John Reinboldt - Director AHBOD

March 2003

 

Harbour View March 2003 As I am typing the article it is mid February, we are in the midst of a gentle snow. The ground is covered but the roads are clear. In fact all winter we have experienced clear roads because of an outstanding job by our Road and Grounds crew led by Mr. Riley. Even with a major storm forecasted, I predict our roads will be as good or better than the major routes. We don?t have anywhere near the resources or traffic that helps keep Route?s 1 & 95 clear, but we do have dedication and hard work.

I have one major topic to ponder as a community that I would like to discuss. The Possibility of a second Gate.

The possibility of a second gate has been as persistent a story for the entire history of the Harbour. I believe we now have a real opportunity to get a second gate. Garrett Construction owns property that borders ours along two areas in Section Two. One is behind Victoria Drive that extends to the power lines that cross over Harpoon Drive. The other property borders Harpoon Drive between Boson Cove and Beacon Cove. Both properties have been zoned and approved for single family homes in the $300,000 range. A new road is proposed to be built, that will parallel Harpoon for access to these and other sites and then to connect to Route One north of Taylor?s store. I believe that the best location for a second gate road is on Harpoon drive at the power lines. It may also be the most expensive option for us. The second opportunity would be at the intersection of Harpoon and Farragut Drive. This option would involve buying two lots to offer access to the gate location. This possibility has been suggested by Garrett Construction, and the road and home acquisition paid for by Garrett. Why would Garrett offer to do this?? Because they have a zoning issue. The short explanation is that Garrett is zoned to build about 105 homes on what they call Brent Mill II. They would like to re-zone for 255 homes. This density change would allow Brent Mill II to be the same density as Aquia Harbour. Garrett is offering the gate in an attempt to gain the support of Jack Cavalier, our Stafford County Supervisor and Aquia Harbour resident.

There are many issues before us. County planning is not an exact science. There are many layers of information to understand and a change in one area often changes action in another area. For example I asked two senior VDOT people, a Planning Committee Member, a Supervisor and the representative from Garrett the same question . What will the configuration of the new road to Route 1 be ? (the proposed name is Stafford County Parkway). I received a different answer from each!! What is truly frustrating is they all may be correct! The following are things I believe we know at this point.
 
  1. If we go ahead with a second gate the best location in my opinion is near the power lines on Harpoon Drive. The Farragut Drive location is to disruptive. Garrett will have to be convinced this is the best option to gain our support.
  2. The Traffic patterns throughout the Harbour will change dramatically
  3. If your destination is Quantico or points north you will have a relatively quick and easy alternate route.
  4. There will be significant costs involved with manning and building the Guard Shack.
  5. Emergency vehicles will have a quicker rout to parts of section 2 & 3. This is an important safety issue.
  6. This new gate location is a better alternate exit in case the bridge or Route 1 are blocked, than the current Emergency Exit gate which sends you way out through Widewater.


We need community feedback. On Saturday the 15th we had a town meeting with 40 or so people in attendance. We will be having another meeting in the near future. WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!! I know there are not enough facts in this article to make a decision, I am only intending for you to think about the project, decide if the basic idea is good or bad in your opinion and then attend the next Town Meeting to gather more facts and then share your opinion. We will post the next town meeting on the board and website. www.aquiaharbour.org You can also email me at john@reinboldt.com