LETTER: County leaders are ignoring public input on major land-use decisions 

October 6, 2022

 

The Prince William County Planning Commission is on a roll.


On September 14th, the commissioners twisted themselves into logical and ethical pretzels to overlook the Planning Office staff’s inept justification and their own procedural missteps to endorse the Prince William Digital Gateway. 

A week later, on September 21st, they contorted themselves even further to painfully rationalize how there was nothing confusing about their inexplicable process and tortured decision-making. Board of Supervisors Chair Ann Wheeler contradicted all of that the next day, Thursday, September 22nd, when she delayed the supervisors' final vote on the Prince William Digital Gateway to clear up “confusion”.   

On Wednesday, September 28th, the Planning Commission heard dozens of citizens speak into the early morning hours unanimously calling for them to defer a decision on the sweeping comprehensive plan update, citing its lack of transparency and improper priorities. Within minutes after the hearing closed, Planning Commissioner Patricia Kuntz rendered the public’s impassioned pleas irrelevant by robotically moving to approve the controversial land-use chapter. 

Chair Ann Wheeler has discussed limiting inconvenient public comment, but why not save everybody some gas and babysitting money and eliminate it altogether?  For that matter, why waste everybody’s time with such charades as “community engagement meetings” and “focus groups” if the real focus is the supervisors’ pre-determined agenda?   

Save even more by eliminating the Planning Commission. If they are nothing but lock-step extensions of the supervisors who appointed them, why bother with a superfluous layer of government that wastes our time and money creating a false image of value added?  

It’s clear that your only true public input is to sign the petition to recall Ann Wheeler. 

Bill Wright

Gainesville

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