Both Wendy's and Midas Muffler hope to open Centreville businesses on the tiny parcel where Wood's Farm Market once stood. Burger King is already there, and Chevy Chase Bank is joining it.
It's a pretty intense use of that triangle bounded by Routes 28 and 29 and Old Centreville Road (OCR). So, hoping for Fairfax County approval for a rezoning so they may build there, near Westview Drive, Wendy's and Midas have agreed to make certain changes.
Attorney Keith Martin presented details at Tuesday night's meeting of the West Fairfax County Citizens Association (WFCCA) Land-Use Committee. "We had an entrance off [OCR] that went directly into Wendy's stacking lane and the bay and parking area for Midas," he said. "[But county] staff said no more curb cuts there, near the fire house [Station 17]. It was a bitter pill to swallow for both Wendy's and Midas, [but] we eliminated it."
In addition, Westview's been county owned and maintained, but the county wants the state to take it over. So the developer will install a VDOT-regulation turn-around there so the state will maintain it.
In response to a WFCCA request, there'll be 35-45 feet of buffering (landscaping) along OCR. And the developer will provide sidewalk all along OCR and crosswalks from the nearby neighborhood so local residents and people coming from the bank or Burger King can walk there.
Martin said the parking-lot lights will cut off completely and won't be higher than 14 feet "because we know this is the transition between commercial and residential [areas]." He said Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) also had a request that they're honoring.
There's a park and soccer field across the street from the site, but they're currently inaccessible. Two residential developers previously proffered money for a parking lot there, and Burger King improved OCR to four lanes in one area, but it narrows again to two lanes at the fire station.
"So we'll [build] a full, four-lane section of [OCR] along there," said Martin. "Supervisor Frey leaned on us, and we're stepping up to the plate on this."
Midas would be open Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Wendy's hours would be Sunday-Thursday, 6 a.m.-1 a.m. and Friday-Saturday, until 2 a.m. Planned are one-story buildings with brick matching the fire station.
"The [county's] Comprehensive Plan calls for local-serving uses in this area, and this brings services back to Centreville," said Martin. "It brings car services and a Wendy's to replace the one [that closed because of the Route 28/29 interchange construction]."
However, Sully Station's Gil Kesser wasn't thrilled about an auto facility there, and Little Rocky Run's Al Francese worried that, if approved, these businesses could send Centreville "hopscotching down the trail" toward a type of development akin to Route 234 in Manassas. He said high-intensity uses there would create terrible traffic and "an ambience I'm not sure we want on [OCR]."