Protection of the environment and neighborhoods dominated the testimony of about 100 speakers as the Fairfax County Planning Commission kicked-off the latest round of public hearings last Wednesday evening, Jan. 30.
The Planning Commission heard testimony regarding 24 Plan Amendment nominations within the McLean Planning District within the Dranesville Supervisor District.
This process allowed for the public to be heard on the 2001 North County Cycle Area Plan Review (APR) for the Dranesville Magisterial District. Of the 24 nominations, 22 of which were heard, 10 were for park options. APR Task Force member Adrienne Whyte, a scheduled speaker on all 22 nominations, saved time by explaining her reasoning for park options the first time the subject was mentioned.
Whyte, chairman of the McLean Citizens Association (MCA) Planning and Zoning Committee, said there were an abundance of park option nominations as an objection to the rezoning of property for development. She said the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission instructed her committee to add such requests to the Comprehensive Plan and that this was a way to do that.
Whyte expressed disappointment in the staff's treatment of the nominations. She believed staff sided with the Fairfax County Park Authority supporting active recreation and not considering passive recreation. "We need all kinds of open or green space, and land left natural is fast becoming a rarity in Fairfax County," said Whyte.
Whyte also expressed disappointment with the APR Task Force she served on. She said the Task Force did not support the nominations for park options if the landowner objected to the park option.
<mh>Park Options
<bt>One such park option was recommended for the property where the Dominican Retreat House sits on Old Dominion Drive in McLean. "This is a beautiful piece of property," said Whyte, the nominator of APR# 01-II-10M, calling for the addition of a park option for the property zoned for two to three dwelling units per acre.
Whyte wants the park option "should the building ever be sold" in order to avoid a "fight similar to Evans Farm. We hope they never leave. They have been wonderful stewards of the land," she said.
The Dominicans have no plans to move, said Keith Martin, attorney speaking for the Retreat House. He also objected to the park option on the grounds that the property would be devalued.
Whyte said there has been no proof of devaluation offered by the owner.
In her nomination of APR# 01-II-25M, 24.4 acres of land located north of the Spring Hill Recreation Center, as a park option, McLean resident Susan Turner said it is important to "save one of our most pristine streams."
The nomination uses language that says, "no land-disturbing activities should take place within 100 feet of Bulls Neck Run." A public park may be appropriate if the "environmentally sensitive areas are preserved."
While there is no wording in the Comprehensive Plan denoting any specific plans for the land, and most of the stream is already protected, the headwaters, critical to the health of the stream are not protected, said Whyte.
"We need to make the stream perennial — currently it is not designated," said McLean resident Frank Fuerst, president of the Bull Neck Run Conservancy. "Crayfish would not survive if the stream were not perennial."
Perennial indicates that a stream runs regularly, as opposed to a stream that runs intermittently, or whenever there is a storm, explained Whyte.
"Trust us we were told. If 'trust us' were good enough, we wouldn't need the Chesapeake Bay Act," said Fuerst.
Another park option nomination was presented by Turner after several nominations were presented calling for park options for passive recreation, Turner said, "We do indeed have a desperate need for more playing fields — and this is where they should be," referring to a 10.5 acre piece of property owned by the school board.
The property in question, APR# 01-II-27M, is located south of Hunting Hill Lane and east of Kimberwicke Road. Neighbors would prefer that the land remain as it is; yet staff recommended that the land, which is planned for an elementary school if needed, should continue to be used as a park.
Shetland Court resident Frank Bennett opposed the nomination. "I'm sympathetic of the need for more fields — there's too much traffic already," said the former coach of McLean Youth Soccer.
Hunting Hill Lane resident Edward Newberry also objected to the nomination. "We want to preserve the passive use. It's a center of our neighborhood," said Newberry, president of the Greenway Heights Civic Association.
<mh>Metro Station Build-Up
<bt>Not all nominations called for park options. Nomination APR# 01-II-4M calls for the replacement of 130,000 square feet of planned office/retail use with residential use for 30 dwelling units per acre.
The nomination, made by Whyte, is on land owned by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) at the West Falls Church Transit Station. This is a location where, in the 1980s, the land was planned for mixed-use development of the transit station, commercial space, office space, retail and residential.
That language is still in the Comprehensive Plan today, yet what has been developed has been residential property, such as condominiums, and the educational facilities of University of Virginia and Virginia Tech satellites, said Whyte.
Commercial development hasn't happened and now it makes little sense to have the commercial development the Comprehensive Plan recommends. "Residential development promotes metro ridership. This is not a destination job center like Tysons Corner, Metro Center or Dulles Corridor. This is the station where Bus Rapid Transit will launch," said Whyte.
The nomination also calls for a five-story parking garage. "There is a lot of support for this," said Whyte.
"The Falls Church City Council wishes to express its support for a proposed new parking garage to be located at the West Falls Church Metro Station. The expansion of the parking facilities will, we believe, reduce on-street parking in the immediate area of the Station in both the City and the County. Moreover, the additional parking will only aid in furthering economic development efforts along the Route 7 corridor," wrote City of Falls Church mayor Daniel Gardner on Jan. 29 in a letter to Planning Commission chairman Murphy.
Gardner also expressed his lack of support for the commercial aspect of the original language found in the Comprehensive Plan while reinforcing support for the proposed garage.
<mh>Increased Density
<bt>Great Falls resident Ronald Jerro nominated a piece of property he owns on Leesburg Pike in Falls Church for increased density to the objection of neighbors abutting that property.
Currently zoned for two to three dwelling units per acre, the property on Leesburg Pike is bordered by property zoned at either R-2 or R-4. Jerro wants to change the zoning on his property to three to four dwelling units per acre, which staff supports, with an option of five to eight dwelling units per acre, which staff does not support.
"The owner has regularly attempted to change the zoning to increase density. We don't want large numbers of townhouses in a single family neighborhood," said Michael Wright, president of the Lemon Road Civic Association.
"Mr. Jerro has not met with property owners. Access has not been addressed. This could land lock the Thomas's property," said Jane Kelsey, representing Larry Thomas, whose property is next to Jerro's.
Several other neighbors spoke out against Jerro's nomination, APR# 01-II-5M, including Whyte on behalf of the MCA.
<mh>Lowell Avenue's Future
<bt>Former Dranesville Supervisor Lilla Richards of McLean presented her nomination of APR# 01-II-40M proposing the deletion of language calling for the closure of Lowell Avenue.
The Comprehensive Plan calls for the closure of Lowell Avenue in order to nearly double the public use space to be created with the coming of Civic Place in McLean.
Public safety was the crux of the argument presented by Clyde Clark, chief of the McLean Volunteer Fire Department. The VFD building's side entrance is on Lowell Avenue. The five story building to be constructed by Madison Homes would fall under the VFD's responsibility and closing Lowell would infringe upon its access to that building — "access we would rather not surrender," said Clark.
"Our building is currently served by a sprinkler system designed to provide total station coverage for both our personnel and our building. The fire department connection to this system is at the side entrance to our facility along Lowell Avenue. Convenient access should not be denied by the closing of this street," said Clark, who at the conclusion of his comments asked for the other members of the VFD to rise in support, in lieu of commenting individually.
MCA board member Clark Tyler of McLean also spoke in support of Richards' nomination. "Anything impeding traffic or restricting traffic is a bad idea. Two operations would suffer — the Old Dominion Animal Hospital and the Fire Department. In this day and age, when the fire department expresses an opinion, we should listen," said Tyler.
Dr. Gordon Davis spoke on behalf of the animal hospital, but also for a facility considered part of the county emergency preparedness plan. The hospital is on the emergency preparedness maps, he said. "Given the recent event of Sept. 11, we are decreasing our main escape route," said Davis.
On behalf of the MCA, Whyte also supported the nomination. While the Comprehensive Plan calls for the closure of Lowell, Whyte called such language "an albatross and it should be removed."
"I personally use Lowell to get to the animal hospital. We should be able to get to the front door from both sides. People use that road. There's no need to close the road to hold public events at Civic Place. There's precious little support for the road closure," said Whyte.
Support for the closure of Lowell came from McLean Planning Committee member James "Jim" Peoples. "The Comprehensive Plan designated Civic Place for a plaza-like park. Closure allows for additional gathering space. The plan is truly win-win. We will not give up ownership of the land — it can be reopened if needed," said Peoples.
"We're closing access to the fire department," said Richards. "This is so off the wall. The Board of Supervisors should never have approved the increased density for Civic Place," she said.
With the Planning Commission public hearing closed with the adjournment of the Jan. 30 meeting, that body will consider the nominations and the testimony presented.
Fairfax County Planning Commission chairman Peter F. Murphy, Jr. (Springfield) congratulated his colleagues and the remaining audience when the public hearing ended.
"We got through all the McLean nominations in one night," said Murphy, both relieved and exhausted as the Planning Commission's public hearing adjourned at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 31.