A hotel, an urban park, retail stores, homes and offices were among the many construction suggestions area residents and landowners proposed for property in the Sully District.
Their ideas were contained in the 2001 Area Plans Review (APR) nominations, which were actually proposed amendments to the county's Comprehensive Plan dealing with land in the Sully District.
Each one was considered by a special task force and then by the Fairfax County Planning Commission on Feb. 28 and the county Board of Supervisors, March 18.
"When the land's vacant, it's easy to make changes," said Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully). "It gets harder and harder to change the Plan as you see development implemented." Below are synopses of some of the proposals — and the changes approved by both entities. The rest will be covered in the next issue of Centre View.
HOTEL/URBAN PARK: This proposal was not approved for a hotel, but was approved for townhouse-style offices.
* Owner Shanker K. Patel, manager of North Fairfax Drive Investments LLC and Centreville Hotel LLC, proposed a change for 2.8 total acres at 6009, 6016 and 6020 Old Centreville Road and at 6019 Centreville Road. The property is in the southwest quadrant of the Routes 28/29 intersection, where Old Centreville Road intersects Route 28.
Surrounding it is land designated for offices, mixed use, retail and residential purposes. The parcels in question are currently planned for residential use at 5-8 homes per acre, but Patel wanted them classified instead as mixed use so he could build a 120-room hotel there.
* The Little Rocky Run Homeowners Association also submitted a plan for the same parcels. It described itself as having 892 member townhouse units using Sunset Ridge Road — opposite those parcels.
Noting that the property is "constrained by odd geometry, size and difficult road access," the association proposed an urban park for that spot with a Civil War monument. It also wanted an option for nonconventional office uses, including a potential underground data center of 10,000 square feet.
Planning Commission: Saying that residential use at 5-8 homes per acre is "no longer appropriate" for that area, Sully District Planning Commissioner Ron Koch moved that the area be replanned instead for office use, but not for a hotel. He said residential communities on the east side of Old Centreville Road should be buffered from visual and noise impacts. And he said traffic improvements, such as turning and deceleration lanes, should be provided at the main entrance and whatever traffic improvements are needed at Route 28 and Old Centreville Road because of the increased traffic should be made.
Supervisors: They approved low-density, townhouse-style offices. "The current plan called for residential townhouses on that little sliver between Old Centreville Road and Route 28," said Frey. "But there was no support for a hotel."
* ROCKLAND VILLAGE: Marianne Gardner of the county's Department of Planning and Zoning, proposed changes for the former Rockland Village, now renamed Chantilly Crossing. It involves 243 parcels off Route 50 and Walney Road in Chantilly — a total of almost 117 acres.
The purpose of Gardner's amendment is to "better reflect the existing character" of the Rockland Village and Walney Road subdivisions and property on the north side of Vernon Street (part of the Pohanka auto dealership).
Her proposal would remove all recommendations for office and/or industrial use in these areas and would reflect the property's new character. It would acknowledge Pohanka's expansion, Rockland Village's consolidation and various uses and the Walney Road subdivision's development into a residential community. Both Frey and Koch agreed.
* MORE HOMES: Lynne Strobel, on behalf of J.A. Loveless Homes XI of Arlington, proposed a change for 11 parcels in Centreville totaling 38 acres. This area is planned for one to two homes per acres, but she said two to three homes per acre would be more desirable.
Several owners are involved, and the properties are on the south side of Old Mill Road, at the intersection of Old Mill and Mount Olive roads and east of Old Centreville Road in the vicinity of the Centre Ridge and Confederate Ridge subdivisions.
Except for adjacent park use, all these parcels are surrounded by areas that are either planned for or already developed at higher intensities. An increase in density, wrote Strobel, would "result in single-family, detached, residential development [more] consistent and compatible ... with the size, use and intensity of surrounding residential development in the area."
Koch recommended adding the county-staff alternative, which would add an option for residential use at 2-3/homes per acre for land south of Centre Ridge and include much-needed road improvements in the area.
He noted that lower-density uses should be located adjacent to Newgate Forest, roads and intersections should be improved to VDOT standards and "at least one additional access road should be provided to correct a long, single-ended access road from Old Centreville Road to the end of Old Mill Road." Frey and the supervisors agreed.