renew Virginia initiative, there’s lots of noise and even a few details on how we can really make a difference. Read the rest of this entry »
Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge & Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail
The Potomac River on the eastern edge of Prince William County is a “two-fer” that combines nationally-significant cultural and natural resources. The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail was established in 2006 to mark the 1607-1609 voyages of Captain John Smith, when he ventured from Jamestown and charted the land/waterways of the Chesapeake Bay.
The National Park Service is now preparing a Comprehensive Management Plan. Comments are due by November 7. Here’s what I had to say: Read the rest of this entry »
