A prized new public park has been dormant for nearly two years as Prince William County leaders remain unable to settle the lengthy debate over competing visions for the picturesque piece of land in Gainesville.
A meeting this week set to answer the nearly two-year debate over how to best manage Silver Lake Park instead further complicated things when supervisors remained deadlocked over the best solution.
When a developer gave the county the 233-acre property for hiking, camping and open-space preservation in 2006 as part of the conditions for building new homes, the county launched a complicated process for deciding how best to run the park, inviting nonprofit organizations to present plans.
The Bull Run Mountains Conservancy and the Prince William County Park Authority have emerged as the best two plans, but neither could win enough support from a split eight-member board.
Supervisor Frank Principi, D-Woodbridge, directed the county staff to oversee a meeting to get both parties to develop a mutually acceptable compromise.
The Bull Run Mountains Conservancy has teamed up with a local landowner to more than double the size of the park, while using a relatively small maintenance budget.
But the Prince William County Park Authority, with years of experience operating parks, has won support from supervisors who do not want to turn over the land to an outside group.
Because both sides view ownership as critical to being able to operate the park, County Executive Craig Gerhart said bridging the divide will be a challenge.
“It could be a poster child for what you can do with public-private partnerships and it provides something that is currently lacking,” said Michael Keiffer, executive director for the Bull Run Mountains Conservancy.
