COMMUNITIES, businesses, and citizens across the nation have suffered immensely as a result of the deepest recession in many decades. It is likely that recovery--as far as job opportunities, commercial investment, tax revenue to localities, home appreciation, and spending by consumers--will not get back to "normal" for several years--maybe longer. This is no grand revelation, but our region has not just stood by as markets tumbled, the housing bubble burst, and storefronts closed. Our region was fully engaged in moving forward to build a better community.
In Stafford County, we have made great strides in public safety, economic development, and tourism. We opened two new fire and rescue stations; built a new state-of-the-art public-safety communications system; greatly improved fire and rescue response times; and facilitated the location of Stafford's first hospital.
We've worked hard to make Stafford a business-friendly community, and have welcomed several million square feet of new commercial space. The second building at the University of Mary Washington's Stafford campus has opened, and we facilitated the opening of the Germanna Community College center in Stafford. The community passed transportation and parks bond referenda, strong complements to our economic development efforts. We continue to build up our tourism, creating way-finding signage, developing and constructing trails at historic Government Island and Falmouth, and achieving National Park Service Underground Railroad status for Aquia Landing.
It is important to note that the public-sector work was accomplished even as staffing and budgets were being reduced. In fact, Stafford's government non-public-safety employment is down approximately 15 percent over the past two years. Stafford has the lowest general government spending per capita when seen against comparison localities such as Spotsylvania, Loudoun, Prince William, and Fauquier counties. Our community has maintained a strong AA bond rating.
Some of the most important work Stafford has done was to proactively take on the redevelopment master-planning work of four key gateways to our community. This grew out of the 2006 Economic Development Strategic Plan, which included visions for quality development in the Boswell's Corner and courthouse areas. Falmouth and U.S. 17 both east and west of Interstate 95 were soon added.
After 28 public presentations, forums, and work sessions over a two-year period with staff, elected leaders, business owners, and residents of Stafford, the work was completed in early 2010. Final products were presented to the Board of Supervisors this past February, unanimously endorsed, and sent to the Planning Commission for consideration. It appears that the redevelopment work has been well received, and it is our desire that the redevelopment master-planning work be formally adopted as a component of the updated Comprehensive Plan rewrite now in process.
It is exactly this type of economic development planning that will set the stage for the more attractive, walkable, and livable community that many desire.
What happened over the past decade from a commercial standpoint has served Stafford well. The private sector has added more than 7 million square feet of space and nearly 15,000 jobs, slowly making Stafford a leading employment center in the region. We have retail opportunities such as Borders, Home Depot, Target, Lowe's, Super Walmart, and many new restaurants and hotels.
While a major step forward, this development was mostly done piecemeal along existing roads including State Route 610, U.S. 1, U.S. 17, and State Route 3. Much of the buildable land along these linear corridors within the urban service area (land with utilities) is developed; new thinking must emerge to make continued progress in diversifying our economy.
This economic slowdown has afforded Stafford the opportunity to focus on that new thinking. The redevelopment master plan creates new opportunities where they currently do not exist. It encourages new and redundant infrastructure through grid street and parallel road development. Two examples of this are South Gateway Drive in southern Stafford, which connects U.S. 17 to Plantation Drive, and Hospital Boulevard, which connects U.S. 1 to Courthouse Road around the Stafford Hospital, and includes collaborative approaches to stormwater management and parking.
A form-based code allows more mixed-use creativity from the private sector, possibly offering more density in exchange for higher development standards. Projects such as Potomac Yard (Alexandria) and Rockets Landing (Richmond) demonstrate how localities can effectively work with the private sector to create quality mixed-use development.
The near-term future is somewhat unpredictable, but the communities that have taken this time to focus on the future are the ones that will lead America out of recession. Stafford will be one such community.
Tim Baroody is deputy county administrator of Stafford County.