the Bristow Manor Golf Course was constructed on an easement across 22 parcels, with a 23rd parcel (outlined) used for the event center/clubhouse
Source: Prince William County, County Mapper
the Bristow Manor Golf Course was constructed on an easement across 22 parcels, with a 23rd parcel (outlined) used for the event center/clubhouse
Source: Prince William County, County Mapper
The Bristow Manor Golf Course was financed in 1991 by the sale of 22 lots for houses. The clubhouse was built on a 23rd parcel, while the 18-hole golf course was built on the 22 other parcels. Profits from the sale of the 22 houses at Bristow Manor Estates were used to fund the development of the golf course.
The housing/golf course project was built in the rural portion of Prince William County, where a sewer line extension to connect with a major wastewater treament plant would have been unrealistic. The developer completed a community septic system and a no-discharge sewage treatment plant in 1994, using a spray irrigation system as the final step to treat the sewage.
By 2020, the treatment system failed to meet Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) standards. Bristow Manor Limited Partnership, owner of the golf course and sewage system, obtained a temporary pump and haul permit from the Virginia Department of Health. The permit authorized pumping the waste into tanker trucks, then driving it to a location where sewage could be dumped into the county's sewer system.
In 2021Prince William officials authorized the Service Authority to use its permanent pump and haul permit to meet Virginia Department of Health requirements. However, the Bristow Manor Estates Homeowners Association (HOA), a separate group from the Bristow Manor Limited Partnership and representing the 22 homeowners paying for sewage treatment, insisted that a different approach be developed.
The 22 homeowners objected to paying new fees required to cover the $44,000 increase in annual costs for pump and haul. The Bristow Manor Estates HOA noted that because the golf course was built on easements across the homeowner parcels and the homeowners paid the property taxes on that land, Bristow Manor Limited Partnership avoided paying $45,000 annually to Prince William County for golf course real estate taxes.
When the Prince William Board of County Supervisors approved the "permanent" permit coverage, it also required annual reauthorization of the pump and haul permit. The elected supervisors indicated that the annual renewals would be continued for just five years.1
The county supervisors changed the long-range Land Use Plan in 2022 and eliminated the "Rural Area" land use designation at the end of 2022. That authorizd extension of a Service Authority sewer line to Bristow Manor. The challenge at that point was finding the money required for building a sewer line to service just 22 homes and a golf course.
In 2022, the US Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act and earmarked $3 million specifically for the sewer line extension. That was the original cost estimate, but by 2022 the cost had increased to $5.6 million. The Board of County Supervisors noted in its approval of the American Rescue Plan Act grant:2
Under the initial development agreement in the 1990's, the 22 homeowners were required to pay for the wastewater treatment system if the golf course closed. Without a community treatment system, each house would have to install an alternative treatment system which would cost around $30,000. If the homeowners had to absorb the $2.6 million in costs not covered by the Federal grant to build a sewer line extension, each owner would have to pay nearly $120,000 in one-time capital costs.
The 22 houses were assessed at less than $800,000 each.3
One option was to upgrad the community treatment plant. In 2022 the State Water Control Board revised the "Occoquan Policy" that limited the number of wastewatr treatment plants allowed to discharge to the Occoquan Reservoir. The revised regulation stated:4