This is an excellent thread by Charlie Grymes over on the PWCA blog. What is happening at Hellwig Park is a travesty and every tax payer should be outraged in this county.
What a scam. Listen to this. We, as in me and you and every other taxpayer, is expected to not only PAY a private Developer for their land but we will also BUILD the road the Developer needs in order gain access to his lots!
The BOCS will need to hear from citizens that we will NOT use our precious tax dollars to fund a Developers road! On September 14th the BOCS will vote to deny or approve the Park Athority’s appeal of Planning Commission denial of this wasteful road. I hope citizens will be willing to take the time to e-mail the Board and tell to “just say no”.
The county Park Authority must have discovered a sofa in the office that was filled with change behind the cushions. They want to spend money on an unplanned road, one that is not needed. There’s a rumor running rampant that some people are experiencing a recession and some government agencies are struggling for money… but the Park Authority thinks it is rich.
For over four years, the Park Authority has been planning new ballfields at Hellwig Park. Prince William adopted an ambitious 20-year Transportation Plan six months ago that will require $3-$4 billion in new funding to build 700 more miles of road over the next 20 years. Until very recently, the Park Authority was clear on what it needed – and no plans included bisecting the park with a new Hellwig Highway to Aden Road.
Now, the Park Authority has discovered they just gotta build a new road. On June 2, the Planning Commission approved the long-planned new entrance for the park on Bristow Road, but rejected the unplanned connection to Aden Road. On September 14 the Board of Supervisors will consider the Park Authority’s appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision.
Why would the Park Authority be so anxious to add a new project to an already underfunded list of new roads, and redirect scarce park bond money to a road project? Hint: This new road would provide access to unbuilt lots in the Liberty Oaks subdivision, saving the developer the cost of building their own road. Bonds sold to develop public parks will instead be used to subsidize a private developer.
Even more interesting, the Park Authority has committed to pay the developer who needs access to the unbuilt residential lots $315,000 for the land where the road will be built. That is significantly more than the asking price for other lots in that development. Whoever sat in that Park Authority sofa, spilling change out of their pocket, must have been loaded.
