Holmes Run Valley Community

On 21 Aug, the county distributed a proposal to amend the zoning ordinance for planned developments in Commercial Revitalization Districts (CRD’s) and Commercial Revitalization Areas (CRA’s), among others. The proposed amendments may profoundly affect the redevelopment of the three CRD’s in Mason District: Seven Corners, Bailey’s Crossroads, and Annandale.  This page provides access to the following documents:

• The county 21 August draft proposal to amend the zoning ordinance
• Comments on the draft proposal submitted to the county on 24 Aug by HRVCA
• 31 Aug county response to the 24 Aug HRVCA comments
• 1 Sep HRVCA reply to the 31 Aug county response
• 7 Sep preliminary comments submitted to county based on a second reading of the proposal

This series of documents reflects the complexity of the county’s amendment proposal.  Community associations are asking the county to extend the due date for final comments to 23 Nov.

On August 21, Fairfax County proposed to relax development standards for Seven Corners and other Commercial Revitalization Districts.  The relaxed standards would substantially diminish the quality of Seven Corners redevelopment and would threaten the quality of life in adjacent neighborhoods.  The attached summary describes the changes proposed by the county and invites residents to submit comments prior to the Sep 4 due date.

On July 15, the Planning Commission announced its decision regarding modifications recommended by the Community Working Group to the county plan for Seven Corners redevelopment.  Slides describing the CWG recommendations, plan modifications accepted by the Planning Commission, and the current status of the county’s plan are provided by this post.

On July 28, the Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the redevelopment plan.  The slides describe opportunities for residents to participate in the hearing process.

This post provides the recommendations of the Community Working Group for revisions to the county’s plan for redevelopment of Seven Corners.

On 25 Mar, representatives of neighborhood associations most directly affected by the county’s proposed redevelopment of Seven Corners send a letter to Supervisor Gross declaring their opposition to the plan.  On 27 Apr, community representatives met with Supervisor Gross and secured her agreement to consider revisions to the county’s plan.  The associations formed a Community Working Group (CWG) which produced recommended revisions  on 23 Jun and sent them to Supervisor Gross, Planning Commissioner Strandlie, the Board of Supervisors, and the Planning Commission.

The CWG plan revisions address five principal topics: density of development, transportation infrastructure, a school on the Willston site, restoration of the low-income housing that would be displaced by the redevelopment, and parks and green space.   The CWG produced four documents:

• The Cover Letter letter lists the revisions and describes them briefly
• The Recommendations document describes each revision and its rationale
• The Attachment provides red lines for the county’s plan to incorporate the revisions
• An Alternative Affordable Housing Strategy describes a possible means for restoring low-income housing at Seven Corners that would be lost under the county’s plan.

An on-line petition is available for those who wish to support the CWG recommended revisions.  It is an important opportunity to influence the county’s plan for Seven Corners redevelopment. Please take a minute to consider signing.

The county’s plan for Seven Corners redevelopment is available here.

This post provides access to the county’s final proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment for the Seven Corners CBC. On my Mac, clicking on the “pdf document” option opens the pdf document in the browser and it can be saved from there.  Clicking on the “Word document” option automatically downloads the Word document to the Download folder on the Mac.  The size of the Word document is approximately 26 MB.

6 May:  The following is the original document with a table of contents and numbered headings added.

Plan with ToC:  pdf doc with ToC              Plan with ToC:  Word doc with ToC

4 May:  The following is the original plan document copied from the county’s CD.

Plan from CD:  original pdf doc                  Plan from CD:  original Word doc

Any problem, let me know.

Clyde Miller. cmiller1017@verizon.net

The Seven Corners Task Force has finished their redevelopment plan. It is likely that hearings soon will begin to determine whether the larger community accepts their proposal. This CRITIQUE of the plan has been prepared to aid understanding of six principal community issues/concerns that remain unresolved. Over the past eight months, community members have voiced these concerns repeatedly in task force and working group meetings, but Supervisor Gross and the county have provided no constructive response.

The critique discusses both the unresolved concerns and the process by which the task force developed their plan. The process is important because its deficiencies largely explain why the community concerns surfaced relatively late in the process and why they remain unresolved.

The critique document intentionally is comprehensive and thoroughly referenced. In particular, discussions of process deficiencies are supported by links to relevant community and county documents generated during the plan development process. The critique document includes a number of features to aid readers’ navigation:

• The first page is a table of contents, and each heading is linked to the association section of the document. For example, to move to section “6.2 First Draft,” click on “First Draft.”
• Where specific sections are referenced in the text, click on the section number to move to that section. For example, if the text reads “Section 5.3,” clicking on “5.3” will take you to that section.
• Referenced documents are available via Internet hyperlinks. For example, clicking on “130711_JTem” will open that document on your computer if you have an Internet connection.

Some may want to read the critique straight through. Those with more limited time may want to focus on the following:

• Section 1. Introduction (1 page)
• Section 2. Summary of Unresolved Community Concerns (1+ page)
• Section 7. Explanation of Community Concerns, especially Section 7.3 Schools
• Section 10. Conclusion and an Approach to Resolution (2 pages)
• Appendix. The appendix (3+ pages) concisely summarizes pertinent material in tables

The 4 March draft of the task force redevelopment plan for Seven Corners is available HERE.

Please send any comment or question to cmiller1017@verizon.net, Subject: Critique