Public Affairs

Beginning Wednesday, April 15, a new “Virtual Marriage License” appointment program will be the exclusive way to get a marriage license from the Fairfax Circuit Court Clerk's Office during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have seen an increase in couples applying for marriage licenses during the COVID-19 pandemic,” noted Clerk of the Fairfax Circuit Court John T. Frey. “By going virtual, we can manage that increased workload, while promoting public — and staff — safety.” The Clerk's Office, an essential service, is one of the few in the D.C. region still issuing marriage licenses.  

Using the Clerk of Circuit Court’s existing “preApp” technology, a couple can prepare their marriage license application in the comfort of their home and schedule a convenient time to appear by Webex to take their oath before a deputy clerk of court. An e-signature tool has been added. Applicants must have a computer, smartphone or tablet with a microphone and camera, along with internet access. Plus they need an email address/account for both the preApp and the Webex appointment.

After customers pay by credit card, the Clerk’s Office mails them their marriage license. As always, the couple has 60 days to be married by an authorized officiant, at which time the license gets completed by the celebrant, who returns it to the court. The Clerk's Office holds it in perpetuity as the marriage certificate. 

For more information, contact Gerarda Culipher, Chief Deputy Clerk at 703-246-4111.

As part of its Zoning Ordinance Modernization (zMOD) project, Fairfax County is looking for feedback on two uses that are allowed in a dwelling – accessory dwelling units and home-based businesses. In response to current trends, the proposed regulations would streamline the approval process and better address affordability concerns for homeowners and small businesses. 

Accessory dwelling units are currently only allowed in single family detached homes in the County with special permit approval by the Board of Zoning Appeals and require an occupant of either the main house or the accessory unit to be over the age of 55 or to be a person with a disability. The proposed regulations would remove the age and disability requirement and update the size limitations from 35% of the size of the principal home to a maximum of 1,200 square feet. For accessory dwelling units located within a home, the proposal replaces today’s special permit and public hearing process with an administrative approval. Detached accessory dwelling units would continue to require at least two acres of land and special permit approval.

The County is also looking at ways to consolidate the different types of home-based businesses. Under current regulations, processes and regulations vary by business type. For example, certain uses, like teaching music lessons or Pilates, allow customers or clients to come to the home with an administrative approval, while others, like accounting, require a costly special permit for customers to come to the home. The proposed regulations would allow certain home-based business owners to apply through an administrative process and could allow up to eight customers in a day (with two to four customers at a time, depending on unit type). Only businesses in single family detached homes would be allowed to have an employee, where no employees would be allowed in all other dwelling types. Applicants who want to have more customers or employees would be required to go through a public hearing process. The proposed regulations and application process would create a more equitable system for home-based business owners.

The proposed changes are part of zMOD, an effort to modernize the Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance. The Department of Planning and Development is seeking input from residents on the proposed changes through a survey.  Learn more about the proposed changes by watching two short videos and submit feedback by taking the surveys.

At its March 24 meeting, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved moving two polling places in the Lorton and Vienna areas.

The Lorton Precinct’s polling place will temporarily relocate its 2,700 registered voters from the Lorton Library, 9520 Richmond Highway, Lorton, to the Lorton Station Elementary School, 9298 Lewis Chapel Road, Lorton.

This change is needed because the library is scheduled to close on April 11 for renovations that are anticipated to take 21 months.

The Board also approved a permanent relocation of the polling place for the Nottoway Precinct. This polling place will move from the Hunter House at Nottoway Park, 9601 Courthouse Road, Vienna, to the Marshall Road Elementary School, 730 Marshall Road Southwest, Vienna.

The school provides a more accessible and convenient facility for the more than 3,800 registered voters in this precinct.

The changes to both polling places take effect immediately. Registered voters in both precincts will be officially notified by mail about the changes before the June 9, 2020, primary election.

Before every election, all voters are encouraged to check their polling place. For voters who have recently moved or changed their names, they need to update their registration.

Voters can check their polling place or change their registration online at the Virginia Department of Elections website.

For more information, contact the Fairfax County Office of Elections at 703-222-0776, TTY 711.

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As part of an effort to support entrepreneurship and create vibrant places, Fairfax County is looking for ideas to repurpose the former Container Store at 8508 Leesburg Pike in Tysons. The site, located at the Spring Hill Metro station, is owned by the county.

This project, “Activate Fairfax: 8508 Uncontained,” is the inaugural pilot of the Department of Economic Initiatives (DEI) new program, Activate Fairfax, which aims to transform vacant commercial spaces into economic development destinations.

DEI seeks concepts and an operator to program the space to boost innovation and entrepreneurship, demonstrate creative placemaking and feature the Made in Fairfax Network. In addition, dynamic pop-up, cultural, artistic or community-oriented programming aligned with these goals will be encouraged to ensure that the space functions as a vibrant asset and experience for residents and visitors.

Fairfax County purchased the Container Store property in 2019 to facilitate a future road improvement. In advance of that, for the next several years the vacant storefront will be used to further the county’s economic development initiatives.

Proposals should illustrate how the respondent intends to develop, implement, manage and market an activation program. Responses will be accepted until April 20, 2020.

For more information about the request for interest or the Made in Fairfax Network, visit the Activate Fairfax webpage or contact the Department of Economic Initiatives at 703-324-5171, TTY 711.

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About 2,700 McLean-area voters will have a new polling place starting with the March 3, 2020, presidential primary.

On Dec. 3, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved moving the polling place at the Lewinsville Presbyterian Church to the Lewinsville Senior Center at 1613 Great Falls Street, McLean.

The change only affects voters who are assigned to Precinct 314 McLean. This precinct roughly encompasses the area north of the intersection of the Dulles Toll Road and the Capital Beltway to Old Dominion Drive and Chain Bridge Road to the east.

This precinct’s polling place was previously located at the senior center, but it was moved temporarily to the Lewinsville Presbyterian Church in 2015 while the center was being renovated and expanded.

Registered voters in this precinct will be officially notified by mail about the change before the March 3 primary election.

For more information, contact the Fairfax County Office of Elections at 703-222-0776, TTY 711.

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Preservationists will survey Reston this fall and winter as part of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources’ Survey. To begin the survey process, Fairfax County and VDHR are holding a joint public information meeting at Rose Gallery at Reston Community Center Lake Anne on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.

Fairfax County was selected to participate in the state’s Survey and Planning Cost Share Program earlier this year. This program assists local governments in surveying their community to identify cultural and historic resources. In addition to identifying traditional historic landmarks, the survey includes looking at planned communities.

Specifically, the survey will look at buildings constructed between 1961 and 1978, which were prime development years in Reston’s history. It will identify potential buildings or neighborhoods to be evaluated for architectural or historic significance. These districts or buildings, if significant, can then be nominated to be included in Fairfax County’s Inventory of Historic Sites, the Virginia Landmarks Register or the National Register of Historic Places.    

As part of the survey process, properties will be mapped and building exteriors will be photographed. This information will be used to determine each building’s construction date, develop an architectural description and perform a preliminary evaluation of the property’s historic significance.   

The survey will cover all of Reston except the land within the existing Lake Anne Historic Overlay District. Lake Anne Village Center was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2017 and has been thoroughly documented.

The state hired Hanbury Preservation Consulting to complete the survey work from the public right of way. VDHR will monitor the project through its field office in Stephens City.

The community will be briefed on the survey’s findings when it is completed early next year.

For more information, contact Denice Dressel, Department of Planning and Zoning at 703-324-1383, TTY 711.

“In terms of local government chief information security officers, Michael Dent stands above and apart from all others,” stated the recognition of Fairfax County Chief Information Security Officer Michael Dent as a LocalSmart Cybersecurity Leader of the Year.

Dent’s high standard of process-driven data protection in Fairfax County was cited as a model template for other local government jurisdictions and for commercial and government enterprises. He was honored, "for many reasons that go beyond his nationally recognized performance as Fairfax County CISO,” noted the award’s sponsor, StateScoop.

The award recognizes county or city leaders whose focus and effort to improve information security is protecting systems and resident information. Part of the first LocalSmart Awards, a program created to highlight the inspirational people and projects making government more efficient and effective, the award is sponsored by the Scoop News Group’s StateScoop, which reports on news and events impacting technology decisions in state and local government.

This year’s James M. Scott Exceptional Design Award recipients were recognized alongside leaders in Environmental Excellence on Oct. 22. The winners represent superior work of architecture that combines green building practices with outstanding site design and landscaping.

Fairfax County established the Exceptional Design Awards in 1984 to recognize achievement in the total design of a building and its site. The awards aim to raise awareness of outstanding planning and design projects among design professionals and the general public. The design awards program is sponsored by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and administered by the County's Department of Planning and Development in cooperation with the County Architectural Review Board and the Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Awards are granted in three categories: honor, merit and honorable mention. A jury of design professionals, including architects, select the winners.

This year’s winners include George Mason University’s Peterson Family Health Sciences Hall, Inova Sports Medicine and Signature at Reston Town Center.

View a complete list of winners on the Department of Planning and Development’s website.

The Environmental Excellence Awards recognizes individuals, organizations, businesses and county employees who:

• Advance or support of the Board of Supervisors and county's environmental goals and policy statements
• Dedicate personal time and expertise beyond normal fiscal or civic responsibilities
• Demonstrate leadership as a role model for others

The Environmental Excellence Awards are administered by the Environmental Quality Advisory Council with support from the county's new Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination and the Department of Planning and Zoning.

The 2019 Environmental Excellence Award recipients are:

Individual Awards

• Catherine Ledec, President, Friends of Huntley Meadows Park
• Helen Stevens, Clinical Director, Inova HealthPlex – Lorton Emergency Department

Organization Awards

• Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions
• Reston Annual State of the Environment (RASER) Working Group

County Employee Awards

• James Hart, Vice Chairman and Member At-Large, Planning Commission
• Noel Kaplan, Senior Environmental Planner (retired)

The joint ceremony for both award programs was held on Oct. 22 at 7:00 p.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center.

Fairfax County is showcasing proposed revisions to the zoning land use regulations as part of its zoning modernization project called zMOD.

These proposed regulations will be presented at a public meeting on Tuesday, October 22, at 7 p.m., at the Fairfax County Government Center, Conference Rooms 4 and 5, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax.

The meeting can also be viewed live on Fairfax County’s Zoning Facebook page.

The Districts Draft and soon-to-be-released Development Standards Draft include changes to the zoning districts, overlay districts, parking, landscaping, and other standards that generally apply to all zoning districts. Following comments and feedback from the public, these two articles will be incorporated into a new consolidated Zoning Ordinance.

While the substantive changes are highlighted in the District and Development Standards Draft cover memos, general changes to the drafts include the following:
 

• Inclusion of new photographs and illustrations showing the intended character of the zoning districts, tables presenting lot and building dimensional standards, and additional graphics to further explain the regulations;
• A reorganization and consolidation of Articles 2 through 14; and
• Re-written language to make regulations easier for the public, stakeholders, and property owners to understand.    

For more information, visit the zMOD webpage to view both current and previous presentations and documents for the project and provide comment. Or contact the Department of Planning and Development’s Zoning Administration Division at 703-324-1314, TTY 711, or by email for questions, feedback, and requests for reasonable ADA accommodations.

The Board of Supervisors approved a plan by PS Business Parks to build a youth athletic field at its Sept. 24 meeting, instead of a previously approved hotel on a parking lot in Tysons. The new synthetic turf field will be on Boone Boulevard between Howard Avenue and Gallows Road near an office building and retail space. The 180 foot by 330 foot field will include lighting, bleachers, bicycle racks, benches, fencing, an equipment storage facility and at least 25 parking spaces.

The existing on-site surface parking lot will be modified to serve existing and future visitors to the office buildings and athletic field. PS Business Parks will maintain ownership of the athletic field; however, a public access easement will be granted to the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Previously this area was zoned for an extended-stay hotel, but PS Business Parks, the developer behind The Mile, a mixed-use development in another part of Tysons, decided to build  the athletic field in this location instead. Once built, the athletic field will fulfill PS Business Park’s commitment to build one as part of The Mile.