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Prince William approves 210 new Haymarket houses
Prince William approves 210 new Haymarket housesBy Dan Roem
Times-Democrat Staff Writer
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted 7-1 on Tuesday to allow developers to build 210 more houses south of the Town of Haymarket.
Despite objections from the Haymarket Town Council and the Prince William Planning Commission about a lack of available infrastructure to support the developments, the board sided with the county planning committee staff in approving two rezoning applications.
One came from developer JCE Inc., the other from the University of Virginia. The latter envisions 150 single-family houses in the University of Virginia Foundation property; the former 60 houses at the Haymarket Landing subdivision.
As part of the proffer package, the developers will be setting land aside for an elementary school and constructing a $3.3 million four-lane highway south of Haymarket that connects to U.S. 15.
“Clearly, there's a huge benefit to this development,” said Supervisor Frank Principi (D-Woodbridge).
Chairman Corey Stewart (R-At Large) said he based his support for the developments largely on the developer opting out of building new condominiums in Somerset Crossing to the southeast, and, instead building an identical number of single-family houses at Haymarket Landing.
Principi noted the 40 single-family houses would be worth between $700,000 to $800,000 and would not be competing with $350,000 homes already on the market.
The Web site Homefinders.com listed the average price of a single-family, detached house in Haymarket as $637,370 as of the third quarter of 2007.
“You produce very little property tax with [condominiums],” said Stewart, later adding that since those structures require as many county services as large homes, “it amounts to a tax increase every time you approve a condominium unit.”
Only Supervisor John Stirrup (R-Gainesville) dissented when the votes were cast.
“We still have a significant infrastructure deficit in the western part of the county,” Stirrup said.
The planning commission and Haymarket Town Council both took issue with the nearby Gainesville fire station being over capacity already and that the approved Antioch Road fire station has not yet been built.
Given poor sales and subsequent poor tax receipts from the housing sector, Stirrup said it is “a good question of basic economics” as to why the county would want to allow more houses when the market is already saturated.
Those who attended a town hall meeting in Haymarket Jan. 10 may have been surprised at Stewart's vote in favor of the developments.
At that time, the chairman called the county “overbuilt” and said “the worst thing the county can do at this point” is approve more residential units.
“We need more commercial development, period,” Stewart said on Jan. 10.
He campaigned heavily on a control-growth platform during his runs for chairman in 2006 and 2007 and was endorsed by Voters to Stop Sprawl (PWC).
“I mean, we can't stop all development,” Stewart said after the board voted. “But when a parcel does come that preserves an extraordinary amount of open space and is not only building a road but is adding a school site, you know, it's difficult to say no to that.”
Though Stewart said he was not fond of adding more houses to the market, he added that he was assured the Haymarket Landing and UVA Foundation properties will not come around for “a long period of time.”
No one said how long that will be during the public hearing but Principi said it could be five years.
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