By the end of 2003, a plan for the development of a town center at Kings Crossing on Route 1 will be on the table. At least that was the target established at a charette last week.
Under the facilitation of Rhodeside Harwell Inc., an Alexandria-based landscape architecture and planning firm, a wide array of interested parties gathered at the South County Government Center to ponder the future development and traffic flow at the intersection of Kings and Richmond highways, known as Kings Crossing.
It has long been a hot button with Mount Vernon District supervisor Gerald W. Hyland, and he was on hand to kick off this first public meeting to assess the proposals for redeveloping this prime piece of real estate. It became viable when Kmart rejected its lease rights to the property last summer.
At that time, Hyland noted at a Board of Supervisors meeting, "Both Supervisor Kauffman [Lee District] and I have been strong proponents of creating a Town Center at the location known as Kings Crossing."
He then asked the supervisors to employ a consultant to study various options "that both consider revitalization initiatives as well as VDOT's objectives" for traffic flow.
IN ANSWER TO that request, the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development retained Rhodeside Harwell to conduct the first charette on the subject. The results will be submitted within the week. This will lay the groundwork for two future meetings.
"We weren't trying to reach a consensus at this point," said Deana D. Rhodeside, director, Rhodeside Harwell. "Each alternative had its pros and cons. No one alternative satisfied all the criteria."
Participants in this first meeting included representatives of Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT); Mount Vernon/Lee Chamber of Commerce; Fairfax County Transportation; Grove and Slade Associates, a D.C. transportation engineering firm; Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development; representatives of various community associations and both Hyland's and Kauffman's offices.
During the three-hour session, presentations were made by VDOT, the county, and the transportation engineering firm. Attendees were then divided into three discussion groups focusing on the criteria areas of transportation, revitalization and community development.
It was from those discussions that Rhodeside will prepare her preliminary report. Hyland suggested that after the report is submitted, "a smaller action group be formed to create a strategy for design."
Hyland said, "I want to see them come back together in no more than 60 days and come up with a design suggestion for VDOT within 90 days. I'm very happy with the process and feel it will produce a design everyone will be pleased with. Those participating felt the process was on target."
IN THE CATEGORY of traffic flow on Richmond Highway, ideas ranged from depressing Richmond Highway to allow for a pedestrian-friendly circle/plaza on top, to a round-about concept, to doing nothing.
It was noted by several participants, "The ideal plan is to have both buildings and a sense of space." said Paula Sampson, director, Department of Housing and Community Development. "We have always talked of Kings Crossing as a town center, to make it feel that you are somewhere when you are there."
Some of the issues the group dealt with during the session included a balance between accommodating traffic and land-use/redevelopment requirements; impact of decision delays on revitalization efforts; validity of separation of highway and local traffic; need for transit access to the site; need for strong pedestrian connections; protection of the development potential of the site; and adoption of a plan that will encourage re-establishment of neighborhoods in the surrounding areas
However, all considerations will be impacted by the element of affordability. As a VDOT representative pointed out, "There is no money at the present time for anything" in the way of highway construction.