Prince William supervisors OK new landscaping business on rural U.S. 15

use permit from the county board.

Wheeler said.

By Anya Sczerzenie Times sTaff WriTer

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted 6-2 on Tuesday, May 23 to allow landscaping company Rock Water Farm to relocate its business onto an agriculturally zoned area on U.S. 15 outside Haymarket, despite concerns expressed by both residents and supervisors about traffic crashes along the rural roadway.

Rock Water Farms Landscapes and Hardscapes is headquartered in Loudoun County. The company helps design landscapes, patios and pools for homes. The business’s future Prince William County office is slated east of the intersection of the James Madison Highway—also known as U.S. 15—and Loudoun Drive. The 44-acre site is inside the area formerly known as the “rural crescent” and zoned for agricultural uses. Some commercial uses are allowed but require a special

Judge dismisses 2nd lawsuit challenging the PW Digital Gateway data center corridor

SPRAWL, from page 1

Similar to the lawsuit filed by Gainesville Citizens for Smart Growth, which was dismissed May 3, the Oak Valley lawsuit sought to

Rock Water Farm plans to build an 18,400-square-foot equipment and material storage building and an 8,000-square-foot office as well as a product display area and storage bins, according to county documents.

The area along U.S. 15 where the site is located is known for traffic crashes, especially rear-end collisions.

Supervisors Jeanine Lawson, R-Brentsville, and Bob Weir, R-Gainesville, voted against the special use permit because of concerns that the business would draw traffic to the area, possibly resulting in more crashes. Both also said there is not enough information provided by the applicant to determine whether siting the business there will exacerbate the traffic problem.

“This is a land use case; we have to look at it from many angles,” Lawson said. “And safety is a big one for us.”

Board Chair Ann Wheeler, D-At Large, said the business should not be penalized for traffic conditions along the road.

“If we have issues along the Route 15 corridor, I’m not going to pin them on this business,” set aside the “comprehensive plan amendment” the Prince William Board of Supervisors approved Nov. 2, 2022, that paved the way for the new development. The CPA changed the county’s long-term land-use plan to allow for up to 27.6 million square feet of data centers to be built on about 1,600 acres of once-protected agricultural land near the Manassas battlefield.

After more than an hour of argu-

The 44-acre site was once used as a state prison camp and includes several abandoned structures. It has been vacant in recent years. Some residents who spoke during the public hearing called the site an “eyesore” and said they would be glad to have anything else in the space.

“I live next door to this site,” said area resident Elise Horwath, who spoke at the meeting. “It’s a sin that when the state owns it, all this junk is laying there, and I can see it. (Rock Water Farms) cannot be anything but an improvement.”

Other area residents were concerned about how the Rock Water Farms office building would impact traffic.

“They should have to invest in an appropriate left-hand turn lane into the personal property,” said Elena Schlossberg, a local resident who often speaks about environmental issues at board meetings. “It’s not okay that other people should have to be at risk of accidents because this applicant does not want to pay for the appropriate left-turn lane into the business.”

Reach Anya Sczerzenie at asczerzenie@fauquier.com ment from the parties on Thursday, May 25, Willett said he recognized there is “a lot of concern” in the community about the CPA but said the CPA does not entitle land for certain uses like a rezoning would.

“A CPA, in contrast to a zoning ordinance, does not have the effect of law and does not determine land use,” Willett said, adding that the “CPA is an advisory document, and for that reason, the (defendant’s) demurrer must be sustained.” Willett dismissed the plaintiffs’ case against the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in its entirety.

The PW Digital Gateway planning area encompasses several homes and neighborhoods north and west of the Manassas National Battlefield Park, but not all of them. More than 100 property owners – including all in the subdivisions of Trappers Ridge, Dominique Estates and Catharpin Farm Estates – are under contract to sell their homes and land for between $350,000 to $950,000 an acre to data center developers QTS and Compass.

The project is now in the rezoning phase. It’s not clear when the board of supervisors or the planning commission will hear the three rezonings filed in connection with the project.

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PUBLISHER Catherine M. Nelson, 540-347-4222 cnelson@fauquier.com

REPORTERS Cher Muzyk, cmuzyk@fauquier.com Shannon Clark, sclark@fauquier.com Anya Sczerzenie, asczerzenie@fauquier.com

Public hearings for the rezonings have not yet been scheduled.

The rezonings seek to develop about 1,600 of the PW Digital Gateway’s 2,139 acres into new data centers.

All hope is not lost for the PW Digital Gateway opponents because, although Willett dismissed the Oak Valley plaintiffs’ case, he said they could refile their case within 21 days with more specific facts alleged.

“We knew it was going to be an uphill fight,” Craig Blakeley, the attorney of the Oak Valley residents, told the Prince William Times in an interview outside the courtroom.

“I’m going to recommend (to the plaintiffs) that we refile, because I have some observations about how we can improve things and how we can make the complaint sharper,” he said.

Willett thanked both Blakeley and Chief Deputy County Attorney Alan F. Smith, who represented the board of supervisors, for their “cogent arguments and briefing” in the case.

“We appreciate the court’s time and consideration,” Smith said after the hearing.

Reach Cher Muzyk at cmuzyk@ fauquier.com

EDITOR, PRINCE WILLIAM TIMES Jill Palermo, 703-608-3739 jpalermo@fauquier.com