A look at some of the renderings for the planned Prince Edward Elementary renovation. Photos courtesy of Moseley Architects.

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Editor’s note: This is the first of several pieces going through the reworked comprehensive plan for Prince Edward. Up first, we look at the themes, the ‘road map’ for where we’re headed. 

There are five key themes that make up the redesigned comprehensive plan for Prince Edward. Taken from nearly two years of public workshops, surveys and discussions with everyone from Longwood students to senior citizen residents, these five pieces basically sum up what everyone wants county officials to work towards. 

“The Code of Virginia specifies that counties would update those plans every five years,” Prince Edward Planner Robert Love explained. “Our fifth year hit right around when I came here during COVID. We could not have in person meetings, we could not go out in the community, so we postponed.” 

That’s why Prince Edward is working on the project now. And as Love points out, this isn’t something that has to be followed to the letter. Instead, it’s meant to help guide the process. 

“This is not a code, or a regulation,” Love said. “It’s a guide, it’s a plan. It’s a strategic plan for our county.” 

Back in October 2023, Prince Edward County contracted with the Berkley Group to work on redesigning the comprehensive plan. As we’ve covered in previous stories, there have been some issues in the fact the current version doesn’t address things like solar farms. That’s made things harder at times for the planning commission, as part of their job is to make sure a potential project is in line with the comprehensive plan. But how do you do that if there’s no reference to solar? Beyond the solar question, the reworked plan gives a road map of sorts for the county officials to work towards. 

“The Plan lays out a vision for the community, but it also provides actionable steps to achieve that vision,” Prince Edward County Administrator Doug Stanley said. “These will help to guide Prince Edward’s decision making regarding community development and land use issues.”

And all of that revolves around the five themes. 

Breaking down the five for Prince Edward

First on that list of five is community wellness. 

“What we heard during community engagement was that there was a concern for community wellness,” said Rebecca Cobb, one of the Berkley Group employees who worked on the project. She was presenting their work on Tuesday, June 24 to a joint meeting of county supervisors and the planning commission. “There was a desire to have active lifestyles, adequate healthcare services and just education about health.”

The idea is to provide more information, letting residents know about the different health options in the community, as well as different ways to get healthy food. 

The second theme was academic excellence. Residents want modern school facilities, cutting edge programming, lifelong learning and skills training. Part of this comes from the glimpses residents have already seen of what Prince Edward Elementary will be like when renovations are complete. But this stretches beyond the K-12 school system. The goal here is to also provide ways locally for adults to go back and learn new skills, so that they can compete for new types of jobs as they come available. 

The third theme is livability. 

“We heard a lot about housing and wanting a variety of housing as well as being very targeted about growth and making sure growth happens in specific areas,” Cobb said. She pointed out that doesn’t mean residents want nothing but growth 24-7. Just as big an issue for county residents is the ability to find a balance. They want some growth, but they want some areas preserved as they are now. 

The fourth theme is prosperity. Part of that growth mentioned above needs to include new companies and new opportunities, residents said.  

“We heard that there was a desire for job creation through expansion of existing businesses, but also attracting new businesses and industry,” Cobb added. 

And the final theme was environmental stewardship. With three state parks, two wildlife management areas and one state forest, residents see plenty of outdoor recreation and conservation opportunities. In all of the discussions, residents felt this could also help with ecotourism and economic growth, without sacrificing land to development.