Holmes Run Valley Community

The association met at Beech Tree Elementary School at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, 11 April, for our spring meeting. Business included report on the association’s Feb/Mar survey of member interests and concerns, distribution of the new HRVCA hot sheet, summary of a recent experience with the county’s Department of Code Compliance, and an update on county planning activities.

The meeting report includes links to the survey results and the hot sheet.  Survey results and hot sheet also are available on the blog by clicking on Citizens Assoc under Pages on the right side of the Web page.

Clyde Miller

Your neighborhood association, Holmes Run Valley Citizens Association (HRVCA), would like to solicit your support and provide resources to bolster the quality of our environment. We are not a formal homeowners association with architectural board and restrictions, but we all have a stake in preserving and enhancing our property values and assuring that your community is safe and attractive.

In response to a general desire and a few concerns about keeping our neighborhood attractive, a group within HRVCA has formed to develop a progression of measures that can be taken informally to meet challenges, and, if necessary, formally address county code compliance issues.

In order to gain your input and perspective, we ask that you provide your opinions and ideas in either of two ways by February 18. We will report the results of the survey at the spring HRVCA meeting.

The first option is to take a concise 15-question anonymous survey at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HRVCANeighborhoodFeedback

Alternatively, please email your comments and concerns to HRVCAFeedback@gmail.com.

In your email please address the following topics.  In addition, please include the name of your street or your full address to verify that you reside in the HRVCA community.

• How satisfied are you with the quality of life in your neighborhood?
• What do you like most and least about your neighborhood?
• What, if anything, concerns you regarding safety and quality of the environment?
• What changes/improvements do you recommend?
• Should HRVCA establish a Neighborhood Watch Program, an initiative of the Fairfax County Police Department to increase community awareness of crime issues and how to better protect our homes and property?
• If HRVCA established a Neighborhood Watch Program would you participate in the county’s four-hour training session at a local location?
• What would better encourage your participation in spring and fall HRVCA community meetings?

Thank you for participating in the survey.

The association met at Beech Tree Elementary School at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, 8 Nov, for its fall meeting. Business included election of the HRVCA Board of Directors, county proposal to repurpose office buildings, maintenance and inappropriate use of neighborhood properties, and short-term rentals.

The following links access the Agenda and Handout as well as the Meeting Report.

Clyde Miller

The Lincolnia Study Task Force is considering the pros and cons of a potential CBC comprised of 135 parcels on 169 acres surrounding the intersection of Little River Turnpike and Beauregard Street.  The purpose of the attached paper is to point out a number of potential negative consequences of establishing a new Community Business Center (CBC) at Lincolnia.  The paper includes a concise summary of the county’s plan to redevelop the Seven Corners CBC.

Thanks to all who attended the Holmes Run Valley Citizens Association meeting Wednesday evening, 22 Feb 2017, at which Fairfax County Police Officer Eduardo Azcarate provided a briefing on neighborhood safety and security. He discussed ways for residents to protect their homes and property as well as means for effectively collaborating with neighbors and police to better protect our community. His handout listed a number of ways to interface with FCPD by phone and Internet. (The phone number for contacting FCPD in emergencies is 911. The non‑emergency number for the Mason District station is 703-256-8035; dial “0” for the front desk.) (more…)

On 6 Dec, the Board of Supervisors held a public hearing and approved their Plan Amendment 2015-I-J1 to revise the Comprehensive Plan for Graham Park Plaza (aka Loehmann’s Plaza) located at Arlington Blvd and Graham Rd. The amendment increases the recommended floor area on the 19.5-acre site from 297,500 to 425,000 sq ft and allows residential development. It supports Federal Realty’s rezoning request (RZ/FDP 2016-MA-022) to redevelop the site with 248 apartments as well as retail and office uses. After the first of the year, the community will have an opportunity to influence the redevelopment plan as described below. (more…)

The association met at Beech Tree Elementary School at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, 19 Oct, for its fall meeting. Business included election of the HRVCA Board of Directors, adoption of revised bylaws, three issues with county government, and discussion of neighborhood security and code compliance concerns.

A report of meeting results is on our blog.

Clyde Miller

On 1 Nov, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will conduct a public hearing and consider adoption of a new policy for public school facilities. The policy should NOT be adopted. It features schools located in surplus office buildings, in commercial areas, with outdoor recreational space confined to garage rooftops and school sites reduced in size to the minimums allowed by the zoning ordinance. The provision in the current policy that Fairfax County schools would comply with Virginia Department of Education guidelines would be nullified. The proposed policy threatens the quality of future public school facilities.

The attached paper encourages citizen opposition and provides a format for an appropriate email to the Board of Supervisors. Please take a few minutes to read the paper and send an email to the Board if you agree that the new policy should not be adopted. Nothing is more important to the education of our children, our property values, the character of our community, and our ability to attract the skilled and educated workforce essential to our economic development than the quality of our schools. Please read the attachment and send your opinion to the Board.

To be effective, your email would need to be sent prior to close of business 27 Oct.

On 1 Jun 2016, HRVCA members met from 7:30 – 9:00 PM at Beech Tree Elementary School to discuss four principal issues affecting our community:

• A county proposal to amend the zoning ordinance to allow very high-density developments at Seven Corners as well as in Annandale and Bailey’s Crossroads
• County plan for redevelopment of the SE Quadrant at Bailey’s and relocation of the shelter to Lincolnia
• Fairfax Forward, the new county process for periodically updating the Comprehensive Plan
• County’s activity to revise the Policy Plan of the Comprehensive Plan to incorporate criteria for repurposing aging, empty commercial office buildings as public schools

Discussion was supported by the attached slides.

Despite the notice of the meeting provided on 11 May and several reminder emails, attendance was disappointing. Only 13 members participated.   Perhaps early June is a poor time for an association meeting. I would appreciate feedback via our Google Group regarding reasons members did not participate.

The following decisions were reached regarding the four issues above.

• Zoning Ordinance Amendment: The association will continue to oppose the amendment in its current form. It threatens communities with negative consequences of high-density development, the county has not demonstrated a need for the amendment, and the large majority of citizens and associations responding to it are opposed.
• SE Quadrant Redevelopment and Shelter Relocation: It was agreed that any relocation of the shelter should be to an appropriate, permanent location; the requirement for the proposed $125m county office building should be substantiated and reviewed with the community; and any redevelopment of the SEQ should conform to the mixed-use concept developed by the 2007 Bailey’s Crossroads citizens’ task force.
• Fairfax Forward: The association will continue to advocate adequate citizen participation in the county’s process for amending and updating the Comprehensive Plan.
• Policy Plan Amendment for Repurposing Office Buildings for Schools: The association will ask the county to provide a minimum of 30 days for review of subject proposed changes as well as publication of School Board comments on the revisions.

Several members spoke of their concern about a special permit application filed for 3321 Hawthorne Ln off of Nicholson Rd that would allow a number of chickens and goats to be kept on the property. The meeting did not discuss details of the application but agreed to support the affected neighbors if a clear majority takes a position on the question.

It was agreed that the association will purchase 10 new roadside signs at $16 each for announcing meetings.

The county is seeking volunteers to help out at nearby White Gardens.

Clyde Miller, President

The Planning Commission Schools Committee is responding to a Board of Supervisors request to modify the Policy Plan of the Comprehensive Plan to incorporate “locational and character criteria” for repurposing commercial office buildings for school use.

The Board agenda item that made the request cited Upper Bailey’s Elementary School at 6245 Leesburg Pike as an example of successful use of surplus commercial office space to provide school capacity.  The renovated office building is in a heavily trafficked commercial district; on blacktop; with no gym, auditorium, or green space.  While many parents understandably are happy to have their children in the building instead of the 19 trailers used for many years at Lower Bailey’s Elementary School, the building fails to meet Virginia Department of Education guidelines for school facilities.  It fails as well to meet current Policy Plan guidelines.  Many citizens consider the refurbished office building an inferior solution  and an unacceptable model for future Mason District schools.

Supervisor John Cook is leading a Building Repurposing Workgroup seeking productive uses for aging, empty commercial office buildings in the county.  More than 17 million square feet of vacant office space is on the market.  One use under considerations for the aging, empty buildings is conversion to public schools.

On 26 May, Mason District Council sent a letter to Supervisor Cook recommending a different approach – move county offices into the vacant commercial space and re-purpose the vacated county buildings as schools. That is, certain county operations would migrate into commercial space (purchased or leased) and public schools would inherit the county-owned property vacated, a two-step conversion of commercial space into school space. The theory is that it is easier and more natural to convert commercial space into space for county offices than to convert commercial space directly into schools.

The letter requested a response from the Building Repurposing Workgroup.

The Planning Commission Schools Committee will meet on the following dates at 7 PM in the Board Conference Room (walk to the right behind the dais in the Board Auditorium) at 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, 22035.

• 4 May
• 25 May
• 15 Jun
• 13 Jul (if needed)
• 21 Jul
• 20 Sep