NEW REDSKINS BY WAY OF MANASSAS: Tim Settle and Greg Stroman talked to the Prince William Times from training camp. Sports, Page 11
August 8, 2018 | Serving Haymarket, Gainesville and Western Prince William County | Vol. 17, No. 32 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢
Haymarket Town Council approves part of Crossroads Village Center By Jonathan Hunley Times Staff Writer
The Haymarket Town Council on Monday night approved part of a 21acre mixed-use development, denied another part and deferred discussion
on still another portion. The actions were taken on Crossroads Village Center, a project that aims to add 79 townhouses, three fast-food restaurants and other commercial outlets to the municipality.
Council members approved the townhouses and a bank with drive-thru lanes. They also OK’d a permit for a building that is planned to be either a hotel or an assisted-living facility. The permit would allow
the structure to be 75 feet tall if it was used as a hotel but only 50 feet tall if it was an assisted-living facility, the idea being that the hotel is a more attractive option for the town. See CROSSROADS, Page 2
PHOTO BY DOUG STROUD
A row of softball trophies can be seen in the bedroom of Lydia Ghergis, 10, who died Aug. 1 after a tree crashed into her room.
10-year-old girl killed by fallen tree remembered as ‘beautiful, kind’ Staff reports Lydia Ghergis, the 10-year-old girl killed Wednesday, Aug. 1, when a tree crashed into her Warrenton home, is being remembered as a “beautiful and kind girl who was the embodiment of the phrase, ‘full of
Lydia Ghergis
life,’” according to a GoFundMe page set up for her family. “It is with a heavy and broken heart that we are starting this Go Fund Me page for
INSIDE Calendar.............................................14 Classifieds...........................................17 News....................................................3 Opinion.................................................9
Beth and Casey,” the page organizer wrote, referring to Lydia’s parents, Beth and Casey James. “Her smile and laugh were contagious and she always had a twinkle in her eyes.” The page had raised more than $53,000 from more than 800 donors PWC Libraries.....................................13 Puzzle Page........................................10 Real Estate..........................................16 Sports.................................................11
by the weekend. Lydia played softball and was a student at Gravely Elementary School in Gainesville. Her mother, Beth James, was a bus driver for Prince William County schools. See LYDIA, Page 2
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Gainesville/Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | August 8, 2018
10-year-old girl killed by fallen tree remembered as ‘beautiful, kind’ LYDIA, from Page 1 It’s not known exactly why the large tree fell onto the James’ home and into Lydia’s bedroom, pinning her onto her bed. The tree might have been struck by lightning, or it might have given way because the ground was so saturated with rain. “Trees have been coming down” due to ground saturation from frequent and heavy rainfall, said Sam Myers, an assistant chief of the Warrenton Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department. He noted that a woman was killed in Burke last week by a falling tree. The split-foyer home, in the 6200 block of Highmeadow Place in the Cedar Run subdivision, was purchased by Bethany and Casey James in June, according to Fauquier Coun-
ty tax records. The 911 call was made by a neighbor at about 10:25 p.m. Warrenton fire and rescue officials were on the scene in about six minutes. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene, according to reports from the sheriff’s office and fire department. The responding units had cutting and prying equipment. A squad from the Gainesville fire and rescue station in Prince William County arrived with additional equipment, Myers said. “It was a very large tree that came down on the corner of the house,” Myers said. An initial report indicated there were two children in the house, but it was determined that only one child and her parents were present, Myers said.
PHOTO BY DOUG STROUD
A large tree fell on the the home on the 6200 block of Highmeadow Place on Aug. 1. “The tree was stabilized using hydraulic struts than can hold thousands of pounds,” Myers explained. “It stopped the crushing and stabilized the tree so that we could fig-
ure out how compromised the house was. It was fairly stable,” Myers said. The response units were on the scene from 10:31 p.m. until the final one left at 2:13 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 2.
Haymarket Town Council approves part of Crossroads Village Center CROSSROADS, from Page 1 The council denied a permit for an auto repair business and deferred discussion on the three fast-food restaurants, seeking more information on where dumpsters for those businesses would be located. It’s not yet known which eateries might occupy the spaces, only that they would have drive-thru windows. The patchwork of decisions showed that the government was taking each aspect of the project and weighing it on its own merits, said Haymarket Mayor David Leake. “So this was a good example in my eyes that this is the way it’s supposed to work,” he said. Crossroads Village Center is proposed by Chantilly-based developer Meladon Group, which built the Cascades Overlook Town Center in Sterling. It’s planned for a tract bordered by Washington Street, U.S. 15 and Interstate 66. Gifford Hampshire, an attorney for the developer, said his clients respect the decisions of the town council and plan to provide more informa-
TIMES STAFF PHOTO/JONATHAN HUNLEY
Dottie W. Leonard, representing the Citizens for the Betterment and Harmony of Haymarket and Western Prince William County, addresses the Haymarket Town Council on Monday night. The council held a public hearing on Crossroads Village Center, a project that aims to add 79 townhouses, three fast-food restaurants and other commercial outlets to the municipality. tion about the fast-food restaurants when the council meets again Sept. 4.
Community Editor Anita Sherman, 540.351.1635 asherman@fauquier.com Staff Writers ISSN 1050-7655, USPS 188280 Amanda Heincer, 540-878-2418 Published every Wednesday by aheincer@fauquier.com Piedmont Media LLC James Ivancic, 540-878-2414 jivancic@fauquier.com How to reach us Leland Schwartz, 540-351-0488 ADDRESS: lschwartz@fauquier.com 41 Culpeper Street Warrenton, Virginia 20186 Jonathan Hunley PHONE: 540-347-4222 jhunley@fauquier.com FAX: 540-349-8676 HOURS: 8 a.m. 5 p.m. weekdays, Sports Editor 24-hour answering service Peter Brewington, 540-351-1169 pbrewington@fauquier.com Publisher Catherine M. Nelson, Sports Staff Writer 540-300-4780 Jeff Malmgren, 540-874-2250 cnelson@fauquier.com jmalmgren@fauquier.com NEWSROOM ADVERTISING Editor in Chief Ad Manager Chris Six, 540-212-6331 Kathy Mills Godfrey 540-351-1162 csix@fauquier.com kgodfrey@fauquier.com Managing Editor Classified Sales Consulatants Jill Palermo,540-351-0431 Jeanne Cobert, 540-878-2491 jpalermo@fauquier.com jcobert@fauquier.com Associate Editor Evelyn Cobert, 540-878-2492 John Toler, 540-351-0487 jtoler@fauquier.com ecobert@fauquier.com
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“We’re hopeful we can provide those details,” he said. The council’s decisions — which all came on 5-1 votes, except for the hotel item, which was decided unanimously — came after a public hearing that lasted more than two hours and saw comments from 30 speakers. Most of them were opposed to one or more aspects of Crossroads Village Center, and comments largely addressed the development’s impact on school enrollment and traffic. “My concern is for students,” Prince William School Board member Alyson A. Satterwhite told town council members. The Prince William County School Division anticipates the 79 townhomes in Crossroads Village Center will generate a total of 49 new students: 24 elementary-schoolers; 11 middle-schoolers; and 14 high-school students. The area is zoned for Haymarket Elementary, Reagan Middle and
Battlefield High schools. And of the three, only Haymarket Elementary is projected to remain under capacity at 86.5 percent this school year. Both Reagan Middle and Battlefield High are already overcapacity, and Battlefield will again be the most crowded school in the county when school begins later this month. Crossroads Village Center’s developer has pledged a cash donation to the school division of $10,300 per townhouse, or about $813,700 total, to mitigate the effect of the new students. Other speakers, such as Jose Gomez-Acevedo, worried about traffic. “Any increase in the population, any increase in the traffic, it will be a huge, huge factor in the lives of us who are living here,” Gomez-Acevedo said. Crossroads Village Center would have three entrance points off Washington Street. One would be just to the west of Giuseppe’s restaurant, and one would be east of the driveway for Chick-fil-A. The third would be in between those two entrances, where the developer would ask the Virginia Department of Transportation to install a stoplight. Additional traffic that the development would generate was also described in the public hearing as an issue that would change the character of Haymarket. The town was designed to be a walking community, but it could be rendered as more of a place just to exit I-66, said Laura Newman. “We’re going to become a rest stop,” she said. Hampshire, however, said that studies show that there will be less traffic in Crossroads Village Center with a mix of commercial and residential components than if the land was developed for only businesses, which the Meladon Group could have done without getting approval from the town council. Reach Jonathan Hunley at jhunley@fauquier.com
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19-year-old Woodbridge man arrested in fatal shooting Police seek witnesses in crash outside NOVA Manassas campus A 19-year-old Woodbridge man has been charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting Wednesday, Aug. 1 that resulted in the death of a 22-year-old Woodbridge man. Prince William County police announced the arrest of Jorge Anthony Sandoval, 19, Friday, Aug. 3. Sandoval is being held without bond at the Prince William County Adult Detention Center, according to a police press release. The Aug. 1 shooting occurred on the 14700 block of Arizona Avenue, in Woodbridge. The police investi-
gation revealed that the victim and the suspect were on the back deck of the home when the shooting occurred, the press release said. Detectives are still trying to determine what led up to the altercation that resulted in the shooting. But they know the men knew each other, the press release said. The victim’s name has not yet been released as detectives are still awaiting contact with his next-ofkin, the press release said. The incident is Prince William County’s third homicide of 2018.
Woodbridge 7-Eleven robbed at midday The 7-Eleven convenience store at the corner of Minnieville Road and Cardinal Drive was robbed by an armed man about 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 31, according to Prince William County police. Officers were called to the Woodbridge store, at 14410 Minnieville Road, after an employee reported that an unknown man entered the store and displayed a handgun. The suspect forced the employee to open
the cash register to obtain money before he fled on foot. No injuries were reported. A police K-9 searched for the suspect who was not located. He is described as white, between 22 and 28 years old, between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall with black hair. He was last seen wearing black headphones, sunglasses, a black shirt and blue jeans. The investigation continues.
Police: Woman kissed, inappropriately touched by gas-station employee A 53-year-old employee of an Exxon gas station on Minnieville Road was arrested Wednesday, Aug. 1, after a 19-year-old woman told police he kissed her on the face and touched her against her will when she went into the gas station to
get a receipt. Samuel Derash Beshah, 53, of Woodbridge, faces charges of sexual battery in connection with the incident. He was released on a court summons, according to a police press release.
Prince William police are looking for the driver of a silver vehicle who left the scene of a serious crash outside Northern Virginia Community College’s Manassas campus Tuesday evening that sent five people to the hospital with injuries. The silver vehicle, of unknown make or model, failed to yield at a stop sign on Campus Drive before turning north onto Sudley Road just before 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 31, according to a Prince William County police. That maneuver is believed to have set off a chain-reaction crash. A 38-year-old Chantilly man driving a BMW 330, also heading north, swerved to avoid the silver vehicle. While doing so, he crossed into the path of a 1998 Jeep Cherokee traveling in the southbound lanes, according to an initial police investigation of the incident. The driver of the Jeep, a 61-yearold Manassas man, lost control while
Woodbridge man held without bond after alleged strangulation A Woodbridge man is being held at the Prince William County jail without bond after a woman told police he tried to strangle her. Officers arrived at a home onthe 2700 block of Brier Pond Circle, in Woodbridge, at 11:20 a.m. Sunday, July 22, after a 38-year-old woman reported that she and the accused, a family member, were involved in an argument, according to a police press release. The woman told police the man
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attempting to avoid hitting the BMW. The Jeep rolled over several times, causing a 49-year-old Manassas man, who was not wearing a seatbelt, to be ejected, the press release said. The passenger was flown to an area hospital with serious, non-life-threatening injuries, the press release said. The driver of the Jeep had to be extricated from the vehicle. He, too, was transported to a local hospital, also with serious, non-life-threatening injuries. Three additional passengers of the Jeep – all men, ages 24, 40 and 49 – were transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the BMW was not injured and remained on scene. Anyone who may have witnessed this crash or has any information regarding it, is asked to contact the Prince William County Police Department tip line at 703-792-7000 or submit a tip online at www.pwcgov.org/policetip
grabbed her by the neck and choked her. The parties eventually separated, and the victim fled the residence before contacting police. Minor injuries were reported. Following the investigation, the accused, identified as Brad Michael Groat, was arrested on July 30, and charged with strangulation. He is being held at the Prince William County jail without bond, according to the police press release.
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