Sustainability and Resilience Comprehensive Plan Amendment

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What is the Sustainability and Resilience Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA)?

The Sustainability and Resilience Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA) project is to integrate sustainability and resilience into Prince William County’s Comprehensive Plan which follows the County’s vision, Prince William 2030 and Region Forward, a regional planning effort. It provides a critical link between the vision and the many implementing plans and policies of the County. The Comprehensive Plan is based on an analysis of current land use and future growth and the facilities needed to serve existing and future residents – such as roads, parks, water and sewer systems, schools, fire stations, police facilities and libraries.

Updates to the Comprehensive Plan will include, but not be limited to, recommendations from the County’s 2023 Community Energy and Sustainability Master Plan (CESMP) , which proposed actions the county government should take to meet the county's Climate Mitigation and Resiliency Goals.

Read on to learn more about sustainability, resilience, and why this project is important for the county’s future. We hope you will stay involved!

What is a Comprehensive Plan Amendment?

A Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA) is a formal process for modifying the County’s Comprehensive Plan based on community needs. A CPA may be requested by landowners or developers, or it may originate from the Board of County Supervisors. In this case, the Sustainability and Resilience Comprehensive Plan Amendment was initiated by the Board of County Supervisors, as described below.

Why is the County Preparing a Sustainability and Resilience Comprehensive Plan Amendment?

The county’s updated 2040 Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2022, guides the future growth and development of Prince William County as well as investments in future public infrastructure through the year 2040. It also presents a blueprint for creating a great quality of place, quality of community, and quality of life based on the county's vision for its future. That vision is:

Prince William County is a diverse and thriving community that strives to be an equitable, sustainable, and vibrant place which offers access to a variety of employment, housing and mobility opportunities while respecting our distinct cultural and environmental resources as well as promoting the quality-of-life values that establish a unique sense of place.

In November 2020, shortly before adopting the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the County Board of Supervisors set Climate Mitigation and Resiliency goals:

• Reduce County-wide greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions by 50% from a 2005 baseline by 2030.
• Achieve 100% renewable electricity for county government operations by 2030.
• Achieve 100% renewable electricity County-wide by 2035.
• Achieve carbon neutrality for county government operations by 2050.
• Develop climate resilient actions to move towards being a Climate Ready Region by 2030.

The Board also authorized the creation of a Community Energy and Sustainability Master Plan (CESMP), which was ultimately adopted on October 24, 2023. The CESMP recommends actions the county government could take to meet the County's Climate Mitigation and Resiliency Goals.

The CESMP contained a recommendation that the Board initiate a comprehensive plan amendment to incorporate the CESMP into the Comprehensive Plan to help carry out CESMP’s recommendations. On May 14, 2024, the Board initiated this Sustainability and Resilience Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA) to integrate sustainability and resilience considerations, including recommendations from the CESMP, into the Comprehensive Plan.

Finally, in 2023, the Commonwealth of Virginia amended local comprehensive plan requirements in Section 15.2-2223 of the Code of Virginia to encourage Virginia localities to consider strategies to address resilience.

What Do Sustainability and Resilience Mean? Why Does this Matter for Prince William County?

Sustainability encompasses practices and policies aimed at meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It typically emphasizes minimizing negative impacts on the environment, ensuring social equity, and supporting economic vitality. Sustainability can be addressed in many areas, such as energy, environment, food, green building, land use planning, transportation and waste.

Resilience is the capability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to and recover from significant all-hazard threats with minimum damage to social well-being, health, the economy and the environment.

• All-Hazard Resilience refers to the capability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from a range of natural, human-caused, and technological hazards, including but not limited to: flooding, drought, earthquakes, tornados, wildfire, hurricanes, high wind events, severe storms, extreme temperatures, biosecurity, and cyberattacks.
• Climate Resilience refers to the capability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the impacts of climate change, including sea-level rise, increased flooding, rising temperatures, and extreme weather events.

The concepts of sustainability and resilience are important as we plan the future of Prince William County, especially when thinking about climate change and related impacts.

• Looking back over the 20th century, Prince William County and Virginia have experienced increased average temperatures more than 0.83°C (1.5°F) and a small upward trend in annual total precipitation with multiyear values mostly above average since 1995 based on data compiled for the National Climate Assessment.
• Virginia was affected by 82 out of the 290 billion-dollar disaster events that occurred in the U.S. between 1980 and 2020.

All of these changes impact the way we live, travel, work and play. Prince William County has already taken many actions to address climate change impacts, but there is more work to do.

Main Goals of the Sustainability and Resilience Comprehensive Plan Amendment

The CPA will support community goals for equity, environmental health, economic prosperity and quality of life by:

• Addressing sustainability and resilience gaps in the Comprehensive Plan
• Adopting policies and action strategies that are needed to meet the county’s Climate Mitigation and Resiliency Goals
• Ensuring that actions outlined in the CESMP are integrated into appropriate chapters of the Comprehensive Plan, as relevant
• Considering strategies to address all-hazard resilience, as stipulated in Section 15.2-2223(F) of the Code of Virginia

Success Criteria for the Sustainability and Resilience Comprehensive Plan Amendment

• Measurable progress toward achieving the Board of County Supervisors’ Climate Mitigation and Resiliency goals
• Future development designed to both withstand the impacts of climate change and use land, energy and natural resources more sustainably
• County capacity to effectively anticipate, prepare for, respond to and recover from significant all-hazard threats.