The Planning Department has announced a Town Hall/Charrette on March 10 to discuss the Innovation Park Small Area Plan. Public input will be collected via a series of exercises, which will guide the establishment of the vision, goals, and objectives for development of the area. The event will be held in the cafeteria at Patriot High School, 10504 Kettle Run Road, Nokesville, VA   20181.

The Innovation Park SAP webpage has been updated with a variety of new resources—notably, reports from the three preliminary stakeholder meetings:

June 7, 2017
June 14, 2017
November 28, 2017

The meeting agenda:

• Introduce the Small Area Plan project and charrette process
• Conduct SWOT and TOWS analysis for the development of the vision, goals, objectives, and design guidelines
• Conduct an exercise exploring the site analysis of existing conditions including assets and liabilities in the study area
• Conduct a visioning exercise to create goals and objectives

Small Area Plan: Innovation Park

There are a number of opportunities to shape (and reinforce) the area’s vision to provide for safer multimodal transportation infrastructure, outdoor recreation, and livable, walkable community development; among them:

• Two grade-separated interchanges along Prince William Parkway—at University Blvd and at Sudley Manor Dr. These are already planned.
• The U.S. Tennis Association will build a new regional headquarters and tennis facility near the intersection of Freedom Center Blvd and Wellington Rd, with anticipated completion by the end of 2021. While the center will raise the profile of sports and physical fitness in the county, the traffic plan will require careful design and management to accommodate the anticipated influx of 300,000+ annual visitors.
• GMU may also be constructing additional recreational facilities in that area, which will further increase the traffic load.
• A large town center development along Rt 234 between Wellington Rd and University Blvd, which has been dormant for some time, appears to be moving forward again. This large, mixed-use development (dense residential, retail, commercial) represents a good opportunity to walkably/bikeably connect residents throughout the Innovation Park area with both the new commercial/retail jobs, as well as those nearby but outside the scope of the plan (Micron, Lockheed Martin, etc.).
• The development will also increase the prospects of connecting new and existing trails and bike lanes/paths in the area—GMU campus trails, Innovation Park trails, Sudley Manor Dr sidepath, University Blvd sidepath, etc.

If you have an interest in responsible development and non-motorized transportation, please make time to participate on March 10.