More Manassas residents join opposition to proposed asphalt plant

A new asphalt plant proposed for a densely populated area outside Manassas is sparking intense opposition from residents in nearby neighborhoods. 

Last Saturday, Aug. 22, more than 50 people took to their neighborhood streets to protest over concerns that the plant will increase dump truck traffic, noise and pollution in the area. Some said they already endure health conditions such as asthma as well as soot-stained houses because of an existing asphalt plant nearby and fear a new plant will make those problems worse.

The protest was organized around an afternoon discussion between Ann Wheeler, chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, and area residents who are fighting the new asphalt plant.

The protest was attended by residents of the Kessler Ridge, Rebel Walk, Wortham Crest Circle and Blackburn communities, all of which are in the vicinity of the proposed plant. Protesters gathered on the sidewalks outside their neighborhoods, many of them with their children in tow, with signs that said “Please vote no." 

The proposal for the new asphalt plant hit a wall last month when the county board deadlocked in a tie vote to deny Allan Myers Paving Company the special use permit it needs to open the new plant. The county board will take another vote on the project at their upcoming Sept. 8 meeting. 

Wheeler, D-At Large, was one of the four Democratic supervisors who voted against the motion to deny the special use permit. 

New plant would add 230 daily truck trips on local roads

The asphalt plant is planned for a 23-acre former concrete manufacturing plant. It’s next to an existing Branscome Paving Company asphalt plant on Bethlehem Road in Manassas. The new asphalt plant would be 1,300 feet from townhomes in the nearby Kessler Ridge community and 1,450 feet from Mullen Elementary School. It’s projected to add an average of 230 daily truck trips on area roads. 

Residents opposed to the project say the new asphalt plant will exacerbate the area’s existing problems caused by the Branscome paving plant. Mike Coffey, a Kessler Ridge resident who helped organize the protest, said residents “endure” the Branscome paving plant, “but a second asphalt plant would just add” to the problems they already have. 

“That is going to ratchet up the environmental and health concerns that we have for children as well as for vulnerable populations,” Coffey said. “Anyone who has any existing [health] conditions, they’re going to be exacerbated by this second asphalt plant.” 

During the meeting between Wheeler and area residents, many residents said pollution and truck traffic is already a problem in the neighborhoods. Some residents pointed out the black and gray soot stains on the windowsills and siding of several Kessler Ridge homes that they said is carried over from the Branscome asphalt plant. 

Several other residents said they have developed asthma since moving into the area. One woman said that her asthma has gotten so bad that she can’t go from the basement to the top floor of her home, “without wheezing and gasping.”

Allan Myers gives $100K in new computers to Mullen Elementary

Residents also said they were wary of the tactics Allan Myers used during the planning process after learning the company had not informed any of the neighboring communities outside of Kessler Ridge about the asphalt plant. Kessler Ridge is closest neighborhood to the site of the proposed plant. 

Coffey said it was Kessler Ridge residents who informed nearby communities and homeowners’ associations about the project. 

“These are all people affected by them coming in … and they really should have taken that into consideration and done a broader outreach to everyone,” Coffey said. 

Mike Carlin, a spokesman for Allan Myers, said Thursday that Allan Myers had not reached out to communities outside of the Kessler Ridge community prior to the July public hearing because, he said, only Kessler Ridge had been “communicating concerns” about the project.

Becky Barnett, a Kessler Ridge resident, said Allan Myers had offered $25,000 to the community to put up a sound wall between Kessler Ridge townhomes and Bethlehem Road, but the homeowner's association rejected the offer. 

Coffey said the offer was “miniscule” and felt like “a slap in the face” to the community.

Carlin said he thought the company’s offer to Kessler Ridge would be “well-received” but that residents “were not interested in the support.” Carlin added that the company had “tried hard to work with their community and understand their priorities.” 

Carlin said Allan Myers also reached out to the county school division to determine how the company “could be a partner with the schools.” After speaking with the school division and the principal of Mullen Elementary, Carlin said the company learned that the school had an “urgent” need for student laptops as the school prepares to transition to online learning this fall.

Allan Myers has since purchased laptops for “more than 200 families that go to the school” at a cost of $100,000, Carlin said. 

Carlin said that the company has also “stepped up its efforts” to reach a solution with regard to the truck traffic ahead of the Sept. 8 board meeting and said the company is looking at the possibility of  diverting truck traffic away from Bethlehem Road, possibly via a new exit road from the plant. 

Asked whether Allan Myers would consider another location for the new asphalt plant, Carlin said the company has determined that “this is the best site.” 

Wheeler said Thursday she has not yet determined how she will vote on the project, but said she understands residents’ concerns that the asphalt plant could “exacerbate the existing issues.” 

Wheeler said that she is still “looking for a solution” to some of the problems that were brought up by area residents. Wheeler said she has reached out to state transportation officials to see whether an alternate route could be constructed to connect the new asphalt plant to Mason King Court so that dump trucks could avoid using Bethlehem Road. 

“September 8 is two weeks away and I’m still trying to look at some solutions,” Wheeler said. 

Reach Daniel Berti at dberti@fauquier.com