Coraggio Consulting
Prince William Board of County Supervisors Meeting, Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Place: Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 7h 40m (video)
Official meeting video (Prince William County, Granicus): https://pwcgov.granicus.com/player/clip/3348
Official Board of County Supervisors page (Prince William County): https://www.pwcva.gov/department/board-county-supervisors

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-11-03. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:52:16] Good afternoon. It is 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25th, 2023. For those who wish, please join me in a moment of silence. Thank you.

[00:52:34] If we could all rise for the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. To the flag of the United States and the Republic for which it stands, under God's justice for all.

[00:52:54] Thank you. Good afternoon. We are now on to item number three, our consent agenda. It consists of 14 items today. Are there any items anyone wishes to remove from the consent agenda because they have specific questions or concerns they haven't been able to have answered before today?

[00:53:17] Supervisor Weird. Madam Chair, I'd like to poll 3A, B, C, and D. Okay.

[00:53:37] Can I get a motion for 3E through 3M? So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any further discussion? Madam Chair. Supervisor Bode. And I assume that includes 3K since we did through M.

[00:53:55] So 3K for folks that don't know is we're appropriating local and state funding that's already located to the CRC project, the Crisis Receiving Center, while also appropriating Federal Department of Health and Human Services, Human Resources and Services Administration, community and project funding of the amount of $2 million that the county was awarded to the CRC project.

[00:54:14] So continuing to, under the leadership of my colleagues, Supervisor Bailey, get more federal, state, local funding for the Crisis Receiving Center, so that will be up and running next year. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair. Thank you. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. And concluding from what my colleague just mentioned in detail, I want to thank Lisa Madron and Eliza Johnson and their team for continuing keeping mental health in the forefront and making sure that this project is moving forward consistently as we've agreed to with the 93 stakeholders as well as the community to keep it in the forefront of everyone's mind.

[00:54:54] So I appreciate it, and thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to put on the record that item 3G is the hopefully final public hearing for the SPOE road improvement that will be that one piece that needs to happen before the courts district is created, because we want to make sure we fix infrastructure before we start that huge project.

[00:55:17] So hopefully after this, we'll begin to see some shovels in the ground on a great project. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. And I will note that 3H is withdrawn. I know that was done a couple of days ago. So 3H is withdrawn.

[00:55:35] We have a motion. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous. Supervisor Lawson absent from vote. I should mention Supervisor Lawson had a conflict, and she will be joining us later, if possible.

[00:55:54] So we now have 3A, B, C, and D. Supervisor, where you had questions you couldn't get answered or concerns before today, 3A. 3A, is Ms. Bina here? I know we had a discussion about this yesterday.

[00:56:10] Could you sort of provide some more detail to the board with respect to where we're standing on the solar program, what's going on? because I've got concerns with this particular aspect of it. So, Madam Chair, members of the board, Mandy Spina, Acting Director of Development Services.

[00:56:32] So what we bring before you is a request for $1.2 million to get approval for a one-time fee reduction program for residential solar projects. What this would do is, starting September 1st, it would waive all fees related to residential solar.

[00:56:47] We have heard from the solar industry over the past two years two specific items one that our costs are too high compared to other jurisdictions and two that our process is too long we understand that we are different in terms of how we operate in Prince William County we conduct a full plan review for solar permitting projects just like any other industry and so that does make us a longer time frame and it does make us more expensive so in working with the solar industry this was something we were going to bring forward to help alleviate the cost perspective. This would start September 1st for all new applications.

[00:57:24] Thank you, Ms. Spina. Madam Chair, I would elaborate on my opposition to this. I'm not wild about taking public monies, in this case surplus funding. I mean, I understand where they're going with this and, you know, alleviating some of the cost for residential solar applications for residents who want to put it on their homes but on a one-year basis where we're just essentially giving them the free application free free inspection free permitting free everything

[00:58:02] and nobody's gotten anything like this before it's only going to last one year the question is what happens next year do we carry it over and it doesn't really address the underlying issue yes fees are part of the problem but the greater issue is the time the process the inspections submitting the paperwork i this seems like we're throwing money at a problem that's it's more of a feel-good thing than it is actually good policy uh so i'm not going to be voting in favor of this okay can i get a motion for 3a please so move man second motion made by supervisor bailey

[00:58:39] seconded by vice chair bode i'll let you go start supervisor bode thank you madam chair uh So as you're aware, I appreciate your remarks about that. We know that through, in my office, we also have extensive conversations with industry, with stakeholders, with residential installers, and the actual residences themselves, that there are many barriers and speed bumps along the way right now and challenges to getting solar installed in Prince William County.

[00:59:05] The fees are definitely part of that cost, as Ms. Spina said. I see this as one part and one small step along a continuum of things that the county is currently looking to address those challenges and those barriers my thought is this is a way of alleviating some of that that pain and that that frustration that folks are having while the county works on the streamlining process of solar permitting i know that they're looking at solar app plus and a whole host of other things to help set such that in my opinion once this trial period is over with this or i shouldn't say trial period once this period is

[00:59:40] over with this fee waiver period everything else will be in place such that it'll be much easier for folks to go through the process anyway. So bring down the time it'll take and also, frankly, bring down the cost because you won't have multiple submissions over and over and having more inspections over and over again.

[00:59:55] So to me, this is a good sort of short-term way of helping to alleviate some of the challenges while ultimately getting to where we need to be. So I will support you in this. Thank you, Madam Chair. How are you? Thank you. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mandy, thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.

[01:00:14] I see this as also a cost savings for residents as well and making sure that we're addressing. We've had several residents that come in and express concerns as well as business owners express concerns that we're not looking at this entity as it relates to sustainability and environmental costs in the community.

[01:00:31] So I see this. I'll be supporting this because I see from a regional perspective that other counties have done this, and we were taking the time to assess, is this the right thing to do? And so being that we had a directive and a question about this and you're bringing it back to us, I really do appreciate that after you've done your homework, and I see this as a service to the community.

[01:00:53] So thank you for bringing it forward in terms of costs and maintaining costs, and I will be supporting. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you for stopping by our office in prayer and going through this presentation. For me, it's real simple. Okay, so we've been having problems with solar, and I, for the life of me, couldn't figure what those were.

[01:01:14] Two things, as we discussed, one is if we're going to have this free program, I want to make sure that our companies aren't, you know, billing the fact that we've now offered this as free, so I want to make sure they're not hitting the customer on the back end still making more money.

[01:01:29] So if we can make sure we monitor that. And then the last piece I'll say is that I like the fact that we have very stringent processes to this because, you know, in listening to whether or not a solar panel could fall through someone's roof or whether or not these roofs have access for firefighters to access the roof, these are things that should be inspected.

[01:01:49] So if our process is a little bit too time-consuming, I'm hoping that within this year, maybe we can figure out some win-wins to both of those. But I don't mind the fact that we have stringent processes when it concerns safety. So safety is always going to be the buzzword here. I support this, what we're doing now.

[01:02:07] I'm interested to see what happens in a year, next year, and where we go from here. But just to keep an eye on making sure that, you know, the bad actors, as we say, aren't billing, you know, tacking it on to the ends of the end user. And also that hopefully this process will weed out any company that we have that shouldn't be in Prince William County doing the business in the first place.

[01:02:30] Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Supervisor. Weir. Madam Chair, I would simply suggest that this is largely a band-aid on a sucking chest wound. The principal cost is not the county fees. The principal cost is the professionals that you're paying to do this. And every time you have to revise your drawing, every time you have to resubmit it, every time you have to reconfigure your electronic submission because the Development Services Department doesn't like how you have your tabs labeled, will ultimately cost you

[01:03:05] significantly more than any fee reimbursement or fee forgiveness. Until we correct the underlying problem, which is what really drives up the cost and which really drives up the timeline, you know, we're not doing anything except, you know, offering to them to take abuse for free.

[01:03:29] As to bad actors in the industry, I can't speak to that, and I certainly wouldn't suggest that. I doubt very seriously that any of them are going to pass along a fee that they don't pay, and to characterize the industry in that way really sort of annoys me a little bit.

[01:03:48] Again, I liken this much to the noise ordinance we passed. The noise ordinance does nothing with respect to what the problem was, because it was a criminal change to the criminal code, not to the civil aspect. So, taking $1.2 million out of a surplus that we haven't even realized yet just seems like bad public policy to me.

[01:04:09] Thank you. Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mandy, I just want to thank you and your staff for all of the work that you guys have put into this. I recall when initial complaints from the industry came to my office and we actually spearheaded these conversations with Wade, who is not here today.

[01:04:26] But I want to thank Wade. I know he's probably watching from wherever he's at because that's who Wade is. i know that some of these meetings haven't been as pleasant as we would have like of folks in the industry can be a bit aggressive but nevertheless you guys have maintained your position and i want to just make an emphasis on what supervisor angry said we do have a process here in this county and may not be the easiest of you know processes if you will compare to other jurisdictions but we have them in place for a reason and i just want to reiterate how important it is for staff to continue to be thorough and to evaluate all of these applications as they come before you all because the safety, as Supervisor Angry stated, of our county residents is paramount,

[01:05:04] as well to ensuring that those that want to conduct business in Prince William County can do it in an efficient manner. So I want to thank you and Wade and all of the team that has been a part of these discussions. I'll just end with, you know, our strategic plan asks for greenhouse gas reductions.

[01:05:21] The Sustainability Commission talked about solar in their fast-track measures. You can say they haven't complained about the fees, but I've had phone calls with the industry where they do complain about the fees, and they say ours is highest in the area. It will take a long time to fix our process, and we are working on it.

[01:05:38] Everybody knows that. We're working on it with the industry and to make it better. In the meantime, one of the things, if we can do anything to help people put solar on their homes and waive the fees and help the industry, I'm all for it, you know. And if it gets overwhelmingly subscribed, we'll know, and you can make a decision next year.

[01:05:54] But for right now, anything that would benefit putting solar on homes in Prince William County, I see as a positive, so I support this. Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Motion passes 6 to 1.

[01:06:11] Supervisor Weir voting nay, and Supervisor Lawson absent from vote. We are now on to 3B. Supervisor Weir. Thank you, Madam Chair. Economic development is very aware of my problems with this, as is the County Attorney's Office and the CXL.

[01:06:31] I'm going to grudgingly vote in favor of both 3B and 3C. However, the circumstances surrounding how this played out and how we arrived at this point in time with this agreement simply are not acceptable and should never happen again.

[01:06:51] For those that are unaware, in essence, the county offered a parcel for sale for a particular use that was known to the county. but that particular use was prohibited by deed or covenant and not disclosed by the county.

[01:07:12] It was discovered by the purchaser. And I understand we're a county and that some believe that we shouldn't be responsible for not disclosing things like that. This is a commercial transaction. The numbers behind the recovery of the incentives I take issue with.

[01:07:35] I'm very familiar with TOT and what a 92-room hotel will and will not generate over a one-year period. I'm not happy about that, and I'm not happy about the circumstances behind this. And I think economic development needs to do a whole lot better, and I would hope that the county attorney's office and planning are looped into this long before they were in this particular instance.

[01:08:02] Quite frankly, this type of presentation or this type of agreement and deed process is simply unacceptable, not only for a jurisdiction but even for for a commercial transaction again i understand the timelines behind it and the and the the position that the county has been put in uh and quite frankly the purchaser has been put in so i will support it but this will be the last time i support anything like this uh i have a different issue on 3c but we'll get to that in a second are you

[01:08:37] going to make a motion on 3b though you begrudgingly support it so moved motion made by supervisor we are seconded by supervisor franklin any discussion i will just add before we vote that you know there are certain things if you have questions about you're welcome to bring up at this time if you are only bringing up items to a sale staff and their performance i think that are better places to be able to do that we have an excellent economic development department they brought in over five billion dollars over the last few years we have an excellent staff and it's in

[01:09:14] this instance someone made a mistake someone made a mistake and and to air that and go on like you did i i you know this is staff madam chair i believe the public i believe the public has has every right to know what's going on with something like this particularly where there is potentially a legal liability very good um and you did cut me off and next time if you please let me finish i would appreciate that so i just go on and say that you know if staff made a mistake that's fine we're correcting it we're working hard to do that and we have an excellent

[01:09:47] economic development department seeing no further discussion please vote vote unanimous we're on to item 3c questions or concerns you didn't have answered before today uh madam chair everything that applies to 3b applies to 3c as well however i also note that on page 2 paragraph 2 of the deed let me scroll down to it page 2 paragraph 2 it doesn't make sense i noticed this last night

[01:10:23] the sentence. The party's here to acknowledge that the certain of the innovation, the certain what? Would someone from staff like to address that? Do we have anybody from, who's putting this forward? Ah, didn't see you. Would you like to address his typo? Tom Flynn, Deputy Director of Economic Development. I may need some assistance from the legal staff on this. Are you reading the

[01:11:01] second paragraph? The county is here to acknowledge that certain of the innovation CCR recorded by the county? Yeah, is it just simply a matter, the sentence as it's written does not make sense. The party is here to acknowledge that the certain of the innovation CLR recorded, I'm assuming, are we just getting rid of the, or are we getting rid of that, or are we adding something? This is a whole new portion of the agreement. That's what would

[01:11:37] happened with the second amendment. And so this would be in addition to the original agreement of sale. Perhaps I'm not making myself clear. The sentence doesn't make sense. Something either has to be added or something needs to be deleted. Madam Chair, members of the board, it's probably that the certain property of the innovation, if the board passes the resolution and authorizes the county attorney to make a Scrivener's correction, we can move forward with this item.

[01:12:07] do you need a motion to that effect motion made correction made by supervisor Bailey would you like to second it supervisor we're second correction seconded by supervisor we're any further discussion we can all now vote on the amended discussion amended mine disappeared yes we are now on unanimous thank you sorry we're now on to 3d supervisor we're do you have a question

[01:12:44] or concern you couldn't have answered before today madam chair again I'm going to voice displeasure and I think something that the public needs to know. I'm not going to be voting in favor of this because I'm not really wild about, again, the circumstances as to how we got here.

[01:13:02] What this essentially says is that we're going to lease eight acres of public parkland for $400 a year for farming use. And apparently this is a standing issue where somebody didn't know, I guess, parks and the farming operation didn't know who the property belonged to.

[01:13:22] Again, that's a circumstance that I'm not really in favor of. But the part that really annoys me is that potentially the message that this sends is that we're in favor of farming our parkland and paving over our farmland.

[01:13:39] I mean, is that really the message we want to send? We're trying to run up the numbers in terms of how much parkland we've got as a percentage and in terms of raw acreage, and then what parkland we do have, we're suddenly leasing out to a commercial operation or for farming.

[01:13:55] Again, from a policy standpoint, I disagree with this. I'm not sure how this came to be, but it's just one of those other things that just doesn't seem to make sense and doesn't seem to really further the mission of the county or provide that parkland to the public, unless we're going to have a working educational farm, but I don't think that's the case.

[01:14:24] Can I get a motion on 3D, please? So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous.

[01:14:41] I'm sorry. Motion passes 6-1. Supervisor Weir voting nay. Supervisor Lawson absent from vote. We are now on to item 3N, proclaim, reaffirm, recognize the Manassas African American Heritage Festival. So moved. Second.

[01:14:58] Motion made by Supervisor Franklin, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion passes unanimously.

[01:15:17] Supervisor Vega abstaining from vote, and Supervisor Lawson absent from vote. I'll now leave the dais with Supervisor Franklin, who will read the proclamation regarding the 33rd Manassas African American Heritage Festival, and I believe that Mr. Curtis Porter is joining us.

[01:15:50] Good afternoon. Before I read the proclamation, I just want to clarify, we had some questions about the event being held in the city of Manassas, So I just want to clarify that it is actually physically held in the city of Manassas, but started by Prince William County residents and attended mostly by Prince William County residents.

[01:16:12] And I've had the pleasure of attending for several years now. And so it's something that our jurisdictions both jointly celebrate. So I'll start off with the proclamation, whereas the Manassas African-American Heritage Festival was started in August 1990 for the purpose of celebrating the vast contributions made by African-Americans to our county's history and identity.

[01:16:32] And whereas the Manassas African American Heritage Festival grew out of the work of the Voice newspaper in 1990, a local newspaper dedicated to informing the African American community. And whereas this year the festival's theme is in line with the 2023 Black History Month theme, Black Resistance, takes a look at how African Americans have fought repression from late August 1619 when 20 to 30 enslaved Africans landed at Point Comfort, today's Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, and whereas African Americans, both enslaved and free, have been a significant piece of the fabric

[01:17:09] of Prince William County since the 1600s, and whereas the escaping the plantation to the rise out of poverty and the struggle for equal housing and education to the struggle for voting rights, the resistance lives on even in the 21st century, and whereas the black resistance was epitomized in all facets of life in Prince William County to include business, education, public, and community service, and whereas under the strong leadership of civil rights icons nationally and locally, the battle for equal rights extended to not only African Americans, but other minorities and the white working poor.

[01:17:45] Whereas the civil rights movement gave impetus to the inclusion of blacks in the political process that ultimately resulted in the election of John Wilmore Porter, the first African American to be elected to the Commonwealth of Virginia since Reconstruction when he was elected in 1963 to the Dumfries Town Council, thus paving the way for the election of other black individuals and elected county leadership, like Victor Angry, the first African American to be elected to the Prince William County Board of Supervisors 56 years later. Now therefore be it resolved that the Prince William County Board of Supervisors hereby proclaims, affirms, and recognizes the 33rd African

[01:18:20] American Heritage Festival and encourages all residents to join us in honoring and celebrating the Manassas African American Heritage Festival on August 5th, 2023. Thank you. Supervisor Franklin, Chair Wheeler, members of the board, thank you for this proclamation. And you're exactly right. You're wondering why the Manassas African American Festival is being recognized by Prince William County. We have a rich history in Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park. I'm a testament to that over 200 years of family history.

[01:18:56] in this county. Our first festival was actually held at the Northern Virginia Community College Woodbridge campus. Two years later, for two years, we held it in the back of the McCourt building where now the Connaughton Plaza is and your building services is. We moved it to Manassas in honor of Ginny Dean at the Ginny Dean School and the city of Manassas at that point in time.

[01:19:16] Redid the football field, so we moved it to Mets. And location, location, location. That's a great So we certainly hope that all the board members, people here in the board chambers, as well as anybody watching us on TV, will come out on August 5th to celebrate the African American Festival.

[01:19:36] We've got vendors, a lot of activities, good food, good music. So please come out. Thank you so very much, Supervisor Franklin, Chair, and the board.

[01:20:09] Okay, that concludes our consent agenda item.

[01:20:46] We are now on to public comment time. in-person and remote public comment time will take place now this afternoon we have looks like 30 people signed up to speak i will call the speakers five at a time each speaker will have three minutes to share their views and opinions regarding matters before the board we ask that all speakers state their name and magisterial district or generally where they reside at the beginning their remarks after the first 15 minutes of in-person public comments we will close the in-person public comment time list and for those who were new to chambers I'll remind you that we don't allow any clapping or booing if you

[01:21:24] disagree or agree with someone and and if you don't always don't always feel like you need to take the full three minutes if you don't want to there'll be a timer going and if you're not speaking you can like you please be seated. The first five speakers are Roger Yackel, Chuck Zumbaugh, Dave Seary, John Bloxton, and Ruth Ann Pizritz. Hello, my name is Roger Yackel, and I live in Gainesville, relatively close to the Manassas National Battlefield Park. As I meet more and more residents of Prince William County, I am

[01:22:01] truly impressed. Their knowledge, their passion, their dedication, their ability to dig in and understand so many important topics is truly impressive. A couple months back, I was fortunate to drive to McCourt with Blaine Pearsall of the Historical Commission.

[01:22:19] I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the Civil War history north of Brawner Farm on Rock Hill and Pageland Farms. I also thought I had a pretty good understanding of the history along Thornton Drive, including how Ginny Dean established the Thornton Elliott School.

[01:22:35] I learned a lot more history from Blaine, important history. And the research and learnings have not stopped there. The efforts and the methods used by Blaine and others have been outstanding, far more than what the QTS archaeologists used or did.

[01:22:54] It was suggested that QTS was not really interested in learning anything with their efforts. To follow what Supervisor Franklin said last year, we should do our own archaeological study. Well, that has been happening thanks to some of the residents in Prince William County.

[01:23:12] They are studying. They are thoroughly digging into the history of the past. The lesson is that they care. They want to learn. They think history is important to us today. The lesson from data center developers is greed and destroying history.

[01:23:30] What can you do? Take action to protect our history. Vote to designate the two farms as county-registered historical sites. Thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is Chuck Zimbaugh, and I live in the Gainesville District.

[01:23:54] Thank you for initiating Agenda Res. 3 and 4 to start the process of evaluating these areas within the Prince William Digital Gateway as potential county-registered historic sites.

[01:24:10] But I'm still against approving any rezone applications involving the Prince William Digital Gateway. You may have heard many Pageland residents tell you about all the benefits to be gained by approving CPA 2021-4, but not once did they mention their promised windfall, did they?

[01:24:31] Developers also promised vast tax revenue. One even claimed $700 million a year in additional tax revenue, though they could not substantiate it when challenged. A vast number of citizens voiced strong opposition against the digital gateway.

[01:24:48] There were questions and concerns from your own agencies, as well as other agencies outside of Prince William County, recommending reconsideration before moving ahead. Yet you passed it, and now we are considering rezoning applications from these developers, even though three major issues have not been fully resolved.

[01:25:12] One, National Battlefield. Battlefield National Park has expressed concerns. Even the Prince William County Historical Commission is the latest body to request portions of the digital gateway be classified as county-registered historic site.

[01:25:29] The watershed. Upper Occoquan Service Authority expressed concerns regarding the watershed and recommends the water study be conducted. But you need to do it now, not later. Power. Loudon was stunned to learn they may have to wait until 2026 to build out another 10 million square feet of data center space already planned.

[01:25:56] Prince William County has 7.6 million square feet of operating data centers with another 1.6 million square feet under construction. The digital gateway could add another 27.6 million square feet, which is about four times what we currently have.

[01:26:16] While Dominion Power claims sufficient power can be made available, some are skeptical sufficient power will not be available until 2026. Therefore, too many issues are still unresolved at this time to move forward to approve rezoning applications involving CPA 2021-4.

[01:26:40] I think it's time to pause. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is Dave Sarey. I've been a resident of Gainesville for over 23 years. And I oppose Bob Weir's resolutions 8A and 8B.

[01:27:01] Seems these are just designed to derail or delay the digital gateway, which is clearly the most important project this county is ever going to see. It's hard to state how important it will be for this county's future and all the half million citizens.

[01:27:21] Thanks very much. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Yes. Good afternoon. And my name is John Bloxton. And I've been a resident in Prince William County since May 1980, lived in Cat Harpen since fall of 1982, four generations on our farm, and we love it.

[01:27:46] Cat Harpen was always meant to be the farming community, rural and pristine, gas and grocery at Alvey's store, plus the post office was all we really ever wanted. Please oppose this designation of historic areas that aren't historic areas. It's just another attempt by the data center opposition to sabotage the greatest opportunity Prince William County has ever had to bring in large-scale commercial business.

[01:28:13] Lawson's failed resolution to slow roll the decision-making process was embarrassing, and these new resolutions, 8A and B, are inappropriate. The land along Pageland is private land. This deal is a grassroots effort by those landowners who are bipartisan and everyone in Prince William County is going to benefit from the budget increases in Prince William County will receive from this deal.

[01:28:38] Please remember that the people who are standing in opposition to the development of old farms are currently living in an upscale gated golf course community, which used to be an old farm. Let's get this deal done so we can move on to the next task, because there's a lot more going on in Prince William County than rehashing decisions that have already been made.

[01:29:01] it's not a question of building thousands of homes that will further increase our traffic problems and it's not a situation where an outside entity is trying to exploit the residents of pageland this is an initiative started by us people who have lived here for 30 40 50 years to leave this area which has grown up around us tremendously over time benefits of job creations tax revenues and landowner support makes this an easy win for everyone.

[01:29:31] In closing, I want to make it clear that my family and friends who are residents along Pageland support the proposed data center to the comprehensive plan for Prince William County. Thank you. Thank you. And before our next speaker, I'm going to call the next five. I'm having trouble reading number six.

[01:29:47] It looks like maybe Joe Cash or Carl from Gainesville, Kristen Stanton, Scott Dobble, Mike Grossman, Asad Safdar, and please, and if you're not speaking, please take a seat by order of the fire marshal. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Ruth Ann Pesaretz, Gainville District, and I oppose Items 8A and 8B. The policies set in place by the Prince William Digital Gateway CPA deal extensively with historical preservation, a concept that has

[01:30:25] escaped many individuals and particularly those currently opposing the Prince William Digital Gateway as well as those soon to be elected. The remnants of any historical sites are on private property. The only way to have any hope of preserving these sites is by the sale of these properties to the data centers. They have committed in the CPA to provide elevation to any site with historical value. When there was a pitch for the bi-county partway, the state said that there wasn't anything existing on the property that met its historical significance. That may not be

[01:31:02] completely accurate today. However, we want to know that those of you that may be running for office in November do not hold up the single largest financial opportunity in the history of Prince William County to forage through private property to convince board members to buy up all the private property you may feel holds some significance. And remember, because Bob Weir hasn't, you have to ask the property owners first. And they say no. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

[01:31:40] Hi, I'm John Carlin. I'm in the Gainesville District, been here since 2006. Basically, we've been going down, I oppose 8A and 8B. Basically, we've been going down a path, and all of a sudden, we're asked to go turn around and go the other direction. That's very, very inefficient. A land use policy can't be this, and then that, and then this, and then that. We get a new board member, we're going to change it back. No, I don't think so. That's very, very bad policy.

[01:32:11] So there's the value of the highest value, land use value. What's higher? A data center? Historic. A county has to use its assets to the highest use value. This is a perfect situation, and it allows the county to take some of the land value that's in the rural crescent where only seven or eight percent of the people live and take that tax money and move it all over the county. Do you support the people, the bulk of the county, or do you support the seven or eight people that live on

[01:32:48] 53 percent of the land, which is the rural crescent? The Republicans are supporting the seven or eight percent of the people. The Democrats are supporting the bulk of the people. You're on the path. Stay on the path. Finish the job. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is Kristen Stanton, and I'm a resident of the Gainesville District. Thank you for your time and consideration today. I'm asking you to vote against Supervisor Weir's resolution both A and B

[01:33:26] on 8 A and B. Here we are again with another attempt to delay or block the vote on the Prince William Digital Gateway after the CPA was approved eight months ago following one and a half years of studies and staff analysis. Both the companies who submitted zoning applications as well as the residents deserve and have a right to a vote on this matter. Our household received Supervisor Lawson's email after the last meeting stating that, quote, this majority ignored numerous PWC residents who emailed and showed up in person at the meeting pleading for transparency and

[01:34:04] accountability from the current board, end quote. I ask you all to remember that there are two sides to every debate. There were two sides sending emails and two sides who showed up to speak. The board did not ignore the residents. They sat and politely listened to the residents during the public comment time and voted in a way that reflected what they thought was best for the county that they represent. Regarding 8A and 8B, I respectfully submit that Supervisor Weir did not discuss his resolutions with the property owners. This is a case of ignoring residents and their

[01:34:43] rights as property owners. As a resident of this district, I am saddened by the fact that this gentleman who was elected to serve all Gainesville residents would support such an action. I don't think that's good policy. Please vote against resolutions 8A and 8B today. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, Madam Chair and the Board of County Supervisors. My name is Mike Grossman, and I reside in the Gainesville District. I would like to request five minutes of comment time as a citizen representing an HOA. We only do that during

[01:35:23] public hearings, and this is public comment time, so that rule does not apply. Then I'll speak very quickly. Thank you. Today, you will be asked to consider two comprehensive plan initiatives requested by recently adopted Historical Commission resolutions. These initiatives, if approved, will pave the way to add privately owned land to the list of county-registered historical sites. This privately owned land is in the vicinity of the 5,000-acre Manassas battlefield and is associated with the PW Digital Gateway. According to the Commission's proposal, it is land that Confederate units were known to have camped, trained, and deployed.

[01:35:59] This land has been on the Historic Commission's radar for decades, and the Commission has decided not to take any action regarding it. So I do not believe it is a coincidence that the Historic Commission decided just a few months ago that now is the time to take action, and the fact that some of its members are adamantly opposed to the PW Digital Gateway for reasons that have nothing to do with historic preservation.

[01:36:21] I agree with the Historic Commissioner Ernie Portis' statement regarding the adopted commission's resolutions. He stated that the resolutions are nothing more than an 11th-hour attempt at trying to block the digital gateway and fundamentally an effort to try to block development of the rural crescent, development into the rural crescent.

[01:36:42] I believe this is just another tactic to try and stop the PW digital gateway applications from being heard by this board and more fundamentally implementing the 2040 comprehensive plan. where where was the historic commission or the national park service when the by county parkway was being debated or for that matter when the gainesville crossing was being debated they were around but neither of these organizations took issue with these projects in fact the national park service was a driving force supporting the by county parkway approving the by county parkway would have effectively allowed for the paving over of the very land we are discussing today

[01:37:19] But the Historic Commission had no issue with the Bi-County Parkway, and the National Park Service was actually in favor of it. Regarding the PW Digital Gateway, this project has been the most studied project in the history of Prince William County. Its CPA was initiated over two years ago by the board and approved eight months ago, again, by this board.

[01:37:40] The policy set forth by the CPA deals extensively with the battlefield and historic preservations. Commissioner Portis said he believes that the Digital Gateway will actually make the history of the area more accessible since much of the land is now privately owned. This board is the most knowledgeable and well-informed board regarding all aspects of the PW Digital Gateway, and it is this board that should make the final determination if it goes forward or not.

[01:38:07] Today is nothing more than an attempt by the opposition to discount all of your hard work and take away this decision from you. Regarding the opposition, based on an email opposition leader Bill Wright sent out yesterday, he instructed the Heritage Hunt opposition speakers and special interest group leaders that in lieu of publicly berating the supervisors today, like they normally do, that they should take a more conciliatory tact and thank the supervisors for restoring these items to the agenda.

[01:38:34] Thank you. Thank you. You're out of time. Next speaker, please. Assas Safdar, Gainesville District. Item 8A and 8B are nothing more than an attempt to stop Prince William Digital Gateway. This is another attempt to suppress the individual property rights. So I request that you vote against it. Thank you. Thank you. And before our next speaker

[01:39:07] comes up, I'll call our next five. Asim Safdar, Elizabeth Mora Tarana, Ali Steger, Mark Buescher, and Bill Wright. Please proceed. Good afternoon. My name is Scott Dibler. My family and I are 23-year residents of Gainesville District. For the record, I am not a party on anything concerning the Prince William Digital Gateway. I'm just a resident of Prince William County looking for leadership from this board to control homeowners tax burden. The Prince William Digital Gateway is the single most significant economic development and tax-based diversification opportunity in the history of

[01:39:43] Prince William County. Several months ago, this board took a step in the right direction by changing the comprehensive plan for the properties that make up the Prince William Digital Gateway. Now it's time to take the next step and finalize the Prince William Digital Gateway, not go back on the board's previous decisions and introduce an unwanted changes to the comprehensive plan.

[01:40:02] I find it interesting that the board members pushing for items 8A and 8B and for changing the comprehensive plan are the same individuals who at the July 11th meeting of the board were trying to stop all land issue votes until next year. Item 8A and 8B are nothing more than an attempt to stop the Prince William Digital Gateway. The economic development and tax diversification that comes with it in the digital gateway that comes with the digital gateway for all county residents not just those with the principal and that live in the Prince William Digital Gateway area. Every member of this board of supervisors should vote no on items 8A and 8B.

[01:40:40] Doing anything else amounts to voting to take a Prince William County resident's property without compensation, holding back economic expansion and tax diversification for all the rest of the residents. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is Asim Safdar, and I'm a resident of Gainesville District. I request the board to vote against Supervisor Ware's Resolution 8A and 8B. I would also like to remind Supervisor Ware that we on Pageland are also your constituents. Please make fair judgment and stop these ridiculous delay

[01:41:15] tactics at every meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. I'd like to use the overhead, please. My name is Elizabeth Martirana, Gainesville District. I have lived in Prince William County for 47 years. Recently, our 11-year-old grandson from Maryland visited with us. On July 4th,

[01:41:54] we took him to the Manassas National Battlefield Park. We started with the Henry Hill Visitor Center. John went right up to the volunteer at the desk and asked for a booklet to become a junior ranger at the park. We never knew that this existed, but he did. The volunteer asked John if he knew when the first battle of Manassas happened. Much to my surprise, he replied 1861.

[01:42:16] We first went in to watch the Civil War orientation movie narrated by Richard Dreyfuss. Then we watched the six-minute fiber optic battle map that explained the first battle of Manassas. We walked around Henry House, observed the monument dedicated in memory of the patriots who fell at Bull Run, and proceeded to the Stone Bridge. At the Stone Bridge, we had to get pictures from above and below the bridge when you're with an 11-year-old boy, of course.

[01:42:42] Thereafter, we set out to the stone house. A friendly interpreter took great care in explaining the history and building of the stone house to our grandson. Finally, we trekked up to the Brawner Farm. If you will recall, July 4th was a pretty hot day, but the history and photographs taken there were worth that hot trek that day.

[01:43:11] After our day trip to the Battlefield Park, what remained most in our memory was the casualties of war picture on the wall at the visitor center. As you will see here, 622,000 deaths occurred during the Civil War. That number is just a bit less than all other wars combined. It is understandable that the Civil War happening on our home turf is the most studied and respected war in history. In fact, the famous miniseries directed by Ken Burns, The Civil War, and shown on five consecutive nights, was the most widely

[01:43:45] watched movie in PBS history. That evening, we went into Old Town Manassas to watch the 4th of July fireworks atop the city's parking garage, along with thousands of others on the grounds of the Manassas Museum and in the streets. We had a whole day of patriotism. You could feel it on the hallowed grounds of the Battlefield Park. You could feel it in the air amongst the people waving American flags at the fireworks. This is what makes Prince William County grand. With our Quantico Marine Corps base, numerous shuttle buses every day carrying working military back and forth to

[01:44:21] the Pentagon, and thousands of retired military living here in Prince William, the more history we can save for our ancestors, the better. Needless to say, I support the passage of the two county historic site resolutions in front of you today. I hope when all of you get to be my age, that you can take your grandchildren to the Battlefield Park with its sweeping rolling hills, babbling Creeks and majestic blue skies. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Allie Stoger, Gainesville District.

[01:44:58] When it comes to the area around the battlefield, just like the generals before them, historians understand the importance of time and place. Our historical commission has informed you that without detailed further study, which would require 8A and AB to be approved, this is the wrong time and the wrong place for rezoning to create the largest data center alley in the world.

[01:45:32] QTS, Compass, Pageland Area Landowners understood how risky a plan that would upend both the concept of the rural crescent and the historic areas around the battlefield would be. We do not owe them acquiescence.

[01:45:50] We owe our community for doing the right thing. Does anyone seriously believe that 10 to 15 years of trucks and heavy construction machinery would not directly and indirectly impact the historical value of this area?

[01:46:07] Does anyone know what 15 years of heavy construction noise, pollution, and traffic will do to the tourist industry? Especially since nearby areas of Gainesville, Manassas, and Bristow are already overwhelmed, already overwhelmed with construction, noise, and traffic, and will be for at least 10 years or more.

[01:46:30] This is what has happened during the last two years. So much has changed since this project was proposed. If you look at Wayback Machine, images of the Prince William Gateway website, you will see that it marketed $700 million a year revenue until just before or possibly just after the Planning Commission meeting for months and months after the finance office had already said that was a ridiculous number.

[01:47:02] The website also marketed the Farmers Foundation all that time, even though the Virginia Supreme Court had made a decision these types of foundations were improper. Proponents of the Digital Gateway said we needed to keep up with Loudoun.

[01:47:19] Well, even without Devlin or without Prince William PWDG, our aggressive data center zoning over the past few years has already far surpassed Loudoun data center zoning. Proponents said we must build PWDG to fund our schools.

[01:47:39] Guess what? Turns out the revenue was overinflated, won't be available for 10 to 15 years, and current first graders will be in college or working by the time the anticipated and highly disputed revenue kicks in. Chair Wheeler thought Prince William County would ride the data center wave to glory.

[01:47:58] Instead, it has turned into her Waterloo. Please follow the historical commission guidance. Next speaker, please. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Mark Buescher. I'm from the Gainesville District. I'm here to encourage you to oppose resolutions 8A and 8B. I think that these resolutions are just completely out of time. They might have been appropriate about 20 years ago, but now too much water has gone under the bridge.

[01:48:36] And the sad or glad, depending on your point of view, reality is that Pageland Lane is going to be developed. There's no two ways about it. The 2040 plan says so. Public sewer and water is almost to Pageland Lane now. Once that happens, every farm in the Rural Crescent becomes a high-density subdivision.

[01:48:55] And the 2040 plan agrees, calls it cluster housing. The Prince William Digital Gateway is a chance for something different. And apparently everyone here, including me, knows that this is just a proxy to try to stop the Prince William Digital Gateway, which isn't even on the agenda.

[01:49:11] But I'll follow suit with everyone else and say I'm in favor of it, not because I'm going to make a lot of money, as some of my envious neighbors would say, but because if my deal doesn't go through, I want to live next door to the data center park that they're planning.

[01:49:26] They're going to have trails. I'll be able to ride my horse from my land to the battlefield. I can't do that now. I'd get killed. So it's a choice of which development, not if development. This resolution today, it's too late. You should have had this 20, 30 years ago, but no one thought there was anything of significance.

[01:49:46] Oh, sure, stuff happened. They can't find the sites. I don't know what QTS did, but Compass came to my house with a team of trained archaeologists and dug holes every 50 feet. They did it to our whole development, looking for archaeological sites, something to preserve.

[01:50:02] You know what they found? Nothing. Some glass and some nails. Some people speculating there might be something there. They don't even own the land. Show us where it is. Oh, wait, don't. You'd be trespassing. This isn't in the battlefield. We're not taking over the battlefield.

[01:50:18] We're not paving the battlefield. It's outside of the battlefield, and it's a great blessing for the county and a great blessing for every resident. I ask you to vote down this resolution. Thank you. Thank you. Before our next speaker, I want to call up our next five. Paula Daly, Pat Phillips, Will Eller, Cynthia Wilson, and Chuck Wilson.

[01:50:43] Please proceed. My name is Bill Wright. I live in Gainesville. I support the initiation of a comprehensive plan amendments to evaluate Rock Hill Farm and Pageland Farm for addition to the list of county-registered historic sites. These are agenda items 8A and 8B, respectively.

[01:51:00] I attended a meeting of the Historical Commission on July 11th, after which my impression was that these items had been removed from today's agenda. Their restoration is a positive step, which I hope reflects the Board's acknowledgement that neither historical and cultural resources nor human dignity need be sacrificed on the altar of commerce.

[01:51:20] The Historical Commission recommendation of these sites was made at their meeting of March 14th. Rock Hill Farm was recommended in a 9-4 vote, while the Commission voted 9-3 to recommend Pageland Farm. The commission recognized that these sites should be evaluated on the merits of their historical significance and not for the inconvenience such consideration may pose to business interests.

[01:51:43] A Prince William Times article the following day stated, The cultural and historical significance of Pageland Farm has been recognized by its previous listing on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register. Rock Hill Farm is significant to the Battle of Second Manassas because the tract was behind Stonewall Jackson's Stony Ridge defense line.

[01:52:07] There is evidence the site was also a Confederate field hospital and potentially contains military graves. A 146-acre parcel at 5975 Pageland Lane forms the northern half of the Rock Hill Farm site. This land is owned by the Civil War Preservation Trust, which obviously agrees with historical significance of this area abutting Manassas National Battlefield Park.

[01:52:32] I am pleased that these items were added back to the agenda and believe the public interest is served in this process. I commend the planning staff and the Historic Commission for their diligent work and research to bring these issues forward. Prudence has suffered many casualties recently in the name of expedience.

[01:52:49] It is time for this board to resume the responsible judgment the public expects of it. You have the opportunity to do so today by initiating the process of designating these county-registered historic sites. I encourage the Board to vote in favor of Agenda Items 8A and 8B.

[01:53:05] Thank you. Next speaker, please.

[01:53:20] Our next speaker is Paula Daly, then Pat Phillips, Will Eller, Cynthia Wilson, Chuck Wilson. Paula Daly, 16. Good afternoon.

[01:53:39] My name is Paula Daly, and I live in the Gainesville District. Many of us are here today to ask for your approval for the two resolutions before you. The Prince William County Historical Commission has been very clear from the beginning on their opposition to developing areas within the Battlefield Historical District and also in significant cultural areas contained within the PWDG CPA.

[01:54:07] The Historical Commission is joined by National Parks Conservation Association, Manassas Battlefield Trust, and the Civil War Roundtable Congress, to name a few. The cultural and historical significance of Pageland Farm has been recognized by its listing on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.

[01:54:32] Rock Hill Farm is significant to the Battle of Second Manassas, and there is evidence the site was also a Confederate field hospital and potentially contains military graves. To quote Blaine Pearsall, Gainesville Historical Commissioner, making the case for the formal review of these two sites, In the past, initiations for county-registered historic sites have been unanimous votes by the board, and I can't imagine why this time would be any different.

[01:55:02] The sites up for initiation contain cultural heritage and historical value, important not only to Prince William County, but the state of Virginia and the United States of America. I urge you to vote yes today to put Prince William County on the right side of history in protecting and preserving the battlefield for the county and the nation.

[01:55:25] Thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is Pat Phillips, and I live in Gainesville, have for 17 years. And I have a high value and appreciation for our Civil War battlefield and all that it's related to.

[01:55:44] Can you pull the microphone down? You can just tilt it down. That'll make it easier. There you go. And I thank you for putting this on the agenda to protect our historic, to preserve it. It's of high value to many people. And I urge you to vote for Resolution 8A and 8B.

[01:56:05] I don't know that I could add any more than the ones who have been here to support it. but I just want to add my support for 8A and 8B. Please vote for it. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Yes, hi.

[01:56:22] Will Eller, Gainesville District, Cat Harpin area. I'm here to ask the board to vote no on resolutions 8A and 8B. Supervisor Weir has introduced these resolutions to continue his attack on individual property rights and attempt to place historical designations on areas within the Prince William Digital Gateway.

[01:56:44] It's not about history, but about appeasing a small but loud minority of activists who will stop at nothing to defeat the Prince William Digital Gateway. 8A and 8B are nothing more than an attempt to stop the Digital Gateway and re-litigate a decision the board made when approving the Prince William Digital Gateway CPA.

[01:57:02] It's another attempt to suppress individual property rights of the landowners in the Gainesville District. It's disappointing that the supervisor of the Gainesville District supports such an action. Prince William Digital Gateway has been Prince William County's most studied and debated project.

[01:57:19] Enough with the delay tactics, the property owners have a right to an up or down vote. Prince William Digital Gateway is the single most significant economic development opportunity in the history of Prince William County. I'll kind of wrap it up by asking, by saying this, why now?

[01:57:38] Why not six months ago? Why not 10, 20, 30 years ago? Was it not historically significant then? Why now all of a sudden? And when the National Battlefield moved west and purchased the Brawner Farm, you know, if it was so significant at the time, why not designate it then for the possibility of the battlefield acquiring it at a later date?

[01:58:04] Why not then? I'll tell you why, and it's pretty obvious. It's just another attempt to try and stop this project. So, once again, I'm here to ask you to vote no on 8A and 8B, and thank you for your time. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Cynthia Wilson, Gainesville District. I vehemently oppose resolutions 8A and 8B. The two resolutions to place historical designations are just another attempt for Bob Weir and the opposition to the Prince William Digital Gateway to stop the progress of Prince William County. If these were historical areas,

[01:58:42] they would have been so designated years ago. This has already been decided eight months ago after one and a half years of study. We need the Prince William Digital Gateway. Prince William County is in desperate need of additional revenue to support our underpaid service workers, teachers, firefighters, and police officers.

[01:59:02] This board was elected to serve all the residents of Prince William County, not just a small group that is disruptive, hostile, and vocal about issues that are not factual. Please do not pass these resolutions. Let's move into a prosperous future for all the residents of Prince William County.

[01:59:21] Also, I'm a member of Moms Demand Action, and we are requesting an ordinance that will keep firearms away from families and children that are using county parks. We must protect our children. Thank you. Thank you. Before our next speaker, I'm going to call the next five.

[01:59:37] Paul Cudahy, Scott Chipman, Thomas Archer, Neal Kelly, and Tony Giffray. Please proceed. Chuck Wilson, Gainesville District.

[01:59:54] The Prince William Digital Gateway CPA was approved eight months ago after one and a half years of studies and staff analysis. The data centers have had active zoning maps in with the PwC for all that time. They followed the guidelines of the November 2022 approved Prince William Digital Gateway CPA and spent millions of dollars in cultural studies, viewshed analysis, et cetera, to meet the guidelines.

[02:00:22] The policies set in place by that CPA also dealt extensively with the battlefield and the historic preservation. The opposition to this project doesn't like that they lost the CPA vote. 8A and 8B are nothing more than another attempt to try and stop the PW Digital Gateway Project.

[02:00:41] This is a political play for the opponents to delay, defer, and deny the greatest opportunity of all time for all PWC residents. Please stand firm and oppose their attempts to overturn the decisions that have already been made.

[02:00:59] Vote no for agenda items 8A and 8B. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is Paul Cudahy. My wife and I live in Gainesville.

[02:01:14] I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak this afternoon, and my comments will be brief. I support the initiation of Comprehensive Plan Amendments 2023-03 and 04, which call for the evaluation of Rock Hill Farm and Pageland Farm for addition to the list of county-registered historic sites.

[02:01:37] I want to thank you for restoring these items to today's agenda. The Prince William County Historical Commission recently voted to recommend that these properties be added to the list of county historic sites. The Prince William Times highlights the following three historic facts that likely influence their recommendation.

[02:01:59] First, Confederate infantry units from Alabama, North Carolina, and Mississippi camped and trained in the Pajan Farm area, and between August and November of 1861, as many as 476 members of these units died of disease and were likely interred on the property.

[02:02:21] Second, during the Battle of Second Manassas on August 29, 1862, the high ground of Pajan Farm area anchored the extreme right flank of Confederate General Thomas Stonewall Jackson's unfinished railroad defense line where more than 5,000 troops were deployed.

[02:02:42] Third, Rock Hill Farm is significant to the Battle of Second Manassas because the track was behind Stonewall Jackson's Stony Ridge defense line. There's evidence that this site was also a Confederate field hospital and potentially contains military graves.

[02:03:03] In conclusion, I urge you to vote in favor of items 8A and 8B on your agenda. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Thank you very much. I'm Thomas Archer. I live in the Gainesville District.

[02:03:21] I'm here to oppose 8A and 8B. I was here when the Planning Commission votes were taking place and when they were presenting everything. What I remember is the fact that they spoke about how the greatest threat to the Civil War battlefield is the traffic going through it.

[02:03:45] This PwC gateway will actually help to close off traffic through the battlefield, and that's something that gets missed. I also heard talk about the water quality. The water quality, when I read the reports, said the greatest threat is more human beings and more houses.

[02:04:04] it makes the water more alkaline it increases runoff from fertilizer it increases runoff from pesticides so it seems like a lot of the information that's going out is not correct that it's purposely being changed and scrutinized after that vote i got i got up the next morning went to my mailbox and somebody is stuck in my mailbox something telling me that you all had just voted for 2,400 acres of pavement, 300-foot buildings with maps on it. I was like,

[02:04:40] wait a minute, this isn't what I just heard. So I think that what we need to do is be more cognizant of what the reality of this is. The fact that this is actually better for the residents, that it is something that will bring prosperity, that will lower our tax base. I have a modest three-bedroom home, and I pay almost $15,000 in taxes. That's just insane. The federal government only allows me to deduct $10,000. I mean, we're being taxed to death. Something that will broaden

[02:05:12] the tax base and change it from being solely relied on by people paying taxes to corporations and businesses is going to be good for the county as well. We have to look at the growth of the county and what's best for the county. And the PW gateway is best for the county, in my opinion.

[02:05:36] Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello, my name is Scott Chipman, and I do live in the Gainesville District.

[02:05:55] First, I want to thank you, Ms. Wheeler, for your stewardship of the PwC Board of Supervisors at the chair position. You've brought enthusiasm, ideas, and leadership to the board, and in particular, civility, which is much appreciated.

[02:06:13] I hope you will continue to be active in Prince William politics and development. Again, thank you. Regarding the two resolutions by Mr. Weir, what can I say? These are clearly an attempt to stop Prince William Gateway Project.

[02:06:34] These resolutions must be rejected. After 18 months of study by county staff and consultants, including the study of historic criteria, the county supervisors passed the new CPA. This was eight months ago. It's time to bring this whole circus to a close.

[02:06:53] I ask the board to vote yes or no, up or down, or before the end of the year. Thank you for your consideration and your time. Thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is Neil Kelly, and I reside in the Gainesville District.

[02:07:12] I'm here today to support agendas item 8A, 8B, and 8C. 8C seems to be the fair-haired stepchild of this resolution. I am asking that the board support all and any resolutions that involve studying historical places.

[02:07:29] When passed, this would initiate the process of evaluating these areas as potential county-registered sites. Allowing the sites to be studied would not only be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to understand what happened in our county and what we can learn from it. Preserving historical sites throughout our county is important for many reasons.

[02:07:47] If you look at the Prince William County Office of Tourism, they post on their website that Prince William County is one of the top ten travel destinations in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Each year, millions of dollars from visitors come into our county. The American Battlefield Trust publication, Battlefield Means Business, outlines that battlefields bring economic benefits.

[02:08:08] Our own Manassas National Battlefield Park is included as part of their national study. It pointed out that in 100-degree heat, some 22,000 visitors attended the 2012 150th anniversary of the first battle. And through Facebook and other social media, it means more than 10 times that participated.

[02:08:26] If you look at the Comprehensive Pathway to 2040 study, 58% of the respondents to those said their priorities were preserving rural areas, trees, forests, and parks, and open spaces. Then on top of that, an additional 11% prioritized preserving history.

[02:08:44] So please, listen to the citizens that voted in that survey, listen to the recommendations of your own historical committee, and think that preserving our history is something that we should take a look at first before we decide to bulldoze it over and make any kind of development.

[02:08:59] And that goes for all three, not just the two in the digital gateway. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. And before they go, I will call the next five. Terry Giffray, Teresa Minns, Joy McCauley, Lance McCauley, and Mary Foster.

[02:09:19] Good afternoon, Madam Chairman, members of the Board of Supervisors. First, I'd like to offer an amendment to the resolution. Can you give us your name and generally where you live? My name's Tony Giffray. I thought I did that. Tony Giffray in Haymarket, Virginia, downtown.

[02:09:36] I'd like to offer a resolution to the board that they fine anybody whose phone goes off in here five bucks. So I apologize to you for that. Mine went off twice in a row. And it's embarrassing, but I think a fine might help people learn.

[02:09:57] You're not going to protect that battlefield any better than what has happened with this gateway rezoning activity and the stuff I've seen them do to make it a much better place than any housing development could possibly be and could be a much better place than even the farming area can be.

[02:10:20] You've got a 2,000-acre lot of land, and 800 acres is going to be park and open space. And the people that are, the businesses or the company that's running this rezoning have done much to preserve things, and they found out something I didn't know.

[02:10:38] I didn't know Jenny Dean had a school on that Thornton Road. And I lived there and rode my horse there for over 35 years. I did not know that. So this particular rezoning or this comprehensive plan amendment stuff brought that to the fore.

[02:10:55] And they're going to preserve that site that they had to dig and find because there's not a shred of evidence of it being there other than some historical facts. There's no real evidence there of where it was. So they're going to preserve that in their rezoning. So I would like not only for you to oppose this particular resolution because that's just taking people's right to do with their land what they want to do with it by putting that kind of imposition on it with the resolution you have before you that Mr. Weir has put forth.

[02:11:34] That's not allowing people to make the kind of money. Now, Frank Wolf was brought into the county a little while ago to be an example of protecting the park. But I reminded you all last meeting that Frank Wolf got the federal government to buy the land that they wanted to protect.

[02:11:55] So if you want to buy the land, that's fine. So these milly-mouth resolutions you're making don't mean much. So I would like to see the board, thank you for your patience on this project because it's been taking a long time, But I'd like to see the board push the planning staff and the companies involved to get this thing up before the planning commission, like maybe in August.

[02:12:17] So we can finalize this thing. Time is important to a lot of people, including you. So I would encourage you to push this to get done rather than push it off to not get done. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

[02:12:35] Good afternoon. My name is Teresa Giffray, and I am in the Gainesville District, and I've lived in Haymarket for over 40 years. I am opposed to Resolution 8A and B. There's a lot of people who have spoken in opposition to this.

[02:12:52] I would respectfully save your time and say ditto and ask that you vote against it. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

[02:13:19] Teresa Minns, the Potomac District. We all need to remember and be thankful to our law enforcement and first responders, so I say thank you from me. The reason I bring them up all the time is because when this new board started, we had Black Lives Matter show up, and all they did was insult the police, etc., or any type of law enforcement.

[02:13:45] And Bodie was real good because he did that hand movement that Black Lives Matter likes. okay i want to thank you uh supervisor ware for your input i realize this is very difficult what's going on i don't have the answers but your input is very spot on and it's unfortunate you weren't with us years ago instead of just now and for all the praises that are given out to this democrat board you guys should have been here when they first started they disrespected the citizens

[02:14:21] they disrespected their time. And then this Democrat board had a secret meeting and did not let the Republicans know about it. This is why they were sued. And they haven't paid us back the $150,000 so much dollars that we're supposed to get back from them. It was an illegal meeting that left the Republican represented out. And if you guys think that's fair, well, then I hope

[02:14:52] the same happens to you as well, because it's, you know, it's sad. Supervisor Franklin, she loves to praise all the work the Democrats have done, okay, throughout Prince William since they've been in control. The sad thing is, we're not hearing how our tax dollars are increasing, how our food is increasing, and that wonderful $15 an hour raise pay. What good is it when everything has doubled. Everything. You all have thrown me off. I didn't realize there was going

[02:15:32] to be such an input about the data centers again. But what I have to say is, you have to at least respect Supervisors Ware input. In fact, when it came up to collective bargaining, and we had people in here who were saying, don't accept it right now, don't accept it right now. The gang of five Democrats said, oh, no, we're going to do this. Supervisor Ware saw a word. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it was. It's not my job. No one's paying me. And he explained how wrong

[02:16:07] that word was. And it did not help the staff, the employees. It did not help Prince William. So, you know, I'm sorry this is going on about the data center. Stop giving the Democrats a pass.

[02:16:23] Oh, thank you, Supervisor Vega. You also brought up money. time is up. Thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is Joy McCauley. I live in the Gainesville District. I oppose items 8A and B on this agenda. I ask that you please vote no against these two items. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. I'm Lance McCauley from the Gainesville District.

[02:16:58] I oppose 8A and 8B. If this property was historic, it would be already, by far, by many years. Manassas' battlefield is 5,100 acres large as over half the designated historical property in Prince William County.

[02:17:14] I ask you to vote against 8A and 8B. Thank you. And before our next speaker, if I could just call up the next five before you start. Keith Snyder, Matt Weir, Colin Weir, Edie Pruitt, and Jennifer Wirth.

[02:17:35] My name is Mary Foster, and I live in the Gainesville District. I support the initiation of Evaluation Comprehensive Plan Amendments 03 and 04 to evaluate Rock Hill Farm and Pageland Farm for addition to the list of county-registered historic sites.

[02:17:54] These are Agenda Items 8A and 8B. The Historical Commission voted to recommend that the supervisors designate Pageland Farm and Rock Hill Farm as county-registered historic sites. Patient Farm consists of approximately 180 acres within the historic district adjacent to the battlefield.

[02:18:14] Rock Hill Farm is significant to the Battle of Second Manassas because the track was behind the Stonewall Jackson-Stony Ridge defense line. There is evidence that there was also a Confederate field hospital there and potentially military graves. The Commission recognized that these sites should be evaluated on the merits of their historical significance and not for the inconvenience that may cause business owners.

[02:18:42] For those who are not knowledgeable about the role of the Historic Commission, members of the Prince William County Historical Commission are appointed by individual supervisors and are charged with assessing new developments for their impacts on historic resources and recommending recognition of historic sites. Please note that the Historic Commission's recommendations is just the beginning of a process and several steps must follow. Please encourage a vote yes. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Keith Snyder is next. Matt Weir, Colin Weir,

[02:19:22] Edie Pruitt, Jennifer Wirth. Thank you, Chair Wheeler. My name is Keith Snyder of the Gainesville area. I think one of the real important parts of today's vote is understanding something regarding the Civil War and freeing the slaves. Our Civil War is about freeing the slaves. There were families that fought against each other, families in the South that didn't agree with their children going to fight for one reason or another. There were people that all died collectively to free the

[02:20:00] slaves is what transpired. Acting as if there's nothing that transpired in these lands when you, real quick. So Sudley Crossing is the area that's Manassas Battlefield Park edge that's right next to a church on Sudley Road. I found out a little bit more about our north and south meeting each other in conflict by reading a placard that's there that gives you a little bit of what

[02:20:40] transpired. With troops from the north meeting troops from the south in that area, you've got certain areas that are protected by the Battlefield Park, but certain areas that haven't really been protected. It's important to do that research now before any unnecessary destruction or acceleration of a process takes place. Now, regarding the bad actor situation,

[02:21:13] bad acting is presenting this data center project as if it's the genius solution to all of our problems. We've got electrical grid issues. Right now in Loudoun County, there are emergency generators running that doesn't get better, that doesn't improve, that doesn't become progress by flipping on more data centers. You've got like 40 in process. You've got 30 in Loudoun County.

[02:21:51] There's a lot of research that has not been accomplished and you're being sold a bill of goods please don't simply accept a sales pitch as far as all of the let's just get on with it and get on with the construction you've got fws public comment time to go still you've got army corps of engineers virginia deq wetlands and tributaries public comment time to take place there's a lot going on take the time now to take a look at this property thank you thank you next speaker please

[02:22:30] Hello, my name is Matt Worth. I live in the Gainesville District. I oppose items 8A and 8B. They're just another political tactic to delay the Prince William Gateway.

[02:22:50] The digital gateway is one of the most important economic development projects in Prince William history. This particular topic has already been studied and already been voted on by the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission eight months ago.

[02:23:08] The project itself has been studied extensively for two years, have gone into the current CPA. We've had cultural resources, and archaeologists have dug up my property in a grid, and every other property in the CPA.

[02:23:26] And they found glass and nails and other stuff that's unimportant. But whatever it is that they found, it's already included in the CPA and in the planning commission right now being reviewed. We don't need time for more studies.

[02:23:42] It's already been studied. Every study for every topic has already been completed and submitted, and the property owners deserve a timely vote, an up-and-down vote on the studies that have already been completed. Thank you. I oppose 8A and 8B.

[02:23:58] Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello. My name is Colin Wirth. I've lived in the Gainesville District for 19 years, and I oppose these two items. Please continue the good work, and thank you.

[02:24:17] Thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is Eddie Pruitt. I'm the pastor of Holdings Tabernacle. I live in Neabsco District. Our church is in the Occoquan District, and a new church will be in the Wibbers District.

[02:24:35] Item 3F, we hope that you all will sign the lease agreement with our church. We were here in April to thank you for giving us a lease on life to continue where we are until our new church is built.

[02:24:52] I sent you all letters thanking you all for your progressive and forward thinking. I come today to appeal to you, and if you can't help me, if you can't, then you can't. But there is an issue that our church confronts.

[02:25:09] I thought when we came in April, we would have broken ground by now. But we haven't, because we've been asked to rebuild half of a street that will cost us more than $300,000. Just consider a church that will seat 90 people and being asked to do this is above and beyond.

[02:25:33] Maybe you can't help us, and if you can't, we understand, but it's a concern that we have. We've done a whole lot, and we will continue to serve this county. We've been here since 1998. We feed between 300 and 400 families every month and never ask for help from the county.

[02:25:57] We're committed to this county, but I think what we're being asked to do now is above and beyond the call of duty. So if you will sign our lease, we've already paid three months in advance. We keep our word, but if you have any influence to help us in this regard, we would greatly appreciate it.

[02:26:20] Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And before our next speaker, I'm going to call our next six, which are Ken Nahr. Actually, I'm just going to call our next seven because they're our last seven. Ken Nahr, Steve Lorenz, Mally White, Robert White, Mary Ann Gadban, Kathy Kulik, and Kyle Hart.

[02:26:43] I would like to use the projector, but I could use some assistance. How do I turn it on? Oh, oh, magic. Okay. My name is Jennifer Worth. I am a 20-year resident of Prince William County in the Gainesville District.

[02:27:04] I wanted to ask you to please oppose Resolution 8A, B, and C. I did flip the page. And the reason I'm asking you to do that is the data centers is a whole other issue, but I want to talk to you about historic preservation.

[02:27:23] On the website, the historic preservation serves as a steward of county-owned historic structures, cultural and natural resources, historic landscapes, and artifacts, county-owned.

[02:27:42] I feel like these resolutions are presented in a way that misuses the resources of the historic preservation group. I don't think it's really about historical preservation.

[02:28:02] But what assigning properties to this historic designation means that a handful of people get to power over landowners, taxpayers, your constituents. Are they able to upgrade their property?

[02:28:20] Do they have to maintain old ways of doing things? What if a farm wants to use solar power? All of those things are impacted and go through more red tape, more bureaucracy. This isn't about historic preservation.

[02:28:36] This is about control. You already, we've said earlier that the county does have an extensive zoning process, an extensive plan approval process. Those are already in place. That's not what this is about.

[02:28:55] So I ask you to, respectfully ask for you to oppose those resolutions 8A, B, and C. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Ken Nahr, Gainesville District.

[02:29:14] Thank you for the opportunity to address the Board of County Supervisors this afternoon. I do not believe the existing archaeological study results, historical facts, previous historical designation decisions at any level, or precedent support 8A or 8B.

[02:29:30] Therefore, I oppose both items and respectfully request you vote no on these measures. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon again. Stephen Lawrence, Gainesville District.

[02:29:51] I'm speaking to oppose 8A and 8B. I actually attended several of the historical commissions discussions and hearings earlier in the summer and was very shocked at the zeal at which some of the members were ignoring the facts, ignoring the history, and pushing this forward.

[02:30:20] These resolutions are nothing but a politically motivated attack on the best commercial development that this county has ever seen and most likely ever will see. This has been driven not by an overwhelming desire that out of the blue it occurred to them that, my God, we've got to preserve this.

[02:30:44] That's not the case. These areas have been discussed for years for preservation. Some of the landowners have actively pursued it in the past and were told, no, there's nothing to see here. It was denied at the state and the county level.

[02:31:06] 8A and 8B represent a last-ditch effort to block the Prince William Digital Gateway. What I want to see, and it's something I've been surprised by all along, I think in the last three years, I've seen park officials actually speak on two occasions.

[02:31:26] Nobody's here today. There's a few activists from sort of political, just say activist groups, that are self-appointed defenders of the park. But the park, realistically, they may not be for the Prince William Digital Gateway, but they will certainly ride the coattails and use it as moving forward their long-term goals of shutting off 29 going through the park now that would be revolutionary for the park

[02:31:58] to change that traffic pattern would have an enormous positive impact on the park the ambience the feel the areas and i would like to argue that pw digital gateway actually moves that forward in the long run thank you very much thank you next speaker please good afternoon my name is Mally White, and I live in the Gainesville District. As you know, I have been a property

[02:32:37] owner in Heritage Hunt, and now along the Pageland Corridor. Both are beautiful places to live. I thank you for Prince William County supporting great opportunities for landowners in this county. I also want to thank Ann Wheeler for leading a great board the last four years, and also I appreciate each one of you for your service. Without you, we would never be able to go forward, so thank you. I do want to say that I do oppose 8A and 8B. I know that this board already voted

[02:33:13] to approve the PW Data Center CPA, and I thank you for that. You studied it extensively. You looked at every angle you could. Thank you. Historic preservation has been a very big part of what you've already done, and I thank you for that. I also support the PW Data Center CPA, And this year, as soon as possible, please, and in alignment with the honorable governance principles and procedures of timely and informed votes, please vote no on 8A and 8B.

[02:33:51] Thank you. Thank you. My name is Robert White, Gainesville District, and I also oppose 8A and 8B.

[02:34:12] And basically, to me, this is nothing more than a political move again. This has been going on for two years now, and we've been here several times. I heard a lot of name bashing. Pretty pathetic, personally, myself.

[02:34:29] I don't care for that kind of garbage at all. This has already been totally investigated. I mean, we've gotten notices of things they found, and I think that all this work has been intentionally done, and to bring this up now is totally ridiculous.

[02:34:48] And another thing I'd like to mention, those that do oppose this thing on the board, how many of you have taken the time to speak to the people that live on Pageland instead of the opposition and talk to them about their places and why they came together to decide to sell their property?

[02:35:11] I haven't heard a word, and I've lived there 17 years. Thank you very much, and I do oppose this. Thank you. And just our last three speakers are Marianne Gadban, Kathy Kulik, and Kyle Hart. Good afternoon. My name is Marianne Gadban. Here we go again. Two weeks ago, we had the lame duck Lawson resolution. Today we have Bob Weir's stunt out of the Republican bag of tricks to disrupt and obstruct opportunity for Prince William County.

[02:35:43] History was not a problem when the Republican Party approved Gainesville Crossing. Gainesville Crossing was a precedent-setting vote. Lawson approved the very first 3 million square foot data center next door to the battlefield, on Pageland Lane, outside of the overlay corridor, next to Conway Forest, and next door to the residents on the former rural crescent.

[02:36:05] Gainesville Crossing was in the potential for a National Historic Register map of 2009. The Prince William Historic Commission had no issues with Gainesville Crossing, and it had the Dunklin Monument on it. Blaine Pearsall was a member of the commission at that time.

[02:36:24] He raised no issues. The public needs to know the fact. In 1988, Congressman Wolf passed a congressional act to prohibit the Manassas Battlefield from further expansion. All but nine acres of the Prince William Digital Gateway are outside of the boundaries.

[02:36:40] In 2012, the Manassas Battlefield was the driving force to build a by-county parkway dedicating almost 40 acres of the Bronner Farm and condemning 600 feet swath of Snyder, Mitchell, Gadban, and Underwood properties for the road.

[02:36:57] There was no evidence then of historical issues. The Historic Commission didn't have any issues with the results of the VDOT study. By the way, in January of 2017, I tried to put my property into a historic conservation easement with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

[02:37:15] It was denied. Virginia Department of Historic Resources stated, quote, Lack of integrity affects the property's ability to qualify for a historically important land area, end quote. In January 2019, Lawson voted yes for a zoning text amendment, which set the precedent to develop data centers around the Manassas Battlefield.

[02:37:39] Why? Well, because in December of 10 of 2019, she approved Gainesville Crossing, and we know that. And we know, again, Historic Park Commission had no issues. I did not consent for the Manassas Battlefield Park to use my property to mitigate the Bi-County Parkway in 2013, and I don't consent with the Historic Commissions nominating my land be added to historic sites.

[02:38:02] The Prince William Board of Supervisors approved the Prince William Digital Gateway eight months ago. Pageland is now designated as a data center corridor. Historical view sheds and archaeological resources and criteria to protect the battlefield were all vetted as part of the policy staff created for the CPA.

[02:38:18] The policy the staff created went above and beyond the mitigation and done previously. please stand by your CPA and deny 8a and b thank you thank you next speaker please good afternoon Kathy Kulik Gainesville district those who have spoken today and said that these resolutions are supervisor weirs are incorrect I'm sure that almost all of you up there if not all of you know that these resolutions were recommended forward by the historical commission of which in full

[02:38:56] disclosure, I am an appointed member for the Gainesville District. They were passed on March 14th, A, B, and C. We haven't heard a lot about C today, have we? Maybe because that's not really in the interest of some people here today. And what is their interest here today, actually? They are about history. They are not about the Prince William Digital Gateway. They are also, most of them, A and B, not C, within a National Registered Historic Site and also on the Virginia Landmarks Register. They have been on the Virginia Landmarks Register since 2004 and on the National Register

[02:39:35] since 2006. Their historical significance is a matter of national fact. The Commonwealth of Virginia and the nation have already spoken on this matter. Mr. Porta, who is an at-large member of our commission, was mentioned today in that he spoke against them. That is true. I have great respect for Commissioner Porta as my colleague. However, he was in a small minority on that decision. The commission approves resolutions forward every year in the early part of the year,

[02:40:14] and we do that, and the commission does that, in accordance with county code. So it's not some diabolical plot to do anything. These resolutions are here for you today not to designate county registered historic sites, but to initiate the process like any comprehensive plan amendment.

[02:40:37] If you initiate it, the county staff goes out and they do their work and they come back with a staff report and they tell you what they think and they give you the facts. then you as the body the legislative body decides whether or not you wish to designate them so a lot of emotion that is coming out today that this is going to destroy any economic benefit it isn't it does not prevent property rights use or exercise of that property right like any comprehensive plan amendment these things guide you and the county in determining what is

[02:41:10] appropriate it doesn't take away any of your decision making today okay so these have already been determined as having historic significance and for the gentleman who said he wants he's been living here all his life and wants to ride his horse between industrial buildings i've trained horses my entire life the last place i want to ride a horse between industrial buildings and my husband doesn't want to fish in the stormwater management pond just thought i'd get that in thank you very much next speaker please good afternoon my name is kyle hart i'm here with the

[02:41:47] national parks conservation association i would also like access to the projector if possible thank you very much so as i said my name is kyle hart i'm here with the national parks conservation association also known as npca npca is uh the nation's national non-profit dedicated to protecting enhancing america's national parks for present and future generations a mission we have been upholding for more than 100 years um we are here today in support of resolutions a 8a 8b and 8c and I want to take a couple moments to explain why. What's before you today, despite what many

[02:42:23] of the opponents of the resolution have suggested, is not a referendum on Prince William Digital Gateway. Rather, it is a decision on whether three sites before you meet the criteria of county-registered historic site and whether you believe, as the Board of Supervisors, these sites are worth studying for inclusion as CRHS. According to County Cultural Resources Policy Action Strategy 4.1. The use of one or more of the following criteria is considered for property in the county registered historic site. One, it has been determined to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Place. All three of these sites meet that definition.

[02:43:04] Other recommendations include state that it should be included by the county historical commission. That is also checked. Other suggestions included in preservation easement. Much of the land in Rock Hill Farm is already included in preservation easement as it is owned by American Battlefield Trust.

[02:43:26] Also, ideally, it has the consent of property owners at the time the CRH designation. Rock Hill Farm has the approval and consent of one of the major property owners in that designation. That is American Battlefield Trust, and they support this designation.

[02:43:42] You all should have their letter. Finally, I would like to also call your attention to support for this designation in a letter you received on Monday from the National Park Service. As you are well aware, the National Park Service supports this designation and the work that it would do to preserve the view sheds and the land around the battlefield.

[02:44:02] So, NPCA supports all three designations as they are all nationally registered eligible, or in the case of Pageland Farm, already a national registered historic site, and all supported by the Park Service. Thank you for your time today. That will conclude our in-person public comment time, and I will turn it over to Vice Chair Bodie.

[02:44:22] We currently have 36 speakers on remote participation, and I will turn it over to Supervisor or Vice Chair Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair. As with in-person public comment time, those folks speaking online have three minutes to speak. Please identify who you are and whereabouts in the county you reside.

[02:44:41] Ms. Vann, let us begin. Your first speaker is Thomas Ackerley. Mr. Ackerley, if you're trying to speak, we cannot hear you.

[02:45:25] Mr. Ackford, you may begin. Oh, yes. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor. I know that much has been said tonight in opposition to items 8A and 8B, and now I guess 8C. The opponents are now grasping at straws in the form of private property being taken for historical reasons.

[02:45:43] Another in a long list of trying to steal our property. Why didn't the Historic Commission use their same inaccurate claims when the Bi-County Parkway was poised to be built through the park and these same private properties? Where was the Commission then? And why didn't our Gainesville supervisor contact the landowners to explain these resolutions?

[02:46:05] The reason, I just learned, according to Kathy Kulik, is because Bob never knew about it. Give me a break. That's insulting. But we all know the truth. This isn't about historic preservation. It's about heritage hunt and their coveting of the farms that are next to them.

[02:46:21] It's not really about data centers. It's about jealousy and control and any change, including the 2040 plan with more housing in Prince William County. The Prince William Digital Gateway is the better solution for all.

[02:46:38] This is a political play by the Los Angeles Republicans, their supporters, and media friends to delay, defer, and deny the greatest opportunity of all time for all Prince William residents. The Republican Party in Prince William has no vision for commercial economic progress.

[02:46:56] Example, just last night, the Manassas City Council voted unanimously to expand the Manassas Regional Airport. What do the Republicans think this will do to economic development and pressure in the western and the Prince William County?

[02:47:12] Are they going to pursue the quixotic mission of a rural crescent? A Gainesville district unelected representative on the Historic Commission said he doesn't believe the decision should be a hard one for the supervisors. He's right. This should be a unanimous vote by the board to deny our land being added to the county register of historic sites, and I ask all supervisors to reconsider and vote against agenda items 8A and 8B.

[02:47:43] Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Ackerley. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Ali Imam. Ali Imam, Gainesville District. Thank you, respected board members, for your hard work for Prince William County.

[02:48:01] I oppose agenda items 8A and 8B, where Supervisor Bob Weir is proposing yet more sham and bogus resolutions. Far from truth and accuracy, the opposition is trying for months to delay and defeat the PW Digital Gateway.

[02:48:19] First, we saw at the beginning of the year how the opposition shamelessly tried and failed to impose five sham resolutions at the state level and to kill PW Digital Gateway. Then we saw back in May how the opposition lost two sham lawsuits filed against the PWD Digital Gateway.

[02:48:38] And then just two weeks ago, another bogus resolution proposed by Supervisor Lawson and shamefully lost. And now, these previous resolutions 8A and 8B, which have nothing to do with protecting history or the Manassas battlefield. This is simply another attempt to suppress the individual property rights of landowners in Gainesville District.

[02:49:00] It is disappointing that you, Mr. Weir, being a supervisor of the Gainesville District, support such an action. Stop this political shenanigans and please vote no to agenda items 8A and 8B. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Imam. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Heather Davidson. Hi, I'm Heather Davidson in the Gainesville District. I'm just here to say that I oppose Supervisor Weir's resolutions of 8A and 8B. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Davidson. Next

[02:49:37] speaker, please. Your next speaker is Zafir Imam. Zafir Imam, Gainesville District. Items 8A and 8B are nothing more than an attempt to stop the Prince William Digital Gateway and relitigate a decision the board made when it approved the Prince William Digital Gateway CPA. Please vote no to agenda items 8A and 8B. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Imam. Next speaker, please. The next

[02:50:12] speaker is Sarah Imam. Sarah Imam from Gainesville District. I oppose agenda items 8a and 8b. This is another attempt to suppress the individual property rights of landowners in the Gainesville District. PWDigital Gateway has been PWC's history's most studied and debated project.

[02:50:37] Enough with the delay tactics. The property owners have the right to an up or down vote. Please no more delays and vote no to agenda items 8a and 8b. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Imam. Next speaker, please. The next speaker is Sally Chandler.

[02:51:05] Ms. Chandler, we can't hear you if you're trying to speak. I'm sorry. I've just lost my thing here, but I'm working on it. We can hear you now. I'm sorry. I'm Sally Chandler from the Gainesville District. I oppose amendments 8A and 8B, and I think Bob Weir should apologize to the board, the staff, and its constituents for wasting taxpayer money and wasting people's precious time by promoting these frivolous claims.

[02:51:38] According to Prince William County's Cultural Resource Assessment, the properties in question are not eligible for historic status. Rock Hill Farm and Pageland Farm have neither archaeological sites nor historic structures.

[02:51:58] The properties are not within a historic preservation easement. Pageland Farm is not included in the preserved land at Manassas map. The properties are not selected for or included in the CRHS eligible list.

[02:52:20] Why? Because studies found these two areas ineligible for historic designations. So why are amendments 8A and 8B on the agenda when there is no foundation for making these sites historical?

[02:52:35] Because Bob Weir wants to appease a select and elitist group in his voting district. This is a delay tactic and an abuse of our time and energy. These frivolous claims should never have been considered.

[02:52:53] And it's just too darn bad that you can't find Supervisor Weir for wasting everyone's time today. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Chandler. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Patricia Leon. I'm Patricia Leon from Gainesville.

[02:53:16] and I oppose amendments 8a and 8b. A July 23rd article in the Prince William Times falsely refers to Pageland Farm as comprising 347 acres. Actually, it is only 189 acres. They are including the acreage of the Honeywood Farm, the site of the old Marsteller House, which was used as a Confederate field hospital during the Civil War. As the owners aren't selling, much of the paper's claims of historical significance apply to land that isn't even part of the CPA. Since

[02:53:55] Paige Snyder had to go to an emergency eye procedure today, I'd like to talk on her behalf. When speaking against the planned Bi-County Parkway in 2013, Paige claimed the front two fields of her farm were the sites of mass graves and undocumented burials. After subsequent studies, she now admits she based her erroneous beliefs on the same theories and unsupported suppositions that unfortunately are being used as convenient fodder for today's gateway opposition. The 2013 studies by the

[02:54:32] Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Environmental Impact Review for the Parkway found the two fields ineligible for historic designation. The Historical Commission did not contest these findings. The studies proposed in Resolutions 8a and 8b would unnecessarily duplicate recent ones. Over the past two years, extensive digs, excavations, metal detection and even lidar testing all found not only no mass graves or burials but also no

[02:55:08] artifacts that would indicate any troop activity on pageland other than the mounding of dirt on the unfinished railroad at its outermost edge ever since the snyder family gave the right of way to establish a hiking trail connect the battlefield park to conway robertson park this area has been under the protection of the appalachian trail society after the board recently amended the comprehensive plan to prevent adverse impacts to battlefield park and other historical areas

[02:55:43] and with the rezonings now on their third review cycle additional studies would be a misuse of county resources please say no to resolutions 8a and 8b thank you thank you miss leone next speaker please. Your next speaker is John Harrisick. Hi, John Harrisack, Gainesville District.

[02:56:12] I'm speaking today in opposition to 8A and 8B. As we stated before, the Prince William Digital Gateway CPA was approved over eight months ago and has had years of studies and analysis done on the policies that were set forth by the cpa dealt extensively with the battlefields and historic preservations um this is nothing more than political pay by bob weir and the republicans

[02:56:50] and the opponents to delay defer and deny the greatest opportunity of all time um please do not support resolutions 8a and 8b thank you thank you mr heresack next speaker please your next speaker is Lori Snyder. I'm Lori Snyder from Gainesville. I oppose Bob Weir's resolutions 8A and 8B as yet another attempt to defeat the Prince William Digital Gateway. Before the approval of the

[02:57:25] comprehensive plan amendment allowing the gateway, there were one and a half years of studies and analyses which dealt extensively with the battlefield and historic preservation. Those studies and analyses should have laid to rest the very matters that Bob Weir resurrects now.

[02:57:45] This is nothing but a political ploy that seeks to defeat not only data centers, but any change, including the 2040 plan with more housing in western Prince William County. Bob Weir did not discuss this resolution with property owners, and they oppose it. Large companies have followed the guidelines of a comprehensive plan amendment to make zoning applications, spending millions of dollars in studies and analyses to meet the guidelines. If items 8A and B get approved,

[02:58:22] those companies and the property owners on Pageland will sue the county for the reliance on the comprehensive plan amendment. Do what's right and best for the county. Vote no to items 8A and B. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Snyder. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is John Crown.

[02:58:46] Good afternoon. My name is John Crown from the Gainesville District. I oppose Bob Weir's 8A and 8B resolution. I mean, you might as well call this eminent domain because that's pretty much what's happening here other than taking the property. But once the property owners switch over to having less rights to sell their property or devalue the property, that's pretty much what it ends up being. But if you look at the rules for eminent domain, number one, it has to be for public use, okay? Right now, nobody can trespass on anybody's private property.

[02:59:21] By the way, all of this is private property. It's not anybody else's. So secondly, you have to justly compensate at fair market value. I have to remind you that these property owners have been or are being compensated for market values now. This is what has been offered to these property owners. And by the way, it not only opens up 800 acres of public use. So if there was any historical value or not, folks can't get on those properties, but now they can. They have 800 acres

[02:59:57] of trails to get on there. And today you can't trespass on that property. There's been study after study after study talking to the property owners. They haven't found anything. You could look at the studies that are already published at the county website, there's really nothing found. So you could talk about having further studies, but what we need now is an up or down vote. We need to respect these property owners, give them the vote that they deserve now. What

[03:00:36] you're doing is suppressing their rights. And right now, what Bob Weir would love to have is more breweries and distillery, but look at the optics there. That's bad, right? So what we really need is we need to close Pageland Lane. We need less traffic. We don't need the trucks driving up and down the highway. So when you're enjoying the Manassas Battlefield, you see the views of the historical sites, and you don't have to hear the trucks going up and down the roads.

[03:01:08] They've also proven that the data centers are going to be unlike any other data centers with the noise mitigation in place. So vote down 8A and 8B and make this move forward now. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Crown. Next speaker, please.

[03:01:26] Your next speaker is Nicholas Ewing. Hi, how's it going? Can you guys hear me? We can. Please proceed, sir. My name is Nicholas Ewing. I'm from Gainesville, and I'm opposed to 8A and 8B.

[03:01:45] First of all, these properties are not within a historic preservation easement. This move is not part of the annual evaluation by the Historic Commission. There's already been an archaeological study and a line-of-sight study, and I don't see why we would take the time to duplicate these studies.

[03:02:01] It's actually a shame people like Bob Weir can abuse our political system for the gains of him and a few wealthy people, despite what hundreds of people want and need. It almost feels as though he took office in defiance of the people that make this area great. These are sensitive, wealthy people who don't want to deal with construction, who don't care about the general public with which they have not been connected to for decades.

[03:02:24] I heard one woman complaining that her husband does not want to fish and she doesn't want to ride her horse around the new planned land. Is that a joke? There's people who need stuff here. We need jobs, opportunity, infrastructure, not fishing holes and horse trails. But even so, these trails are going to be more accessible since there's actually planned trails instead of just private land.

[03:02:45] So it really makes no sense. Let me actually mention history for just a second. People are becoming more educated and more politically aware every day with the Internet. And this type of manipulative Bob Weir politics will certainly fall on the wrong side of history. Please, we cannot continue to let these types of manipulative wealthy people undermine the hardworking American public.

[03:03:06] Please oppose 8A and 8B. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ewing. Next speaker, please. The next speaker is Mike Kaczmarek. Mike Kaczmarek, heritage hunt, Gainesville.

[03:03:24] On July 11th, I told the board what I found when I reviewed county documents that were sent to me 18 months apart. Prince William County had a 43% increase in operational data center square footage and a 50% increase when new construction is considered during the last 18 months.

[03:03:42] Almost 1 million square feet of operational data centers today were not even listed in the category of under construction 18 months ago. How could you misplace a million square feet of data centers? This is a major problem that needs to be corrected before going forward with any new approvals.

[03:04:04] The county may have missed up to $10 million in tax revenue because they had no one in county government monitoring these data center projects. The county is only concerned about operational data centers. But because of depreciation, if you miss when a data center is completed, you miss up to 50% of what the taxes could have been collected on that data center in the first year of operations.

[03:04:36] The reason the county has this problem is they do not track the progress of data center projects that they approve and have permits granted. I cannot get Prince William County to produce or confirm any documents on the number and square footage of all data center buildings that have a building permit.

[03:04:56] The county has no advanced planning or monitoring for these projects. This problem goes back to the previous Republican Board, led by Corey Stewart and Supervisor Lawson. They were only interested in approving data centers as fast as possible, but never following up monitoring these efforts.

[03:05:17] The current Democratic Board followed the same practice of only being concerned with approving more data centers. What Prince William County needs to do now is clean up the mess. The county needs to assign a staff member full-time to monitoring the data center projects.

[03:05:33] They need to create a complete and verified list of all data center buildings approved and their square footage. It is likely we have 20 to 40 million square feet of data centers approved. This does not include Prince William Digital Gateway. That has not yet started construction.

[03:05:51] This is equal to or double what Prince William Digital Gateway claims to be. Prince William County needs to finally produce real analysis for what is in the pipeline and for what will be the tax revenue from this pipeline of data centers before any more data centers are approved.

[03:06:08] Supervisor Lawson will never be able to do this since she was the one who helped create this mess. DeSondra Jefferson is the only candidate who can clean up this mess. The current board should start this effort. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kaczmarek. Next speaker, please.

[03:06:27] Next speaker is Stella Rowan. Good afternoon. My name is Stella Rowland. I'm from the Gainesville District, and I oppose items 8B, or 8A and 8B. This quite simply infringes on the property rights of owners. Thank you for your time.

[03:06:46] Thank you, Ms. Rowland. Next speaker, please. The next speaker is Jessica Grove. Good afternoon. My name is Jessica Grove, and I'm a resident of the Gainesville District.

[03:07:03] As you may know, I grew up on Stony Ridge in Kent Harbin. Stony Ridge is less than a third of a mile away from the line of the Digital Gateway. I also attended Sudley United Methodist Church, which has a history of forgiveness and redemption, which was demonstrated this weekend with the Benson and Rice story, which took place right in this area in 1861.

[03:07:24] We have so much history along the Pageland Corridor, and maybe there's not a body every 50 feet or even 100 feet, but this land is important. It's this land that holds stories that should not be disrupted by data centers, more housing, or highways. The Historical Committee recommends these studies be done, and their work should not be dismissed.

[03:07:44] I'm saddened that this has put neighbors against neighbors, and this is not about a small group of vocal folks that live in a gated, exclusive community. For me, this is about my children. I do not live in a gated community. I am not retired. I am not wealthy, and nor am I sensitive.

[03:08:00] But I'm not the only one who feels sadly that we're putting neighbors against neighbors. I have a letter here from October 21st, 2013, from Marianne Gadband, writing to the chairman.

[03:08:18] And she says, as we hope your staff has informed you, this proposed highway project has been highly controversial and has divided our community, raising many serious issues about the future quality of life in the now largely intact rural Crescent, Prince William County. Foremost is public concern for the unprecedented threat this project poses to the battlefield lands associated with the Civil War battlefields of Manassas I and Manassas II.

[03:08:44] Running alongside and overlapping the western edge of the Manassas National Battlefield Park, VDOT's preferred route for this new alignment highway will require the destruction of unprecedented amount of Civil War battlefield lands, more than any other federally supported development project in modern times.

[03:09:01] By VDOT's own conservation conservative estimates, the project will require the use of almost 40 acres of battlefield land, 3.8 acres from the Manassas National Battlefield Park, and 36 acres from the Manassas National Historic District. It is highly likely that substantially more acreage from these historic properties will need to accommodate the actual right-of-way needs revealed through subsequent design.

[03:09:28] I hope you take this into consideration and approve 8A, 8B, and 8C. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Grove. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Grayson Grove. Hi, my name is Grayson Grove.

[03:09:49] I reside in the Gainesville District, and I agree with Paige Snyder. Paige Snyder. Our family has farmed this land for over six decades. But more importantly, we've been protectors of historic Paige Land Farm in the Manassas Battlefield Park.

[03:10:08] Many of you know about my mother's unflagging love of this hallowed ground. She fought battle after battle after battle, shoulder to shoulder with many of you who are here today to preserve and protect our historic district.

[03:10:25] Now, once again, we are being threatened. VDOT and the National Park Service want to pave over and through our legacy, a trust that we as Americans must defend. And that is what we have done and will continue to do so.

[03:10:43] We will not back down. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Grove. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Kenneth Bloxton.

[03:11:03] Hi there. This is Ken Bloxton from the Gainesville District. I grew up in this area, and I've walked all over this area with friends on their properties along Pageland Lane and helping people on their farms, as well as Boy Scouts and church groups.

[03:11:27] and the reason that these archaeology people didn't find anything is because there ain't nothing to find. The Manassas Battlefield has its borders, and those borders were set up with the historical significance in mind. The other stuff is people's private property, and I think you should vote down 8A and 8B. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Bloxton. Next speaker, please.

[03:11:55] Your next speaker is Daniel Hutchinson. Hi, this is Daniel Hutchinson. I oppose resolutions A, B, and C of this Bob Weir's program. Thank you.

[03:12:13] Thank you, Mr. Hutchinson. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Betsa Beth Hutchinson. Hi, my name is Bexabel Hutchinson. I'm from Gainesville District, and I propose this to the agenda in item 8A and 8B. Please, please let Prince William Digital Gateway to continue their process. Thank you.

[03:12:45] Thank you, Ms. Hutchinson. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Joseph Naismith. Yes, I'm Joseph Naismith. I live in Cap Harkin in the Gainesville District. I've lived here over 40 years, and I oppose AA and ABNHC. I don't see any reason to have any further delays in preprocessing this project. Thank you very much.

[03:13:20] Thank you, Mr. Naismith. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Aine Johnson.

[03:13:33] Good afternoon, Madam Chair, Board of County Supervisors, County Attorney. Good afternoon to you as well, Mr. Shorter. My name is Aene Johnson and I am from the Woodbridge District. I am continuing to speak as always as a wife, a mother, and an advocate for families who desire to foster and adopt the most vulnerable here in Prince William County.

[03:14:00] And I wanted to share, absolutely, I thank God for it, that we were blessed to welcome a new little one to the world today. I call this little one the youngest advocate there in Prince William County. But the baby is finally here, and I am so happy about that.

[03:14:16] So I appreciate everyone's prayers and encouragement. But I wanted to make sure that our family took the time and day to thank so many special people that we've been able to meet on this journey publicly. we want to thank the law enforcement officers we want to thank the medics that are there we want to thank the clerks of the the county there it's just been such a blessing to interact with individuals but i want to focus on a few things again with you today mr shorter um as it relates to the investigation that you still failed to complete in addition you failed to have any of your

[03:14:53] representatives still reach out to our family uh the key points that i wanted to focus on is the review of the standards in the Foster Parent Bill of Rights as it relates to transparency, and again, including documents that have been omitted that we have access to based on the Freedom of Information Act. It's nothing specifically related to our foster son, Bumpy.

[03:15:17] We wanted to also highlight that foster children are not Republican. They're not Democrats. They merely wanted to belong. Bumpy was not the only child we were blessed to foster. One of my foster the children said to me. He called me Miss Hyene, and he loves my hair the way it is now with the red, white, and black. He said, Miss Hyene, I just want to belong. So it's not about Republicans.

[03:15:41] It's not about Democrats. It's children that just want to belong, children that just want to be a part of a family. One of the things my father would say to me often, and I do quote him because I appreciate my father, is that nothing is real until it's personal. So I wanted to make it maybe a little bit more personal for you, Mr. Shorter. Mr. Shorter, did you know that foster children may live near data centers? These are some of the things that I've heard you comment on. Data centers. Well, Mr. Shorter, foster children may live near data centers. Mr. Shorter, did you know

[03:16:16] that foster parents may stay in the homeless shelter there at the Falago building? That meant something to my husband and I as it relates to supporting the individuals that are there. As both survive, my husband and I were chefs. But do you know that some of the foster children's parents may live there at the homeless shelter? Mr. Shorter, foster children are affected by construction throughout the county. Did you know that? Is that something that would make it more personal? Is that something that might motivate you to get active about completing this investigation? Everyone gets up every week and covers their agenda, and we care about the

[03:16:52] individuals in the county's agenda as well. But if we don't get up and speak for the foster the children. Thank you, Ms. Johnson, and congratulations on your little one. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Clayton Kilrain. There we go. There you go, Mr. Kilrain. Please

[03:17:28] proceed. Okay, good. Good afternoon. My name is Clayton Kilrain, and my wife and I live in the Gainesville District. We oppose the initiation of Agenda Item 8A and 8B. The historic significance of these parcels of land and all of the properties along Pageland Lane were thoroughly considered before the CPA was approved last year.

[03:17:49] These agenda items are nothing more than another attempt to stop the Prince William Digital Gateway Project, a project which I fully support. Please stand firm and oppose those attempts to overturn the decisions you have already made. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

[03:18:06] Thank you, Mr. Kilrain. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Ryan Bartruff. Good afternoon. My name is Ryan Bartruff from the Gainesville District. I first want to thank the board for their time this afternoon and the opportunity to speak to you, and thank you also for the work you do on behalf of all residents of Prince William County. I strongly oppose agenda items A, B, and C, and request that the board vote in opposition of them. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bartrow. Next speaker, please.

[03:18:42] Your next speaker is Layla Bartrow. Hi, I'm Layla from Gainesville. In a county with a growing population and centuries of history. Historic sites should be for events of monumental importance.

[03:18:59] The sites in Agenda Item 8 are a part of our history, but they do not merit the designation of a historic site. Our county is steeped in history, but we can honor that history without blocking our future. Please oppose Items 8A, 8B, and 8C on today's agenda. Thank you.

[03:19:19] Thank you, Ms. Bartra. Ms. Vann, before we continue, how many more folks do we have online for this afternoon's public comment time. We have 11 more speakers. Thank you so much.

[03:19:35] Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Doreen Shamati. Hi, I'm Doreen Shamati, Gainesville District. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I respectfully request you oppose 8A, 8B, and 8C.

[03:19:56] Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Shamati. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Ellie Bland. Hello, my name is Ellie Bland, and I live in the Gainesville District.

[03:20:13] First, I want to thank you, Chair Wheeler, Supervisors Bailey, Angry, Franklin, and Bodie for all of your consistent hard work to improve the quality of life for all residents in Prince William County. I strongly believe your 2040 comprehensive plan is the best path forward for our county, but there are a few items that several of your board members are trying to add, which are purposeful derailments in order to slow down the progress and history that will be made.

[03:20:36] As you may or may not know, these attempts at overtaking this decision on this huge feat for Prince William County are already null and void. I wanted to remind everyone here today, including the board and certain members, that the Historic Commission has already deemed the southern portion of Prince William Digital Gateway area historically insignificant for the Bi-County Parkway and Dominion's high-voltage corridor.

[03:20:56] This confirms that items 8A and 8B are attempts to slow and stop this step forward for Prince William County. Secondly, if item 8B is approved, it will have a direct and significant impact on our rights as private landowners, not only for the residents of Pageland Lane, but everyone in Prince William County.

[03:21:12] I'm appalled and disgusted at this attempt to steal our property rights from under our noses. And to my knowledge, no landowners on Pageland Lane were even contacted by anyone representing the Historic Commission or the board to be made aware of this resolution. And it concerns me even more that Supervisor Weir is my supervisor and made no attempts to let me or my family be aware of this notion.

[03:21:34] But these and many other reasons, I urge you to stop this attempt to add this land to the county register of historic sites and ask that you vote against agenda items 8a and 8b. For the other members of the board who are continuous in their efforts, I applaud you for your efforts, but you must understand what it's like from our perspective. Your efforts are only going to cause harm to everyone else around you through infringing our property rights and cause personal property taxes to continue to skyrocket.

[03:22:04] Prince William Digital Gateway is an achievement everyone can benefit from, and if you truly believe that this is all a made-up thing for landowners on Pageland Lane to just get their money's worth, I advise you to double-check your sources. And the representative of the Historic Commission mentioned A through 8C are surveys that can be conducted like a comprehensive plan. I found it interesting that she said that when we literally had a comprehensive plan implemented through the Prince William Digital Gateway already. But anyways, thank you again, Board, for your due diligence in not only making Prince William County a better county, but also protecting our rights as homeowners. Please oppose items 8A and 8B. Thank you, Ms. Bland. Next speaker, please.

[03:22:44] Your next speaker is Hector Ferafino. Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for your time, and thank you for the opportunity to speak. I strongly disagree with Supervisor Weir Resolutions 8A, 8, and B. Supervisor Weir took an office to represent alt, and he didn't discuss this resolution with property owners. Please move forward with Prince William Data Gateway. Thank

[03:23:20] you. Thank you, Mr. Farofino. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Edward Raley. Good afternoon.

[03:23:41] My name is Edward Raley, and I live in the Gainesville District. Please vote no on 8A and 8B. For those of you who have worked so hard on bringing the Digital Gateway to fruition, thank you for your continued hard work, and I would say long-suffering. Let's get the zoning applications approved and move forward. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Raley. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Simon De Jong. Hi, good evening. Dear supervisors, thank you for letting me speak here today. My name is Simon De Jong. I do live in Key West, Florida, but my

[03:24:16] family has been in Virginia and has owned land along Paisland Lane since the 1980s. I'm here today to oppose the agenda item 8B in specific, the one put forth by Mr. Weir and the Historical Commission. Just for the record, we own land on the corner of Paisland Lane and Lee Highway. It's about 20 acres. We've owned that land for decades. During our decades of ownership, the Commission, the Historical Commission, has shown zero interest in protecting the integrity or the historical integrity of our privately held land. So the timing of this new initiative is somewhat

[03:24:56] questionable at best when the bi-county parkway was being proposed the impact study concluded that the strip of land along facet lane which includes our land was not significant in terms of historical value and to the best of my knowledge and our knowledge the historical commission never contested this more recently our land was being dug up it was being bulldozed trenches were being dug for utility upgrades the historical commission was nowhere to be seen when when that happened. The land to cross from us on the other side of the street was recently dug up.

[03:25:33] It was torn apart to build the Gainesville crossing. We did not hear a word from the historical commission. And back in the day when Heritage Hunt was being built, the historical commission stood by and did nothing. So far, the historical commission has been unable to articulate the specific historical relevance of our piece of land. All we have heard so far is that something may have happened, might have happened, could have happened.

[03:26:00] We've heard multiple people make a reference to that today. And we believe that might have or could have are not good enough reasons to restrict our private property rights. And adding insult to injury, just like the previous speaker and so many of her before have said, we were not contacted at all, neither by the commission and not by Mr. Weir.

[03:26:21] If it wasn't for an attentive neighbor, we would have had no idea that this was being done to our land agenda item 8b in our view is inconsistent it is arbitrary it is unreasonable is unfair and in our view it's politically motivated so please vote against it thank you for your time mr dion thank you sir next speaker please your next speaker is erin such hello uh good afternoon madam chair and members of the board uh quite a bit of comments so i

[03:26:57] promise to keep it brief. I also promise to keep it positive and bipartisan. So first, Solar United Neighbors is an organization that represents solar owners and prospective solar owners, many taxpayers in Prince William County. We've been dealing with the solar permitting issue since we directly engaged the board in December of 2020. We would like to applaud the resolution, the passage of Resolution 3A as the first step towards some really good news for homeowners in the county. Homeowners in Prince William County pay a solar tax on their installation

[03:27:31] because of the onerous permitting and they have less choice in contractors because many reputable companies will no longer work there in the county. So this is a positive step forward, but it needs to be followed up with serious action to reduce the timeline. So you can waive taxes or waive fees. But if a homeowner is waiting months and months to get their system connected, that's money out of their pocket. So what we recommend, again, is rapid adoption of Solar App Plus and not to

[03:28:07] slow walk the process. And then also some external scrutiny on the culture of the permitting department so that externally there can look at some ways in which you guys can be up with your peers. Again, we want to emphasize the positive. This is a first step, but with the homeowners and the industry that we work with, we will continue to work with Ms. Spina and her office to make those changes. Again, it's a lot of win-wins. Imagine a place where Prince William County is considered the best place for contractors to do work and to bring tax revenue. It's

[03:28:43] considered the best place for somebody to put solar panels on their homes. So this is what we're really working with the county for appreciate the leadership and the discussion that I heard earlier amongst board members and reminding you all that this is a positive win-win opportunity that has support from both ends of the political aisle. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak.

[03:29:04] Thank you, Mr. Such. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Atafa Azad Bakhtiari. Hi, good afternoon. My name is Atafa Azad Bakhtiari. I'm from the Gainesville city i'm here to speak against the attempt to stop the pw digital gateway um and i just feel like it's the items 8a and 8b are nothing more than attempt to stop the pw digital gateway

[03:29:41] um and to uh reliquidate a decision um the brand the board made when it approved the pw digital Gateway CPA. I feel like the PW Digital Gateway is the single most significant economic development opportunity in the history of Prince William County, and we will all benefit from it. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. Azad Bicchiari. Next speaker, please. The last speaker is Max

[03:30:15] Hockett. Hey there. Hope you all can hear me well. My name is Max Hockett. I've spoken to the board a few times on behalf of the American Battlefield Trust. I'm joining our boat today. I just want to say thank you for the opportunity. I'm representing our 300,000 members and supporters from across the country, many of whom are in Prince William County, where we've preserved 785 acres with a market value of $38 million. For specific to today, and this has come up throughout the public comment today, I'm here to talk about 146 acres that we own that are within the Rock Hill Farm

[03:30:54] is being considered, along with the other lands up for consideration today, all of which have significant historic value. Those 146 acres that we own of Rock Hill, that's roughly half of the area up for consideration. The entirety of our land in the listing area is within the battlefield's historic footprint as established by the Federal American Battlefield Protection Program. Half of it is deemed as core battlefield land central to the engagement. Further, 10 acres out of the Rock Hill Farm area are already within the legislative boundary of Manassas National Battlefield Park.

[03:31:33] As the Historic Commission cited in its recommendation for the assaddles to know those listings, the Rock Hill Farm is the location directly behind the line of General Stonewall Jackson's Stony Ridge defensive line during the Battle of Second Manassas, and it was the position of Brigadier General William Tolliver's division. And as, again, as discussed today, It's believed that it was the location of a field hospital and thus likely to contain military graves and surgeon's pits similar to the one located within the National Park previously.

[03:32:08] The American Battlefield Trust does not acquire land unless there is a clear connection to the combat of the wars on American soil that have shaped our nation. Any acquisition requires significant investment of our members' resources and due diligence to corroborate its historic value.

[03:32:27] We spent over $500,000 or about $1,000 on the Rock Hill Farm property, and that's being proposed as part of this designation, and that demonstrates our evaluation that this site has significant historic value. We asked the board to recognize the historic value of the Rock Hill Farm, as well as Pageland Farm and Blackburn's Ford Battlefield, and to vote today to further evaluate these exceptional sites' potential for designation.

[03:32:54] Thank you. Thank you for your comments. I'm hearing there's one last person. That's correct. Your last speaker is Mary Lawson. Thank you. Can you hear me? We can. Please proceed.

[03:33:10] Okay. Thank you, Chair Wheeler and supervisors for your time and service to the county. I was a resident for most of my 69 years in Prince William County, and I'm currently living in Florida and still a landowner in Cat Harp in the Gainesville District. I am here to encourage you to oppose resolutions 8A and 8B.

[03:33:29] I've read these properties were not of any historical interest until Supervisor Weir and the Historical Commission thought it might be a great way to slow roll the greatest opportunity ever presented to our county, the Prince William Digital Gateway. Supervisor Weir, I want to remind you that there are a lot more citizens in the Gainesville District than the ones that you are representing.

[03:33:51] The entities seeking rezoning for the data centers have spent millions of dollars in studies and analyses and have included many amenities for all of our citizens, including historical learning centers. Bob Weir and the Historical Commission proposing to further restrict our landowner rights.

[03:34:08] We should not have to fight for our property rights. It's easy for them to say it's okay to restrict our rights because it's not their property. But if other residents want to control properties around them, they should buy the properties around them.

[03:34:24] It's sad to hear the lies and misinformation many have repeated here today. I have a cousin in Heritage Hunt who says that the data centers won't come to their Heritage Hunt meetings. But I hear otherwise that the data centers have repeatedly requested to be at their meetings and the Heritage Hunt HOA won't allow it.

[03:34:44] So this is just one of so many pieces of misinformation out there. This issue has dragged on for nearly three years. Please, let's stop wasting time and resources and move forward with the single most significant economic development opportunity in the history of Prince William County and vote against this latest hurdle, the resolutions 8A and 8B.

[03:35:07] And let me just say, near the end of the speakers, there was a video of Paige Snyder and someone also mentioned about Mary Ann Gadban, both of them supporting killing the Baya County Parkway. That much, much has changed in the last 30 years when that was going on.

[03:35:24] Um, 30 years ago, they probably could have stepped out onto the road and gotten their mail without fear of being killed, but that's not happening today. Things have changed and we need to, um, make lemonade out of these lemons and, uh, get this ball rolling for every single resident in our County.

[03:35:41] I thank you for your time. Thank you, Ms. Lawson. Thank you to everyone who spoke this afternoon. Thank you, Ms. Vann, as always, for your assistance and back to you, Madam Chair. Mr. Bodie, there is one more. Okay. Gotcha. Who's last? Yes, this is the last one. There was a name. So we got her confused. Elizabeth Nelson.

[03:36:00] All right. Go for it, Ms. Nelson. Your last one. Thank you. I'm so sorry to keep you, but I've been waiting, and I did want to just tell you that I'm Elizabeth Nelson. I live in the Gainesville District, and the board has had literally 158 years to put these farms into historic preservation.

[03:36:16] This is obviously not about preserving history, but about preserving the western end of the county for the wealthy elites and their privileged gated community and keeping it close to everyone else. And I don't understand the fear around turning Pageland Lane from private property into parks and trails for everyone to enjoy.

[03:36:35] But I, for one, am all for it and for opening up the western end of the county and securing the much needed financial revenue for the entire county, all of the residents here. And I would just ask that you please vote against these resolutions, 8A and 8B, and do what you can to encourage the planning office to finish up their preparations for the planning commission and just move that vote along if at all possible.

[03:37:02] I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Nelson. Now, Ms. Vann, final call. Is there anyone else? That is all at this time. Thank you. Thank you again, Ms. Vann. Thank you for everyone who's spoken. Back to you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Vice Chair Brody, and thank you always, as always, Ms. Vann.

[03:37:19] That concludes our public comment time for this afternoon, and we are moving on to item number five, which is our public hearings for today. We have three public hearings on the agenda. Our first one is 5A to approve the lease of county-owned property at Innovation Park, located at 9349 Hornbaker Road.

[03:37:37] I do not believe we have any presentations on this, but I will open the public hearing for Agenda Item 5A. We have no one signed up, but if there's anyone here who would like to speak to 5A, please approach the microphone in the back.

[03:37:57] Seeing no one approach the microphone in the back, this will officially close the public hearing on Agenda Item 5A. Supervisor Lawson, this is your area. Would you want to provide a motion for approval? So moved. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Lawson, seconded by Supervisor Bailey.

[03:38:13] Is there any discussion? Let me know when you're ready. Ah, no. Supervisor Bailey.

[03:38:37] Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Vote unanimous. This brings us on to 5B, the Authorize a Condemnation Exercise Quick Take Powers, as outlined in the agenda, also in the Brentsville Magisterial District.

[03:38:58] I'm going to open the public hearing on this. we do have one speaker signed up for agenda item 5b for the public hearing uh mr jack lewis if you would like to approach the microphone and you'll have three minutes and if you could just tell us your name and generally where you live in the county yes that's uh jack lewis um i'm the half owner of a lc devlin lc which owns uh two properties on devlin road 8107 811 and we i've

[03:39:33] I believe we have no legal right to object to the condemnation of the property, but we would speak in opposition to doing so quickly because I think there are things that can be resolved with the county, with the engineering.

[03:39:52] I have been now a half-owner, but our ownership interests go back to 1989, And we believe that there's no one in this room and maybe no employee of the county who we believe made an error in directing a culvert with water onto our land.

[03:40:20] And we're asking for a diversion of that culvert. Since the waters on the west side of Devlin Road came into the right of way, We believe that policies, administrative code, and other regulations and rules call for, once it's on the right-of-way, to keep it in the right-of-way.

[03:40:41] We believe there's the opportunity to do so by a diversion of the culvert onto a perpendicular road to Janelle Drive, or to Devlin Road, which is Janelle Drive. I understand that to change the permitting, planning, and everything will involve going back to DEQ and Corps of Engineers and other agencies, but not to do so will create an incredible adverse impact on our lands.

[03:41:19] Just by virtue of the waters, which we believe, as I say, probably back in the 70s or 80s, should have been diverted into the right of way continuously. And the opportunity during this adding a new lane, a southbound lane to Devlin Road gives us right now its appropriate opportunity to correct the past errors.

[03:41:56] Are there any questions from the board? This is a time for your comments, and we're just listening. Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to speak on 5B before I close the public hearing?

[03:42:14] You can approach the microphone in the back of the room. Seeing no one approach the microphone in the back of the room, this will officially close the hearing on 5B. Mr. Gonzalez, welcome.

[03:42:30] I know this is one of your items. Do you want to perhaps address his concerns? It doesn't really have to do with the condemnation. I don't know if you wanted to say anything. Sure, ma'am. I just wanted to bring some other stuff to your attention as well. But thank you very much, Madam Chair, members of the board. Rick Gonzalez, your Director of Transportation.

[03:42:47] I did want to bring a couple things to your attention about this item. As you know, we're going through condemnations in this area. Supervisor Lawson, we're right now just doing the grouping of condemnations we need for the utility relocation aspect of this project. So those are the ones you're seeing on your board item today.

[03:43:04] You'll see the remainder for the road project in a later meeting, hopefully in September and October time frame. First, before I address the comments said here today, I do want to mention, Madam Chair and Supervisor Lawson, that we have settled on two of these since this board item has been foot forth.

[03:43:23] So number 10, which I believe is the Patel property, and number 13, the Lawrence property, those have been settled at this time. So those two properties we will not be taking action on. It's 10 and 13. Supervisor Lawson, do you want to have a quick question after he says that?

[03:43:44] First of all, thank you, Madam Chair. rick i'm assuming you're referring to a list of properties that my aide just gave me yes ma'am it should be 14 properties that are part of this board item hang on i'm sorry getting ahead of me i'm sorry i'm assuming that it's a list but i don't know if my colleagues have the list that is that what you're referring to all right because this was this was this was supplied to me by my aide and i don't know if she created it or you your department created it but I is it in the board packet and the board realizes what you're referring to by these numbers yes ma'am

[03:44:21] yes ma'am uh there's 14 properties uh they're not enlisted in a spreadsheet like you have ma'am because it is in your district but they are all listed by number within the board report in the board item okay it's my so I was out of town last week it's my understanding you were gone as well yes so we haven't connected on this until right now which I apologize for no problem but let's talk about it sure man um marybeth did tell me that there was an issue with this gentleman and related to a stream and a culvert as he spoke to yes ma'am um so i specifically before we talk

[03:45:00] about other parcels um let's let's address the gentleman who took the time to come down here yes ma'am uh talk about that first of all like the chairwoman said uh this has nothing to do the condemnation. As the gentleman said, he's okay and understands legal condemnation that he's getting through. Paulo, if you can go put up the things. We have right now a FEMA stream that runs through the west side of his, on the other side of the road from Mr. Lewis's property. Turn it over, please, Paulo, the other way. Thank you. What you're seeing right there is on, what Paulo's

[03:45:36] pointing at is the existing condition. So this is a FEMA stream that is coming down towards that property and is bring it down paula please oh down thank you um as you can see the stream has a natural flow that goes down to this covert into their existing pond that they have on their property what we're doing with our project so real quick so for everybody's sake um that's devlin road obviously at the top this it looks like the stream is crossing obviously channeled under the road correct ma'am and and the gentleman that spoke here today spoke as if he is on the

[03:46:16] quick take so where's the disconnect because no ma'am what he is what he is requesting is that we take this existing stream and move it out of his property so he doesn't have a pond on his property anymore he can further develop his property okay okay um good to know and you are having conversations with him it's my understanding that we can't do that because it's regulated through through the feds that is correct it's regulated through fema as well as the army corps of engineers has that been communicated by either you or the contractor to the gentleman because i'm

[03:46:54] thinking many times ma'am okay okay sir um you and i can speak offline i apologize that this literally just landed on my radar yesterday afternoon um related to the other uh property owners on here i did catch wind right before i came out to the dais that two more had been settled yes ma'am what else rick do we have going on so i feel confident that you're that is what we have going on right now ma'am we just wanted to make sure that you understood no no no i'm sorry rick as far as the other properties that that you need our authorization are you getting close to

[03:47:32] them. I don't want to hear from my property owner, from my constituents that they're getting tied up with negotiations. Most of the ones that we are dealing with, ma'am, directly are being settled. We have settled already, I believe, like 19 properties through here at this time that are outside of the take for the utility relocation. But again, we're doing it as they come about.

[03:48:01] The ones we are lagging on a little bit are the ones that have legal representation. Of course, we have to negotiate with them a little further. The ones we bring to you today only have to do with the utility relocation part of this project. But we will be bringing further ones, if necessary, in the fall for the rest of the widening of the project.

[03:48:21] Okay, and a couple other questions, and then I'll stop. Is this graph that this chart, was this made by your department? because there's a couple addresses on here that Supervisor Weir and I are wondering what they are.

[03:48:40] It might have been by our consultants or it probably was by our consultants set over to you. Okay, maybe it's the property owner. It's Cloister Place. It's the mailing address. Oh, it was mailed to. Okay, my bad. Yes, we have to look at the property owner's mailing address.

[03:48:55] And I believe that's the gentleman that came and spoke. So he has received all proper communication. He has, and I have spoken to him personally, as well as Paula has spoken to him personally, and my project manager has as well. Okay, all right. And then I had another question, but, oh, is this a Rinker?

[03:49:12] Is Rinker helping you with? Yes, ma'am. Rinker is the one doing the, Rinker Design is the one doing the right-of-way. All right, all right. All right, so, sir, I'm happy to have discussions with you as a representative of your property. I think Mr. Gonzalez explained, at least to my satisfaction, why we can't, you know, move the stream.

[03:49:35] I will continue to have conversations with him and the engineers, and we will do our best to move the culvert to satisfy everybody. But we obviously can't always satisfy everybody on the engineering side.

[03:49:51] Yes, ma'am. But Rick and I have a history of working closely with property owners along Devlin. the first phase of this project and I'm confident that he and his staff will work with me and work with you and we will do our best but the road is going to be widened and going to serve the public so I'm going to move this forward but I just want to let you know that that doesn't mean that my door isn't open to help you. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Lawson seconded by Vice Chair Bode.

[03:50:22] Any further discussion? Seeing none please vote and that moves us on to 5c the condemnation and exercise quick take powers related to the addresses lined out in the agenda in 5C in the Potomac Magisterial District. I will officially open the hearing on agenda item 5C. If anybody's not, no one signed up, but if anybody's here who wants to speak on 5C, please approach the microphone in

[03:51:01] the back of the room. Seeing no one approached the microphone in the back of the room, this will officially close the public hearing for agenda item 5C. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'd like to move forward 5C, and Rick, I'd like for you to give a brief explanation, just a brief one.

[03:51:23] Second. Please. Madam Chair, Supervisor Bailey, a quick explanation is that as part of the profit improvements of the Potomac Shores development, including the quadrant interchange at Route 1 and Route 234 and the improvements to the park and ride facility in that area, We have committed as a board and as a county to do condemnation when needed for these public improvements to be built.

[03:51:49] This is part of that condemnation process as we are moving forward with that project and the developer is moving forward with those improvements. Thank you. We have a motion by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bode. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote.

[03:52:06] Vote unanimous. Thank you, Ms. Madden. That brings us on to item number six, County Executive Time. Mr. Shorter, the floor is yours. Thank you, Madam Chair. A few things, and then we will hear a presentation.

[03:52:26] I wanted to first congratulate our IT department. Many of you may know that we received the 2023 First Place Award for Digital Counties Survey Award. You may know that in 2022, we came in second place, and in 2021, we came in third place.

[03:52:49] So very excited that we have now come in first place, competing really nationally with a number of other counties in our sort of population category. That is 250,000 residents up to 499,000.

[03:53:08] We were in great company in Austin, Texas, where a few other northern Virginia counties won for their population category. So just want to, again, congratulate the IT department for a phenomenal award. This is an award that really represents the commitment to making sure that we have an exceptional digital presence and that we are working to increase the customer experience here in Prince William County.

[03:53:39] I wanted to also just congratulate our Chief Financial Officer and Director of Finance, Michelle Attried, for her appointment by the governor to serve on the board of the Virginia Public Buildings Authority. So phenomenal that she has received that appointment and look forward to her leadership on the board.

[03:54:01] I also want to congratulate Paige Backus, our Historic Site Manager within the Office of Historic Preservation. She's been appointed to serve on the Board of Regents for the James Monroe Law Office Museum and Memorial Library. Congratulations to them both.

[03:54:18] We certainly appreciate that our leaders are being recognized around the state in terms of their expertise. So look forward to their leadership. Many of you may know during recess in August, we won't be able to announce it.

[03:54:34] So I want to announce it now and just thank Tom Flynn. I don't know if he's still in the building. He has announced his retirement. He has served the county for 40 years. Yes. No, you can. Yes. And has done that.

[03:54:52] He's provided that service and leadership phenomenally. So I just want to thank Tom for his service. We won't be able to do it next month. I know the team is pulling together, going away for him. So I wanted to make sure that I announced that. Now, with that, I want to ask Director Kevin Costello, our Director of the Office of Tourism, to come up.

[03:55:14] He has a few great words and a video to show celebrating the anticipated Solheim Cup. Yes, thank you. I'm Kevin Costello. I'm the Tourism Administrator for the Department of Parks, Rec, and Tourism. And I'd like to thank County Executive Shorter for giving us a few minutes of his time on the agenda to introduce you to Becky Newell.

[03:55:34] Becky Newell is the Senior Director of Sponsorship for LPGA Properties and the Solheim Cup.

[03:55:51] And as you're all well aware, hopefully, we're bringing the Solheim Cup here. Keep my finger on the button. Becky's going to get you all excited about our hosting of the Solheim Cup. So here's a little video for you and then Becky.

[03:56:07] Thank you.

[03:57:00] There are no other questions.

[03:58:22] There we go. We can hear you. for allowing us this time um today on the docket now if that doesn't get you pumped up watching that video and i hope everyone was able to see it but um we are so excited to bring to robert trent jones golf club in september of next year 2024 the biggest event in women's professional golf in the world it's exciting stuff for all of us and we are just so excited to be coming there and really there's just three things that i want to make sure that um we share with everyone is how

[03:58:59] you can support us the economic impact in how many visitors will be coming to our region we will be live on nbc golf channel for over in 2021 we were on for 28 hours plus um showing and basically all eyes will be on our community with over 240 countries and territories being able to tune in to the solheim cup in 2024 um as far as economic impact like i mentioned earlier outside of your support we had over 40 million dollars in economic impact in our region when the event

[03:59:34] was held in 2021 in toledo ohio so i really hopefully to spend some more time with everyone but just the importance of getting the support getting the support and the backing of the community because when you think about the number of visitors we had over 130 000 people in 2021 basically throughout the week along with other activities with another 25 000 that were in downtown Toledo. We can't wait to showcase this region throughout the world for the 2024 Solheim Cup coming to Robert Trent Jones next September. Thank you so much to everyone. I know I had a lot

[04:00:10] of slides to show, but we will share those internally. And hopefully I get to connect and meet each and every one of you. Go USA, go red, white, and blue. Thank you. Thank you very much, Becky, and I just really want to thank our team at Economic Development and obviously our Director of Tourism and all the work that they're doing at Parks and Recreation to prepare.

[04:00:36] A lot that needs to be done between now and then, and we are certainly sort of up to the challenge and look forward to continued support. And with that, Madam Chair, that is all. And I'll just, before everybody speaks, I'll just say it's a wonderful, it's one of the best things to come into Prince William County.

[04:00:53] So exciting to work with them when they were first considering it and come into RTJ and just very, very excited about it. A lot of work, a lot of work ahead. Questions for Mr. Shorter, Supervisor Lawson? Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Shorter, I don't believe I've met Ms. Newell, but there was a gal that I met at Hilton Garden Inn in Haymarket for maybe a kickoff meeting, And it's my understanding she was, like, on the ground, had moved here to help.

[04:01:25] Yes, there's already a team of three from Solheim Cup that are residents of Prince William County that are here making connections, working with the golf course in preparation for the event. So you met Taylor, and she's the marketing manager for Solheim Cup.

[04:01:42] Yes. Okay. So it sounds like there were slides that they're going to reach out to us individually and go over? There is a slide deck, but we'll make sure that we send it around via dispatch so that you all have it. We didn't have the time today to cover all those slides, but we'll certainly send them around.

[04:02:00] Okay, and I don't think it would hurt to maybe schedule at least a phone call. Absolutely, yes. I can set up individual meetings with each of you if that's of interest. Well, I'll leave that up to my colleagues. Okay, sure. Just let me know what you'd like to do, and I'd be happy to set that up. I haven't talked to anybody at RTJ lately, and I don't know if the chair has, but I just want to keep apprised a little bit.

[04:02:23] Sure, and I'm happy to meet with you all individually and talk about what we've been working on over the last several months. We'll work together to set up briefings. Thank you. Thank you, Derek. Supervisor Franklin?

[04:02:39] Sure. I just want to say that this is a great opportunity, I think, for Prince William County. Obviously, Solheim is, I think, the largest event in women's golf. And so to bring that here to our region, but particularly Prince William, is going to benefit other areas as well.

[04:02:55] And I think Mr. Shorter mentioned, but this is not just a tourism event, but this is an economic development event. So when we talk about bringing different opportunities to Prince William County, this is exactly, I think, what we're talking about.

[04:03:11] And so I'm excited about the opportunity. I think that it's things like this that helps to cement Prince William County on the map. We are competitors with our neighboring jurisdictions, and we are getting these opportunities now.

[04:03:28] And so I think that's exciting, and I'm hoping to meet a lot of people involved with this and looking forward to maybe participating in some events. I can't participate in Solheim because I'm not good enough, but I look forward to all of the auxiliary events.

[04:03:44] So thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Bailey. Supervisor Franklin, we think you're good enough. But congratulations to all of us. I think I told you the best tourism. I told you that. This is awesome. This is just awesome.

[04:04:00] And it is putting us on the map. And to quote our county exec, Prince William County is the place to be. So thank you so much for your hard work, and we will diligently do what we need to do to make it fantastic. Thank you. Is that it, Mr. Shorter?

[04:04:18] That is all. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much. That brings us to County Attorney. Next on the agenda, we have the County Attorney. Attorney, Ms. Robo, the floor is yours. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the Board. We will have consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members regarding plans to protect the public safety as it relates to cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities.

[04:04:37] with briefings by staff members and legal counsel concerning actions taken to respond to such matters, discussion of information subject to the exclusion of subdivision 2, section 2.2-3705.2, Virginia Code, annotated, where discussion in an open meeting would jeopardize the security of the county's information technology system and software programs, the discussion of reports and plans related to the security of government IT facilities, system, or software program, along with legal advice and personnel discussion regarding the following pending internal audits, the assessment of Oracle HCM implementation, and American Rescue Plan Act subrecipient monitoring.

[04:05:15] All where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the litigating posture, bargaining position, or negotiating strategy of the public body. And these items are appropriate for closed session pursuant to 2.2-3711A1, 8, and 19 of the Virginia Code.

[04:05:31] So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Angry, seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous. Thank you, Ms. Robel. That moves us on to agency time, 8A, B, and C.

[04:05:50] It's from originating in the planning department. Mr. McGettigan, you aren't listed, but Mr. Patton will be speaking, I assume. I know you don't have a presentation. I don't, and we can handle them individually.

[04:06:06] I didn't know if anyone had any questions for Mr. Patton regarding 8A, 8B, and 8C. I'm here to, Madam Chair, members of the board, Justin Patton, county archaeologist, also the acting long-range planning manager.

[04:06:25] I'm here to answer any questions that you all might have regarding items 8B, 8A, 8B, or 8C. Doesn't look like we have any questions. Okay.

[04:06:50] Yeah, sorry, I was looking at the document, and I could not see the speakers. My bad. Actually, Supervisor Weir was first. I don't defer to Supervisor Weir. Supervisor Lawson. How'd we get here? If you don't have a presentation, every other comp plan amendment initiation has had a staff report presentation.

[04:07:10] This is odd. Sorry to put you on the spot. Mr. Shorter, you want to explain why he doesn't have a presentation, how we got here for the sake of public transparency? So typically for, as the board is probably aware, a lot of these CPA initiations, we don't do a lot of advanced work on these.

[04:07:32] because we want to have direction from the board on before we begin that work. So we have looked at this to ensure that there is a likelihood of these meeting the county-registered historic places criteria, historic sites criteria, and have brought, these do meet that, and that likelihood, and we've brought these resolutions forward.

[04:07:58] Say that last part again. There is likelihood that these meet the criteria. Okay. And we brought these resolutions forward at the request of the Historical Commission. Okay. With a recommendation from your staff? No, we don't have a recommendation.

[04:08:15] Why is that? Every other comp plan initiation, the staff has recommended either approval or denial. So what makes these three different today? I don't have a good answer for that. Political pressure, maybe?

[04:08:31] No, I'm sorry. I think it's recommend or deny. These are just the initiations of the CPA that they're bringing forward on behalf. Well, let me remind you that in the past, the staff has recommended approval or denial on lots of CPAs.

[04:08:50] With regard to the historic commission ones? With regard to comp plan amendment initiations in general. So you don't cherry pick. I have a long history of planning staff standing there on CPA initiations. This is a very unique one in the sense that they don't have a presentation, they don't have a recommendation.

[04:09:12] Clearly, everybody knows why, and that's because members up here have pressured them. Oh, I'm sorry. Supervisor Lawson, you're out of line saying that about your colleague sitting up here. It's inappropriate, and you should not do that.

[04:09:28] And I don't know why you're insisting on doing this this moment. We have staff here who are bringing things forward on behalf of Mr. Patton.

[04:09:48] Is there anything else you would like to add? Not at this time. I'm available for other questions. Okay. Someone get to make a motion. We're going to take these individually. Madam Chair. Madam Chair.

[04:10:04] Oh, sorry. Okay. We're going to go down. Supervisor Weir. I'm not going to go too far down the rabbit hole here, at least at this point in time. Judging from the materials here, it's safe to assume that staff has determined that all of these resources, A, B, and C, have the potential, and that's all you're going to say, potential to meet the selection criteria?

[04:10:30] Yes. Okay. So all we're going to do is initiate an evaluation of the merits of the historical and cultural significance, and not much more than that, at least initially. Well, we'll be looking at whether these will be conducting a study and analysis and contacting landowners who are within the boundaries of these proposed areas, and then we'll prepare a staff report, bring that to the Planning Commission, and then back to the board.

[04:11:00] So this is really just step one, even though some of these were already listed as contributing resources on many levels? That's correct, sir. Okay. Supervisor, we're sorry. For the moment, that's all I've got. Supervisor Angry?

[04:11:17] And I don't even know if I should really chime in now because they're not for Mr. Patton. They're for this board. I mean, I don't like the comment about this being politically motivated by this board. I will agree that there's some politically motivation in this. This is not for you, Mr. Patton, but that's for this board because I don't agree with A and B because right now we're in the middle of what's going on with a rezoning of a project.

[04:11:44] I will ask questions about C. What is C, and does C belong to, is that private property for anyone? Or is that inside this battlefield or this forest? I think, let me pull this up just to make sure I'm asking this right. When I look at C, because that's the one that I really have concerns with, I think A and B really do have some political motivation to it, but I'll pull that out.

[04:12:07] But when I look at C, and it says C is about, let me get here. Blackburn's Ford Battlefield? Yeah, yeah. So that is, what is that? Is that private property?

[04:12:22] I don't know if all of the property is private. Some of it may be HOA. But when we looked at this, this is within the mapped boundaries for Blackburn's Battlefield.

[04:12:39] And that was the reason why we brought it forward. There is already an existing CRHS within this boundary. That's the Mitchell's Fort Entrenchments. And this is looking at other fortifications within this boundary and also within the hatched area that's in the red.

[04:13:00] Okay, because to me that's the one that I really would want to talk about. But let me just say for this board and for you, Mr. Paddy, you unfortunately are here representing the Historical Commission who has brought this forward. So it really shouldn't even be you there. It should probably be the chair of the Historical Commission who brought this stuff forward.

[04:13:18] so we can have that discussion because there's a real discussion to be had here and it's not with you okay um i'm gonna stop there we can get to the vote on this now you think you already know how i feel about this but yeah supervisor vega thank you madam chair i guess i just want clarification there is a history behind uh as to how we arrived here and i think that supervisor lawson uh had a fair question when it comes to that but we heard a lot of speakers during public Common Time referred to this as Supervisor Weir's motion or resolution or request.

[04:13:53] That is not true. That is correct. This is the Historical Commission's set of resolutions and requested initiations. This is part of their annual review that they do every year, of which they are charged to look at. And that's where this request is generated from.

[04:14:12] Thank you. Supervisor Weir. Madam Chair, I would simply suggest that Mr. Patton is the proper person to bring it here. That's the way the process works. And one of the reasons that I got involved with this is because of the process, and I'll get into that in a moment. So it is proper for it to go from the Historic Commission through Mr. Patton to the CXO and then to us.

[04:14:37] That being said, I wasn't going to mention this until later, but I'll do it now. In reading earlier correspondence from several weeks ago, there was an assertion that these were ready to go and scheduled for today and that staff reports were ready.

[04:14:55] To Supervisor Lawson's question, if staff reports were prepared and ready, where are they? And I believe that was in an email from you to the Historic Commission, I believe. I don't mean to blindside you, but I mean No offense, I don't recall the email But I did say that it was definitely scheduled For this There is a reference to a staff report being completed I don't know, it may not have come from you It might have come from somebody else in planning I would have to go back and find the email Honestly, Supervisor Weir I'd have to go back and look at my emails too Okay, thank you

[04:15:35] I have a few questions, Mr. Patton Bringing these forward on the commission Was that a unanimous vote? I don't think so but I don't have the vote before me. Hold on a second.

[04:15:51] For which one? All three? Actually, really, A and B. No, it was not unanimous for, hang on just a second.

[04:16:10] I need to make sure. I can't remember which one is A. Yeah, A is, let's see, A is Rock Hill. A is Rock Hill and B is Pageland. B was not unanimous. That is Pageland and Rock Hill.

[04:16:28] Give me just a minute. that was not unanimous as well okay and was there great discussion about the different opinions on whether these should be brought forward yeah I mean great discussion is kind of difficult to define the commission has oftentimes very robust discussions about historical issues so I don't want to speculate on you know how robust their discussion was or not they had a discussion on it there were some probably strong opinions one way or the other on it and the majority of the

[04:17:03] commissioners voted to move forward with an initiation um is it correct that that's um that some of the commissioners didn't want to hear from the applicant regarding the historical significance of some of the properties in question i'm not aware of that like that bringing the applicant in oh about not bringing the applicant in to speak to the his the applicants to bring was there was that true that was more about um some of the commissioners didn't want a presentation from the rezoning applicants.

[04:17:35] They just didn't want to hear from the rezoning applicants. I don't want to put words, try and translate what they're saying, but I'll just leave it at that. Well, because I know that the applicant, as someone pointed out tonight, has not been allowed to go in and speak to the people at Heritage Hunt that the board has blocked that.

[04:17:53] And I think everybody needs to know that the applicants have not been allowed to go in and to speak to the general population of Heritage Hunt, even though they've requested that and at one point thought they were going to. I think the more important thing is that the Historical Commission took a straw vote and elected to or voted to have the applicant make presentations.

[04:18:15] Okay, and so they came in. That sounds great. Supervisor Weir. Madam Chair, with all due respect, I'm not sure how much value or, quite frankly, whether it's appropriate to start talking about heritage trans policies.

[04:18:35] I've heard a quite different story as to why the applicant wasn't allowed to come in. And the story I've heard is that it regards a reluctance by the applicants to abide by Heritage Hunt's rules.

[04:18:53] I'm not going to say anything further because I don't know I wasn't there. With respect to the applicants speaking to the Historic Commission on this matter and whether they were invited to speak on this particular matter, It's my understanding from both of my appointees that it wasn't a question of not being invited to speak to this issue, but rather an unwillingness of some of the commissioners to listen to them speak essentially out of turn in response to the third round comments on the rezoning application, which is a separate issue.

[04:19:29] I think everything's getting conflated here. We need to stay within the lines of what we're dealing with. We will get to the rezoning at some point in time. This is about a CPA for an evaluation that was begun long before the third round comments were received.

[04:19:45] They're two entirely separate issues, so let's try and... That is correct. The players are the same, but the issues are different. That is correct. Okay, well, we're on item 8A. Would someone like to make a motion to approve or disapprove or whatever?

[04:20:01] So moved. Motion made by Supervisor Weir. Motion seconded by Supervisor Vega. Any further discussion? Supervisor Weir? Just a couple of things. um you know i can't take credit to the resolutions wish i could i really do i will take blame for them being on the agenda however and it has nothing to do with the historic commission or the applicants or whether or not this is a good idea or not or anything like that was process

[04:20:39] issue it's a process issue issue i worked on with um county attorney's office with the county exec um the ultimate outcome was favorable to me so that the the items ended up on the agenda um i'd like to actually thank mr shorter for falling on his sword he won't admit he did it but i suspect he did so i will take blame for them being on the agenda i pushed it but it had nothing to do with the content but rather the process but i think what i think what we need to be reminded of here and i kind of get a sense of where this vote's going to go

[04:21:16] this is nothing more than initiating an evaluation of these properties for a listing as a county historic registered site. Just an evaluation. You know, Mr. Patton's already noted. Staff has determined that, you know, these resources have the potential to meet the criteria. There are those that suggest they only meet one. They meet several. My understanding, staff concurs with that.

[04:21:43] It's not a circumstance where all of the criteria have to be met. But, you know, in this case, a sufficient number have to merit the initiation and i would suspect i would suggest that we really do need to initiate it because there have been a lot of assertions made tonight both sides both sides of the question and i think the residents of this county deserve an investigation once and for all you know and we've got some changing stories here i mean it may may come as quite a shock to some people um it was an assertion or there was a assertion made earlier you know

[04:22:23] why did this take so long, or why are we finally here? And I agree, this should have happened 20 or 30 years ago. In fact, 10 or 15 years ago, I was asking why it didn't happen. And I think the shocking thing many people will find is that in 2013, I stood shoulder to shoulder with Ms. Gadban, Ms. Snyder, and Phil Hefter.

[04:22:43] I asked many of these same questions, that it's taken this long to get to the point where we're actually investigating is somewhat problematic for me, but I guess better late than never. I would also note that it's terribly interesting that there was precious little discussion of 8C.

[04:23:00] All of this appears to me, and it doesn't surprise me, the discussion here tonight seems politically motivated on 8A and 8B, but you've got three things that are relatively the same. They were arrived at by the same process, and if we're going to pick and choose winners and losers because of public comment about something about a matter where we're just doing an evaluation, has the atmosphere become that toxic and poisoned?

[04:23:29] I would certainly hope not, and I'm going to support all three of the initiations. Thank you. And I'll be keeping track of how many times people spoke. Next up is Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair. You're spot on, Supervisor Weir.

[04:23:44] This is just to initiate ACPA. We have seen time and time again where my colleagues here have literally been quoted saying this is not approving anything. It's just to allow staff to do their job and to come back with a thorough presentation and recommendation. I will remind folks here in chambers and those watching at home that this has been recommended by our historical commission, as it's been stated, by the National American Battlefield Trust and the National Parks Conservation Association due to its proximity to the Manassas battlefield and being a field hospital for wounded and likely containing military graves.

[04:24:18] Staff says it meets the selection criteria of the cultural resources chapter of the confland. I find it kind of odd that, you know, for a very long time, the majority on this board has been pushing in support of all of these Com Plan amendments. And the moment that we have something pretty much similar to everything that you've approved up until this point, all of a sudden we have an issue with it.

[04:24:37] And so I'll also remind you, Madam Chair, because you were asking about how the vote played out in the Historical Commission. It doesn't matter. The Planning Commission has voted, and those votes have not been unanimous. They've made recommendations. The majority has ignored those recommendations. So here we are today trying to find out if this is the direction that we should go in.

[04:24:56] Again, as it's been stated by some on the day, we're not approving anything. We just want to know if the recommendation being made is one that we should go in favor of. Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. So I actually think I understand the intent of both items 8A and 8B.

[04:25:18] And I think I understand and actually agree with the intent because, quite frankly, what it comes down to is making sure that there is no type of development on historic lands and historic properties, making sure that those areas are preserved.

[04:25:35] However, I will just remind the board that when we were doing the CPAs late last year or whenever that was, I know I introduced an amendment that actually basically said that for specific time periods, and I'll go over what those are, that if we find evidence of anything that is of historical significance or relevance, that we would preserve either in place or in an appropriate manner those items in that particular area.

[04:26:09] So again, I understand the intent. I understand kind of what it's trying to prevent, but I think at least the amendment that I pushed forward during the CPA I think still gets to that same element. And I'll just kind of read specifically some of the things that we discussed back then.

[04:26:29] We put in place action strategies preserving resources in place with consideration for access to the public found in study areas within several historical time frames. Prehistoric Native American settlement, early national period from 1790 to 1829, the antebellum period from 1830 to 1860,

[04:26:50] The Civil War era from 1861 to 1865, reconstruction and growth from 1866 to 1916, World War I to World War II, 1917 to 1945, which is fairly modern when you think about the time frame, and the New Dominion from 1946 to the entire present day where we are right now.

[04:27:11] We also included provisions to specifically address using oral histories and other historical research measures to preserve any cultural or historical resources related to Jenny Dane. I know that was a discussion that was brought up a couple of times, and that is specifically Action Strategy DGCR 1.18, and if anyone wants that specific item, I'm sure Mr. Patton can provide that.

[04:27:34] We also included provisions to protect and preserve any unmarked graves related to military history and African American heritage, Action Strategy DGCR 1.17. In addition, you will find that Action Strategy DGCR 1.8 to the BOCS, we directed the county archaeologists to evaluate areas that may be of historical significance, such as Honeywood Site Complex, also known as Page Land 1, Page Land 2 Complex, the Phillips Cemetery, and the Civil War Mass Grave,

[04:28:04] which, if warranted, will preserve these areas in place and work with any interested property owner to consider transferring these resources to an entity or organization that provides for the long-term preservation of these resources and work with any interested property owner to allow access to the public for interpretive programming, similar to what we discussed with regards to thoroughfare.

[04:28:28] So, you know, again, understand the intent. I don't want this to be kind of a back and forth of, you know, so-and-so is being hypocritical or the majority this and the minority that. Quite frankly, I think in my opinion, this is just my opinion, what we put forth here goes to the same intent of what we're trying to do with 8A and 8B.

[04:28:51] So I'm going to respectfully vote against them because I think that my amendment protects to the same degree that we're looking to do tonight. Thank you. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you, Madam Chair. A couple points. First of all, Supervisor Weir, I would suggest that you maybe restate.

[04:29:12] I don't think you should accept any, quote, blame. I would say it's actually credit, and I thank you for being persistent with the county executive on making sure that these were on the agenda today. So I would like to credit you.

[04:29:28] I'd rather be blamed. Well, whatever. I find it as credit and not blame, and I think that your historical commissioners who have worked countless hours would agree with me on that, as well as many other stakeholders who have weighed in.

[04:29:44] As far as the comments that my colleagues have made and Supervisor Franklin, I appreciate your comments. I remember I have vague memories of that early morning on November 2nd when you made some suggestions to the comprehensive plan amendment that got built into the digital gateway.

[04:30:05] But I also want to remind you those are simply recommendations. They're not requirements for the rezonings. So the proof will be in the pudding with the rezonings. And if QTS and Compass really do want to respect, whether it's Jenny Dean's history, the Civil War battle history, or any other history that you've referenced, it will certainly be in their rezoning packets.

[04:30:30] And that's when we will absolutely have discussions as board members on that given day, assuming I'm up here on the board and assuming you are too. I would suggest that if board members up here truly do want to preserve history, then these are initiations that you should approve.

[04:30:56] I think you can't have it both ways, and I think that to study this further and find out what really is of historical significance in this corridor is worthy of our time, worthy of staff's time.

[04:31:12] And as Supervisor Weir said 10 years ago, when we were fighting the Bi-County Parkway going through this, we did stand shoulder to shoulder with now applicants who are looking to cash in big and bolt and plow over all that history that they once, you know, wanted to preserve.

[04:31:33] And things have clearly changed with them, but not with me. I've always been dedicated to historical preservation of this county, and I will absolutely be supporting all three of them. Next up is Supervisor Bailey.

[04:31:52] Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me just, I want to thank both of my colleagues. First of all, I want to thank Supervisor Franklin. I do remember that 100% that you were proactive in assuring that we did not go through this process of the comp plan or any other plan in advance of respecting and preserving history here in this county.

[04:32:16] And we did that, and I do remember we did that because of the unfortunate situation that we were not respecting with thoroughfare. So that was the impotence for us to make sure that we do that. So you were very proactive in that. Bob, I want to thank you for always thinking beyond the fray And however it comes out, as credit or blame, it doesn't matter.

[04:32:41] You were thinking ahead of the game. And just to bring it to our attention, but I do believe that we have made proactive preparation to preserve history in this county, more so than any other board prior to us.

[04:32:57] And so I think it's imperative that we continue to do that. And we did include Mr. Patton and our archaeologists as we went forward in doing so. And so, Mr. Patton, I would ask that you continue to assist us in that regard.

[04:33:15] I was looking for a little more meat when you came to the podium tonight, but you had your reasons for not doing so. And maybe you thought it just wasn't necessary, but would look for more meat in the future when we talk about the rezonings than how you were prepared tonight.

[04:33:32] That's imperative for us to kind of follow your lead in that. And then for the Historical Commission, the reason why Supervisor Franklin and the rest of the board, we really focused on that is because the Historical Commission came to us in advance and asked us to do so as we were putting together the comprehensive plan.

[04:33:55] And so with that, I think we are very much prepared to preserve history, all history, not just African-American or American Indian. It doesn't matter, all history, because all history in Prince William County is important. And so I don't think this is something that we are controversial about.

[04:34:11] I think this is something that we should be proud about as we go forth. We don't need to argue about it. We don't need to be in conflict about it. I think our goal here on this board is 100% the same. And so, with that proactivity that we've prepared for in the future that no other board had done before, I will be voting against this because I believe that this board collectively have voted in the comprehensive plan to proactively prepare for the future.

[04:34:44] And so, Madam Chair, I thank you for my time. Thank you. And before Supervisor Weir gets his second speaking time, I will take a time if you want to start timing me, Ms. Madden. You know, if I thought this, stories are changing.

[04:35:02] Stories have changed a lot over the years. It's interesting to see the many different stories that are told about this whole corridor. You know, at this point in time, Supervisor Franklin and others went to great lengths to put in protections in the CPA.

[04:35:19] And so the question is, why does the commission feel like they need to do this now when they know that there are all those protections in the CPA? You know, I would argue that just our commission in some respects, just like some of our other commissions have, I don't know what, not quite what word to use, but have been swayed by people with their own agenda who want to bring forth various things.

[04:35:43] Do I think that we would even be considering these if there weren't the rezonings and they weren't trying to, you know, stop the rezonings? No, I don't think anyone would. I don't think it would be on anyone's radar. You know, even the fact that they didn't address all the protections that are already in there that are very much more specific than a broad sweep.

[04:36:02] I mean, the same things that we would do to look at a rezoning and the things that are going to be done are things that would be done here, except we're going to actually do them a lot quicker. So I have no doubt that if there's things that come across when the land is developed that it will be protected.

[04:36:20] So I'm comfortable voting this down. You know, I think it's important to say what this is, and I really do believe it's just a blatant effort to see if one more thing, to see if you can slow down the rezoning to the digital gateway, and that's just one person's opinion, you know, and that's just my opinion, and others may not agree with me, and that's fine.

[04:36:40] You know, I think it's somewhat pointed and rather blatant, but that's okay. We're all entitled to our opinion. With that, I'll turn it over to Supervisor Weir. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[04:36:57] Madam County Attorney, I don't harbor any illusions as to what impact these resolutions would have on the existent rezoning applications. But just to clarify to the board, could you tell us just exactly how much they would impact any rezoning application currently under review by the Planning Commission?

[04:37:25] Because my suspicion is the answer is they have zero impact on the rezonings that are currently under review. Madam Chair, members of the board, the planning department has a lot of different matters that they are working on.

[04:37:41] If the Board initiated this, this would be the Board telling planning staff to take their time and efforts to work on this, but they would have to be prioritizing the other matters that they have before them. I don't know when they would be able to get to it in comparison with the other matters that they have.

[04:37:58] I don't know which would come first before the Board. That being said, would the initiation of a study, an evaluation, have any impact on a rezoning application that has been filed and is it this far down the road in generally speaking from a legal standpoint from a legal standpoint no thank you next up is supervisor lawson thank you um so the chair likes to talk about protections and tout that supervisor franklin built in a

[04:38:36] bunch of protections we're gonna all rally and believe that right well i couldn't help but think immediately as soon as those words came out of her mouth who was protecting uh the villages what's the name of the community on 55 village place who was who was protecting them who was protecting them not the five board members sitting up here that voted for it and now all those homeowners are staring at that massive data center with no tree buffer which by the way would have been a

[04:39:07] protection so when you think about her comments and her protections that she's so sure are going to happen, think about that and ponder that for a second. It's up to the eight of us to make sure in the comprehensive plan, whether it's cultural resources chapter, land use chapter, whatever chapter you want to take and pick apart, or in the rezonings that come to us for final approval, it's up to the eight of us and specifically five or more on any given case

[04:39:46] to make sure that we are protecting county residents and that's what i would say back to your touting of quote protections supervisor vega thank you madam chair justin when in march was this recommendation made sure march 14th march 14 2023 okay and for the sake of transparency

[04:40:26] the reason why i ask is because comments are being made that this is somewhat of an effort to try to stop, whether it be applications or the process from moving forward. I just want to be very clear that Supervisor Weir was elected on February 21st. I had no idea, and I have no problem saying that publicly. I did not know about all of this going on. I found out about it because Supervisor Weir brought it to our attention via email and shared a list of exchanges via email, and he wanted to know why this was removed and why it was not put on the agenda. And so to say that somehow this is something that Supervisor Weir has spearheaded or is making up

[04:41:06] or that this is somehow politically motivated I think it's misrepresenting the facts. So this was recommended back in March 14th. Supervisor Weir was elected February 21st and I, you know, a sitting member of this governing body, just found out about this. I think a week and a half or so ago, Supervisor Weir, I'm not sure when exactly you forward those emails to Supervisor Lawson and I, but this is recent. It's a recent uncovering, so I don't want the public to be misrepresented on what actually has been going on. Anybody else before I finish us up? I am so

[04:41:42] sorry. I didn't mean to assume that it was Supervisor Weir planning this at all or doing it for that reason or really anybody on the board. I would go back to the fact that many of our commissions have people on them with their own agendas. And really, this came from the Historical Commission because there are people on the Historical Commission who are against the Digital Gateway who put this forward. So I apologize. I didn't not mean to say that it was Supervisor Weir at all. We can talk about protecting the public and we can talk about Village Place where the Village Place applicant worked with the homeowners next door, gave them

[04:42:22] concessions and gave them land and that the HOA was okay with that project, which was one of the reasons that I felt comfortable going forward with it. Sort of like Amberley Station that you led the charge on supervisor lawson bringing forward that now is a problem you know and amber lee station is you know is one of those things that we were told that the ho was all on board and the buffers were okay and everybody was protected and now we find out that's not the case and you know i've always regretted following your lead on that because um it obviously is not the case and and we need to fix those things going forward so you know you can talk about

[04:42:59] protections but you should be careful about what you want to bring up um you know i i will say i do believe this is a effort by people on the planning commission who who don't support the digital gateway who don't want that development as a way to stop it i believe that we have protections in the cpa that are going to be detailed and protect history i think we will continue to do that this board has done more to protect history in so many ways even african american history starting with the um the evaluations of all the cemeteries and the things we've done in thoroughfare more than any other board so i'm comfortable with this going

[04:43:33] forward i i think uh it's pretty easy to see why this is being done so people can once again try to insert themselves in the process you know and i've talked a lot about recently about when people fail on the policy they talk about the process and this is just one more thing that would be a roadblock in the process with regards to the rezonings and that's how we see it and that's just my opinion but i feel free to say that so um with that supervisor angry i just gotta ask because i uh supervisor vega you said there was a email that supervisor were sent to the three of

[04:44:12] you did that go to the board because i want to make sure of something we're not having this five three discussion of things and is this what triggered a lot of this whether this is politically motivated because if there's an email with some information that was projected to this whole discussion that I didn't get you know I got concerns with that from a board standpoint I'm not here to talk to the public I'm here to talk to this board about I think Mr. Shorter can forward those to the entire board as well well but did I not get did I miss an email or did I not get this was it just the three of you I don't know I haven't paid attention to it but Mr. Shorter

[04:44:46] included in there with others and he can share it. I don't know. I can check. What does it matter? Supervisor, I'm not acknowledging you because we only get to speak twice during this discussion. You can only speak twice during the discussion. We're in the discussion phase. Okay. Supervisor

[04:45:09] Bailey. Okay. Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Motion fails. Three to five. Supervisors

[04:45:55] Angry, Bailey, Bodie, Franklin, and Chair Wheeler voting nay. That brings us on to 8B. Can I get a Motion for 8B, please. Motion made by Supervisor Weir, seconded by Supervisor Lawson. Any discussion?

[04:46:11] Madam Chair. Supervisor Bode? Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not going to speak to anyone's given agenda or speculate as to a tense or whatever other motivation people may think these resolutions speak to.

[04:46:30] I was elected to evaluate where these things are. the policy documentation that we're given, and what's currently in play when we are making decisions. One of the biggest concerns I have with this is that it wasn't discussed with the property owners who would be impacted by it. Most other CPAs that we've even initiated as a board have had some sort of interplay or outreach or something to the people they're going to affect even before we initiate them. And frankly, I haven't heard of a single person who heard about this until it was put on an agenda and people caught wind of it. As was said before by Supervisor

[04:47:07] Franklin and others, we did embed action strategies into the CPA adoption of the Prince William County Digital Gateway. DCGR 1.17, DGCR 1.8, DGCR 1.12 are all designed to have the applicants look at extensive studying, monitoring, and other things as it regards to historical efforts and historically sensitive materials. In addition, DGCD 1.9 includes noise and other mitigation strategies for development adjacent to any designated historic site. So even if we moved forward

[04:47:40] with this, we would also have to have voluntarily have folks give up parts of their property in order to have the conservation easements put into place for this. This isn't a forcing or anything like that. Folks would have to agree to it. And everyone I've talked to, is this impacting, or else if they fall in within the study area of the digital gateway or not, some folks who have no stake in it whatsoever have told us they don't want to do this.

[04:48:06] So in closing, these resolutions have not had the proper due diligence of getting buy-in from the landowners that would affect retreads policy ground that we've already covered by policies already in the digital gateway CPA, and require the voluntary acquiescence of the landowners who have spoken to us today, and they said they don't want to do it. So that's why I'll be opposing both these madam chair thank you thank you supervisor bode i don't have a speaker button okay supervisor weir thank you madam chair i'll address the most recent comment first and i i understand what we're

[04:48:44] up here doing i understand what the motion is i don't think some of you do mr patten just said not 10 minutes ago that the time for the property owners to be involved in this because it's just an evaluation is subsequent to the initiation yes the property owners some of the property owners have made their position known tonight. In opposition, some of the property owners are in favor of it. That's what this process will enable. That's why you're doing this initiation for this

[04:49:19] evaluation. And again, nobody's taking anything. That's a different matter years down the road. To some of the, all of my comments from 8A apply to 8B as well. And since I could only speak twice on 8a i'll have the same comments that i couldn't get to for 8b given the geographic spread of the

[04:49:52] votes across magisterial districts in the historic commissions vote in favor of these applications i take offense that a political aspirate or a political motivation is being ascribed to it there are people of all parties and persuasions in there from all across the county that voted in favor of this. Did the most politically active members of it vote in a manner that supports

[04:50:29] their purported party appointee or patron? Sure. Happens all the time. But I believe the votes were 9-4 or 9-6, something like that. So there was clearly a majority vote and clearly a vote that involved more than just the Gainesville representatives. That's what we put them in a place for. With respect to the emails to Mr. Shorter, I forwarded them, I believe, by BCC

[04:50:58] to Supervisors Lawson and Vega. I believe Mr. Shorter, if he recalls, will tell you that the content of those emails had nothing to do with the content of the resolutions themselves, but merely the process by which they were removed from the agenda. Because I believe that was the only issue we discussed. I made no assertion in favor or in opposition. In fact, I went to great

[04:51:35] pains to avoid that in my discussions with Mr. Shorter and with the county attorney's office. It was simply a process issue. I'll be more than happy to send the emails to everybody else, but if anybody has an interest in process, I'll be more than happy to do it this afternoon. Thank you. Supervisor Franklin. Yeah, thank you for that. I guess I'm just curious as to why

[04:51:58] you didn't send it to the rest of us individually supervisor lawson i just find that to be very interesting and i hope we can look further into that supervisor lawson your time thank you um actually i was sitting up here thinking i recall getting an email from um one of your historical commissioners on the thread so i don't even know you maybe sent it to me as well but it was brought

[04:52:37] to my attention from one of your commissioners um it's a fair question and um frankly i um want to commend mr shorter because i thought you did as supervisor bailey said earlier fall on your sword for any one of the eight of us or the eight of us it's not your job is not easy but you certainly do it very professionally and and from from my lens very fairly and at when i did read the thread i thought that you handled it very fairly and i was glad that it was added back to

[04:53:13] the agenda um and everything is foiable folks so feel free to request this thread and i would gladly share it with you um i'm sorry okay okay i i didn't i didn't know if i i didn't know if somebody was okay thank you um supervisor bode i'll just say that the 8a that you just voted

[04:53:49] against one of the property owners did support and wanted you to support 8a so i think you're you're contradicting yourself and as supervisor weir said um this would be a great opportunity if we initiate for the property owners you know to become involved but of course we know how this vote's going to go um and then i do want to like i want to make sure the record is straight on the rezoning that the chair looped into my criticism of her protection i'm talking about protection of

[04:54:25] mature trees which is what a buffer is around amberley station and i'm working to actually widen that that buffer i would say that the folks in village place didn't have anyone looking out for them for a mature tree buffer. And that's why I use that as an example, a big difference.

[04:54:45] So if anyone wants further details about those different cases, I will gladly supply them to you. And that's all I have to say for now. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. Listen, I don't want anybody falling on any sword. So CXO, I'm telling you right now, if there's an email that comes out from any of us that the board should be on that and i i believe two or more constitutes a meeting so that email has three and that's a meeting that should have went to this entire board to have a discussion about what is procedure if this wrong is wrong i don't have time to sit up here and we

[04:55:24] can talk about four in this and four in that and what we're going to do as a board we're the board it's eight of us here we should be communicating and we're not communicating so there's something wrong there okay that to me leads to somebody's doing something behind something trying to get to something else if we're not functioning as a board and that's what that is and if something is wrong in the process then we all should know about it right is right and wrong is wrong and if any one of us democrat or republican are doing something that's flaky or not to the standards of what we do in this position then we should be addressing that not sitting here talking about foying stuff or throwing the cx under the bus for dying on a jumping on a sword whatever that is i

[04:56:03] don't need that i need us to function as a board done so before supervisor weird takes his oh do you supervisor bailey do you want to go because you can go for your first yeah i just yeah i just want to say something really quick i don't want us to get aside from what we're really supposed to be doing here we're i don't want to politicize this we just need to be talking about what's important for the community and and we're we're we don't need to fight like little kids up here We just need to understand what this is about, vote on it, and keep it moving.

[04:56:42] I don't want to be going back and forth. We're bigger than that, and I'm just going to put that out there. This is not an entertainment day for citizens, and I don't want to be a part of that, but I do want to be a part of us doing something that is for the citizens, which, again, I'm going to say that I believe that I have in preparation and proactively before that we hadn't done before.

[04:57:08] so if we could just have decorum and be respectful of each other that's very important to me as part of this one-eighth and not attack each other i think that's disrespectful and unprofessional and so um i don't want to do that and i don't think it's fair to our constituents any of our constituents so i just wanted to say that and then i'm going to keep quiet so we can address the item now i'll jump in before supervisor weird takes his second turn during discussion

[04:57:45] so you're welcome to start timing me ms madden if you want you know um i i don't believe this is a great opportunity for the the landowners um i i didn't realize there was one who wanted it but the vast majority of the people who spoke um you know a lot of them were landowners and were against it, so it didn't seem like this is a great opportunity for landowners, as Supervisor Lawson said.

[04:58:12] You know, I will say that in terms of the voting, if it was 9-4 and 9-6 at the Planning Commission, as Supervisor Weir indicated, that to me is not an overwhelming majority. You know, I have an appointed Planning Commissioner who has a doctorate in history, and he was the one who was quoted tonight as saying that this was just a political move on the planning commission that he did not believe that that was the reason they were just doing it to the historical commission sorry my historical commission he has a doctorate and he disagreed and was one of and said it was just a political move and so I feel comfortable saying that because someone already quoted him tonight as saying

[04:58:51] that and so 9496 I didn't realize it was that overwhelmingly close so I don't think that's a majority Supervisor Weir. 9-4 is political terms of butt-kicking.

[04:59:19] I've sort of lost my chain of thought. Supervisor Franklin, you asked a question earlier, and I would reference the consent agenda this evening. I don't know why I don't send you guys some things, because every time I question staff, I get excoriated.

[04:59:48] Staff is perfect. Staff can't make a mistake. Staff can't provide a wrong number. Well, sometimes they do. And the issue with Mr. Shorter that I went through Mr. Shorter and the county attorney's office with had nothing to do with the content of the applications, nothing to do with the resolutions, absolutely nothing.

[05:00:11] It's a process issue, process issue that nobody wanted to assert responsibility for. I'm thankful that Mr. Shorter assumed the blame. I don't think he's actually responsible for the way it went down, but I'm thankful that he at least had the integrity to give me that answer and move the ball down the court.

[05:00:34] And that's all this was about was moving the ball down the court. And I sent copies of the emails to these two. Anybody else wants to see it, file a FOIA request. Come by the office, I'll give you one. But you guys aren't going to like the content. You're not going to like the content because I questioned staff.

[05:00:53] I questioned who did this and why. Did they have the authority to do that? It seems to be a question I'm asking an awful lot, in fact, asked this morning yet again. I have a similar issue we're going to take up. I wasn't going to bring it up tonight, but I'm going to bring it up at Supervisor's time.

[05:01:11] And we can add to the list. Does this board control policy or does staff? And I think you're going to have to start asking yourselves that question because if we issue a directive or a resolution and it doesn't get followed through on because somebody at a lower staff level decides they're going to shelve it or take it off the agenda, then I think we should all have a problem.

[05:01:39] And I'm just going to leave it at that. I'm not even going to bother commenting anything else because I know where this vote's going and I'm not going to comment on 8C either. But I think you guys need to take a long, hard look at yourself and a long, hard look at how you view staff and what your responsibility is. Our responsibility is the people that...

[05:01:58] pay the taxes and own the properties in this county and put us up on these seats. Our responsibility is not to make staff look good, especially when they make a mistake. And sometimes it's an honest mistake. Sometimes I question whether that's the case, but I'll ascribe it to an honest mistake.

[05:02:18] So I'll just leave it at that. Okay, don't see anybody else who wants to speak. Seeing no further discussion, please vote. Motion fails, 3 to 5.

[05:02:37] Supervisors angry, Bailey, Bodie, Franklin, and Chair Wheeler voting nay. That brings us on to 8C. Anyone want to make a motion to initiate 8C?

[05:02:53] Motion made by Supervisor Weir, seconded by Supervisor Vega. Discussion, Supervisor Bode. Actually, I just had a question, Madam Chair. I know this is, Supervisor Vega, this is in your district, right?

[05:03:13] Yes, it's in the Coles District. I was going to ask if you had any additional context, because we've heard a lot about 8A and 8B and those properties there, but I wanted to hear if you had any context on the one-year district. For 8C, I do. It's just I don't know that it's going to make much of a difference, But since you asked, the additional content that I have is 151 men lost their lives here during the Battle of Blackburns Ford and is known as a battle that preceded and, in fact, a necessitated bull run.

[05:03:40] In addition, it's been, again, recommended by our Historical Commission and supported by the National Parks Conservation Association. And I would like to think that anywhere in our county where 150 men lost their lives, especially one in the battle over slavery, that we would want to, at the very least, listed on our Register of Historic Places.

[05:03:56] And again, additionally, staff says it meets the selection criteria of the cultural resources chapter of the comp plan. And so it should come to no surprise to you. I support it for those reasons. Yeah, to me, this is a little bit, I'm just speaking that it's a little bit different in that it is, we don't know about protections that are placed for this section of the thing.

[05:04:22] It's not related to any other CPA. So it's a little bit different in my mind. Madam Chair, if I could just say that initiating the CPA would get us there, right, to be able to know if it is or if it isn't. I understand the comments that are being made that this might have happened or maybe it didn't happen.

[05:04:40] But if we're prudent and if we vote in support of it, we find out if it is or if it isn't. And then we make an educated decision. So I'm just saying. I'm agreeing with you. I'm just saying. I want to be clear. I'm agreeing with you. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a question for Ms. McGatigan. So just in this particular incident with this one here, because I don't know any of the property lines here.

[05:05:03] I get it in Coles District about any private property. So is there anything on the works of coming up in any of this area that we're going to study for to be a part of this? In other words, do you have any, I don't know what the property lines look like in there, But is anybody trying to do anything in the future with anything here?

[05:05:26] And I don't know if it would hinder that opportunity for these landowners. But I'm more concerned about the landowners. Are there any landowners involved, private property, inside of this strip that we're talking about now? Yeah. David McGettigan from the planning office.

[05:05:46] Supervisor Angry, I'm not aware of any applications or development that's being proposed with the property owners here other than a potential route for a road that is being considered, and those historic resources are being considered as part of that alignment process.

[05:06:09] Okay, and while I have you there, or maybe it's Mr. Patton, but can you define, okay, so these three initiations were to basically take these areas and add them to the list of county-registered historic sites.

[05:06:25] What does that truly mean? Does that hurt anyone that does own land in this to be added to that site going into the future if they want to do something? Now, I get it. We're saying there's no particular land on this here. There might be a road. So the county registered historic site has two things.

[05:06:47] One, it's listed in the cultural resources chapter of the comprehensive plan, and it explains what the significance of that is. And that's why there's research required to get it in there. And it's a change to the long-range land use map. So the underlying land use would be changed by the designation of something as a county registered historic site.

[05:07:08] And those uses are defined in that county registered historic site of what sorts of uses would be compatible with that designation and help preserve that. So it does change the guidance in the comprehensive plan for the future long-range land use to designate something a county registered historic site.

[05:07:28] And then just a last question, and I should know this, but, you know, we go through these decisions and things happen and we get new information. When we were doing the Pathway 2040 updating the comp plan, we didn't have this discussion about these, did we?

[05:07:46] I mean, I think that would have been the best place we could have had those. Would you not agree that we should have had these discussions then at that time? Yeah, that's correct, and we did not have those discussions at this time. And the Historical Commission, like I was mentioning, annually does look at different places that they think should be eligible and should be considered.

[05:08:11] And actually, the board has some initiated county registered historic sites that we have just not had staff resources to do the research and bring forward to you at this time. Okay. And so I'll just go on record as saying this for our historical commission. I hope they're looking throughout the county.

[05:08:28] I do know that right here at 95, where the at-home site is, that's the old ironworks. I think that's a great opportunity. So I hope they're looking throughout the county at all of these opportunities. I haven't seen anyone or heard anyone talk to me about that. But I know we have a few more, probably a lot more sites that we could be doing this.

[05:08:47] So I just want to put that out there on the record. Not for you, for everyone just to document that we, if we're going to do this, let's do this throughout the county. Thanks. Supervisor Lawson. Mr. McGettigan.

[05:09:07] Supervisor Lawson. Where can you find the cultural resources chapter? It's a part of the comprehensive plan. Correct. And what's the purpose of it? It's a guide for development and growth and development of the county. That specific chapter?

[05:09:22] is the whole comprehensive plan no i asked you what is the purpose of the cultural resources chapter oh to to um designate uh areas of uh cultural resource and provide policy guidance on protection of cultural resources throughout the and preservation of cultural resources throughout the county which is exactly why we have a chapter dedicated in the comprehensive plan And my fear is, my concern is, is that not everybody up here realizes that.

[05:09:57] Did you have a question? I'm sorry. No. Oh, no. You answered it. The chair had made comments that I thought maybe she was having a sidebar.

[05:10:15] So I think she missed it. But Supervisor Bailey. So, Dave, this one right here is not one that we've considered.

[05:10:30] Is that what I'm understanding? Yeah, this is not a part of the point. This is not initiated. Right. Okay, this has not been initiated. Okay, that's the purpose of today supervisor we're sorry I promise not to talk on HC, but I guess I will mr. McGatigan Can you point to where the cultural resources chapter is in the where point to where it is?

[05:10:57] Is it a separate chapter on the land use? Yeah, come plan of the chapters in the comprehensive plan is available online. It is I don't see it Or is there simply a reference to the previous cultural resources plan the the cultural resources plan?

[05:11:17] that is in the comprehensive plan had a technical update in 2017 by the board. It was not updated in December when we did the other updates to the land use and mobility and sewer and housing chapters.

[05:11:37] So if anybody wants to look at it and then go to the comp plan page, it's there? That's correct. For edification, I think you need to look at your website because I can't find it. All right. Okay.

[05:11:55] Well, seeing no one asking to speak, seeing no further discussion, please vote. Motion passes, 5 to 2.

[05:12:11] Supervisor Angry and Chair Wheeler voting nay. Supervisor Bailey abstaining from vote.

[05:12:26] Okay, that moves us on to Supervisor's time today, item number 9. Last week I started to my right. Today I'm going to start, if that's okay, to my left, and we can go around the horn. Thank you. I am so sorry.

[05:12:45] Yes, if I could get a motion for 9A through 9C, please. So moved. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Bodie. Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous.

[05:13:00] Thank you very much, Ms. Madden. Please proceed, Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Well, good evening to everyone. On July 13th, I want to thank Executive Director Jill Narcross of the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance, Delegate Michelle Maldonado and Reverend Dr. Keith Savage for participating with me and the wonderful affordable housing summit that we had at the Falazzo Building.

[05:13:27] It was very productive, and thank you to the citizens that showed up and had the wonderful questions, and to Ms. Joanne Farrell for your moderating the event. On the 19th, I want to thank our own Bob Sweeney with the Prince William County Chamber for hosting a great Chick-fil-A groundbreaking ceremony for the event of bringing the first and the largest mid-Atlantic Chick-fil-A here in our region.

[05:13:55] And congratulations to Ms. Natalie Yang, owner. This is her second in our region. And her promise is to bring more jobs to our community as we serve the community and train those young adults that want to stay here in the community. So thank you for for making sure you started your business here in Prince William County.

[05:14:16] And I'm honored, I was honored to be an attendee at our very own homegoing ceremony for Dr. George M. Hampton. You know, the Hampton Middle School is named after him, and we will miss him in the community.

[05:14:31] He is the originator of the Juneteenth event that we have every year. So, George, we will miss you. On the 24th, I want to thank Deputy Exec Quentin Haynes for coming to the office and participating in the meet and greet with my staff.

[05:14:49] We had a lot of fun, and we welcome you again to the community. On July 26th, which is tomorrow, I will be conducting my third annual staff retreat to reset and refocus on the opportunities at hand in the Potomac District.

[05:15:06] And then on the 27th, I will be presenting a commendation in my office to the top ladies of distinction here who has served in our backpack event and our STEM programs. We really appreciate you, so I look forward to that.

[05:15:23] And I think that is all on the 21st. I'll be participating on August 24th. Oh, no, that's it. That's all I got. Thank you so much. Thank you, Supervisor Bailey. Vice Chair Bodie.

[05:15:39] Thank you, Madam Chair. First, I wanted to give kudos to my seatmate, Supervisor Bailey, for participating in that affordable housing summit. It was very early in the morning. I managed to get over there despite not having coffee. It was a really great discussion about the barriers and the policies we're putting into place as a county to address housing affordability in the community.

[05:15:59] So it was really great to be part of that conversation, at least as an observer, and to hear what folks had to say. On the 13th of July, I was happy to join the Prince William Chamber of Commerce to do the ribbon cutting on Yoga 6. So if you know over at Lake Ridge Commons over off of Hedges Run, there's the place where the Little Caesars used to be.

[05:16:21] We have a giant food over there, and there was a couple of end units that had been dormant for quite some time. Yoga 6 is now there, providing a really great community-oriented service to have accessible yoga for the heart of Lake Ridge. So I wanted to appreciate the folks who did that.

[05:16:37] On the 19th, as was said by my seatmate, we also participated in the viewing and celebration of life of George Hampton. It was a great celebration. We had to hear a powerful rendition and stories from his son, who was also here at our last board meeting. And it was really powerful, powerful service.

[05:16:55] So I really wanted to highlight that as well. On the 21st, I attended my first Council of Governments Human Services Policy Committee meeting. I know I serve as an alternate to that to Supervisor Bailey, but it was for my first time being able to attend a lot of very dense, detailed human services policy information going on there.

[05:17:14] So it will take me a little while to unpack everything that's going on in that policy committee, but I know it's a lot of great work, and I appreciate that we have a great representative at Supervisor Bailey on that committee to help do that work regionally. On the first, looking ahead, we have National Night Out.

[05:17:30] I plan to be at quite a few of the different stops for the PD in my district as we celebrate having peaceful communities and partnerships with our law enforcement. On the 5th, as mentioned before, is the African Heritage Festival in Manassas. Always happy to participate in that. And again, on the 10th, my office will be hosting a community safety town hall.

[05:17:49] It will be held at Chin Park Library at 630. The doors open at 6. We will be joined by both Chiefs Neusham and LaBelle, DxO Public Safety Dan Alexander, our new Community Safety Director Wesley Dawson, Public Safety Communications Director Michelle Dersertum, and our Prince William County Schools Risk Management Director Ron Crow, among other support staff.

[05:18:09] It will be a great comprehensive sort of talk about what's going on in community safety sort of holistically, what some of the challenges are that we've been facing as a community as regards to community safety, And what we have in the hopper and how we can partner with our folks in law enforcement, schools, first response, and now our new community safety initiative to address some of these challenges.

[05:18:29] So again, August 10th, 630 at Chin Park Library. The last thing I have with my last couple minutes here is earlier this month, Virginia released its first study in 20 years on the Commonwealth's K-12 funding.

[05:18:45] The results of that study were unsurprising for anyone who is an educator or a parent that we've known for years. We are billions with a B of dollars behind where we should be. We already knew that our school infrastructure was behind because despite our school board's best efforts, we had to make only modest renovations instead of what is needed to bring our older schools up to modern standards.

[05:19:10] We already knew that our educators were being compensated well below the regional and national averages, which not only adversely impacts their quality of life, but also exacerbated the recruitment and retention challenges of the school division as a whole. We also already knew that the funding disparities disproportionately impact special ed, ESL, other student communities that require additional accommodations that often come from at-risk communities.

[05:19:34] As we have the most diverse student population in Virginia, our schools and our kids feel these impacts more than any other. And all this was pre-pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these disparities and revealed even more. While we as a board have made important strides over the last four budget cycles to increase our local investment in our schools, and I'd like us to start to have conversations around school meals debts in the future, I know that we cannot go it alone.

[05:20:02] It is my hope that the JLARC study's findings create the rightful sense of urgency on the state level in Richmond to address the chronic underfunding of our school system. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Supervisor Brody. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you.

[05:20:17] I actually don't have much to say other than I'm sorry I missed the first couple hours of this meeting today. I lost my yellow lab of almost 14 years, and it's been a tough day, but I want to let you know I don't take my absence lightly.

[05:20:35] But it's certainly not a typical board day for me. Supervisor Weir. I wasn't going to bring this up in supervisor's time, but I will. Similar to the situation with the resolutions being removed from the agenda, I was informed of a similar circumstance.

[05:20:58] I have not yet brought this to Mr. Shorter. I think I've managed to handle it through staff. But I think everybody should know about this because it is sort of a similar circumstance. The data center overlay district plan, it's been with planning and has been in limbo since November of last year, was shelved.

[05:21:17] I had to remind staff that that was initiated by directive and resolution, and they don't have the authority to shelve it on their own. I believe Ms. Roble agrees with me on that, so I've been assured that it will be coming forward in September.

[05:21:33] If somebody would like an email, I'll send you one later on. With respect to the consent agenda and the issues of earlier this evening, simply because an item is on the consent agenda doesn't mean that everybody up here is going to consent with it.

[05:21:49] You may find that questioning the intent of an item or questioning the work behind it or questioning the motivations or questioning the spending or the mechanisms distasteful or perhaps not in the best interest of getting it done by the board or assuming responsibility for it.

[05:22:13] If everybody doesn't know what's going on behind the scenes, I can make everybody here a promise. I mean, agree or disagree with my positions, with my tactics. I believe Tactics was used earlier. I'm not going to hide stuff from you.

[05:22:32] You've got a question, ask me. Easy to find. I just don't think hiding things on the consensual agenda and expecting us not to talk about the downsides or the repercussions is a good idea.

[05:22:48] Given that, without objection, since we've talked about this sort of tangentially this evening, without objection, I would direct the county staff to prepare a preliminary information form to nominate the Thornton Settlement and Flatiron Corner, Jenny Dean, for the National Register of Historic Places and have staff put the appropriate application together.

[05:23:19] I'm sorry, can you say that again? To prepare the preliminary information form to nominate Thornton Settlement and Flatiron Corner, Jenny Dean, for the National Register of Historic Places. It comes as a recommendation from the Historic Commission.

[05:23:37] Apparently, we have to initiate it. staff has informed me that it has to come from us and essentially i can give you a little bit of background uh on december 13th 2022 historical commission advanced resolution number 22 stroke 070 recommending the board of supervisors approve and conduct a study on the following areas thornton settlement flat iron corner marble hill and the jenny dean birthplace along with their connections to the thoroughfare and carver road communities both of which were previously researched via preliminary information form initiatives same thing uh and this is followed up on historic recess apparently never followed up on this one so i'd just like to initiate this

[05:24:16] part of it so i'll i'll object to that so we'll have to take a vote um so moved okay because i read through all the the meeting minutes of uh of the historical commission and they didn't bring those forward themselves so um okay so we've got a motion uh with a second by supervisor lawson uh discussion supervisor franklin sure so you mentioned that his um sorry the jenny dean historical i'm assuming i thought that was already a national historical site not no that's not what

[05:24:52] i'm hearing is um justin is not here yeah so we need to find that out because i if that is uh madam chair i would i would withdraw my motion if you can place it on next next month or next September the first meeting in September's agenda and have a full staff presentation a full staff presentation or staff here present to answer questions either one um I don't know if he can hear us or if he's

[05:25:26] Honestly it would be nice to understand a little bit more what you're trying to do I will also say and I made this comment um during the CPA vote about the history of Jenny Dane I'm glad everyone is all of a sudden interested in learning the history of Jenny Dean and acknowledging the work that both she and her family have done in this area.

[05:25:53] And I'll just put a plug into all of my Black History Month programs, one of which we featured Jenny Dean's biographer, who has worked with her family and actually worked with the city of Manassas to put together the statue that they unveiled a few years ago.

[05:26:11] So, look, I'm excited that people all of a sudden care about African-American history. I think it's great. But let's be genuine in how we address it. And so I think it would be helpful to just figure out, Supervisor Weir, a little bit more what you're looking to do.

[05:26:27] Because I do believe the Thornton settlement was much larger than just Jenny Dean and was sort of Thornton, it's a whole subdivision and stuff like that. So I think you need to be clear. It's listed in the mind notes as separate. There's four separate, well, what I'm assuming is four separate things about the construction. Thornton Settlement, Flatiron Corner, Marble Hill, and the Jenny Dean birthplace.

[05:26:47] So the other three and Jenny Dean you're sort of thrown in. There are four separate places you now want to do the same thing. There's a resolution from December 13th of 2022. So you want to bring forward four more CPAs like the ones we just had? This is a CPA. This is a PIF.

[05:27:03] A PIF. Can you explain that to me, please? It's a preliminary information form that you have to file. For what? For designation. So you're working toward getting historical designation for four more properties along the patron's corridor. Is that what you're asking? That's what they have recommended for the National Register of Historic Places.

[05:27:21] Who recommended? That's what the resolution from the Historic Commission from December says. I wasn't around in December. Okay. I'm sorry. Supervisor Bailey, then Supervisor Franklin. Bob, I think if we go back, maybe we need to go back because I think that was one of the reasons why Supervisor Franklin initiated what she did in the comprehensive plan because that was a recommendation and a request from the Historical Commission in the beginning.

[05:27:53] That's what I remember. So that's why we, with that and with the issues that we had with thoroughfare, that was the reason why we initiated the amendment to the comprehensive plan. so i mean i think maybe if we go back and and just and look at it more my understanding is this is just a preliminary step one preliminary information form what it accomplishes you'll have to ask justin because quite frankly i don't know supervisor we're sorry sorry i'm out of line no okay supervisor franklin okay have you talked to staff about this i mentioned it briefly this

[05:28:31] was brought to me by the historic commission and apparently they were told by justin that it had come from us. So with all due respect, with all due respect, because you and I have talked and we've shared information off the dais, but it seems like there hasn't been a sufficient amount of legwork done on this item. Because I have questions in terms of, if you're trying to get to a national historic site or registry, that's also, you got to go through the feds to do that as well.

[05:29:02] So it sounds like you're saying this is the first step. And I've actually done this when i worked on the hill and there is quite the process to go through and again it was my understanding and i could be wrong on this but i thought that um i thought that was already at least on the jenny dean part already registered so i think before you go down this road probably need a lot more information than what you have right now what i i could only go on what i've been told but it's on you supervisor where if you're going to propose something you at the very least need to have the answers. It'd be nice if the county historian would return my emails.

[05:29:39] Okay, well that's between you and the county exec and the county historian. The fact of the matter is we're here and you're asking us to do something that you don't have all the information for. I've got enough information in my mind. Okay, but so you're going to, are you withdrawing this for now? I will withdraw it and if staff would like to bring us further information, I'm in no hurries.

[05:30:00] I just want to get it out there. I will withdraw my motion. Okay. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam. Excuse me. I had a second on his motion. Oh. So sorry, Vic, but I've had my light on because... Oh, he withdrew his motion, though.

[05:30:17] Well, if you know parliamentary procedure, you have to have... You go ahead and speak. Thank you. I didn't want to interrupt the dialogue because I frankly thought it was good. But where are we going from here? Are you going to direct, are we coming back in September to discuss it?

[05:30:36] Or you're going to work with staff and then maybe decide where we go from here? I just think it needs to be done in September. Okay, speak into the microphone. I think we need to address it in September because what I'm hearing is this has been kicking around and apparently it's been our responsibility to get this initiated.

[05:30:54] I mean, you've got one here right here in front of you. Well, this is somebody else's, I get it. No, it's what your historical commissioner supplied me. and keep going there is a disconnect between us staff and the historic commission so i just want to i want to get this over with and get it out of the way one way or the other up or down because technically i didn't know if i was going to withdraw my motion my second or not to remove it from the from the table so i wanted clarity but i will say supervisor franklin i i'm not going to take your comment about i about you know you're glad everybody's suddenly interested in

[05:31:32] and preservation of african-american history i i have been for years i remember when i was sworn in and and december 31st 2015 i talked about preservation of history because i love that i live near the nation's capital where so much of it happened matter of fact i've been at the state corporation commission uh speaking about the carver history when the power line fight was going on probably seven eight years ago so thank you i appreciate that we can chat more if you want I know we've had personal conversations about that, but I don't want you to think that this is something that I'm just suddenly interested in.

[05:32:09] Thank you. So with that conversation, I will withdraw my second to his motion, and we'll expect Supervisor Weir to do more homework on it. Thank you. Supervisor Angry. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we missed an opportunity, and so recognizing that we won't be here next month, I'm going to be working with your office to do a proclamation for tomorrow will be the 75th anniversary of the desegregation of the armed forces and federal workforce.

[05:32:46] This is, I'm going to just read a statement here. On July 26, 1948, with the stroke of a pen, President Harry S. Truman changed the course of American history by signing Executive Order 9981, establishing the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services.

[05:33:05] He officially declared that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the Armed Services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin. His action reflected the growing realization by more and more Americans that our nation could no longer reconcile segregation with the values we had fought a war to uphold.

[05:33:29] Tomorrow there's going to be three events going on. Probably can't get in two of them. One's at the Pentagon. It's going to be at 10 o'clock where they have a recognition ceremony. Fort Belvoir is actually going to be renaming Lee Road to be renamed Executive Order 9981 Road.

[05:33:45] That's a mouthful, but that's going to be the new road. That's going to be tomorrow at 10 a.m. at Woodlawn Chapel. And then Howard University, Blue Star Families has an event tomorrow from 1230 to 330 at Crampton Auditorium where I'll be participating in that.

[05:34:01] Also, so I'll be working with your office manager. I know it'll be after the fact, but I think we need to recognize that, and I know we're going to be out for next month. So Neabsco District is going to have a dumpster day, 28 October from 10 to 2 p.m. at Neabsco Baptist Church.

[05:34:17] The address is 15545 Cardinal Drive, Woodbridge, Virginia, 22193. And then lastly, I just want to say to all of those members outstanding high school seniors who had to go to summer school.

[05:34:34] You're going to be graduating on the 1st, and you will be over at Hilton Performing Arts Center, and I will be there with you from 4 to 5, but only, unfortunately, for Potomac, Forest Park, Freedom, Garfield, Hilton, and Woodbridge. The second ceremony is from 7 to 8, but I've got to be at the National Night Out, and that will be for Unity Reed, Battlefield, Brinksville, Colgan, Gainesville, Osborne Park, and Patriot High School.

[05:34:57] So I'm going to say congratulations to all of you graduating seniors. You had to go to summer school, but you're graduating. And so congratulations. Madam Chair, I believe that is all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Ingris. Supervisor Vega. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[05:35:13] I first want to start off by addressing the city of Manassas' decision to open up Manassas Airport for commercial flights. I will say that I understand they're a different governing body, as are we. With that being said, not only do I live within close proximity to the Manassas Airport over the years, I've experienced the jet noise, little jet noise, the helicopters, and we've kind of gotten used to it.

[05:35:35] And so I did have a lot of constituents reach out to me. They were concerned about the noise pollution, light pollution, and what all this would mean also in regards to the traffic concerns. And so I had some folks wondering if there was anything that I could do. I try to explain to them that unfortunately I really, you know, have no say in what the city of Manassas governing body decides, but ultimately would keep them informed as to their meetings as they progressed.

[05:36:02] I don't know what the process is, Mr. Shorter, moving forward, but I do want to at some point discuss it with you. Being that Prince William County residents, especially within the Coles District, are going to be significantly impacted by this decision, I think that there could be a better way to kind of handle this, to be able to have dialogue with them and share the concerns that my constituents have shared with me as this process has unfolded.

[05:36:27] I will say also, if Rick is listening, and to the folks in our Department of Transportation, that I am going to request that we evaluate this Clover Hill bow tie. As you know, when it was initially designed, they did not consider the amount of traffic that this opportunity for the Monassas airport is going to bring to the coals district and how it's going to impact that proposal and so i do look forward to informing my constituents as this process continues to play out i do want to say that this is not something that is going to happen from one day to the next it's my understanding that it can take up to two years and that even during the course of those two years

[05:37:06] there are additional studies that are going to be done i want to let folks of the great oak community know that I hear them. They are, of course, right smack in the center of all of this on top of all of the pain and suffering that they've endured with the data center issues that we're still working on and trying to find some solutions for them. So I don't know what that looks like, Mr. Shorter, just giving you a heads up, and I look forward to having that conversation with you and possibly folks over in the city of Manassas. Next, I know that I mentioned this at our last board meeting, but I want to do it again.

[05:37:39] I want to just thank staff again for their help in removing the homeless encampment in the woods on public property back over behind the Heritage Crossing. It's my understanding from the police department that this was not at all a pretty sight and pretty much was exactly what folks down in that area had described it to be.

[05:38:01] I want to say that sometimes it feels like government rarely works for you, but this is truly one of those examples of your local government elected representatives and the community coming together to make it work. And so, again, I just want to thank everyone that assisted in clearing this area up.

[05:38:17] And finally, an event that is very dear and near to my heart, the third annual Salvadorian Festival will be taking place on Saturday, August 5th. It usually happens right behind McCourt, but this year it's going to be done at the stadium because it keeps growing. It's the third year, and it keeps growing.

[05:38:32] I do want to give Matt Villarreal a special shout-out because he's been working with these folks, ensuring that it's been an easy and smooth process as they did not want to leave this area here. But he made it happen, and so thank you to Matt and to everybody that has been very helpful in ensuring that this event is once again a success.

[05:38:48] That's all I have, Madam Chair. Thanks. Thanks, Supervisor Vega. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. Thursday, July 13th, I hosted a community meeting for the residents of Acclaim at Belmont Bay. Had a great time visiting with them and provided ice cream. Also did the same at the Belmont Bay Rehabilitation Center and had the opportunity to provide community updates and listen to resident concerns.

[05:39:11] On the 18th, I attended the funeral of Dr. George Hampton and was honored to present his family with a plaque honoring his legacy. Over the past weekend, I represented, oh, actually before that, I did a tour of the Judicial Center in Manassas and saw firsthand the need for those renovations.

[05:39:29] So I'm fully supportive of that. And then over the past weekend, I represented Prince William County at the National Association of Counties annual conference in Austin, Texas, and had some good Virginia representation, mostly from Loudoun. And so we'd love to see Prince William County have a better presence there moving forward.

[05:39:47] Upcoming event on July 28th, I'll be hosting community meetings with the residents at Potomac Woods and Potomac Place and look forward to speaking with them. And on August 15th, we will have a rededication ceremony at Marumsco Acres Lake Neighborhood Park. Marumsco Acres Lake Park is one of our gyms located throughout Woodbridge where neighbors can mingle and bring their children for community activities.

[05:40:10] And recently, the Department of Parks and Recreation made several improvements, including adding ADA sidewalks, replacing mulch with the rubber on the playground surface, paving the parking lot, and paving and painting the basketball courts. And so that's going to be August 15th at 1 p.m., so please come out and join.

[05:40:29] And then also we have our third annual back-to-school event that I'm co-hosting with Delegate Candy King and Supervisor Bailey, along with the Prince William Community Foundation. This will be a two-day event this year, August 11th through the 12th. On the 11th will be a vaccine clinic from 9 to 3 p.m. at Freedom High School and Unity Braxton High School.

[05:40:51] And on the 12th, we will do the backpack drive at Freedom High School from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. So it's a two-day event. You get the vaccine clinic on the 11th and then the backpack drive on the 12th. And we hope to see everyone there. And then lastly, I would like to issue a directive to have staff look into expanding the pickleball courts at Veterans Park while also exploring additional options for tennis courts and for those tennis players also at Veterans Park and other facilities on and off the Route 1 corridor or nearby.

[05:41:27] I know that our pickleball community is growing, but we still also have a tennis community, and we want to make sure they have adequate facilities too. So we'd love for county staff to look into how do we expand on both fronts, maybe expand pickleball courts and preserve some of what we have with the tennis ball.

[05:41:45] with the tennis community as well. So looking forward to receiving feedback there. And with that, I yield. Thank you, Supervisor Franklin. I'm pretty brief. On Wednesday, I was honored to attend the funeral services for Dr. George M. Hampton, Sr., also a lovely service.

[05:42:01] Huge amount of people there. His biography is just astounding, just astounding. On Friday, July 21st, I got to go to the newly opened Brewster's Ice Cream in Haymarket, which was a lovely way to cool off. If anybody's been to a Brewster's, it was really good, and that's in Haymarket.

[05:42:18] And I'm sure the lines will be long as it gets hotter. I think on Friday we're going to have a heat index of 106. Last Friday I also got to speak to the National Capital Area Council group of scouts who were working on their citizens in the community merit badge at Camp Snyder.

[05:42:33] That was really great. We had a, on a different note, I'm going to pass some pieces of paper around. We had an audit committee meeting this morning where we are going to expand the scope of one of the RSM audits.

[05:42:50] And one of the things that RSM is doing is going into the offices and looking at making sure that people understand the retention issues that are in each office and what they're supposed to, you know, do and go through and make sure that we're all retaining the right amount of materials and things like that.

[05:43:09] And so this is our last meeting until September 12th, and I thought it would be useful since we're all in our offices over the summer and people have free time. It might be a good time if RSM has time to stop by in the next six weeks, if they have time, that they can do that.

[05:43:29] And so I wanted to, this could be on our September 12th agenda, just as a consent agenda item, but I asked them to repair this So in case RSM could start earlier than that with their audit. And this RSM material was sent to everybody on the board this past week under the board audit, so it shouldn't necessarily be a surprise if you read the audit package.

[05:43:54] And this isn't appropriate for closed session, which is why I'm bringing it up right now. Otherwise, I'd say, hey, we're having closed session where we're having some other audit discussions, but it's not appropriate for closed session. and so I just we could do this in September we could let them also use the summer before we get back so I don't know if anybody has any questions can I fill in any questions anybody object it's it's pretty straightforward they just type this up really quickly when I realized they wouldn't

[05:44:27] start till September and why is that um do you want to wait till after closed session and you can read it during closed session the end of the yeah I guess we could do it at the end of the night Sure, I'll give you some time to read it.

[05:44:47] Okay, and you already had this material, just so everybody knows, we already had this material for the expansion of the RSM audit in our email last week. So with that, we can take that up at the end of the night. That concludes my time, and we'll take a quick five-minute break, and then we're going to have closed session and eat some dinner and hopefully be back not too much later than 7.30.

[05:45:09] Thank you. I think we're ready, Ms. Madden. Are they ready? We'll be fine. Okay. We are back from closed session. If I could get a motion to certify, please.

[05:45:26] So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Boddy. Any further discussion? Any discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous. And I believe we're reporting out.

[05:45:42] Supervisor Bailey. Yes, Madam Chair. I move to accept the internal audit reports on assessment of Oracle HCM implementation of the American Rescue Plan Act sub-recipients monitoring. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair Boddy.

[05:45:57] any discussion seeing none please vote vote unanimous okay excellent we are now on to our public hearings welcome back to board chambers at 7 30 p.m and we're going to begin our evening session with our public hearings there are three items under our consolidated agenda for the evening item 11a in the potomac district a special use permit for chipotle 11b which is an ordinance

[05:46:33] Special use permit for Dunkin' Drive-Thru in Gainesville, and 11C, which is the consolidated agenda item, Dunkin' Donuts, Richmond Highway, and Woodbridge. We need to have a public hearing. We don't have a presentation by staff.

[05:46:51] I'll open a consolidated public hearing on 11A through 11C. Ms. Mann, do we have anyone signed up? We have one speaker for 11C. Okay. Our speaker is Brian Landrum.

[05:47:09] Mr. Landrum, if you can go back to the back microphone, you will have three minutes. If you could just state your name and generally where you live, and then your comment on 11C, please. Sure. My name is Brian Landrum.

[05:47:25] I reside at 1914 Radford Drive in Woodbridge. Good evening, Chair Wheeler, Supervisors. here on behalf of the Woodbridge Potomac Communities Civic Association in my capacity as chair to discuss the development proposal and the special use permit application for 14514 Richmond Highway. WPCCA has had the opportunity to meet with the developers for this project on two occasions. We are satisfied by their development. We think it's going to be a great addition to the Route 1 corridor. This is a site that has been blighted for a number of years

[05:48:02] In fact, it's one of the last two or three real remaining areas of blight left to address on Route 1. This is the former KFC site that has been in a state of decay for the six years that I've lived here. And so we're very excited to see this site redeveloped.

[05:48:18] For those reasons, WPCCA, myself, I encourage you all to approve the special use permit application for the 14514 Richmond Highway site. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak on 11A, 11B, or 11C?

[05:48:38] Please approach the microphone in the back during public hearing time. Seeing no one approach the microphone, this will officially close the public hearings on 11A, B, and C. Ms. Madden, do we have anyone online? We have no one online.

[05:48:55] Okay. With that, I'll entertain a motion for approval for 11A through 11C. So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Supervisor Vice Chair Bodie.

[05:49:12] Discussion. We'll begin with Supervisor Franklin. Sure, yes, thank you. Just want to speak on item 11C, the Dunkin' Donuts that's coming to the Route 1 corridor. I want to thank the Woodbridge Potomac Civic Association Chair Brian Landrum for speaking. I will be honest, I had a little bit of consternation about this because it is my belief that we need more options than just a Dunkin' Donut.

[05:49:35] But to the point that was made for Mr. Landrum, this is a site that has been, it's now in a dilapidated state. The Dunkin' Donut is really one of the few options that we've gotten for that location. A lot of options have come through, including gas station, car wash, things that we already have along the Route 1 corridor.

[05:49:58] So while I'm not necessarily excited about the Duncan itself, it's much better than it's sitting idle. And then, of course, all the Duncans along the Route 1 corridor are successful. And so that's another argument that can be made for allowing the Duncan to be placed there.

[05:50:17] But I will say I'm just going to continue to advocate for diverse options along the Route 1 corridor. So I am going to support this because I think that this is a better use than nothing for that particular site. And as Mr. Landrum mentioned, it's one of the few parcels left to be redeveloped along the Route 1 corridor.

[05:50:38] So while we're doing redevelopment up and down the corridor, we can't have one unsightly parcel left. And so I am going to support this. The developers know how I feel about this. We've had long discussions about it. they did do their due diligence in trying to come up with other options, but really it came down to the Duncan being kind of the best option and really one of the few options we had for that area. So I am going to support it. I just want to continue to encourage developers to bring us diverse options along the corridor, and with that I yield. Thank you. Supervisor Weir.

[05:51:12] Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll speak to item 11A, the Chipotle. I met with the Applicants Council last week, and I thought we had an agreement with respect to uh the use parameters specifically items 2a and 2b my concern as it has always been with drive-thrus is whether there was sufficient stacking if you're having if you had a normal drive-thru with an ordering booth or an ordering speaker menu board and a window i would have serious problems with this application because i don't believe there's enough stacking particularly given uh the entrance feature and the fact that if you

[05:51:51] didn't have enough stacking you would back up onto 234 in a 45 mile an hour section of the roadway at least i believe it's a 45 mile an hour section so i would propose or i would move an amendment to the use conditions specifically 2a and 2b only and the revised limitation would be 2a would read sup limitations the use approved with the sup shall be limited to a drive-through facility for the restaurant buy right with one drive-through service lane as shown on the sup plan the use

[05:52:26] permitted with the sup do not limit or restrict the buy right uses otherwise allowed on the property the drive-through service lane shall be used exclusively for customer pickup of orders placed before arriving on site such as online or telephone orders ordering from the drive-through service lane is prohibited no menu boards may be posted for the customers in that lane and then b would be use of outdoor speakers are prohibited no outdoor speaker system may be used on the property and what that would accomplish is if this particular model which i which i believe is in its test phase fails and they go to a normal um drive-through operation with a with a speaker

[05:53:06] and a menu board they we have to they would have to come back in for a revision to the sup and we could talk about additional stacking at that point in time i believe it's a public safety issue uh if they if they go from the model that's proposed and all of the staff analysis and all the staff drawings and staff comments are based on to something that's not within uh the plan as submitted uh and i'll just leave it at that county attorney can forward uh the text or i can forward the text if anybody wants to see the text so why don't we pause discussion at the moment and go to

[05:53:45] the applicant and see if that's okay with the applicant is that what you were asking supervisor we're that's fine with me having us today um the uh on behalf of the applicant uh we did speak in fact uh with uh supervisor we are concerning this uh what what is going on here is that chipotle is starting a a concept uh but it didn't just start they have in fact 100 of these type of restaurants

[05:54:23] nationwide. Another one, one existing in this region in Maryland, and it's called the Chipotle lane, which is you order online, you pay online. The only thing you do when you come up to the window is to pick up your order. And the queue times are reduced to less than 30 seconds on average. So it's working nationwide. The company has no reason to believe that they're ever going to have to go back to the old style of ordering there and so forth. However, that said, they also don't want to box themselves in through if it's a very well-meaning amendment to the proffered

[05:55:01] conditions. However, if they need to tweak the concept that they have to change anything, they don't want to have to come back to this board for approval. And the other thing I would mention is that we didn't seek a waiver of the DCSM requirements for this. This would have passed as is if it were just a regular drive-through. We meet the requirements of DCSM section 610.07 B, D, and E, well, the entire section, but so we would request that you not modify the conditions

[05:55:40] in this way. Thank you. Are there questions for the applicant or are they, we just go to, I know Supervisor Bailey. Okay. Supervisor Rear, did you have further questions for the applicant? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Mr. Stewart, I mean, if indeed the applicant has no desire or doesn't believe that it will have to change its model, but it may have to tweak it. I'm assuming the tweak, given the nature of the proposed pickup window, that the tweaking

[05:56:18] wouldn't involve a menu board or a speaker given that the the order is going to be placed ahead of time if indeed that is the case then I can't fathom why there would be a hesitancy to not accept the condition because the condition is prescribed to your normal drive-through service lane something that you're you're asserting you're not going to do and based on the staff report and

[05:56:53] analysis hasn't been considered by staff as a possibility. I would argue that if you were going to do a typical drive-through lane with the speaker box and the menu, staff's report would have been different. But staff doesn't even mention that because you sort of precluded that in the application. So I'm just trying to, I'm looking at, I'm looking at a public safety issue here because if you look at a variety of other establishments, the two that most frequently

[05:57:24] come to mind are Chick-fil-A and Starbucks. I can't count the number of locations where older facilities that didn't consider stacking in the way that it's considered now, as market conditions have changed and consumer tendencies have changed, I can't count the number of those facilities where, even where they have retrofitted it to a dual stacking line, where the stacking actually backs up into the street and I can I actually see this where I live where it creates

[05:58:00] uh a congestion issue it blocks it blocks the in one case blocks an intersection and I've seen several several accidents resulting this is a public safety issue this isn't a this isn't about um you know trying to trying to box them in uh I would argue that given the confines of this lot in rather limited dimensions, that you would, in order to switch to a full-service drive-through lane, you would have to significantly re-engineer that parcel, particularly given that hard left that you're going to have to make because of VDOT's requirement on the throat.

[05:58:40] So if it's their intent to stay with this model, I don't understand why they won't accept the condition. And I would also suggest in the case of an SUP being far more subjective in terms of what we can do and what we can apply as a condition and a rezoning, I don't see the issue here. I think we're talking about public safety and we're talking about public safety on a road with a relatively high speed limit. And the last thing I want to see is somebody having the end of their car clipped or a rear end collision because somebody's going out into the taper or We're actually hanging part of the vehicle out on 234.

[05:59:21] Yeah, Supervisor, I completely understand, and the applicant understands your concerns about this. And that is why when we submitted the application, we did not try to get a waiver for the stacking requirements. And it does, in fact, comply with those, even if this was a normal drive-through, which it isn't.

[05:59:43] That said, let's say we put this condition sitting, as you say there, that if it's going to be only a pickup window and you're not going to have the menu there, you're not going to have the squawk box, any of that stuff.

[05:59:59] Now, what if you go along and somewhere down the road you have some what we might call legacy customers, so people who are normally, they don't want to get on the app, they don't get the app, they're just not used to that. And at some point, perhaps the company says, look, we've got to communicate with these people in line somehow in the queue, stating, look, you've got to pull off, you've got to go into the side, or you may want to put something on a display board, which could be construed as a menu board, stating that if you want to buy something, you've got to either use the app or you've got to go park and then come inside.

[06:00:38] So what we don't want to do is unintentionally cause that problem. And this case has been in the hopper for quite a long time. We just simply can't afford another delay, and that would certainly cause a delay if that were to happen.

[06:00:58] So that's where we're at. We just can't take that chance. Mr. Stewart, I understand that, and I appreciate that. However, I would suggest that if they need to make those changes in the future, and that hasn't been considered in the staff analysis of the application up to this point in time, then suddenly there's a question when you come back in to do that, where do you put the squawk box?

[06:01:25] You know, is it at the front of the stacking? Is it at the rear of the stacking? Is it in the middle? And dependent on where that location is and how many stacking spaces you have in front of it, how many stacking spaces you have behind it will directly impact the possibility that traffic will back up past that throat and on to 234. I don't think it's too much of an ask that if they're going to make that significant a change in their business model that you come back in for an SUP modification and you at that point in time say look the model didn't work we need to address

[06:02:02] a different model and here's how we plan to do it to obviate any sort of public safety or traffic concerns yeah i think that uh i'm not sure the board really wants to get into the location of the squawk box i think the board would want to get involved in traffic safety issues or what the menu says and so forth and i i just think that um we need to show some flexibility here um that it is a model that has been working there's a hundred plus uh models of this type nationwide it's working and we just don't we don't foresee that being a problem we don't foresee the change but at the

[06:02:42] same time we don't want to box ourselves in and have to come back to the board to make a relatively minor change? I wouldn't consider it minor, given the implications of the possibilities. My two cents. Okay. Supervisor Bailey? No. Yeah. Well, he has an amendment. He amended the motion.

[06:03:10] I do not accept the amendment. Let me tell you why. Let me just start. We have diligently worked with the community with this project, and the reason why I am in support of the project is because I don't see that there is a safety issue.

[06:03:30] If there were, then our transportation and VDOT would have said so, and that is not the case. This is a project that will fit in a model strategically that we're looking to make this area on 234 more user-friendly, more service-driven to the community that has not had anything done to it for years. This is a project that the community wants for its families.

[06:04:01] And so that's why I'm not, Bob, I appreciate what you're saying and I have considered the public safety entity to this and it will be a bright and shining star opportunity for this community.

[06:04:19] It has been in the hopper for quite a long time, and I have to support it tonight because the community wants it tonight. The expectation is for tonight. And I wish we had had an opportunity, Bob, for you and I to have a more in-depth conversation with your concern, and maybe we could have resolved it before we got to the board meeting.

[06:04:40] But because we didn't have that opportunity, I do appreciate it, and I don't accept your friendly amendment. Madam Chair, that was not a friendly amendment. Whatever it was, Bob, at this time I can't adhere to it.

[06:04:56] I appreciate it, though. I really do, respectfully so. Did someone second his question for staff? This was unconsolidated, so that's part of the issue. I didn't know that someone was going to have these issues.

[06:05:14] Can either the planner or the... I need somebody who's familiar with the CIA.

[06:05:30] Thank you. So I appreciate the supervisor's concern that it's been in the hopper a long time, the applicant's concern, but this supervisor's concern about public safety, so... Excuse me, let me just correct you. I mean, just, I want you to, before you start, my concern is the community, not just it's been in the hopper or the applicant.

[06:05:52] It is the community that's wanting it. So I just wanted to clear that up before you proceed. Thank you. Sure, thanks. So we've had these similar discussions. So tonight it's the Potomac District. If you recall, about a year ago, it was a Sheetz drive-thru in the Gainesville district, and I had a lengthy discussion about public safety concerns related to the drive-thru.

[06:06:15] You all remember that? And the applicant did make some changes during our deliberations. Paolo, what are the concerns of the transportation planning department related to how would you respond to Supervisor Weir's public safety concerns?

[06:06:34] And before you answer me, I have a Brentsville district, actually two Chick-fil-A's. One in particular, though, they're both double lane. And I think that it's fair to say that drive-thrus, whether it's Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, whatever, are a lot busier today than they were pre-pandemic.

[06:06:59] We've made changes to our DCSM and because of the drive-thru stacking. You know that. So we're going to have a discussion and do everything we can to make sure that this project not just gets approved because the community is excited about it, but the community is expecting us to make sure that we're doing our diligence to make sure that it's safe for everybody so we don't have to react in the future.

[06:07:29] The Gainesville Chick-fil-A that I frequent has had some issues, and they're going through changes to rectify those issues on the stacking. Thankfully, it's not off of a major highway like this one.

[06:07:45] So how do we address the supervisor's public safety concerns that my ears perked up to? Because I don't want to sit up here and zone anything that has public safety concerns, whether it's a drive-through or anything else.

[06:08:01] Madam Chair, members of the board, Apollo Bellito with the Department of Transportation. In terms of this case, we looked at it from different points of view, one of which is access from 234 as you're coming off. So when we looked at it, we looked at the stacking spaces, which is a requirement for a typical drive-thru is 11.

[06:08:18] And when you do a typical drive-thru, we require a bypass lane as well as six spaces behind the order board and five between that and the pickup. So that's what we typically look at. This is a unique situation where we don't have an order board, so we still wanted to make sure there was at least 11 spaces, which was provided.

[06:08:37] But you're correct, Supervisor Weir, that we look at overflow. But in this instance, what we looked at was the pickup option. I can't speak to any feed-out concerns because they looked at it from this specific angle. But in terms of process, what do we require of the further planning if this was a change in the future?

[06:08:56] But in terms of site, we looked at the stacking, the circulation. We went back and forth with the applicant on the throat and the circulation patterns, which was addressed. There was waivers provided for the turn lane. There was what? Waiver, a DCSM waiver provided for the turn lane.

[06:09:13] There was no turn lane provided along with the other adjacent sites. It is a through-right condition. So there's no turn lane at all? It's just a taper? It's a taper throat, correct. Is the community aware of that? Like, you know, Supervisor Bailey mentioned the community is excited about this.

[06:09:33] I don't know what that means, but I just want to make sure that we're doing our diligence on making sure that people are expecting a taper and not a turn lane. Understood, and we took a lot of things into consideration. A traffic impact study was not conducted, but a detailed traffic or turn lane was conducted, and that showed the need for the taper.

[06:09:54] But in this situation, due to the site constraints and the adjacent parcels, not having tapers or turn lanes. Do I dare ask if the waiver was granted? Yes, it was. And I can talk process in terms of DCSM waivers. Is this similar to the?

[06:10:10] So when it comes to, if I can speak on that matter, when it comes to DCSM waivers within VDOT right away, which VDOT will also look at, we would typically consider those waivers. When it's on-site waivers, whether it's parking reduction or other waivers, that's something we could recommend or grant at a later time.

[06:10:32] Okay, so VDOT doesn't always get it right either? Correct. We don't always get it right, and VDOT doesn't always get it right, in Janine Lawson's opinion. So the waiver has been granted, which is why it's going to be a taper, not a turn lane. Correct.

[06:10:47] And the applicant continues to? It's a combination, excuse me, taper, throat opening. At how many feet? I don't have the exact dimensions, but it's... And the applicant continued to work with transportation staff to address all the concerns to the point where you're satisfied?

[06:11:06] Correct. With not having a taper, we want to make sure as VGILs went into the site, they have the ability to... There's some space between the opening and as they get into the stacking areas for the pickup area. We adjusted some of the parking to also make sure that they met parking requirements. Moved some of the site access as well.

[06:11:23] So there was some back and forth on that. Okay. So, quick question. So, you're comfortable with what they've put forward right now? As is, with this option, 11 stacking spaces, we don't have a, this is a new format for us.

[06:11:39] We don't have it in our DCSM, so we went with our typical drive-through pickup standards, which is 11 stacking vehicles. So, it has the typical... For number of stacking, correct. For number of stacking for a typical thing, that's not... I can't speak to where the order board would be or not, but we followed the same format with the bypass lanes as well with a single drive-through.

[06:12:01] So it has all those things in it except for maybe where the order board is. We just didn't review it from a typical drive-through point of view. Okay, great. So they're typical, but okay. I have Supervisor Weir and then Supervisor Franklin. Evening, Paolo. I'm going to ask you and planning staff the same question.

[06:12:20] It sounds like when you reviewed this application, you reviewed it for the specified use with the order pickup only. And as such, it only meets half of the DCSM requirement in terms of number of stacking spots. But since there's no squawk box and menu board, there's no analysis of whether if one was added that it would be in the appropriate place, which sort of gets to my earlier question, if one does get put in, where does it get put in and why I believe this would have to come back to address that.

[06:12:54] so that you don't have the squawk box and the menu board with too few stacking spaces behind it and too many in front of it. Again, this gets to the public safety issue. And if you could speak to that and to the VDOT, I believe it's a VDOT requirement in terms of how you're going to access that given the extended curbing that VDOT is required and necessitating an extraordinarily hard right to enter the stacking lane.

[06:13:24] And I'd like planning staff to tell me if they've considered whether they looked at the typical business of a drive-thru in the same fashion. Because it doesn't appear that way. Just going back to your question, yes, 11 stacking spaces. A typical drive-thru, we would require six spaces behind the order board and at least five between that and the pickup window.

[06:13:47] And you're correct that we would have to review the location of the order board. But in this situation, you know, it has 11 spaces, but it's also what we read it for. But if circumstances change, you'd have to look at it. But we can't look at it if there's no amendment to the condition.

[06:14:03] They would have to defer a plan, but they would have to show the location of the order board. Alex Venegas, planning office. Supervisor Weir, the way this could be handled is at the site plan process.

[06:14:19] The modification could be looked at at that time. We could do it through a minor modification process as well. That way we would get another crack at it where we would work with the transportation department to make sure that all things are considered if they put those additional items as part of their project.

[06:14:39] I understand that, but, I mean, the conditions, as currently stated, don't fit. I mean, and I get it at final site plan. My concern is not at final site plan, but eight months, 18 months down the road, suddenly the model doesn't work, the business model doesn't work, and they want to come back in and change the business model to a standard drive-through, we will have no control, no authority over the placement of that and the impacts that that would have on the stacking.

[06:15:08] And I'm assuming, based on the staff report, that you guys haven't considered that at all because that wasn't an option presented. That is correct. That wasn't part of the application. We look at the materials that we get as it pertains to the actual application itself.

[06:15:25] would it be best practices to put a condition on there that if they changed it to a standard drive-through that it would have to come back in for review? Our supervisor, we're David McGettigan from planning office. So the site plan would be approved with no menu board. If they decide to put a menu board in, they'd have to do a minor site plan and they'd have to come in to us and transportation would review that minor site plan to make sure that it still meet the DCSM requirements.

[06:16:00] The DCSM requirements are in place, you know, no matter what the SUP says. So if they were to change that, they would still have to come in and get approval and show that they're meeting the DCSM requirements. Thank you. So is your concern addressed since it hit?

[06:16:23] Supervisor Franklin, then Supervisor Angler, then Supervisor Bailey. Sure, and you all may need to correct me. so this is off the auxiliary lane off of 234 correct but that's the auxiliary lane isn't it

[06:16:37] yeah yeah yeah can we actually pull up the staff um presentation and i think part of the challenge may be a little bit of misunderstanding of how the road structure actually looks

[06:17:14] so you know if you just want to yeah just maybe slide five so here so just to be clear and i see the smaller photo but where's 234 from here from this photo is it behind where the young man is

[06:17:39] walking that's what it looks like yeah maybe the next slide so you have 234 on on the southern part or the bottom part of your screen um the site used to have two uh two access points and that was one of the things we looked at you have old stage coach old stage road in the back that connects to Van Buren. Yes okay thank you for that because I think so if you know the site and I understand

[06:18:17] the concerns about safety but if you understand the site at least safety wise there's very little concern for safety based on how the site is set up so if you were off of 234 like for so on 234 is there any from 234 you have to get onto the auxiliary lane to go into the Chipotle right it is off to the 234 itself but to get into the because what is the main entrance on old stage road

[06:18:55] or the 234 or are there several you have both so there's ways if you want to leave Chipotle we looked at it then going out to old stage or coming out of the site but as mentioned earlier the main access is to a through right lane so I think with the multiple entrances

[06:19:15] I think that alleviates some of the concern about traffic, because quite frankly, and I'm on 234 quite often, if I'm looking at some traffic on 234, and I'll just use really anything on 234, and if there is a separate, particularly where this area is, I mean, quite frankly, I'm going to go down to the next light anyway to turn in to get to the other entrance.

[06:19:38] So I think it's a matter of really understanding how the site is, because I don't see any real safety concerns just based on this. Now, I think the traffic pattern concern is probably what we need to spend more time on.

[06:19:54] But even with that, again, I'm not waiting in a line of cars on 234. I'm going to drive around to go to a different entrance. Madam Chair. Supervisor Angry and then Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Listen, and I'm glad you brought this point up, and this isn't my talking point, but I'll just simply say this area is an island very similar, and Supervisor Bailey knows this.

[06:20:21] That whole area needs to be revitalized and revamped. So that's the top key piece that's going to be the anchor to cleaning up everything else going to the east of that, if you will. But even that concern about public safety, you could turn that.

[06:20:38] Forget it. I'm not going to talk about that. Let me talk about what I'm really going to talk about, Chipotle. Chipotle is a dynamite restaurant for some reason where everybody loves those burritos or whatever they are. Now, I love a Chipotle lane, and the fact, I think the issue that we're talking about here is that 30 seconds, because we must commit you to that 30 seconds.

[06:21:01] If it's simply going to take folks eating there to go through that drive-thru and get their food, because there's no window and there's no microphone or speaker area to order, you're simply talking about folks coming in and getting their food and going.

[06:21:17] So what we should be holding you to is making sure that 30 seconds is critical because there is no drive-thru in this area that you can go through and get out in 30 seconds. Even Chick-fil-A, which we know has a model of how they work their drive-thrus. This right here is a game changer on drive-thrus, which I can see Chick-fil-A removing their windows and going to the same thing or their microphone boxes because this is a game changer in how you're talking about ordering food.

[06:21:44] And the fact that you're keeping inside seating and outside seating as well so you have those options to enjoy a nice restaurant. I don't ever think you're going to go to putting up a, whatever, the speaker box, the squat box. But if you did, I would simply tell you that it doesn't have to come off that 234 entrance.

[06:22:03] You could put it on that backside of coming off of Old Stage Road and having your traffic divert around. That's if you ever decide to put in a squawk box. But I personally don't think that I can't go that far out to guess that this is not going to work. I see this as being a game changer in the restaurant industry and since COVID because this is what people want to do.

[06:22:24] They want to order off their phone, drive up to this window, get their food, and go. So my only commitment or thing that I want to hold you all to is that 30 seconds. Like, even if you can do that faster, like, to get folks in and get their food out of window and go is the key to this whole concept.

[06:22:41] And I just want to point, that area is very critical because that area needs a lot of work, Supervisor Bailey, and I will say that. And I think what I've seen in the drawings, and thank you, Mr. Steele, for coming by and giving us a presentation, because it's time, and it's time to do this.

[06:22:56] So if public safety is going to be an issue, and we're going to talk about if you're going to put a squat box in later in life, then I would simply say then you look at reorganizing and redesigning how your traffic gets in so it's not off of 234 and you're looking at old stage road to do it. However, I don't think that's going to be a discussion because I think your, excuse me, Chipotle Lane is brilliant.

[06:23:19] I think Chipotle Lane is brilliant. So I like the project. I think it's good as it is, and I think you can go a long way with this in other drive-through industries. Thank you, Supervisor Angry Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ditto.

[06:23:35] Yes. It's a Chipotle Lane, not a Chipotle. And I say that because it is a new concept. And it's a new concept as it relates to what we're going to do in that area, as you're saying, Supervisor Angry.

[06:23:51] And this concept has come about because of, yes, COVID, and how people want to go about in getting their food. It's nothing different. It's different in the other parts of the country. But this will give us an opportunity to serve faster and to serve families.

[06:24:10] And let me just talk about the community. the community has won chipotle in the potomac district for quite a long time and so that's why i'm focused on this tonight and uh and bob i appreciate your consideration about the squat squat boxes and and the and the traffic patterns and all like that but that's not what this is um if there if it was and if we were going to put a squat box there or whatever then it would be a problem like we had with the the first uh chick-fil-a on 234 but we had to fix that and

[06:24:43] we learn from that that's why this concept being new it's better for the community especially the demographics in that community so i appreciate what you're saying but that is not the concept that's being presented here and to what supervisor um franklin is saying about the access the access is going to be quicker and easier easier on 234 because of the concept of the plan but also as you go around to the backside of stagecoach, the access is easier as well. So you've got traffic

[06:25:16] coming in in two different ways, but the service, that 30 seconds will make a difference. So if you can just imagine, you know, in terms of the concept, it's not what we're accustomed to, to the original Chipotle. Thank you. Supervisor Lawson. Thank you. So this is land use. So we look at things through the lens of land use everybody likes chipotle chick-fil-a whatever our job though is to really look at all the angles of it uh how how we're going to use the land or how the the

[06:25:53] building will serve the land and the community so for the folks that are in here wondering why we keep pressing into this it's it's what we do uh whether it's chipotle chick-fil-a or whatever um my question is now first of all this is right off i-95 right pretty close to i-95 right who can help me out from staff okay seven seven minutes how okay okay is this across from that chick-fil-a

[06:26:32] across 234 from chick-fil-a right well i don't know where your office is but i know where your chick-fil-a is um yeah so but it's pretty close to i-95 is my point right so so i appreciate my colleagues concerns about you know they're familiar with the lay of the land and how they would use old stage road but folks that are going to get off i-95 aren't familiar the way supervisor franklin is right so when when you run it i'm still waiting for somebody to get up to the podium and help me

[06:27:08] out unless the applicant wants to i don't mind grilling him i know him if we could just bring up our presentation uh because mr stewart i also can't help but think you know yeah i know we didn't have a chance to discuss this um so i i did want to give you the advantage of having the same presentation that we provided to the other members of the board So just a little bit of background.

[06:27:40] What's going on here is... Hey, real quick. Sorry, let me finish. Yeah, sure. So will you reference the location to I-95? Yes. Because that, to me, is a piece of it. It's all here. I promise you. Okay. Next slide, please. Okay. Next one, actually.

[06:27:57] Okay. So if you take a look at... This is I-95 right there. And you are correct. We are fairly close to I-95. A closer birds-in view over here on the left, you'll see that this section of 234 is in bad need of redevelopment.

[06:28:18] It has been redeveloped around it. On the other side of 234, you'll see that's newer development, a lot of office space. There's Supervisor Bailey's office. There's retail in there as well. On the other side of Old Stage Road, there are some newer hotels there as well.

[06:28:36] However, there's this stubborn section right there between Old Sage Road and 234 that is undeveloped, unredeveloped. It was developed a long, long time ago, according to old building standards. And it is currently, to say the least, it's blighted.

[06:28:54] That's the Econolodge that I think a lot of you have heard about right next door. It's in bad, bad need of redevelopment. Now, one of the things that we all know who have served on this board in the past is that when you're trying to redevelop something, it's a lot harder than building something brand new out of green space.

[06:29:12] And so the county has taken the position for a long time that in order to get things redeveloped, we have to be flexible because you're dealing with an existing pad site, an existing site that needs a little love and attention and a lot of money.

[06:29:28] And you have to be somewhat flexible. So next slide. And up here in the left-hand corner, that's the existing condition. And I like to say that it doesn't look that bad, but it does.

[06:29:45] And in addition, you'll see in a couple slides from now, there are currently two entrances to this property onto 234. So one of the things that county staff and VDOT wanted us to do is to reduce the number of entrances onto 234 in the name of public safety.

[06:30:06] in the name of transportation safety, to reduce those number of spaces. And there's one more thing that's really key here. And that is that right now, if you're trying to pull into that existing Sunoco gas station, under either one of those entrances, there's no throat.

[06:30:24] The throat is basically the driveway between 234 and the lane into the Chipotle. Do you see that? Originally, what we were going to do is just kind of a standard... length of a throat there, but county staff said, look, to make sure that a vehicle that's pulling in there doesn't have the rear end of the vehicle hanging off and a 234, they asked us to extend the length of the throat. So we did that. We had to sacrifice a couple of parking spaces, and we did that in the name of public safety. Currently, there's two entrances, both of which

[06:31:03] have no throat, both of which where somebody pulls in, the tail end of the car is dangerously hanging out onto the highway. The throat, if I could step away from the microphone for a moment. This is the throat. See this? Okay, so here's the development. Here's the throat. What they wanted us to do was extend the length of this throat so that a car can come in here and instead of being stuck behind another car that's trying to park or something, there's enough space there along that road, so they're not sticking out into the highway.

[06:31:41] Okay, I kind of figured it in. You've been on this one for a while. Okay, so next slide. This is a view. This is also an important thing I want to point out. This is a view from Old Stage Road. Currently onto this, you see the existing condition on the Sunoco?

[06:32:01] There's no entrance onto Old Stage Road. This is exactly what Old Stage Road is for. It's a service road. So what we're doing is not only are we reducing the number of entrances to the development off of 234 from 2 to 1, we're also building a new entrance to encourage traffic to get onto Old Sage Road.

[06:32:23] Now, when people are coming off 95 and they're coming westward on 234, they're going to take a right in into the project. If, on the other hand, when they're trying to get back out to 234, they can't go back out that same way because that's right in, right out.

[06:32:39] Right now, if they want to do that from I-95, their only option is 234. They have to get back on the 234, go to Van Buren Road, do a U-turn at that very busy intersection. They won't have to do that anymore.

[06:32:55] Now they have no choice anymore. They're going to have to come out on Old Sage Road and drive down to the light at Van Buren. So there's another safety measure that county staff insisted upon in which the development did. So, another slide, please.

[06:33:13] This is another view from 234 and the existing perspective. Next slide. This is the Chipotle lane. And I did want to mention, I should have mentioned this, staff did mention this, is that when we go into the site plan, we have to commit to no menu board, no squawk box, none of that stuff.

[06:33:37] If someday down the line Chipotle wants to come back and say, look, this isn't working, then it's not like they can just change it back. They have to come back to the county staff. If we leave it the way it is, they're not going to have to come back to you, but they would have to come back to county staff, and staff would have to reevaluate what would happen at that point.

[06:33:59] Next slide. By the way, I just want to point this out. We are proffering at the request of Supervisor Bailey. she wants this. You know, there's a thing that happens. This whole section, nothing looks good. It all looks real bad. And in this section, it looks really, really terrible. But once you put something new in there, it tends to generate additional redevelopment. But it takes that very first brave investor to go in there and do it. And we think that this is going to lead to a lot to the redevelopment of that section. It's a really important section for the county too,

[06:34:38] because it's one of the main entrances into Prince William County. Right now, it looks terrible. And so this will fix it, we hope. And then, so we did, at her request, at Supervisor Billy's request, we did proffer to the architecture. This is their upgraded design with the brick veneer.

[06:34:56] Next slide. This is the last slide I want to show you. And it is the existing condition with those two entrances on 234. See that? And see there's no throat there? so car would pull up and if somebody's trying to park or do something here a car that wants to get in here is going to pull into this throat there's no throat the rear end of the car hangs back onto 234 the same thing with the second entrance well now that's under the new one it's all eliminated so now a car can pull in there not have to hang out onto 234 the second entrance is eliminated

[06:35:32] and then you've got this new entrance so that's we're taking traffic we're taking traffic action off a 234, putting it on the service lane where it belongs. Supervisor Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[06:35:48] Really, really appreciate the conversation we're having thus far. I will point out, like other folks, though, I kind of wish this hadn't been on Consolidated because everyone came expecting this to be sort of a not extensive conversation. But I appreciate the talk about traffic safety, public safety, what have you.

[06:36:06] Why I'm going to be, since we're on an agenda item now for the amended motion, to be voting against the amendment is a couple reasons. One, Mr. Stewart just pointed it out. There are actually extensive interior traffic improvements that are being done to this site as a result of the fact that will make it safer.

[06:36:26] But two, to go back to the Chipotle concept, you're actually making it so there's a lot less people who are having to stop, park in the premises, go inside, pick up their food, come back out, get back in their car, and deal with the rigmarole of going back and forth and navigating traffic.

[06:36:42] We know that Uber Eats and DoorDash and all these other things are more prolific. Now you have a Chipotle in there, those guys won't have to stop and get in and go inside to pick up the stuff for their people that are picking up stuff for. They will go in, they'll go in Chipotle, pick up the food, leave. Same thing with folks that we know, especially Chipotle and how they work now, they have a lot of folks that go in and out, just pick up the stuff from the kiosk and leave.

[06:37:05] This actually, this concept improves a lot of those concerns. You've got a lot less people who have to stop, park their cars, go inside and come back out. So I don't see a world, especially as we continue to have more and more people ordering through apps and Uber Eats and what have you, I don't see a world where we're going back to a traditional model of a drive-thru lane that is a dedicated drive-thru lane.

[06:37:27] I see us more and more going towards this model. And the last thing I would want to do is send a message to restaurants that want to try stuff like to say, well, no, now we're going to throw red tape at you, make you guys less flexible on how you navigate those waters. because, again, I don't see the future being your traditional current drive-thru model.

[06:37:47] I see more sort of hybrid models like this where it's a lot more dedicated to people who are going to come through, pick up their food from a window, or an Uber Eats person picking it up from a window and leaving the premises immediately. The last thing I'll say is, as we discussed earlier, this adds to the fact that now people can go out through Old Stage Road.

[06:38:05] They have to go all the way down to a traffic light now as opposed to having people not sure how they can get back to go another direction. You know, we know that U-turns aren't great, especially on a busy road like 234, and this eliminates a lot of that concern.

[06:38:24] Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Franklin. Sure. So this is more so to my colleagues because I think the discussion around the throat really explained the safety measures they put into place. So I'm just wondering if that moved the needle a bit and maybe we can withdraw the amendment altogether.

[06:38:43] Because I think when you look at particularly on the slide on the right here, I mean, it shows that those cars have a less percentage of hanging out onto 234 and actually having enough room because that throat was extended, which to me gets to the very safety discussion that we were having.

[06:39:04] So I'm just curious as to, uh, if that helped to move the needle a bit to get that amendment withdrawn, the motion, the amended motion had them changing their proffers to say that they had to do this.

[06:39:20] And if there were doing any other changes to their Chipotle, they would have to come back through our process as opposed to changing it at, we've now determined they would have to come back to site plan anyway, but they want to, he wants to make them come back here. But that was for all three items on the, I mean, obviously his amendment applied to this specific SEP.

[06:39:41] Only this one, correct. But it was a consolidated agenda. It was supposed to, it's a motion for all three. Right. So we should probably skin that cat first. If he's willing to withdraw his motion, his amended motion, then it doesn't matter. We could just consolidately accept it.

[06:39:57] I'll address Supervisor Franklin's comment if you don't mind. Actually, it doesn't help because it goes back to the original issue. The throat is part of the issue. if you look at the way the new site is designed and you have to go into that throat and then make that hard right into the lane if you've got additional cars coming in from old stage that are going to be essentially doing a zipper merge into the lane then that that actually creates a bigger problem especially if your squawk box and your menu board if it ever gets put in is anywhere

[06:40:32] on this side of let's say the corner of the building that's all i'm trying to all i'm trying to do is have it come back in case they change their model. That's all it is. Sure. So we, I guess we do have the amendment. So it looks like you're going to keep it. So I guess we may as well just vote on the amendment first. We have an amendment and I believe we had a second for the amendment.

[06:40:54] So right now we're, we didn't accept it, but we still have to vote on it because she didn't accept the amendment. We will now vote on the amended motion. Can we do that? Supervisor Weird just spoke and supervisor Franklin is good are we doing in the amendment now okay

[06:41:15] yeah we're voting on Bob's motion just the amendment to a webinar yeah motion fails two to six supervisors angry Bailey Bodie Franklin Vega and chair wheeler voting nay okay we are back to the original motion which is the

[06:41:54] consolidated motion with 11 a through B and C we have a speaker supervisor we're you want to divide out 12 excuse me 11 a great do we have to vote on dividing the question yes okay won't we vote on dividing the question second for

[06:42:18] dividing the question okay we're just voting motion passes six to two supervisors angry and Franklin voting nay motion to approve 11 a motion made by

[06:42:49] supervisor Bailey seconded by vice vice chair Bodie any discussion lemonade mount her did you saw discussion I did okay seeing no discussion please vote motion passes 62 supervisors Lawson and we're voting name can we vote on the

[06:43:27] other two first? Sure. Okay. Can I get a motion consolidated for 11B and 11C, please? So moved. Second. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Vice Chair about any discussion. Seeing none, please vote. Vote unanimous. Supervisor Bailey. Thank you, Madam Chair. To the applicants as they're leaving, thank you so much for the time that you spent in the community and in my office to discuss this project. I really do appreciate it. And I do appreciate my colleagues' discussions as well.

[06:44:04] here on the day is, it's important when we're educating the community that they understand every little aspect. Supervisor Lawson mentioned about when we're talking about land use, it's not just land use, it's a combination of major that, transportation, as you all know, as well as, you know, what the community wants.

[06:44:24] And so just want to make that clear to everyone, and I thank you for your patience in going through the process, as well as staff, and making sure that this is good for the community. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for doing business in Prince William County. We are now on to item number 12.

[06:44:41] We have two items under our standard agenda for the evening, but they are on the same related case. I believe that we have an applicant presentation for 12A and 12B. Is that correct? Okay. And it's a consolidated presentation, correct?

[06:45:02] Yes. Okay. Great. Welcome. Good evening. I'm Sherman Patrick. I'm here this evening representing Saul Centers. What I would like to do is kind of an abbreviated presentation, because I know that you had a heavy agenda today, and there's a lot of discussion that was necessary on the earlier cases.

[06:45:21] This case involves two special use permits. These special use permits are located within an area that was rezoned back in 1989. It was a 500-acre rezoning case, so it was a very significant rezoning case. It had within it the dedication of two school sites.

[06:45:38] It also had a commercial area at the front gateway into the project, and I'll show you a slide in a second to show that. They made major commitments to the preservation of open spaces. And this application tonight involves what we call Parcel B within the Ashland community.

[06:45:56] The application was filed back in 2019 before the pandemic lockdown. And we have been, during this amount of time, to the best of our ability, off and on, working with the community and working with the supervisor's office to get where we are today.

[06:46:13] The first special use permit is for a convenience center with the retail sale of motor vehicle fuel. And the second one is a restaurant with a drive-up window service. This is an aerial photograph that shows the Ashland community, and I have outlined here in white the entire 500 acres that I was referring to.

[06:46:35] And then I have outlined in yellow here the gateway that was the commercial area that was to develop along with and support the community. However, the demographics did not evolve the way that people thought back 25 years ago, and so the commercial area still has not fully developed.

[06:46:55] We believe and the intention of these two special use permits is to further entitle the property to be attractive to commercial end users of the site, to accelerate and encourage the actual completion of the development that was envisioned so many years ago.

[06:47:14] This is the two parcels that belong to Saul's centers. First is parcel A. This is envisioned to be a neighborhood grocery center. There is a developed CVS on the property today.

[06:47:30] There's also a bank here, and there's the American Steakhouse over on this corner of the property. But the main area of the commercial parcel has not been able to attract notice by the major grocers. They would like to have a grocery-anchored center here.

[06:47:48] The second property that they own here is Parcel B, and this is the topic this evening. We're requesting a special use permit here for the convenience center, and then over here, a special use permit for the drive-thru restaurant. The fire station that was recently approved by the board is located here.

[06:48:07] That was once a commuter parking lot when this rezoning first went through. And then we have a five-acre property here that will be the topic of some discussion this evening that was going to be a part of the commercial center and is, in fact, zoned B1 general business. But when they went to relocate Spriggs Road, which was located here, and it's now called Forest Park Drive, they discovered a Small World Peconia plant.

[06:48:31] And so that Small World Peconia was a reason that this property was carved out, and they decided to take five acres to protect that plant on the property. So that's why this property is now a part of the Conservation Trust property. You can also see here the HOA clubhouse and pool and tennis courts and the high school facility over here, which, as I mentioned before, was partially dedicated by the developer of this property.

[06:48:59] The proffered use limitations on Parcel B are significant. There's a maximum building area permitted on the property already of 35,000 square feet. The 70% of the leasable building area has to be devoted to non-retail, a minimum of 70% has to be devoted to retail services.

[06:49:18] And prohibited uses included a funeral home, crematorium, amusement arcade, and some of the more objectionable things, self-storage centers. I'm trying to move along. I'm giving you a lot of information. Slow me down if I'm going too fast or tell me to stop. I do have about eight slides, and I'm almost through them.

[06:49:36] This is the frontage of the property along Dumfries Road, and you can see here this is down toward the corner of Forest Park Drive. Part of this is the Conservation Trust property, and I included this slide because, frankly, one of the questions and concerns that's been raised is about the possibility of invasive species coming onto the property.

[06:49:59] And if you look at the mixture of the unmaintained area here that's just outside of the right-of-way, you see the type of things that they're concerned about. But that doesn't happen in a shopping center. In a shopping center, you have continuous maintenance of the property, and the applicant is very much going to make sure that invasive species don't grow on their site.

[06:50:21] They've committed to additional conditions because this topic all came up and was discussed at length at the Planning Commission. These are the conditions that they've agreed to. They will work with an environmental consultant to determine what type of landscaping will help assist them in not attracting invasive species.

[06:50:39] They will only plant native species. They will regularly maintain the landscaping areas to assure that if invasive species start to emerge, that they are immediately removed. And they're installing a retaining wall to reduce the amount of grading necessary on their site near the property line.

[06:50:58] What this will do is to protect more of the root zone for the property next door and for their own property. And during the final site plan review process, they will work with the county arborist and determine which trees are best to save and which ones will need root pruning or need additional attention to make sure there are fertilization that will keep them vital.

[06:51:22] They're going to install a guardrail or fence between two sections of retaining wall in order to make sure that it is not an attractive path for people to cut through the adjoining property, and they're going to preserve the existing trees to the extent possible, again, with the county arborist.

[06:51:43] They also have agreed to meet with the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust quarterly throughout the site development process to discuss progress and address concerns on the property. So we think we've gone a long ways towards addressing concerns with regard to that.

[06:51:59] These are the sites. I wouldn't want to not show you the throat of the entrance into the site. So there is a turn lane. There is a taper and a turn lane here with storage in the right-of-way. And the entrance into the site has this very long throat that comes back to the property, and then you would enter into the drive-up restaurant on this location, or you would continue across our pedestrian-friendly area here that is designed to draw attention to the crosswalks and the possibility of people walking through that area.

[06:52:36] And this would be the convenience center. And the reason for the special use permit is for the motor vehicle fuel sales at this location. Exiting the property will happen sometimes going back out this entrance along this throat.

[06:52:52] And other times we'll exit out in this direction and down to Fincastle Drive. The applicant has already filed a final site plan because the property is already zoned general business.

[06:53:08] And they will be developing the property with or without the special use permit. So they felt, you know, they could go ahead and start the design, but I wanted to show this to you because they've already identified all of the existing trees along this common property line with the Conservation Trust, and so they are already at work figuring out which properties or which trees can be preserved to the extent possible.

[06:53:32] This, again, is the two sites that I showed before. Nothing really new there. But these are the renderings that we provided to help conceptualize what these buildings will look like in relationship to one another. Here we have that CVS that I mentioned on the existing Parcel A.

[06:53:51] Here, very far back in the foreground, you have the Great American Steakhouse. Here we have Dumfries Road. This is that throat into the site. and this would be the restaurant with drive-up service with the stacking lanes wrapped around the building here, and then we have our convenience retail center with the motor vehicle fuel.

[06:54:15] That's a view looking northward above from Route 234. This is a ground-level view of what you would see. You can see that we've done extensive landscaping across the frontage of the site. This is a 20-foot buffer across the frontage, and this is another view. This one would be looking across Spriggs Road and into the side of the corner. This is to identify a focal point that staff requested as a part of this review. Within this focal point, we have benches. This is

[06:54:49] a 12-foot shared use path that runs along Spriggs Road. There's a bicycle repair station in here, and the idea is that people using the pedestrian trail could also use this as a place to take a break uh maybe go into the store and buy a few things and come back here and enjoy them uh and or repair a bicycle if they needed to do that at this location in here and this is a final view along sprigs road looking back out toward dumfries road this is dumfries road in the background here and so uh with that uh that would conclude my presentation if you have any more detailed

[06:55:28] questions i have additional slides i can use to show you more specific information but i i hope that you'll be able to approve it this evening. It has been a very long process for them. I believe we have a staff presentation, but questions for the applicant first, Supervisor Franklin.

[06:55:44] Sure, just a quick question. What company will run the gas station and the, I guess, the market portion? We're not able to say yet. Okay. When I was talking before, I was explaining at the very beginning that this is a site that's been hard to develop.

[06:56:04] It's hard to attract people here because it does not look finished. When you drive down this part of 234, it looks like a blank spot in the front of the shopping center or in front of the group. So we're not able to disclose who the user might be yet and don't have a final agreement yet, but we're very close.

[06:56:21] Yeah, well, I will say that, and I'll just say it publicly, I've had concerns with 7-Eleven in the past, and I would hope that if that is who you all are working with, that there will then be a discussion about appropriate safety measures, and that should go along with any entity that's going to be in there.

[06:56:42] But obviously we've had challenges in the past with, and I think part of it has to do with their operational piece being a lot of them are 24-7. I think that's caused a lot of challenges. So I'm just going to put it out there.

[06:56:59] I'm happy to talk to anyone from 7-Eleven about challenges we've had. Well, and I say this seriously because along the Route 1 corridor and really in other parts of the county, we've had a lot of challenges at 7-Elevens. And we've had to work with them, at least in my district, to figure out how to increase their safety precautions, not just at the one at Longview, but at others as well.

[06:57:24] And so I'm just raising concerns publicly there. That needs to be a deep discussion, not only with 7-Eleven, but other entities as well. But that's where we've specifically seen a lot of challenges. Madam Chairman, I can say that it's not 7-Eleven. Okay.

[06:57:39] But we do understand that security is always something that you want to stay on top of in any of these types of businesses. Thank you. Supervisor Ingrid. Thank you, Madam Chair. I absolutely love this project. And a gas station is definitely needed on that end of Spriggs and, you know, even splitting between 234.

[06:57:58] Okay, my question isn't really about all this, though. What was the name of that plant you said that is now? Say that one more time. small world pugonia not bugonia put with a b with a p okay all right thank you that's all i wanted thank you okay thank you very much um do we have a staff presentation coming up in a second good evening uh chair wheeler scott meyer in the planning office just have a few things to add

[06:58:33] thanks alice so uh i have a combined uh presentation and a combined staff report so as sherman already pointed out there's two requests here uh there used to be three just to point out there used to be a motor vehicle fuel repair facility that has since been withdrawn and also where the restaurant with drive-through is that used to be a drive-through car wash this application it's been going on for a few years the you'll notice by the dates the fuel station component is over three and a half years old but it was on hold for a while and then the

[06:59:10] restaurant component is a newer piece but it's transformed and it's evolved over time so it's at the corner as you know of this is uh the 4.4 acre uh parcel b to finish out or i guess or to further uh develop this corner um we have the uh five acre northern virginia conservation trust owned parcel to the east here uh based on our current comprehensive plan and that was one of the reasons why this was on hold is there were concerns about the end uses we also were uh working through our comprehensive plan update uh this is currently uh designated as mixed use

[06:59:46] neighborhood mixed use and these are the kind of uses that we want to see here again neighborhood serving we have the conservation piece over here that's planned parks and open space but yet it's all zoned as b1 so we have i actually did the proffer amendment for access improvements about six years ago and then now we have the end uses that are at play so in terms of background again this is in the staff report, but this was originally rezoned about 25 years ago. There

[07:00:20] were three SUPs. There's been some changes. We now have the motor vehicle fuel station, the convenience centerpiece, and we have the restaurant with the pickup drive up. So again, it's evolved over time. I took this graphic from Sherman's presentation because I like it, and it tells the story of parcel a parcel b this is now a new fire station number 27 it used to be a park and ride lot proposed but again uh you know this is in need of being um you know further built out so we we're looking at these two special use permits to the high schools over to the east

[07:00:58] so uh one of the issues that we had is we felt the building and the fuel canopy should be flipped Just from a design perspective, we've moved beyond that, but as the planner and me in our office, we felt that if you focus on the building at that corner, you would have it more in a line with the CVS.

[07:01:18] Again, that's just what we feel is a more optimal design, but we look at an overall perspective of things, so just wanted to point that out. That is a design concern that still lingers. We do have this focal area here, which was pointed out in the proffer amendment.

[07:01:38] But, again, we feel it draws focus to this intersection. And we also have the highway corridor overlay landscaping here. So this is for the motor vehicle fuel station. We have some elevations, and this is provided by the applicant.

[07:01:56] We have some flexibility in terms of what it could be. but it's cohesive design with the center itself. We have also, there's an extra monument sign because one thing I learned during the process is that sole centers, my understanding is that they don't subdivide out into different parcels.

[07:02:16] So they keep it as one parcel with different pad sites. So that's why the sign modifications for an extra monument sign, which we are okay with. these are the gas fuel canopy elevations on the right we have the focal point again this is a sample of you know what it could look like conceptually and then we have the restaurant piece over here in the planning commission there were concerns expressed from the northern virginia conservation trust about encroachments to protect this area in the revised conditions and my

[07:02:49] understanding is that i guess in terms of this afternoon supervisor bailey that the the wish is or the intent is to have the conditions be the same with these environmental protections. Staff is okay with that. I will say that we don't know the extent of grading.

[07:03:06] We know that there will be ongoing coordination, and the intent is there, but I just wanted to point that out. But overall, staff is supporting this. This is a sample of the building elevations. Again, Sherman already showed this. Again, just different perspectives.

[07:03:24] So this is, you have Dumfries Road out here, Spriggs Road, and then the CVS is literally across the street here. Another perspective, again, the SUPs are for this piece here and that piece. This is another buy-write retail commercial piece. We have the conservation parcel over here, and then the high school is over to the right side.

[07:03:43] So just a little more perspective. There's a lot of words on here, but we are recommending approval. We have that the applicant will continue, you know, to work with county staff and Northern Virginia Conservation Trust. That came out of Planning Commission. Staff is recommending, we added some further conditions, and the conditions for the, I guess, for the restaurant are dated July 14th.

[07:04:13] But with the latest proposal that we're hearing of, the conditions, I guess, will be revised dated today for the restaurant piece. We feel that the impacts have been adequately mitigated. Again, I want to point out there still are some ongoing concerns about preserving that piece, but we feel we have the intent of coordination.

[07:04:33] We have that ongoing process, and we feel that these SUPs will deliver services and amenities to the surrounding Ashland community. If you have any transportation issues, we have Apollo here. We have Julie Flanagan, our county arborist, to address any other landscaping concerns.

[07:04:49] And with that, I'll try to answer any questions. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Meyer. Are there any questions for staff at this time? Okay. Seeing no questions for staff at this time, I will open up the public hearing on items 12A and 12B.

[07:05:12] We have four people signed up to speak today. I'll call all four. Please, when you get to the microphone, state your name and generally where you live in the county. And there will be a timer going, and you will see it. It'll be three minutes.

[07:05:30] Our speakers are Claudia Thompson-Deal, Nancy Veers, Alyssa Helmer, and Verndelle Robinson. Hi, I'm Claudia Thompson-Deal. I live at 2605 Youngs Drive in Haymarket.

[07:05:46] I'm the conservation chair of the Prince William Wildflower Society, which is a chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society. It is my understanding that the development of a gas station is up for approval on a site that is next to a parcel of land owned by the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, which has a population of federal and state-protected small world pagonia, which is a type of orchid.

[07:06:12] I'm requesting a viable buffer to protect the critical habitat for these plants. It seems reasonable to maintain a boundary of at least 30 feet and to provide fencing to prevent encroachment and to protect the critical root zone of the trees on the NVCT property.

[07:06:31] As we have seen time and time again, development next to natural areas results in changes to the adjacent property. The changes in light and drainage and grading from development always will impact neighboring property. If the property is cleared right to the property line, trees on the uncleared property often die since roots within the drip line of the trees are cut.

[07:06:57] Introduced invasive species, which are often used at landscaping maintenance, invariably encroach onto protected land, degrading them. Once a species is protected, it requires constant vigilance to keep it protected.

[07:07:13] We should be doing all we can to ensure there's survival of endangered plants. It's a strand of the fragile web, and we hate to lose any piece of the mosaic of our natural areas. I hope you will stringently enforce these requests to try and protect these plants for our future generations.

[07:07:35] Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Madam Chair and members of the board. My name is Nancy Veers, and I'm a resident of the Coles District, and I serve as the president of the Virginia Native Plant Society as well as our local chapter, the Prince William Wildflower Society.

[07:07:58] Our tagline is conserving wildflowers and wild places. Once a wild place is gone, it is gone forever. As Claudia mentioned before me, the property adjacent to this proposed gas station and restaurant is a conservation tract owned by the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust.

[07:08:16] It is a small but lovely forest that contains rare orchids with very specific habitat needs. I have a shirt here, Small Whorel Pagonia. Their blooms fluctuate from year to year and are sensitive to changes in their environment.

[07:08:34] If this special use permit is approved tonight, I ask that there be significant buffer, as Claudia mentioned, and that only native plants be used in the landscape plan, which I understand is already as part of the conditions, and I really do appreciate all the conditions that have been added since the Planning Commission meeting.

[07:08:55] We already have enough pressure from invasive species and want to minimize any avenues of entry to the conservation site. So I thank you for your attention and your recognition of our special natural treasures. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

[07:09:14] My name is Alyssa Hemler, and I'm a land stewardship specialist with the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust. NVCT is a regional land trust that works to conserve properties throughout Northern Virginia, and we own the five-acre property that's adjacent to this proposal. This property was donated to us in 2004 specifically for the purposes of preserving the existing natural resources and vegetation on the property, including the federally threatened and state-endangered plant, which is protected by both federal and state-endangered species laws.

[07:09:44] Our goal as an organization is to make sure that plant and its habitat are not harmed as a result of the proposed development and disturbance. As you heard, we met on May 31st of this year with the applicant to discuss various provisions for protecting the plant. I'd like to thank them for their time and their energy that they spent listening to and responding to our concerns.

[07:10:03] We're very appreciative of the outreach and willingness to commit to the meaningful mitigations for the impacts their project will have on our preserve. And those commitments, as you heard, are described in the special use permit conditions prepared by the planning staff. We still believe that the best outcome for our preserve and its endangered plants would be to have larger buffers, basically as large as feasible, up to 30 feet.

[07:10:25] It's our understanding that there are over 20 trees on our property, including a large specimen oak that may be damaged or destroyed by the work on the applicant's property. So while we know that a larger buffer may be difficult to include, we'd like to see as much undisturbed area along the property boundary as possible.

[07:10:44] Previously, we had questions about how feasible it would be to preserve the existing trees in the buffer area based on grading. But now we understand that there's going to be consultation with the county arborist, which we appreciate. Once the buffer is established, it needs to be well-managed, all committed on our call to ongoing landscape management and invasive control and the conditions state that regular maintenance is required we'd like to see at least annual maintenance enforced by the county to remove any and all invasive species that pose a threat to the ecological integrity of our property and we thank you for your time your time as the board the planning

[07:11:23] staff and the applicant for their communication and their ongoing commitments next speaker please My name is Verndale Robinson, and I am a Potomac District constituent, and I'm running for the Potomac District Supervisor.

[07:11:38] I'm concerned about the environmental impact it has on the small world Pagonia and would like a buffer as well. The fact is that we literally have an Exxon Center right across the street in Ashland Partial A, so I don't believe we need an additional gas station in the Potomac District.

[07:11:56] We already have limited land for building. Why couldn't this be zoned for affordable housing? Thank you. Is there anyone else in chambers who wants to speak on this issue while we have the public hearing open?

[07:12:19] If so, please approach the microphone. Seeing none, no one approached the microphone that will officially close the public hearing on 12A and 12B. Supervisor Bailey, I don't know if you want to make a motion or...

[07:12:40] Oh, sure. Of course. Yes. Madam Chair, I move that we approve 12A and 12B, but I have, based upon more explicit staff recommendations and conditions, environmental conditions that were added for the SUP.

[07:13:02] As it relates to the environmental concerns, I would like for that to be added to SUP 2023-0004. And we've had this discussion prior to, and I'm sure that that's no surprise to anyone.

[07:13:20] So I just wanted to make sure, and I'm going to pass this out to my colleagues so you'll have a chance just to review it. But I move forward both projects, and I need a second, please.

[07:13:35] Second. So I assume the applicant is aware of these and okay with these, correct?

[07:13:51] Sherman? Mr. Patrick? The applicants? Yes. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Great. Okay.

[07:14:06] So you're amending the resolution with this? Yes. Okay. And did you make a motion? I did. Did I say that you did that already? Yes. Okay. Motion made by Supervisor Bailey, seconded by Supervisor Brody.

[07:14:25] Discussion, Supervisor Bailey. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I appreciate the Northern Virginia Conservation Organization coming out tonight. Really appreciate it. Nancy, I like your t-shirt, too. But I really appreciate the comments tonight.

[07:14:42] This has been a long time coming. We have worked very diligently since 1989 on this project. The Ashland community as well as surrounding this also will involve Supervisor Vegas District as well in terms of the service level.

[07:15:01] And so I'm very proud that this has been a great collaboration with the applicant and with the organization. We will, in fact, continue to collaborate and protect the wonderful Pugonias in the area.

[07:15:18] It is a beautiful area to preserve and to protect, and we will do that. The Ashland community has been very flexible in providing meetings for us as it relates to this environment. Yes, there will be two gas stations there, but there will be a higher-level gas station there to serve, as well as other entities that we can't say right now that this community has been waiting for since 1989.

[07:15:47] And I keep saying that since 1989 because it is so deserving of this project. And so I'm very grateful and thankful for the due diligence and the work and the collaboration on this project to make it a success.

[07:16:04] And we will continue to have the conversations because that's what communities do. So thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Supervisor Bailey. Vice Chair Brody. Thank you, Madam Chair. Kudos to Supervisor Bailey for her work on this. and I appreciate staff reaching out to work with the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust.

[07:16:20] I know the small world, Pergonia, needs to be protected, and with its adjacency to Prince William Forest Park and some of the other natural habitats there, we really need to be sensitive to the kinds of grading and plants we're opening ourselves up to with a new development like this. But I'm very comfortable with the limits of grading that have been talked about already, as well as the enhanced native plant area along the eastern perimeter.

[07:16:43] I know that up until barely recently, the idea that we would lean in and make sure that we're doing as much as possible native plants was not nearly as emphasized. But I know that, especially with the adoption of our new comprehensive plan, new environmental practices, some of the directives and policies passed by this board, it needs to be a lot more in focus than it is now.

[07:17:07] And we can see that as per this work. So I know that the applicant working in concert with the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust We'll do an excellent job partnering with our county arborist, Julie Flanagan, to make sure that the kinds of trees and shrubs that we're putting in here are not only native species, they're resilient against the invasion of invasive species that might come in on pollen or seeds or whatever it is that the cars might be driving by with that we know happen every so often.

[07:17:33] So I'm comfortable with this, and I appreciate all the work that's been done. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Supervisor Bode. Supervisor Bailey. Yeah, please excuse me for coming back, but I wanted to say thank you to staff as well for making the provisions for the conservation organization.

[07:17:50] But just thank you for your hard work and late hours with me as I made my phone calls. I appreciate it. Okay, seeing no further speakers on the list, we can vote. Vote unanimous.

[07:18:12] And do you want to say Supervisor Lawson absent from the vote? I'm sorry, Supervisor Lawson is absent from this vote. Yes, ma'am, thank you. Okay, well, thank you. Thank you for doing business in Prince William County. That brings us on to item number 13, public comment time.

[07:18:29] Ms. Madden, do we have a list for public comment time? Is there a speaker list for 13?

[07:18:53] And Ms. Madden, do we know if we have anyone online?

[07:19:26] Tonight at public comment time, we have four people signed up to speak. Every speaker, if you can begin by stating your name and generally where you live in the county. And then everyone will have three minutes. The timer will be there. And I'll just call the first, I'll call the four speakers.

[07:19:48] Jalen Custis, Melanie Weist, Lori Williams, and Mandy Newell something close. I figure someone, Mandy. Okay, please begin.

[07:20:05] Good evening. My name is Jalen Custis with a Y. Some people forget that. And I live in the Woodbridge District. I'm here again to talk about apparently there's been a proposal. or if people are pushing to remove the park ordinance that requires that people can carry firearms on parks.

[07:20:23] I'm here to speak out against that, and I support keeping the ordinance. I don't know how many instances we have had where firearms have played an issue inside our parks. I like to make this very clear. Criminals don't buy guns over the counter.

[07:20:39] They don't go to the gun shop. They get guns from the streets because there are background checks. I own three firearms myself. and trying to remove an ordinance that is perfectly fine as it is people get a concealed carry license you have to go through court you have to go through a class you know they're trained for it and also with the rising crime inside our community i think it is perfectly fine to continue to have people to exercise their second amendment right we should not punish people for bad behavior i believe that a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun hence why our police force

[07:21:15] have firearms uh so but let's make this very clear because there'll be some speculation i do support uh ensuring that our kids don't have access to firearms ensuring that uh the people who do not have the mental capacity do not receive firearms but we have to report that uh so thank you very much for your time and have a good one thank you next speaker please hi my name is melanie weist um and i'm in the potomac district i am one of those people that is currently pushing to keep firearms out of our parks. I am blessed to serve our community in many roles. I am a nurse

[07:21:55] practitioner and I practice locally here with Sentara. I am a volunteer with the Medical Reserve Corps and a volunteer parish nurse with my church. I am also the volunteer safety commissioner with Prince William Fasbich Girls Softball League. But I'm here tonight as a volunteer with Moms Demand Action. We are a gun violence prevention group. We are not anti-second amendment rights. That is a common mistake. We support the Second Amendment and we support responsible and safe gun ownership. So as it stands, firearms are currently allowed in Prince William public

[07:22:30] places where families and children can gather. Our Board of County Supervisors has the power to change this and improve safety for our children and our county residents. Keeping firearms off of park property, and this is apart from law enforcement, is essential to protecting people who use our county parks, many of whom are children. These firearm restrictions are constitutionally sound and are upheld in the Supreme Court routinely. Without an ordinance, guns are allowed on leach baseball field and softball fields. And I will pause for just a second to reflect on a personal experience as our safety commissioner, where we had a parent

[07:23:10] threaten to bring a firearm and currently carries firearms to our children's game. So guns are currently posing a problem in our parks. Prohibiting firearms in sensitive areas is constitutional and does not threaten our Second Amendment rights.

[07:23:27] The constitutionality of firearm restrictions in sensitive places has been upheld repeatedly in Supreme Court. So I urge our Board of County Supervisors to act now. Such ordinances are already in place in Loudoun County, Albemarle County, and Fairfax County.

[07:23:46] Every day without an ordinance that goes by is an inaction on our behalf and placing our children in danger. I listened tonight as supervisors debated with tenacity the importance of safety, particularly with regards to left-hand turns, the Chipotle lane.

[07:24:08] And this is important. Why? Because we know that accidents, right, can be particularly harmful to our citizens, to our children, A huge cause of morbidity and mortality makes up a bunch of my practice at work. But we know that the number one killer in the United States isn't car accidents for children anymore.

[07:24:30] It's gun violence. And so I urge the board that now is the time to act. We can't wait another day for this type of ordinance. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

[07:24:47] Good evening, members of the board. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Lori Williams. I am the current Woodbridge District School Board representative. I'm not here under that hat, but I am a mom, and I stand in solidarity with Moms Demand Action.

[07:25:04] And I encourage the board to take upon the ordinance that they're asking to provide a safe, gun-free environment for our young people and our adults in parks and communities. As a school board member, I can stand here and say in 2019 the school board voted to ban guns on school property when it was legally allowed.

[07:25:20] We're working this year to introduce the Evolve AI system to prevent guns from coming into our middle and high schools. So I could think of no better continuing relationship that the schools could have as well as the county could have to keep our citizens and our students and our children safe.

[07:25:36] And as someone who attends the softball games, because my goddaughter is on the softball team and I'm not an athlete by any way, shape or form, which even more excites me, the possibility of having guns banned, because I know I can't outrun anyone. So I hope that you will take Moms Demand Action's concern and request seriously, and I stand in solidarity with them.

[07:25:57] So thank you and have a good evening. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is Mandy Newell, and I am in the Occoquan District, and I'm here with Moms Demand Action as well. And I really just wanted to say everything that they've said is exactly how I feel.

[07:26:14] I also feel that there is actual safety risk currently existing in the form of weapons being allowed in public parks. We can and should be spending as much time and effort talking about this and dealing with this as we did, as Melanie said, about talking about safety with cars. And we really need to focus on the well-being of our children, of our families, of our parents, of people trying to enjoy their time outside, being healthy outdoors, as well as preserving and conserving their lives the way that we are trying to preserve and conserve flowers.

[07:26:46] So I feel like now is the time we really have to act. We have the populace behind us, and it is not impeding anybody else's Second Amendment rights for us to be gun-free in parks and public spaces. Thank you very much for your time.

[07:27:03] Thank you very much. We have no further speakers in person, but we do have two people online. Good evening. As with in-person public comment time, you have three minutes to speak. Please begin by identifying your name and where you reside in the county.

[07:27:21] Our first speaker will be Robert White. Mr. White, if you're trying to speak, we cannot hear you currently.

[07:27:47] We hear you typing on your phone. You might be able to speak now. Mr. White, can you hear us? We can. Please proceed, sir. Yeah. Okay, I'm sorry.

[07:28:04] My name is Robert White, and I live in the Gainesville District, and just want to speak in hoping approval for the digital gateway that will bring much-needed resources for the future. And rather than have housing developments built, it will do much better for reducing the cost of living in the area. And we pray that this voting will go forward very quickly. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. White. Next speaker, please. The next and last

[07:28:40] speaker is Mally White. Thank you. This is Mally White, and I live in the Gainesville District as well. I want to thank the board for all of their effort and their due diligence to affirm economic benefits for all their decisions as well as safety and other benefits for residents and visitors of Prince William County. You've done a great job and I thank you for continuing that effort. I believe you did a due diligence, tremendous due diligence on the PwC Digital Gateway. A superb job to study

[07:29:16] this and have to obtain the great benefits for Prince William County landowners to reduce their property taxes and others who will come into our county i thank you so much and i just want to continue to uh offer my help if anything as a citizen i can do to help too uh i just thank you for your effort and it has been a real experience to learn how well you do your studies and then make decisions thank you again thank you miss oh thank you miss white and it seems uh miss man we

[07:29:54] have two more. Yes, your next speaker will be Ali Imam. Mr. Imam, you may begin. Yes, Ali Imam, Dinsville District. Thank you, respected board members, again, for your hard work and putting down resolutions 8A and 8B. Over the last few years, we have seen some of you get bullied, insulted, and threatened by a very small group of activists whose goal is to oppose progress in

[07:30:29] Prince William County, but you have shown courage. So please move forward with the PW Digital Gateway and this board is the most knowledgeable one that should vote for this project. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Imam.

[07:30:45] Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Zafir Imam. Zafir Imam, Gainesville District. I support the PW Digital Gateway.

[07:31:02] The PW Digital Gateway has been Prince William's history's most studied and debated project that will help every citizen of Prince William. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Imam. is that the final speaker no the next one is um alexandra rain hi um can you guys hear me yes we can please begin miss rains okay perfect i am calling as a volunteer with moms demand action

[07:31:41] um and i am in support of everything that my fellow volunteers have expressed tonight we want to ask um the oh sorry i'm in the neapsco district um we want to ask um the board of county supervisors to prioritize safety in our county um we're we're excited about the focus on the community safety initiative um but we also would like to ask you to prioritize taking our ordinance seriously we do not want firearms in our parks where our kids play

[07:32:19] And I've heard all of you speak, not just tonight, but many nights about safety. And I know it's important to all of you and all of our constituent, all of your constituents deserve safety. So we're hoping to work hand in hand with you to make sure that we can keep firearms out of our parks where our kids and our families and your constituents, you know, deserve to have a safe environment.

[07:32:47] Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Raines, and thank you to your co-worker in the background who keeps walking back and forth. Yeah, it's past his bedtime, but he's here helping. Understood. Next speaker, please. Your next speaker is Aine Johnson.

[07:33:06] Good evening, Madam Chair, Board of County Supervisors, County Attorney, and of course, good evening, Mr. Shorter. My name is Aine Johnson, and I'm from the Woodbridge District. I'm continuing to speak publicly as a wife and mother in support of families who desire to foster and ultimately adopt the most vulnerable children within Prince William County.

[07:33:32] Mr. Shorter, I'd like to continue my family's mission of empowering families with knowledge on the foster to adopt journey. Parents should know that on the website, adoptuskids.org, there are 14 pages of children in the state of Virginia who are eligible for adoption, meaning that the parental rights have been terminated.

[07:33:51] and some of these children may be within Prince William County, not all of them, but some of them may be within the legal custody of Prince William County. These children, Mr. Shorter, they deserve a forever family. I would like to use my time to name the children in Virginia. Again, some may be in Prince William County, some are again in the state of Virginia. I would like to use my time to name these children because whether you remember us as it relates to our concerns for Bumpy. Throughout your tenure as county executive within Prince William County, we desire for

[07:34:26] you to remember these children. Kadera, Jaden, Jakai, Kayden, Justice, Analia, Canyon, Amira, Devin, Jamarian, Keisha, Bentley, Wayne, Darius, Aurora, Julian, Benjamin, Sincere, Krista, Marquise, Jace, Mark, Velma. I'll continue.

[07:35:06] Samuel, Daniel, Abril, Justina, Aiden, Sway, Kayla, Alyssa, Cody, Adam, Josiah, Tara, Zaniah, Tamia, Logan. I will continue. Amber, James, Jamarian, Graciela, Romaine, Justin, Jazlyn,

[07:35:44] Jaylee, Amber, Jacob, Woodrow, Andrew, Joshua, Raina, Joseph. I will continue. Grace, Haley, Dylan, Daniel, Tamia, Rashad, Joe Ryan, Tyrese, Lashon, Payton, Destiny, Kimberly, Charisma, Chloe, Brianna.

[07:36:21] I will continue. Justice. Thank you, Ms. Johnson. I'm working right out of time. Congratulations again. Next speaker, please. there are no more speakers for this public comment okay thank you everyone for coming out tonight to speak and thank you miss van as always for your assistance have a good night back to you madam chair thank you vice chair bode and thank you miss van as always um supervisor vega has a question but before we do that um i have the motion that i wanted to do earlier which waived the rules of

[07:36:57] procedure and amended the calendar uh year 2023 for the internal audit plan and if everybody you know is going to look at it and stuff like that. If I could get a motion to move this. So moved. Second. Motion made by Supervisor. We are seconded by Supervisor Angry. Any discussion? Ms. Vega, is that your discussion on this or it's the next thing? Okay, so

[07:37:20] clear that out. Yeah. Vote unanimous. Supervisor Lawson absent from vote. Okay, thank you for everybody looking for that. Supervisor Vega, you had a question before we adjourn? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Just thinking about some of the comments made tonight by the speakers and how frequent their attendance to these meetings are, I assume that it's just a matter of time before one of my colleagues

[07:38:00] on the dais takes this initiative on, and I would like to recommend, I'm happy to do so via a form of a directive if that's what is needed, but I would like to get some data from the police department, whether it's the last five or ten years on how many homicides or acts of violence have been committed in the areas that some of the speakers have referenced tonight, so that if the board decides to take this issue forward, we have some stats, some data to be able to inform ourselves before making a decision moving forward um i assume that's without objection i what i don't know is i i did do you have a list of specific areas because

[07:38:37] they won't um what the speakers have been saying has been parks in general so i would assume all of the parks in prince william county i'm sorry madam chair members of the board are you talking about county-owned parks because obviously the county would not have the ability to enact an ordinance over the federal estate parks yeah thank you so you're looking for statistics on county-owned parks over the last 10 years yes does anybody have an objection to having the police find that out okay thank you madam okay thank you um before we adjourn i i will note that

[07:39:15] this is our last meeting until september 12th so we're not going to be here for a while i know everybody's offices are still going to be open um and we'll still be talking to people but i just want to let the public know that we won't be back here until September 12th. So with that I will entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Motion made by Vice Chair Bodie seconded by Supervisor Bailey. Any discussion? Seeing none please vote. Vote unanimous. Supervisor Lawson absent from vote. We are adjourned.

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