Bold Decision Puts Us a Step Closer to a Comp Plan Vision

By John R. Griffin

By John R. Griffin

We should applaud, or perhaps give a standing ovation, to the board of supervisors for the bold but wise vote at their special meeting on Feb. 24. A resolution was passed guaranteeing payment of a little more than $6 million to the Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) to fund the cost of expanding the Vint Hill sewage treatment plant to 950,000 gallons per day.

This is an action long overdue.

Since the establishment of service districts in the first county comprehensive plan in 1967, the concept of encouraging growth around existing towns, settlements and transportation corridors and away from agricultural land has been a major objective.

Service districts are the areas planned for more intensive use and density.

As you may or may not know, the county has six service districts and three village service districts, according to the current comprehensive plan which covers the period 1992-2010.

Implementation of the 1992 plan was primarily dependent upon the provision of public water and sewer facilities to accommodate the planned densities for commercial, industrial and residential.

Why is the supervisors' action so important to the county and its residents?

Beginning with the comprehensive plan of 1967 and each revision since, our board of supervisors has included provisions which strive to achieve a balance between agriculture, conservation and open land with the necessity for commercial, industrial and residential growth.

As far back as December 1993, the board of supervisors passed, by unanimous vote, a resolution regarding the provision of public water and sewer service to the New Baltimore, Catlett, Calverton and Midland Service Districts. The action made on Feb. 24 will finally put into motion a step that will satisfy a portion of that commitment.

As you may remember, our current board of supervisors, upon taking office in January 2008, made economic development the number-one priority. And as we also know, we can’t have any real degree of economic development without infrastructure being in place.

We should be extremely pleased that Supervisors Trumbo, Nyhous, Stribling and Graham took this long-awaited action and are preparing to identify Enterprise Development Zones or Urban Development Areas within those service districts with the appropriate infrastructure, as delineated in the Code of Virginia, Title 15.2, Chapter 22, Article 15.2-2223.1.

In this bold move, our supervisors have bitten the bullet for the short term and prepared our county for financial stability in the future. I thank you gentlemen for your vision in this matter.

Griffin is a retired U.S. Navy cryptologist and a community activist.