SPORTS: Battlefield and Patriot win swimming state titles; Woodbridge wrestling falls just short. PAGES 15, 16, 17
February 24, 2022 | Vol. 21, No. 8 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
County budget eyes long-awaited drug court
Program could begin as early as this summer, officials say By Daniel Berti
Times Staff Writer
Reimagining Potomac Mills
PHOTO BY JOHN CALHOUN
The Potomac Mills mall, a centerpiece of Prince William County since the mid-1980s, has been identified as an “activity center” in the county’s draft comprehensive plan. If approved, the plan would pave the way for a town center-type development with high-density housing adjacent to the mall.
County’s draft comprehensive plan envisions big things for Prince William’s busiest mall By Daniel Berti
Times Staff Writer
Could Potomac Mills mall be redeveloped into a town center with high-density housing and buildings up to 12 stories tall? Prince William County officials think it’s a possibility and are taking the first steps toward making it a reality as they move forward the county’s first comprehensive plan update in a decade. Earlier this month, county planners released a first draft of their vision to replan 770 acres of mostly commercial land between Interstate 95, Prince William Parkway, Smoketown Road and Dale Boulevard – including the entirety of Potomac Mills Mall – as an “activity center.” The county is recommending allowing high-density residential and commercial development to replace or add to existing development throughout the area. They say the new designations, which would
Prince William County is the only Northern Virginia judicial circuit currently without a drug court – a special docket that diverts defendants with substance abuse problems into treatment programs instead of sending them to jail. But that may change in the coming months, according to county officials. After launching a pilot drug court program last year, Prince William County officials want to See COURT, page 3
Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth
allow some of the highest residential densities in the county, could create enough housing to support new transit options such as bus rapid transit or a future Metro rail station. “We’re looking at how we can redevelop that entire area to be more like a town center and more like your more modern malls where people live a few hundred feet away from it in dense, walkable neighborhoods,” Supervisor Kenny Boddye, D-Occoquan, said in a recent interview. “Potomac Mills is ripe for that sort of reimagining.” At present, the 770-acre area included in the proposed Potomac Mills activity center is planned as a “regional commercial center,” “regional employment center” and for “general commercial.” Currently, there are no homes within the boundaries of the proposed activity center.
Schools lift mask mandate for students
See MALL, page 5
See MASKS, page 2
Gardening’s benefits to mind, body in Senior Living, page 10
By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
Prince William County students are no longer required to wear masks at school in accordance with a new Virginia law making face-coverings optional in the state’s public schools. In a letter to employees and families late Friday Friday, Feb. 18, Superintendent LaTanya McDade said the school division’s mask mandate would no longer be in effect for students as of Tuesday, Feb. 22. Masks are still required, however, for employees, in accordance with the Virginia Administrative Code, as well as volunteers, who will follow employee masking requirements, McDade wrote.
Manassas Ballet returns to Hylton Performing Arts Center in March, page 8
88 DULLES, VA
It’s all about people . . . and always will be. www.vnb.com
Chief Public Defender Tracey Lenox