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Preservationists are asking Stafford County to issue special bonds to raise money to save Crow's Nest. |
Stafford County supervisors may hold the key to preserving the Crow's Nest peninsula.
Save Crow's Nest, a local preservation group, asked the board to consider purchasing the land though a special bond issue, which would have to be approved by residents through a referendum.
"The bottom line is, we need to look at different options creatively," said Nan Rollison, who spoke on behalf of Save Crow's Nest during last night's supervisors meeting.
She presented supervisors with some rough cost estimates to prove that it will cost the county more to provide services and infrastructure to the people who would live at Crow's Nest should it be developed than it would to just buy the land.
"It's sort of an obvious answer, which, for whatever reason, was not explored," David Croteau, a spokesman for Save Crow's Nest, said before the meeting yesterday.
Also at last night's meeting, preservationist Paul Milde announced the creation of another Web site, save crowsnest.com, which will be tracking proposals for the preservation of Crow's Nest and will allow visitors to sign an online petition for the peninsula's preservation.
K&M Properties of McLean, which owns the 3,800-acre tract between Potomac and Accokeek creeks, had been negotiating to sell the land to the state for a nature preserve. But those talks fell through last November, and K&M now wants to revive development plans for the land.
The company has discussed a cluster development with county officials, in which homes and shops would be built on less environmentally sensitive parts of the property, allowing the rest to be preserved. Supervisors have made it clear they want to see the entire tract preserved.
Another option under discussion is a land swap in which K&M would be offered an opportunity to rezone another tract elsewhere in the county to allow for the development slated at Crow's Nest. It's unclear how such a swap would be accomplished.
Croteau says that a cursory look at the county's probable expenses in shared costs for roads and infrastructure on Crow's Nest makes a bond issue an option.
Under current zoning, K&M could build one house per acre. Using an earlier development plan for the property as a model, For example, Croteau said the county would be obligated for about $15 million in water and sewer improvements alone, making the county's share significantly above the $30 million K&M was asking for the property.
"We want the board to commit to some resources and run some numbers," Croteau said, to see if a bond issue would be feasible.
The state has been using bond funds for parks and natural areas for years. Two years ago, Virginia voters approved $119 million for improvements and additions to state parks and natural areas. Some of that money is being used to build cabins and a campground at Lake Anna State Park in Spotsylvania County.
Getting a local bond issue on the ballot is an involved process, which would require, among other things, public hearings and approval by the Board of Supervisors.
Supervisors did not publicly comment on the bond referendum idea at their meeting last night. But Supervisor Kandy Hilliard, whose district includes Crow's Nest, said before the meeting that any suggestions for protecting the property are worth considering.
"I support looking at whatever we have to do to save Crow's Nest. This is one of the options we need to look at," Hilliard said.
"But there is still additional information that has to be gathered," she said.
Crow's Nest has one of the last stands of virgin forest in the region and is home to rare plants and animals and a heron rookery. The land also has historical significance. It is near Indian Point, where Capt. John Smith visited during a 1607 voyage from Jamestown. Union troops used the property during the Civil War.
Crow's Nest is named after The Crow, a black, three-masted schooner moored off the property in the 1800s.
ON THE NET: savecrowsnest.org savecrowsnest.com
To reach RUSTY DENNEN: 540/374-5431 rdennen@freelancestar.com
