The developer behind the Kline Farm proposal near Manassas is taking a different approach.
The current landowners have applied for a change in their land’s long-term land use designation through the ongoing updating of the Prince William County’s Comprehensive Plan.
Stanley Martin Homes LLC has been seeking approval for the project southeast of Prince William Parkway, Liberia Avenue and Wellington Road for more than five years.
As part of the county’s Comprehensive Plan update, landowners can submit requests to change the designation of their parcels in the long-term land use chapter. The document serves as a guideline for the county’s land use decisions, but does not bind the county board of directors to decisions.
The company submitted an application for a project in the country for the first time in 2016, but did not receive any major building permits.
The original proposal was then revised and submitted for a second attempt in 2019. At that time, 310 apartments were planned, including houses and terraced houses, 145,000 square meters of commercial space, a park, three outdoor playing fields and a building plot dedicated to the district for a school.
The company was aiming for a re-zoning of 92 hectares on five lots, a special use permit for a drive-through pharmacy and a change to the overall plan.
In July 2019, the planning commission tabled the proposal after nearly 60 people reported at a public hearing and most opposed it. Opponents were concerned about increased traffic, overcrowding in schools and impacts on water systems.
By November 2019, the project was revised again for 250 residential units, including a mixture of single and multi-family houses and terraced houses, as well as 145,000 square meters of commercial space. This motion was supposed to be presented to the board of directors, but Stanley Martin moved to be made indefinitely.
The request for changes in the update of the master plan calls for the project to move from a municipal employment agency to a mixed-use municipality. The new category would allow for a variety of densities throughout the project.
The latest application does not state how much density would be allowed, it just shows different density designations that are allowed according to the district code of the district.
Truett Young, vice president of land for Stanley Martin Homes Northern Virginia Division, told the Prince William Times last month that the company lacks solid plans, but a revised application would likely include more than 250 homes.
“The current process of updating the comprehensive plan provides an opportunity to better plan the property … to define how the density on the property should change,” the application says.
Stanley Martin’s website for the project has not been updated since 2019.
The employees of the district examine the approximately 30 applications for changes to the land use designations with a wide range and will decide which should be included in the update of the overall plan. The selection is presented to the planning commission and the supervisory board as part of the plan update.
No hearings have been scheduled to update the plan.