The Board of Supervisors approved changes to the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan which will allow for a mixed-use development at the intersection of Frying Pan Road and Sunrise Valley Drive.
The action was the end of the Area Plans Review process for the Hunter Mill district. Area Plans Review began last fall for the northern half of the county, including the Hunter Mill, Sully, Providence and Dranesville magisterial district. The review takes place every five years and acts as the county’s method of fulfilling a state requirement that localities review their Comprehensive Plan.
The process allows citizens to submit a proposal — called nominations — for a change to the comprehensive plan. The nomination is then reviewed by a citizen task force and the Planning Commission before moving to the Board of Supervisors.
DURING THEIR JUNE 20 meeting, the board made its decision about two nominations in the Reston area. The nominations were for about 83 acres of land on the north side of Frying Pan Road, bisected by Sunrise Valley Drive.
The area had already been planned for mixed-use development. The Board’s approval will allow for a larger retail component in the development. It does not allow for more density.
“We think it's appropriate to address how to round out that community,” said Greg Riegle, attorney for Pomeroy Clark, the owner of the one of the properties — Pomeroy Investments owns the other.
The retail use will be limited to 150,000 square feet on each of the two properties. Approved residential density was and continues to be 12-16 units per acre.
Another nomination for a 7-acre piece of land on the southern side of Frying Pan was deferred indefinitely. The area is currently planned for office use, and the nominator, Airston Land, LLC, proposed adding an option for residential use.
The area is partially in the Sully district but the Sully portion of the nomination was deferred indefinitely by the Planning Commission because of potential impacts on school enrollment, said Supervisor Michael Frey (R-Sully). “I don’t know when we will be bringing that forward,” Frey said.
By deferring the Hunter Mill portion of the nomination, it may allow for greater consolidation, said Supervisor Cathy Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill).