The Arbors of Chantilly would be off Route 50 and Downs Drive. Photo by Bonnie Hobbs.
As the number of senior citizens in Fairfax County continues to grow, so does the need for an assisted-living facility for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. But a proposal to construct one in Chantilly has drawn fire from nearby residents worried about the resulting traffic impact on their community.
They expressed their concerns last Thursday night, Sept. 18, to the county Planning Commission. They said their neighborhood, Chantilly Estates, is old, with narrow roads and no sidewalks, plus children and elderly, handicapped and special-needs residents who are often outside.
“We’ve got about 20 kids just in that part of the neighborhood, walking, playing and riding their bikes,” said Elinor Schneider. “And [the extra vehicles generated by the facility] would add to the [existing] traffic burden on us.”
Artisan Land Group LLC wants to build The Arbors of Chantilly at 13622 Lee Jackson Memorial Highway, off Downs Drive, which runs alongside a gas station on Route 50 west. But to do so, it needs a special-exception permit from the county.
The six-and-one-half-acre site, zoned residential, is currently a vacant lot. Planned is a one-story, 37,000-square-foot, residential-looking building facing Route 50. And traffic counts for this 48-unit facility are projected to be less than if that site were developed with the 12 homes that could be constructed on it by right. Two entrances off Downs are planned, and county staff is recommending approval, subject to certain development conditions.
The residents are especially worried that people leaving The Arbors would cut through their community to reach Route 50, so development condition 13 addresses that issue. “The applicant has agreed to tell all vendors to not make a right coming out of the site, going into the neighborhood,” said Billy O’Donnell, with the county’s Planning and Zoning Department. “They’ll put signage [about it] on site and on Downs Drive, and there’ll be a number to call for complaints.”
“If people ignore that, what happens?” asked Sully District Planning Commissioner John Litzenberger.
O’Donnell said the residents can file a complaint and the county can issue a violation notice to the facility and even take it to court. It also could be fined and, if traffic violations continue, the facility could be closed down.
“All our contracts with the employees and service providers would prevent them from driving through the neighborhood,” said attorney Scott Adams, representing the applicant. “[Artisan] is fully aware of the consequences and intends to comply with the development conditions.”
But the residents still have their doubts and don’t want to have to be the watchdogs to make sure the rules are followed. “No amount of signage will stop 100 percent of the traffic,” said Schneider. “And you can’t stop the visitors from driving through our neighborhood.”
Lori Whetzel, who lives adjacent to the site, said all the homeowners signed a petition opposing the project and its potential traffic implications for them.
“Our roads are narrow and a service vehicle and a car can’t pass each other without one of us going into a home’s yard or driveway,” she told the commissioners. “Kids walk up to one-fourth of a mile to catch their school buses and wait [for them] in the roads or yards.”
She said elderly neighbors, a resident in a motorized wheelchair, plus people walking dogs and pushing strollers are all outside, as are residents with mental disabilities walking in the roads for exercise. However, said Whetzel, “Our neighbors look out for each other and drive [less than] the 25-mph speed limit, as we can’t see what’s coming around the corners or past the [tree] overhang on Birch Drive.”
Whetzel also questioned the facility’s ability to police the vehicles going to and from it. “Are we as a community to keep our cameras ready to prove infractions?” she asked. “How will anyone who doesn’t see where a vehicle comes from know if it’s here legally?”
Referencing studies about the nearly 70-percent yearly turnover rate for nursing assistants in such facilities, she said new people would constantly have to be taught about condition 13. Whetzel said the same thing would apply to substitute drivers for The Arbors’s service trucks. And she wondered how the driving policy would be enforced among others going there, such as plumbers, groundskeepers, electricians and handymen.
“The service road is dangerous and is often blocked,” said Whetzel. “So that’s why people drive through our neighborhood to get out, instead of using that road to reach the traffic light at Chantilly Road to get to Route 50 east.”
The neighbors said the service road is frequently blocked because many drivers – including those in large trucks – park there regularly. “People just stop and leave their cars on the service road and run into the gas station?” asked At-Large Planning Commissioner Jim Hart. The residents said yes, and Whetzel showed the panel photos proving it.
Cary Paley said people drive through their streets in frustration “because the service road gets backed up. Chantilly Road’s light is 10-15 seconds, tops, so only a couple cars can get through at a time. So drivers make a U-turn and go through the neighborhood to turn left onto Route 50.”
Mason District Planning Commissioner Janet Hall said her neighborhood’s similar to theirs and “has lots of traffic, too. I don’t know that this facility would generate enough traffic [to cause problems]. But I think there should be a stop sign on the service road so people would be more aware that it’s a road and they shouldn’t leave their cars there.”
The problem, said O’Donnell, is that the service road is believed to be half public and half privately owned, so regulating it may not be possible. Lee District Planning Commissioner James Migliaccio recommended a title search, explaining, “If it’s a public road, there could be a sign saying, ‘Service road, no parking.’”
Adams said the applicant would be happy to do it, and Providence District Planning Commissioner Kenneth Lawrence suggested the applicant “petition for more green [traffic-signal] time for the left turn onto Route 50. Tell VDOT it’s for a medical facility.”
But there are other problems, added John Ray, of Birch Drive. “The gas station uses one lane of the service road for its vehicle inspections – and the line backs all the way down the service road and Downs Drive,” he said.
Furthermore, said Ray, “Our neighborhood’s in a floodplain and our backyards often flood. And [this facility’s] design diverts drainage from its roof into my backyard. In addition, the lot clearing removing the tree buffer from Route 50 would make it noisier for us, so we’d like a sound wall to block the traffic noise.”
In response to all the comments, Adams said the applicant’s been working with Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) who’s “working with the service-station owner to prohibit parking on the service road.”
Litzenberger thanked the residents for their comments and directed staff and the applicant to “figure out who owns the service road, because it’ll affect the ability of this facility to operate there.” He deferred the Planning Commission’s decision on this project until Oct. 1, with written comments accepted until then.
“We should also find out what are the service station’s special-exception conditions,” said Hart. “The county might be able to enforce no parking on that service road.”