Speaker after speaker, Tuesday night, spoke passionately about why Marlo Furniture should be allowed to build a store in Chantilly. After listening attentively, the West Fairfax County Citizens Association (WFCCA) Land-Use Committee voted 'no.'
"It was my understanding that the WFCCA represented these people," said Marlo owner and founder Lou Glickfield afterward. "If all the people were for it, what happened?"
Actually, the controversy dates back several years, when Marlo first got approval to build a store on the same site. It's now a mixed-use development called Chantilly Crossing and is at the southwest corner of Routes 28 and 50, near the future National Air and Space Museum Annex.
Marlo never built that store, plans changed and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved developer Starwood-Ceruzzi's plans for hotels, restaurants, small businesses and anchor stores Target and Costco there. But only one hotel got built, and now the developer wants to swap an already-approved hotel for a Marlo.
County staff recommends denial because that site is supposed to contain tourist-oriented uses supporting the museum annex. But attorney Keith Martin, representing Marlo, said there are enough existing and planned hotels here to serve it. He contended that annex visitors would stay in Washington, D.C., instead, and see its sights, too.
Glickfield's son, Adam, said Marlo doesn't generate much traffic, another hotel on that site wasn't marketable and a furniture store would better serve all the residential growth here. He also presented letters from nearby businesses and a petition from local residents saying they'd prefer a furniture store there to a hotel.
"I have no problem with a Marlo furniture store coming to the community," said WFCCA member Jim Hart. "But if we do this, what comes next?" He said the county's 1994 Comprehensive Plan opposed a highway, strip-type, retail area there so, if the county deviates from those guidelines now, "How do we say 'no' to the next [applicant]?"
Glickfield displayed an artist's rendition of the proposed store, and Sully Station's Gil Kesser said it would be an enhancement to the area. "The foot's already in the door for retail with Target and Costco," he said. "It seems to me, to exclude Marlo seems arbitrary."
London Towne's Mike Lannes said he welcomes mixed uses: "All those hotels would make it like a mini-Kissimee [outside Disney World]."
Ralph Gay of Sully Station II said the dynamics have changed since 1994. "I was tickled that Marlo was coming in," he said. "We've gone to about 16 motels in about a mile-and-a-half density between Routes 50 and 28. We've got enough hotels here — we need something for the residents. And it would be less harmful to the environment than the [runoff] from constantly flushing toilets."
Ed Zigo, owner of West Fairfax Commerce Center, across from the site, represented 40 businesses and said he "wholeheartedly endorsed" Marlo's proposal, as a resident, businessman and local developer. "There are plenty of other sites being marketed [here] for hotels," he said. "Thousands of households here would buy that furniture; that's why Marlo should be there, rather than a small hotel dealing with some transients."
Longtime Chantilly resident Sheila Coates supported Marlo, saying, "It's a good addition to this community because it's needed." She also noted how Marlo had donated furniture to local needy families and planned to offer job-training to low-income residents.
John Camp, Starwood-Ceruzzi's site broker, said hotels weren't "beating down [his] doors" to locate there. Fran Fisher, a customer, resident and county business-owner, said Marlo "would be a much better use of this space for the people who are here now, rather than a hotel for some pie-in-the-sky tourists."
And Sequoia Farms' Karen Zoltas, a business owner across from the site, said there's nothing nearby that would serve the same purpose and she'd like to see the store across from her business. Finally, Lou Glickfield spoke, pledging a "state-of-the-art, beautiful store" to the community.
The WFCCA then voted, 5-2, with two abstentions, to deny Marlo's request. The county Planning Commission was to decide on it, Wednesday night, Nov. 20. "I don't see why Marlo can't fit on another spot," said the WFCCA's Russ Wanek. But, he added, "It's strictly a zoning issue, having nothing to do with the quality of or desire for a Marlo."