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TextGreat Parks, Great Communities: Mount Vernon Planning District
- Supervisory District(s): Lee, Mount Vernon
- Maintenance Area(s): 3, 4
- Watersheds: Belle Haven, Cameron Run, Dogue Creek, Four Mile Run, and Little Hunting Creek
- Major Trails and other connections: Mount Vernon Regional Bike Trail
- Existing Conditions
- Revised Plan
- Public Comments
Location & Character
The Mount Vernon Planning District is located in southeastern Fairfax County. It is bounded by the Capital Beltway and City of Alexandria to the north, the Potomac River to the east, Fort Belvoir to the south and Huntley Meadows Park to the west.
The area has a predominately single-family residential character, with much of the residential development occurring in the 1950s-70s. Higher density residential developments including mobile home parks are found along Richmond Highway and near Metro stations. Commercial development is primarily highway-oriented with retail shopping centers along Richmond Highway.
While the addition of 14,000-19,000 BRAC-related jobs to the Fort Belvoir Main Post and the Fort Belvoir North Area (FBNA, previously EPG) in September 2011 is not anticipated to bring new residents immediately, the County could eventually see increased demand for recreation facilities in this part of the County. Both increased demand and additional constraints on where recreation facilities can be developed may affect this District in the future.
Park System Summary
Map 1 depicts the public parkland in the
Mount Vernon District. There are 45 public parks with a total of about
2,100 acres in the district. These parks make up about 17.7 percent of
the total acreage of the district. Only about one quarter of all the
public park acreage in the district is owned by the County, and is
within Park Authority Maintenance Area 3. The rest is owned by other
providers, primarily the Federal government.
The parks in the district include special uses, historic sites, district- and local-serving recreational facilities, and stream valleys. Facilities include two RECenters, rectangle and diamond ball fields, tennis and multi-use courts, sand volleyball courts, garden plots, dog park, playgrounds, trails and picnic facilities.
Approximately two-thirds of the county parks in the district are smaller local-serving parks that are well integrated with surrounding neighborhoods. These reflect the long established residential character of the district, and consist primarily of casual play facilities and natural area fragments.
District-serving parks such as Mount Vernon District, Grist Mill and Martin Luther King, Jr. Parks, provide a number of athletic fields, community gathering areas, and unique recreation facilities such as an outdoor swimming pool and ice skating rink. The planned North Hill Park will provide the first local-serving park on Richmond Highway in the future.
In addition, the National Park Service manages the George Washington Memorial Parkway, including Dyke Marsh and Fort Hunt. These large parks provide trails, boating access, athletic fields, and large picnic spaces for the community. Many of the important historic resources in the district are privately owned but publicly accessible. These include the Mount Vernon Estate, George Washington's Grist Mill, and Woodlawn Plantation. Map 2 identifies parkland and areas that contain regulatory or other protections, including conservation easements, and Chesapeake Bay Ordinance designated Resource Protection Areas (RPA).
Map 1: Public Parks by Class in the Mount Vernon DistrictMap 2: Protected Land in the Mount Vernon District
Park Classification
In June 2005, a new Park Classification System was adopted and
incorporated into the Park and Recreation chapter of the Countywide
Comprehensive Policy Plan. The Park Classification System is a general
framework intended to guide open space and public facilities planning
by grouping parks according to certain common typical characteristics.
The park classification gives an indication of the intended use,
general park size range, typical facility types, and the general
experience a user may expect at a park:
Local Parks serve surrounding neighborhoods and communities and offer a variety of local-serving recreation opportunities, such as playgrounds, trails, athletic facilities, picnic areas and natural areas. Typically these parks are designed to serve up to a 3 mile radius depending on the facilities and can range from 2 to 50 acres in size.
Local parks may be urban or suburban in character. Urban parks (including pocket parks, civic plazas and common greens) are a type of local-serving park that are generally more compact and located within an urban or transit-oriented setting. These parks generally consist of high quality design and construction, are well integrated into surrounding development, uses and the public realm and primarily serve to define local urban character, support outdoor enjoyment, social gatherings, recreation needs and special events. These parks may be privately or publicly owned and are usually privately maintained.
District Parks are larger parks that serve greater geographic areas of the County (three to six miles) and provide a wide variety of indoor and outdoor recreation facilities and park experiences. Generally, these parks are more than fifty acres in size. These parks typically accommodate visits of up to a half day, longer operational hours and a larger number of users. Many district parks also have extensive natural areas.
Countywide Parks are larger parks that serve the whole County and provide a variety of larger-scale indoor or outdoor recreation facilities, or both, and facilities or resources that are unique within the County. Typically, these parks are greater than 150 acres and provide opportunities for passive and active recreation to a wide range of simultaneous users for experiences of up to a day in length.
Resource-Based Parks have significant cultural and natural resources. These parks support nature, horticulture and history programs, gardening, nature watching and appreciation of local, regional, state and national history. Extensive stream valley parks are part of the resource-based parks network. Typically, trails and interpretative features and facilities are the primary uses. Some resource parks may have separate areas designated for recreation purposes.
Regional Parks are lands and/or facilities administered by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA). These parks have region-wide significance that supplement and enhance the County and municipal park systems.
While some parks are Resource-Based, note that all park types may include areas designated for natural and/or cultural resource protection. In addition, many state and federal parks augment local and regional parks and also serve to protect natural and cultural resources within the County. Table 1 lists and classifies the parks in the Mount Vernon District according to the County parks classification system or by state or federal ownership. Table 1 also includes information about whether and when parks were master planned and if a master planning action (new master plan development or plan update) is needed.
Table 1Table 1: Parks in the Mount Vernon Planning District
|
Park Name |
Acres |
Supervisor District |
Park Classification |
Approved Master Plan Date |
Master Plan Action Needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Belle Haven |
16.63 |
MV |
Local |
* |
|
|
Bucknell Manor |
4.97 |
MV |
Local |
1979 |
|
|
Carl Sandberg School Site^ |
2.87 |
MV |
Local |
|
|
|
Collingwood |
12.01 |
MV |
Local |
1979 |
|
|
Creighton Square |
0.64 |
LEE |
Local |
* |
X |
|
Dogue Creek S.V.1 |
82.74+ |
MV |
Resource-Based |
|
|
|
Farrington |
0.15 |
MV |
Local |
* |
|
|
Fort Hunt |
18.93 |
MV |
Local |
1969 |
|
|
Fort Hunt National Park |
136.00 |
MV |
Federal |
|
|
|
Fort Willard Historic Site |
1.62 |
MV |
Resource-Based |
2006 |
|
|
George Washington |
17.80 |
MV |
District |
1981 |
|
|
George Washington Memorial Parkway & Dyke Marsh |
596.00 |
MV |
Federal |
|
|
|
Grist Mill |
75.47 |
MV |
District |
2002 |
|
|
Groveton Heights |
16.06 |
LEE |
Local |
1965 |
X |
|
Hollin Hall |
5.00 |
MV |
Local |
1987 |
|
|
Hollin Meadows |
5.34 |
MV |
Local |
1975 |
|
|
Huntington |
16.12 |
MV |
Local |
1974 |
|
|
Huntley Meadows |
1,479.84+ |
LEE, MV |
Resource-Based |
1978 |
|
|
Hybla Valley |
1.15+ |
LEE, MV |
Local |
1979 |
|
|
Jefferson Manor |
13.74 |
LEE |
Local |
1963 |
X |
|
Kirk |
13.60 |
MV |
Local |
* |
|
|
Lamond |
17.91 |
MV |
Local |
2002 |
|
|
Lenclair |
7.72 |
LEE |
Local |
* |
X |
|
Little Hunting Creek S.V.1 |
69.27 |
MV |
Resource-Based |
|
|
|
Martin Luther King, Jr. |
18.54 |
MV |
District |
1967 |
|
|
Mount Eagle |
12.72 |
MV |
Local |
1979 |
|
|
Mount Vernon District |
87.81 |
MV |
Countywide |
1972 |
X |
|
Mount Vernon Estates and Gardens |
350.00 |
MV |
Private |
|
|
|
Mount Vernon Manor |
13.82 |
MV |
Local |
1970 |
|
|
Mount Vernon Woods |
7.19 |
LEE |
Local |
1965 |
|
|
Mount Zephyr |
1.97 |
MV |
Local |
1982 |
|
|
Muddy Hole Farm |
13.60 |
MV |
Local |
1978 |
|
|
North Hill a |
20.88 |
MV |
Local |
2010 |
|
|
Paul Springs S.V.1 |
18.08 |
MV |
Resource-Based |
|
|
|
Pole Road |
50.25 |
MV |
Local |
1988 |
|
|
Stephen S. Foster School Site |
1.50 |
MV |
Local |
1975 |
|
|
Stratford Landing |
8.58 |
MV |
Local |
1967 |
|
|
Vernon Heights |
2.97 |
MV |
Local |
* |
|
|
Walt Whitman School Site |
14.32 |
MV |
Local |
1981 |
|
|
Washington Mill |
9.66 |
MV |
Local |
1968 |
|
|
Westgrove |
21.32 |
MV |
Local |
|
X |
|
White Oaks |
10.32 |
MV |
Local |
1975 |
|
|
Williamsburg Manor |
27.88 |
MV |
Local |
1970 |
|
|
Woodlawn |
11.61 |
LEE |
Local |
1969 |
|
|
Woodlawn Plantation |
130.00 |
MV |
Private |
|
|
|
Woodley Hills |
8.15 |
MV |
Local |
1971 |
|
1. Resource-based stream valley parks by practice do not have master
plans.
* This park was dedicated by a private developer and may be subject
to a Conceptual
Development Plan associated with an approved rezoning that takes the
place of a park master plan.
+ A portion of this park lies outside of the Mount Vernon
District.
^ School Sites operated on an interim basis as parks by the Park
Authority do not have master plans as they are owned and governed by
the Fairfax County Public Schools. Acreages for non-FCPA parks are
estimates derived from GIS.
a North Hill is currently owned by HCD, another County agency, but
that agency intends to transfer ownership to FCPA.
Park Master Plans
A park master plan is a general guide for appropriate park uses and
their approximate location within a specific park site. The plan serves
as a long-range vision (10-20 year timeframe) for future development
and programming. Issues typically addressed include planned park
elements, natural and cultural resource management, and general design
concerns. The plan is conceptual in nature and not intended to address
detailed issues related to engineered site design or park operations.
The plan is just one of many steps in the process that leads to the
development of a public park. An archive of park master plans is
available.
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