The Prince William Board of Supervisors gave the Silver Lake property near Haymarket to the Park Authority this week, two and a half years after the county acquired the land.
“We’re at last going to open the darn thing up — one way or another,” said Board Chairman Corey Stewart, R-at large.
The plan for the park, which will be used for recreational activities such as horseback riding, hit one final bump before it was approved.
Michael May, R-Occoquan, submitted a motion that would have imposed deed restrictions limiting the land to specific uses including jogging, hiking, walking and biking. The board would have had the power to take the property back if the restrictions were not honored.
Other supervisors bristled at the proposal.
John Stirrup, R-Gainesville, said the restrictions would constitute an “unprecedented level of micromanagement on the Park Authority,” and suggested citizens might like to have a lawyer present when using the park because they wouldn’t know what would be allowed.
The motion failed in a 5-2 vote, with May and Martin Nohe, R-Coles, voting for it. The final motion to transfer the land to the Park Authority passed unanimously, with Maureen Caddigan, R-Dumfries, absent.
“It is very clear that everybody wants the same thing here,” Stewart said of “passive” activities like horseback riding, as opposed to a water park, for example.
Jay Ellington, Park Authority director, said the park on the 230-acre property would open in about three or four months, and that the park would cover the costs of the initial opening costs.
The plans are to open the park in phases, with pedestrian and equestrian trails, fishing, and picnicking areas opening first. The first phase would require $20,000 from fiscal 2009 and an annual $50,000 commitment thereafter. A bathhouse, marina and camping area, as well as picnic shelters and multiple outdoor classrooms are planned as other funds become available.
In December 2006, real estate company Toll Brothers transferred the property to the county after the board had accepted a proffer commitment from the company in July 2006.
