Land Use in Prince William County Virginia

This week I want to write about Land Use from a bit of a different perspective. That is the perspective of dealing with the planning, zoning, and building professionals at the county offices. In this case I am going to be talking about PWC in particular, but it will be true of most localities.

The Staff wants to help! Let's start with that basic premise. The problem you will face is that they are usually understaffed and overworked. They also have to follow certain rules and procedures. This point is important as it is how Staff makes sure to try to trat everyone the same. Then on top of all they do, they have to deal with the folks who think they know everything (the attorneys, the developers, the engineers, and the contractors, etc.) and the folks who know nothing (the homeowner, the landowner, etc.). They have to Shepard each of these levels of basic knowledge through the process and it is impossible to make them all happy. But please understand they would if they could!

What we don't see is what is going on in the background. We assume these are government employees hitting their forty hours and then heading home. What you don't see is Alex V with 20 case files at 6pm still working and then he has a public meeting. We don't see an Andrea M trying to help everyone get through QC, often offering suggestions to make the process smoother. We don't see the Director who had a late night meeting the night before, reaching out because there might be a hiccup in the process, and she wants to make sure everything is working to plan as best as possible. We don't see Mandi who is on leave calling to make sure we found the information we needed.

Then there is the public interaction these positions have and the public's perception. The Staff has to attend numerous public meetings and hearings, often to hear things like "I pay your salary", or "there must be a backroom deal", or "are you just incompetent". I have seen Staff publicly derided by Officials on the dais, with the official often being incorrect. Does Staff make mistakes, yes, they are human. But having worked first hand with them in several departments over the years, they have processes in place to double check their work.

As I have recently moved to the role of a full time private planner, I am required to express the frustration that my client feels, but at no time does this change the respect I have for Staff and the community services they try to apply each and every day. In PWC, we are understaffed in Community Development, Zoning, Planning, and Building Services, by as much as 20% yet our Staff processes more cases than ever and with very few exceptions, they do it well! So my advice, give them a break! Be kind and they will be thankful.