Chair Ann Wheeler belatedly acknowledged that the Prince William Digital Gateway CPA review was “confusing” and announced a delay in bringing it to the Board of County Supervisors for a vote.
Despite the obviously compromised nature of the September 14 Planning Commission public hearing, there was no mention of invalidating its recommendation or conducting a new hearing under more trustworthy conditions. So, you can expect the pause is merely designed to give weary citizens time to forget.
Now we must pivot almost immediately to another public hearing on updates to the county’s comprehensive plan, this Wednesday evening (Sept. 28 at 7 p.m.)
The comprehensive plan is an exhaustive document that the average citizen cannot possibly digest and review in a single evening. We would normally rely on professional government staff and our elected officials to look out for our best interests. Unfortunately, we have very recently been reminded that they cannot be trusted to do so. It is far more likely that they intend to sneak sweetheart deals for their developer cronies past us, literally in the dark of night.
Unless you have the time and expertise to interpret the myriad changes, you won’t notice subtle alterations with significant impacts. Watch for blanket zoning recharacterizations that sidestep contentious CPA reviews and surreptitiously authorize data centers where public outcry would have created obstacles. I would specifically watch for this to happen in the areas where Devlin Technology Park and John Marshall Commons were contested (both of which were deferred.)
The Comprehensive Plan update is too important and sweeping to be relegated to late-night railroading. If the Supervisors are confident of their vision for the future of this county, they should exhibit the transparency to explain it to the citizens and the courage to debate it during the upcoming 2023 election cycle.
NOTE CHANGE: The link says "approve" but more accurately should say "recommend."
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