The Prince William Board of County Supervisors will likely sign on to a regional planning effort that would prepare the greater Washington area for the next 50 years of development.
A larger plan is necessary to deal with transportation, housing, education and other quality-of-life issues as the metropolitan area grows, leaders say.
“With 2 million more residents coming and 1.6 million more jobs coming, it can’t stay the way it is,” said David Robertson, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, an organization comprising 19 local governments.
Prince William County was formerly seen as an outer suburb of the District, but due to growth farther out in Stafford and Fauquier counties, it is now considered to be central Northern Virginia, said Sean Connaughton, Board of Supervisors chairman.
“If we don’t deal with that and understand what is happening to the south and west of us, we are going to see gridlock grow worse and worse every day,” Connaughton said.
The Prince William board will hear a presentation today on the future of the region from a representative of the Potomac Conference, a group of 40 local, state, federal and regional business leaders. The presentation is among the first of many to local jurisdictions to raise interest in the planning program, which is already being used successfully in Florida and California, said George Vradenburg, the conference’s chair.
“If we thought longer term, we could figure out consensus-based solutions to our problems that are difficult and look impractical in the short term” to keep the region competitive, Vradenburg said.
Steps to start planning
» Raise money to support a three-month study
» Present recommendations throughout the region
» Launch an approved program in 2007
