The good news is that Gainesville residents now have a new fighter for the safety of our families in the form of Delegate Tim Hugo. The redistricting process that reordered the congressional and legislative districts in Virginia delivered a fantastic result in putting Delegate Hugo into Prince William County.
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| Delegate Tim Hugo |
Tim Hugo is a heavyweight powerhouse in Virginia politics.
Tim is the Majority Caucus Leader in the Virginia House of Delegates. In English, that means he is a leader, he has the confidence of his fellow Delegates, and he carries real clout.
The bad news is that we are going to need every bit of Tim Hugo's clout and energy to fight the blight of dump trucks who are making Western Prince William County -- as Supervisor Candland has warned -- the "Dump Capitol of Northern Virginia."
Our families have been fighting the Smith Dump for more than two years. Prince William County has issued a zoning violation against the Smith property owners, and that resulted in litigation that will be decided in late March.
But the power of the farm lobby in Virginia is immense, and over the years there have been statutes enacted to protect farm operations from growing developments to keep residential growth from interfering with farming activities. The concern about pushing farmers out of legitimate farming operations is real, and most of the statutes are wholly justified.
But it is very hard to see the farming benefits for any legitimate farming operation resulting from the three to four years of streaming dump trucks on Catharpin Road and Pageland Lane that have made those roads extremely dangerous for residents getting to and from their homes. The Prince William County Zoning Administrator found the dumping operations were commercial, and not related to legitimate farming operations.
Most important, the steady stream of dump trucks to the Smith Dump created an intolerable safety issue.
That came to a head on November 15, 2011 on Route 29. A dump truck loaded with construction debris headed to the Smith Dump was driving southbound on Rt. 29 when the driver crossed the center line and struck a pickup truck, then crossed back into the southbound lane with an overcorrection, and then swerved back into the wrong lane and struck an SUV head on. The driver of the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene.
That was terrible news for the family of that driver, and for every resident of our community.
The the terrible news keeps on coming.
The operator of the dirt moving company that manages the Smith Dump has apparently convinced another farm owner on Pageland Lane to open up a new dump site.
Farm owner Mary Karen Macuci of 5904 Pageland Lane filed an application with Prince William County in December for a multi-year landfill project that will bring as many as 250 dump trucks per day on Pageland Lane, Route 234, and Route 29, starting at 7 a.m. and continuing to 5 p.m. every day (except for bad weather days). If they cannot get a full five day work week in, they will run those trucks on Saturday.
Macuci proposes to
disturb 400,000 square feet of land with delivery of 100,000 cubic yards of
fill dirt delivered by 12,500 truck loads over a two year period resulting in
as many as 1,250 ingress trips to the dump site and an equal number leaving the
dump site. Tim Reeves, who is named in the Prince William County Zoning Violation as the manager the earth moving operation at the Smith Dump, is named in the application as the "contractor" for this new dumpsite.
Delegate Hugo has filed a bill -- HB 1076 -- in the Virginia Legislature to empower Prince William County (and other localities) to require a special exception or
special use permit be obtained for land
filling activities on agriculturally zoned
property if such activities will include
the delivery of more than 20 truckloads of
construction or excavation material to the property in one day.
That proposed bill recognizes the needs of legitimate farm operations, but it also provides needed protections from the abusive dumping operations that have created such a strong resident backlash in an effort to ensure the safety of our roadways.
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| Supervisor Pete Candland |
Gainesville District Supervisor Pete Candland has written a strong letter to the Western Prince William County legislative delegation asking them to support the Hugo bill.
Families now need to rise up and be counted to stop these abuses.
The Hugo bill, HB 1076, will be heard in a committee hearing on February 9 at 7 a.m. We need to let the members of that committee know we strongly support the Hugo legislation that will protect the safety of our neighborhoods.
Check back tomorrow for the contact information for those committee members.
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