Warehouse to be built next to burial ground

Economic development won out in the decision to allow a business park next to a Civil War battlefield in Brentsville.

Supervisor Marty Nohe, R-Coles, cast the sole vote against the Manassas Business Park rezoning application to build more than 500,000 square feet of industrial and warehouse space next to a Confederate soldier burial ground.

The action was taken during a regular meeting of the county supervisors on Tuesday evening.

The land is next to the Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park, owned by Prince William County.

The Prince William-Manassas Convention and Visitor's Bureau touts the park as a place where tourists can take self-guided walks around ponds and across land where 203 Confederate soldiers are buried in unmarked graves.

"We recognize fully that there will be people who do not agree with this, but we know it is impossible to please everyone," said John Foote, the business park developer's attorney. He was also the attorney for Centex, the home builder that gave the park to the county during a previous project.

Foote said that three years ago the original business park application included one acre of land donated for historic preservation and 2 million square feet of business space.

Over the years—especially since the Planning Commission recommended denying the application in January—those numbers changed from 42 acres of preserved land and 573,000 square feet of building space.

Foote said he sat in meetings with historic preservationists, including the Civil War Preservation Trust and the National Museum of Americans at War.

Jim Burgess, president of the Prince William Historical Society, said he supported the application, but reserved a wholehearted endorsement.

"We still have some serious reservations because there is no site plan," Burgess said during the meeting. "We would like to have some control over what does in immediately adjacent to the battlefield."

County planning staff said a drawback of the project was the applicant's failure to provide a site plan that shows building elevations. A site plan would have given those concerned with historic preservation some idea of what the industrial buildings would look like from the park.

"I would prefer to see this go back to the Planning Commission," Nohe said. "I don't want to vote against economic development, but I also want to make sure we know what we are getting."

Chairman Corey A. Stewart, R-at large, said the economic development prospect, especially during a housing downturn, was too good to deny.

"This community is far too dependent on residential development," Stewart said. "Only 14 percent of our tax base comes from the commercial sector."

Supervisor Wally S. Covington, R-Brentsville, said the decision came down to taxes and transportation.

"We've become a county that supports business-type uses," he said. "It's hard for me to say no to something that's been designated a business use."

"Historic preservation is important," he continued. "The people who fought here fought for things such as property rights in a War of Northern Aggression, but I won't go there."

A dozen people, including neighbors and history buffs testified at a public hearing Tuesday. Most of them spoke against the proposal, which received 7-1 approval.

Staff writer Lillian Kafka can be reached at 703-878-8065.