In an effort to "preserve" a piece of land [www.washingtonpost.com] in the county, "mistakes were made" and potential conflicts of interest were not noted. Hosen did at least recuse herself from the Planning Commission vote on the affair.

Widowed for five years, Mary McDowell has found herself in dire financial straits -- even though she has been sitting on more than 300 acres of prime real estate in Prince William County.

...

So this fall, McDowell -- with the help of a prominent environmentalist who also is a Prince William planning commissioner -- asked the county to lift the zoning restrictions early and open the land to development. They were successful, and the value of McDowell's property rose from $184,300 to $2.6 million.

The environmentalist, Kim Hosen, executive director of the Prince William Conservation Alliance, then asked a state agency for $2 million to exempt the property from development.

But now, the elaborate plan has unraveled, and Sean T. Connaughton, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors chairman, is calling it a scheme to inflate the farm's value and use taxpayers' money to buy and preserve it as open space.

...

On Sept. 20, Hosen, acting as the conservation alliance's executive director, applied for the $2 million state grant. In her proposal, she stated that the land's sale was imminent and points to a vote of the county Planning Commission scheduled for the next day.

There is no indication on the application that Hosen is on the Prince William Planning Commission or that she is a family friend.

In an interview yesterday, Hosen said she had been in a hurry to complete the application and was tired. Her most important goal, she said, was "to convey a quantitative sense of urgency" because of the upcoming planning commission vote, in which she did not participate.

While certain facets of this are a little troubling, especially the $2M handed out by the state, this doesn't rise to the level of scandal. Bad judgment and opportunism yes, "scheme", for certain, but scandal is probably too strong a word for it.

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Robert Molleur Nov, 23 2005

Kim Hosen is a Marxist that wants everyone to live by her decree. When she makes statements like, "It's all about balance: What would be lost and what will be gained, she isn't talking about herself. Just look at Hosen's attempts to get taxpayers to purchase the 302 acre McDowell Property next to the Quantico Marine Base so her PW Conservation Alliance can establish an "environmental" indoctrination center and staging area for anti-war protesters in DC.

...

I'm sick and tired of Hosen and Horn using this newspaper, that fails to balance their B.S. with facts from others, as some sort of Marxist Pravada telling us how to live our lives and preserve the resource according to them. The PA Conservation Alliance is a farce organization that wants to dictate what they'd never subscribe upon to themselves. Buy the McDowell property with your own money Ms. Hosen and live with the economic consequences of the strict environmental regulations you and Horn want jammed down our throats.

*wipes away the spittle*. Wow.

"Marxist Pravada," now that's comedy gold, Jerry!

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A triplet of land-use items:

Nokesville residents are not so fond of new quarries.

Neither water supply assurances nor $2 million in roadwork could convince the Nokesville Civic Association that it should welcome Vulcan Material's quarry as a new neighbor.

Vulcan Materials officials offered a few ways the company and its proposed quarries could be neighborly to the town of Nokesville at a civic association meeting Thursday.

Even so, 75 of the 79 Nokesville Civic Association members said they didn't want the quarries to come to town.

...

The company has promised to give $2 million toward the widening of Va. 28.

Jake Hosen comments on balancing property rights with community rights. Personally, I'd say the community has no rights, but perhaps some needs and allowances may be granted by citizens to ease the burden of living together. Don't confuse this with a "right".

Originally, the creation of the Rural Crescent was predicted to destroy property values within its boundaries. Yet this has not happened. Property values in the crescent have risen at parity with, or faster than, the rest of the county. This means that landowners still turn a tidy profit building houses with large lots or in cluster developments, fulfilling the zoning requirements of the Rural Crescent without adding the punishing traffic and tax burdens to the rest of the county and the region that come with high-density developments.

A proposed rifle-range in Fauquier is opposed, at least by some 236 signatories.

We, the people of the Elk Run, Midland airport area, do not want the proposed rifle range on A.W. Patton's farm on Midland Road in Cedar Run District. It would be hostile to the entire environment of this quiet country community.

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In its running skirmish with Centex, the Town of Haymarket effectively loses a round.

The Haymarket Town Council backed away from action against a developer Monday, deciding instead to send a letter of reprimand.

The town accused Texas-based developer Centex of violating its proffer agreements, site plan and some town ordinances at its Jan. 3 meeting. A resolution passed at that meeting said it would consider stopping Centex construction at Monday's meeting.

Sigh, a "resolution to consider" stopping construction.

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A brace of Haymarket v. Developers stories. It's my fear that the Haymarket Town Council may be outgunned in a lot of these building and development deals.

Centex and Town Council duke it out over proffer agreement violations. Related story

Residents of Haymarket Villages development have signed a petition protesting planned additions to the development.

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Brookfield Homes is offering $111 million in land and road improvements for the right to build a "town center" and up to 6,000 new homes in Gainesville, VA.

A developer is proposing to build thousands of homes in western Prince William County and provide an unprecedented $100 million-plus in road improvements to the area, including the extension of carpool lanes on Interstate 66.

Brookfield Homes, which promotes itself as one of the 20 biggest home-building companies in the country, wants to create a town center of restaurants, shops, office buildings and a 100-acre park that would be surrounded by about 6,000 homes near Gainesville, if rezoning is approved next year.

Some of the items in this offer are quite useful, especially the proposal for a Virginia Railway Express station and commuter lot. However, the core problem of too many cars on too little road is not being addressed. North-south travel on US 29 through Gainesville and Warrenton is already reaching the nightmare stage, and actually traversing Gainesville via the unlit, narrow, and disjointed Linton Hall Road guarantees a bout of road rage. 12,000 more cars, sigh.

Once again, the PWC Board of Supervisors and VDOT have left the guidance of our region's growth to those with purely financial interests, the land developers, and saddled the region's commuters with a sentence served daily on our roads. But, hey, maybe I can convince the wife that I need XM Radio now. Silver linings and all that...

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The Urban Land Institute and the AP have information on the "Reality Check" conference to be held in February 2005 to help urban planners in the Washington Metro area plan for continued growth.

Estimates include an additional two million people and 1.6 million jobs flowing into the area by 2030. Transportation systems, already under severe strain, are bound to be at the top of the list.

The interactive planning style has been used in Los Angeles, according to the article. Teams of planners will use advanced GIS systems, as well as low-tech Legos, to plan where to put shopping, homes, and businesses to accomodate the estimated growth in the region.

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