Letter to the Editor: On Trust, Representation, and Community
Vote to approve Buc-ees in "has otherwise completely eroded [writer's] confidence in Stafford County officials to do the right thing."
I would like to express my utter disappointment and heartbreak over the recent decision by the Board of Supervisors to approve the Buc-ee’s development in Stafford County.
What makes this especially painful is that throughout this entire process, my family, my neighbors, and many others in our community did exactly what we were told responsible citizens are supposed to do.
Before purchasing our home, my family researched the open land behind us. We saw that it was zoned commercial, but it had community-friendly commercial use planned, along with a small buffer area between our future home and the commercial zone. When we purchased our home, we believed we were making a sound investment in a community that valued thoughtful growth that would promote a walk-able area, and the well-being of its residents.
When efforts began in 2014 to rezone our buffer area, we got involved. We attended meetings, gathered data, researched the impacts, and worked to mitigate them. When the rezoning of the buffer area was approved in 2015, we were disheartened, but we felt the mitigating proffers would protect our home investment and maintain a livable environment.
Then, when we learned about the proposed Buc-ee’s (from our neighbors, NOT from any county notification), we again did what responsible citizens "should" do. We spent more than two years attending meetings, researching the facts, and trying to ensure county officials understood the devastating impacts this development would have on the surrounding area.
Despite all of that effort, despite the legitimate concerns raised by residents, and despite the evidence presented showing that Buc-ee’s is a terrible fit for this area, the County approved it anyway.
This leads to a glaring question that demands an answer: why was the Planning Department not allowed to issue a recommendation for approval or denial on this project? Was this a calculated move to avoid the political ramifications that would have resulted if the Board approved this monstrosity despite a recommendation for denial? This procedural anomaly makes it painfully obvious that the decision was already made long before public comments were ever heard, which was even more egregious considering that constituents asking for denial outnumbered those recommending approval by a 2-to-1 margin.
What is perhaps most dispiriting is how ignored many of us felt throughout this process. Not once did any current Stafford County official, other than Dr. [Pamela] Yeung [Garrisonville district representative], reach out to me, my family, or anyone in our neighborhood to genuinely discuss our concerns. Furthermore, I can count on one hand the number of times I received a response from a county official to the numerous emails I sent over the past two years.
We invested enormous time and effort into this process, yet we were made to feel invisible. Many of us feel that our plights are nothing more than mere fodder for a penny saved on taxes. Throughout this process, we have felt belittled simply for expressing the severe impacts we are going to have to endure, most particularly when Planning Commissioner Carlos Bratton made a public post on March 25, mocking those opposed to Buc-ee’s, ignoring our fact-based research and denigrating our concerns.
Further adding insult to injury, it was an even greater betrayal when the very same supervisors who voted to approve Buc-ee’s, mere minutes later turned around and used some of our exact arguments against Buc-ee's to counter the possibility of another proposed gas station during the Market at Austin Ridge public hearing. This was completely disrespectful and gives the distinct appearance that our elected officials are now actively working to protect Buc-ee's from competition.
Furthermore, the supervisors' eagerness to sacrifice the well-being of their constituents in the hopes of gaining small amounts of revenue only spotlights the absolute failure of the board's supervision of the county's economic development activities. It highlights their failure to properly monitor them, give them guidance and policy direction that is in accordance with the needs and desires of Stafford County residents, and ensure that economic development activities are transparent and encourage constituent input. This astounding disconnect is evidenced by the EDA's continued focus on target/key industries like data centers and warehouse and distribution centers and their lack of joint meetings with the Board of Supervisors at times when more citizens could possibly attend.
The result of this vote is devastating. Our quality of life is now uncertain, and our home values are already suffering. For many of us, our homes are our largest investment and the place where we planned to build our future. It is difficult not to feel repeatedly betrayed by the officials elected to represent and protect us.
Nonetheless, I especially want to recognize and thank Dr. Yeung and Ms. [Maya] Guy [Aquia district representative] for their dissenting votes and for demonstrating that they actually listened to their constituents. Whether or not others agreed with their position, their willingness to stand with the community and acknowledge our legitimate concerns mattered deeply to many of us.
Unfortunately, this decision has otherwise completely eroded my confidence in Stafford County officials to do the right thing. The clear message sent to us is that the concerns, fact-based evidence discovered from countless hours of research, and voices of residents matter far less than the desires of outside development interests. That is an incredibly disheartening realization.
I hope County leadership reflects seriously on the long-term consequences of this decision. The fallout will not just be measured in traffic, environmental degradation, and failing infrastructure, but in the severe and lasting damage done to the trust between residents and their local government.
Darla Stencavage
Stafford
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