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The
Details
Supporting
developers by blocking laws to protect the environment.
Jack
Cavalier cast the deciding vote in a 4-3 vote against sending the Water
Resource Overlay ordinance to a public hearing before the Board. Instead,
after sitting on it for more than a year, the majority on the Board sent
it back to the Planning Commission for a third time, killing it by burying
it in the County’s bureaucratic process.
The
Water Resource Overlay would have expanded the protective buffers around
creeks to include steep slopes and highly erodible soils, in areas
designated by the Board of Supervisors as being sensitive water resources.
(This would not have been applied county-wide.) Such an ordinance would have gone a long way to protecting the water and
other natural resources on the Widewater and Crow’s
Nest peninsulas.
Jack
Cavalier also voted against more comprehensive environmental protections
by voting against the Sensitive Resource Overlay legislation. In addition
to protecting water resources in designated areas, this legislation would
have required comprehensive assessments of environmental resources for any
large development project, and protect selected habitats for wildlife.
View
Jack's record
on Crow's Nest....
Building
new roads to facilitate development of the Widewater and Crow’s Nest
peninsulas.
Following
a request from
developer Andy Garrett, whose companies own thousands of acres on the
Widewater peninsula, Jack Cavalier supported a change in the
Patawomac
Park
plans to include a portion of the Chopawamsic
Parkway needed to connect
Widewater Road
to the proposed four-lane highway known as
Widewater Parkway
. And despite numerous requests from residents in
Aquia
Harbour
and Widewater, he has not supported removing the
Widewater Parkway
from the County’s transportation
plan.
Jack
Cavalier also voted to approve funding for a new
road that dead ends directly at the Crow's Nest property owned by
Stafford Lakes LP (a.k.a. K&M Properties). This project could
help facilitate development on the peninsula.
Refusing
to use existing tools to protect the environment.
Residents
of
Aquia
Harbour
have long had concerns about silt
entering Aquia Creek due to developer negligence, and with good reason. In
December 2006, the state's Department of
Conservation and Recreation (DCR) found violations and made specific
recommendations to correct the problem, including the use of "phased
construction," where no more than 25 acres of land at a time would be
disturbed.
The
Board of Supervisors, including the Griffis-Widewater Supervisor, failed
to act to ensure corrections were implemented. Instead of correcting the
problem, the Board spent $50,000 of taxpayer money for another study of
the issue.
In
July and September 2007, Bob Woodson reminded the Board that violations
had already been found, corrections had already been recommended, and the
contractor's original permit even required them to follow "phased
construction" standards. He asked the Board to act now to protect
Aquia Creek and taxpayers. Still, the Board refused to take action,
instead delaying again by referring it to their attorney for a legal
opinion.
Throughout
this long delay, the Board has failed to use power it already has to
revoke conditional use permits or recommend revocation of other permits as
a way to ensure the developers honor commitments they made. While our
"leaders" delay; mud continues to pollute Aquia Creek and
developers escape accountability.
Giving additional
building rights to developers at the expense of the environment
Jack
Cavalier cast the deciding vote to approve the Traditional
Neighborhood Development Ordinance. This new law will allow dense
residential development, including up to 96 housing units per acre in
buildings up to ten stories high, in approved parts of the County without
any trade-offs for decreased residential development in other, rural parts
of the County.
Although
some Supervisors said that the TND would not create one new house,
Stafford Town Station has already submitted a plan that when approved will
create up to 2,250 housing units on land that is currently approved for no
more than 145 houses. Most of this land is zoned agricultural, and about
half of it is outside the urban service area. Plans for a “TND” on
Widewater are not far behind.
Given
that Jack Cavalier has refused to vote “No” on the Brentsmill rezoning
on Widewater, instead choosing to defer action until after the election,
we can expect him, along with the rest of the developer majority, to vote
“yes” on the Stafford Town Station, Widewater and other TND plans.
The
Woodson Alternative
ü
Pass legislation to protect
water resources in designated sensitive areas, without burdening property
owners
county-wide.
ü
Require “phased
construction” for any development project on land with sensitive
environmental features, as a condition for Board approval.
ü
Remove the
Widewater Parkway
from all plans.
ü
Remove the new road to
Crow’s Nest from the transportation plan.
ü
Vote “No” on any
rezonings for higher residential density in the urban service area unless
the developer proffers to remove a corresponding number of building rights
in a rural area.
ü
Vote “No” to any
rezonings for higher residential density in areas outside the urban
service area.
ü
Pass legislation to prevent
inappropriate development on Crow’s Nest.
ü
Create a public-private
partnership to permanently protect all of Crow’s Nest from development,
including the lots in the Crow’s Nest Harbour. Leverage private funds
and tax credits to minimize the cost to taxpayers.
Read
Bob Woodson's responses to the Save
Crow's Nest Candidate Questionaire.
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