Once slated for development, Widewater peninsula will offer residents Potomac River access.

Date published: 1/12/2006

By RUSTY DENNEN and MEGHANN COTTER

Five years ago, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation put the Widewater peninsula on its priority list for a state park.

Today, against considerable odds, that wish becomes a reality. Gov. Mark Warner is scheduled to sign a deed conveying the property in northeastern Stafford County to the state in a ceremony with local and state officials in Richmond.

The establishment of Virginia's newest state park ends a lengthy tug of war that pitted the owner, Dominion Lands, and its preservation partners against local developers who envisioned luxury waterfront houses, a marina, golf course and conference center there.

W. Tayloe Murphy Jr., Warner's outgoing secretary of natural resources and a longtime backer of the park plan, said yesterday that it's good news for Northern Virginia.

"I'm pleased the state is acquiring the property," said Murphy, a Westmoreland County resident. With population growth in the region, "this represents a major resource for recreation and outdoor enjoyment for the people who live in that area."

Gary Waugh, spokesman for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees Virginia's state parks, said the purchase price is $6.1 million.

Waterfront public access is at a premium in the northern part of the state, Waugh said, and was a top priority in the department's most recent outdoors plan. "There are two miles of frontage on Potomac and Aquia creeks," he said.

Securing the property is just the first step. For now, the state budget contains no money to begin developing other recently acquired park land, much less a brand-new one.

Members of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors will be among those celebrating the acquisition with Warner today.

"I think it is going to provide a great opportunity to preserve land forever and that's a very nice piece of property," said Board Vice Chairman Jack Cavalier of the Griffis-Widewater District.

"That's been on my radar screen almost the whole time I've been in office," said Cavalier, who's in his seventh year on the Board of Supervisors.

Stafford Board Chairman Bob Gibbons said the county has been trying for a decade to preserve the land. "It's a great asset for the community and for the state also," he said.

Date published: 1/12/2006