On May 15, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors will decide whether to approve a new development called Clift Farm that would allow 585 homes on land currently zoned agricultural. The rezoning would be a mistake.
1. The site is directly under an existing navigational approach to the Stafford Regional Airport. The airport's consultant said there would be a high impact from the airport on any concentrated, dense growth in this area from noise levels, and possible aircraft accidents.
2. The proposal appears not to meet the criteria for a Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND). The larger mixed commercial center area at U.S. 1 and Clift Drive should be submitted as a separate request.
3. The proposal is situated in an area of acid sulphate soil. Plus, it is an area of steep slopes, moderate to extreme erosion hazards, wetlands, and resource protection areas. The land also contains a Dominion power line easement, is adjacent to a dump, and is in an area of rundown industrial buildings.
4. The Eskimo Hill Road running between the residential and the proffered recreational area is a heavily used, two-lane, winding road leading to commercial buildings and the public landfill; it enters onto Brooke Road. How much will it cost to improve the road and to bring in utilities to the development?
5. U.S. Geological Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service staff and a former landfill employee noted the I-95/U.S. 1 acid sulphate problems and possible methane gas migration trapped under the proffered playing fields from a closed, unlined garbage cell adjacent to the fields.
Also, it was recommended that the applicant perform deep soil testing throughout the Clift Farm development. Because of the terrain noted in the King George/Stafford Soils Date map, the area will require extensive cut and fill.
Ruth Carlone
Stafford