Stafford reviews plans to subdivide Crow's Nest

By RUTH FINCH

Date published: 5/5/2005

The developer of Crow's Nest will have to address concerns about traffic, historic preservation, environment and stormwater management before the county will sign off on its plan to build 680 homes on the peninsula.

County staff and officials from various state and federal agencies met yesterday in the Stafford Administration Center with the property's owner, K&M Properties of McLean, to discuss the plan it filed last December.

The plan calls for lots as small as one acre, mostly clustered in cul-de-sacs in the highest, flattest parts of the hilly terrain.

But county officials, as well as activists with Save Crow's Nest, a grass-roots preservation group, say they're concerned that some of the lots still jut into protected areas, including one area with an eagle's nest.

They also said that in some cases, the developer will need to pay more regard to topography and soil types when deciding where on a lot to put a house, a well, a septic drainfield or a stormwater filtration system.

And, they said that in some cases, one acre may not be enough space for a house, a well, a drainfield, an alternate drainfield, two stormwater filtration facilities, plus all of the required setbacks and distances between features on the lot.

"With the extreme slopes and the individual [stormwater facilities], it's going to be hard to get the large number of lots that have been platted here," Tommy Thompson, the Health Department's environmental health supervisor, said at the meeting.

Terry Yates, an engineer with Dewberry & Davis L.L.C., the Fairfax-based firm that prepared the plan, said he is prepared to lose some of the lots. The number of lots will be finalized during the construction phase, Yates said.

Crow's Nest, a 4,000-acre parcel between Accokeek and Potomac creeks, is Stafford's largest expanse of undeveloped land. It is home to some virgin forest and rare plant and animal species.

At one time, Virginia had wanted to buy the land and turn it into a state park, but those negotiations fell through more than a year ago.

Since then, activists, including Save Crow's Nest, have been after the county to prevent the tract from being developed.

Yesterday's review of the preliminary subdivision plan was part of the county's routine process for approving subdivisions consistent with existing zoning.

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Date published: 5/5/2005