​INTRODUCTION

The Prince William County Planning Office has begun an update to the Economic Development Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan which had its most recent update and review in 1993 with a technical update in 2008. In doing so, planners will be working closely with the Prince William County Department of Economic Development and interested stakeholders in order to support the County Strategic Plan Economic Development goal of providing a robust, diverse economy with more quality jobs and an expanded commercial tax base. The overall goal of the update is to support and implement the existing economic development strategy through land use and development tools and infrastructure improvements.

PROJECT FRAMEWORK

A framework has been established in order to guide the chapter update process. The key steps of the framework include:

• Developing overarching chapter goal(s)
• Creating economic development policies
  • Providing broad statements to set a preferred course of action
  • Relate to other plan elements
• Developing action strategies for each policy, including:
  • Administrative processes
  • Studies and tasks
  • Ordinance updates and/or amendments
  • Considerations for Special Use Permit or Rezoning processes
  • Infrastructure recommendations

PRELIMINARY EMERGING THEMES

As the project moves forward, there are different topics related to economic development and land use that will be explored.
Some of the preliminary emerging themes that will be studied and analyzed over the course of the project include:

• Matching land and infrastructure resources with existing and anticipated future markets (e.g. targeted industries, etc.)
• Innovation Technology Park
• The Landing at Prince William Small Area Plan (formerly the Parkway Employment Center Sector Plan)
• Mixed-use zoning districts
• Redevelopment tools
• Tourism and cultural resources
• Agribusiness and the rural economy
• Green, blue, and gray infrastructure
• Open space connectivity, trails, parks, etc.
• Water resources
• Infrastructure including: roads, rail, fiber, utilities, etc.
• Quality of life enhancements
• Military relationship – Marine Corps Base Quantico, Fort Belvoir, Joint Land Use Study (JLUS)
• Development review processes
• Enhanced marketing
• At-place employment

PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSIONS

A series of Planning Commission Work Sessions have been scheduled to collect stakeholder input, and inform, discuss, and receive feedback from the Planning Commission.

​Work Session Date*	​Topic for Presentation/Discussion
​4/15/2015	​Planning Office Kick-off Presentation Target Industries Presentation
​5/20/2015	​Economic Development Office Presentation
​6/3/2015	​Business/Industry Groups
​11/4/2015	​Cultural Resources
​​11/18/2015	Civic Groups
​12/2/2015	​​​Tourism
12/16/2015	​Rural Economy
​1/6/2016	Commercial Brokers​

*Dates are tentative and subject to change. Please see ePortal for the latest dates

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

The Planning Office has organized a thorough outreach and engagement campaign to collect input from various civic groups and the general public. Opportunities for involvement will continue throughout the chapter update process. Comments may be submitted via the form at the bottom of this page.

​Meeting Date*	​Group or Stakeholder
​4/30/2015	​LOCCA
​5/13/2015	​OLRCA
​5/19/2015	​Chamber of Commerce Policy Committee
​5/21/2015	​MIDCO
​Summer	​Internal Meetings with Development Community, Institutional, Transportation, Utilities, Defense/Military Representatives
​Late Summer	​Public Meeting
​Winter	​Public Meeting
​Early 2016	​Public Hearings at Planning Commission and Board of County Supervisors

*Dates are tentative and subject to change. Please see ePortal for the latest dates

 

Questions or comments?

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: (703) 792-7615 (TTY: 711)
• Fill out the Planning Comment Form

Please note that under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, comments, including any personally identifiable information that is included in the comments, are subject to public inspection.

To receive automatic updates about general county government information, including Planning Office notifications, road closures, tax reminders, and other community information subscribe to PWC Alerts.