Developer files plans for two new subdivisions on Crow's Nest peninsula

By MEGHANN COTTER

Date published: 4/3/2007

The owner of Crow's Nest has filed two new subdivision plans for sections of the environmentally sensitive Stafford County peninsula.

K&M Properties of McLean plans a 30-lot community, Sycamore Hills, on 96 acres north of Raven Road. A 31-lot neighborhood, Hickory Hills, is proposed for 172 acres north of Potomac Creek.

Each is zoned rural residential, allowing minimum one-acre lots. The Planning Commission will have to approve the blueprints before construction can begin.

The plans come after months of controversial drain-field testing and related clearing activities.

County officials issued a stop-work order in the fall, claiming K&M disturbed too much land without a permit. But in November, the firm successfully defended the digging in court.

Sycamore Hills sits northwest and Hickory Hills is southeast of Crow's Nest Harbour, a large subdivision platted in the 1970s, but never developed.

Sycamore sits outside the 2,887 acres county officials want to condemn and preserve as a state park.

Both projects were part of the developer's previous subdivision plan, which the Planning Commission denied last January. It proposed 688 homes on 3,230 acres of the peninsula.

Land now planned for Sycamore Hills was slated for development in that application. Hickory Hills had been left as open space.

Commissioners cited improper lot sizes, lack of information on maps and inaccurate dimensions as reason for denial.

K&M has appealed that decision to Circuit Court, but a hearing has not been scheduled.

The developer's attorney, Clark Leming, said efforts to build on the peninsula are ongoing, despite the appeal and county efforts to condemn the land. He said preliminary work will continue on other portions of Crow's Nest with intentions of submitting future plans.

Supervisor Paul Milde said he still hopes the county can purchase the most sensitive part of the peninsula before construction begins.

"At the end of the day, if we save 3,000 acres of Crow's Nest and they get 30 houses approved on a remaining parcel, that's a huge victory for Stafford County residents," he said.

WHAT IS CROW'S NEST? A 3,800-acre peninsula that sits between the Accokeek and Potomac creeks in Stafford County. Home to rare plants, animal species and historic resources, its future has sparked controversy for years. THE BACKGROUND Activists want to see the county buy the tract for a state park. But the landowner, K&M Properties of McLean, wants to cash in on its investment. It bought the land in 1989 for $17.8 million. The Board of Supervisors has offered $33.2 million for the 2,887 acres east of Raven Road. The developer believes it's worth more than $60 million. The county filed court papers to condemn the property in November. Supervisors have also asked that K&M be prohibited from disturbing Crow's Nest land until the case is decided. All Stafford judges have recused themselves from the case. A Westmoreland judge has agreed to hear arguments. THE LATEST K&M filed two new subdivision plans for portions of Crow's Nest last Friday. The neighborhoods require Planning Commission approval.

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Date published: 4/3/2007

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