Public Affairs

Learn how proposed zoning changes may affect your neighborhood.

Sheds, home-based businesses, and outdoor lighting on residential properties are some of the topics that will be discussed at the upcoming Zoning Open House on Tuesday, September 10, from 7 to 9 p.m.

It will be held in the South County Center Main Conference Room, 8350 Richmond Highway, Alexandria.

This is an opportunity to learn about possible zoning changes that may affect your neighborhood. Attendees will:

• Hear a short presentation on proposed zoning changes.
• Learn about how zoning affects land use and development.
• Talk one-on-one with staff.
• Ask questions about zoning issues.  

Fairfax County is currently considering zoning changes related to:

• Lighting: Limiting the color temperature for LED lights on single family properties and other revisions.
• Zoning Ordinance Modernization: Updating use regulations, removing gaps and inconsistencies, and modernizing the Ordinance to make regulations easier to understand. This effort involves substantive changes, including revisions to the following notable topics:
  • Accessory structures: Changing the side and rear yard regulations related to accessory structures such as sheds, gazebos and children’s play equipment.
  • Home-based businesses: Allowing a limited number of customers or clients to visit home-based business without requiring a public hearing.
  • Accessory dwelling units: Changing interior accessory dwelling units from requiring a special permit to an administrative permit if the age/disability and other standards are met.
• Agritourism: Creating new uses related to agritourism, such as harvest-your-own activities, farm festivals and other special events.

Attendees also can learn about recently adopted zoning changes, including:

• Community gardens and farmers markets.
• Short-Term Lodging.
• Signs.

A short presentation will be streamed on Facebook Live on the Fairfax County Zoning Facebook Page.

For more information on ways to stay involved, please visit our Zoning Amendment Outreach Page. To learn more and for reasonable ADA accommodations, contact the Zoning Administration Division by email or call 703-324-1314, TTY 711.

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Fairfax County received a prestigious planning award for its urban design guidelines for development in Reston’s transit station areas.

The American Planning Association’s Virginia Chapter recognized the county with its 2019 Commonwealth Connectors Award. The award was presented at the group’s annual meeting on July 23.

In presenting the award, the association lauded the county’s extensive public engagement and collaboration with residents, property owners and others to craft the guidance.

Formally called the “Guidelines for Development in the Reston Transit Station Areas,” the 190-page document offers flexible guidance on how to implement the urban design elements recommended in the Comprehensive Plan. This includes:

• Streetscape layout.
• Hardscape elements.
• Planting strategies.
• Building placement.
• Building mass.
• Architectural form.

The guidelines ensure forward-thinking design while preserving the Reston’s original vision and character. This includes focus on bicycling, pedestrian movement and enhanced connections between people and nature. The integration of buildings, sidewalks, plazas and public art with natural elements, such as tree canopies, open space and water features, helps create these connections.

The county developed the guidelines following a multi-year process that involved the participation of multiple county agencies, the use of surveys and consultations with an appointed advisory group, the Reston Association, the Reston Design Review Board and other stakeholders, and public outreach efforts.

For more information, contact the Department of Planning and Development, 703-324-9300, TTY 711.

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News Highlights

• One map application, available on any device, with over 170 layers to view, combine and analyze.
• Detailed property reports especially useful for land development.
• Save, share and print your map creations.
• Current and historical aerial imagery, viewable from multiple angles.

While Fairfax County has long provided many specific, web-based maps and applications, the release of the new Jade interactive mapping application serves a unique mission as a general map viewer. Jade was designed to provide the public with never-before released map layers, reports, exclusive aerial imagery, and analytical tools to explore County data and business processes.

Jade application screenshots. Click to expand.   

170 Maps in One

There are over 170 map layers to explore, including property information, land development, public facilities, infrastructure, environmental, and more. Most layers also provide easy access to other County resources such as applications and webpages for more information.

Jade is particularly applicable to those undertaking land development and other engagements with Fairfax County government using custom reports and workflows.

Report, Save and Share

Detailed property reports describing legal and environmental conditions are especially useful for land development activities. To meet this need, Jade users will be able to create reports for every property in Fairfax County:

• A general parcel report uses the most current County data to display information on a property’s description, zoning, structures, ownership, and tax/assessments.
• A separate environmental parcel report includes information on watersheds, floodplains, resource protection areas and soil details.

Users can then capture their efforts in the Jade by exporting created images and maps. They may also share their work via email and social media. 

See Fairfax From Different Angles

For the first time, Fairfax County is making its library of oblique aerial imagery available to the public. Users can virtually move around any location in Fairfax County with side-views from each cardinal direction. Furthermore, there are 14 years of aerial imagery, ranging from 1937 to the present.

Businesses, community based organizations and residents often seek information to inform them about demographic and economic changes occurring in Fairfax County. Jade is one of many county efforts to democratize open data through powerful, yet intuitive, interfaces, allowing them to:

• Understand patterns, trends and challenges.
• Evaluate services and programs.
• Obtain customized data for the purposes of business development, policy making, etc.

The Fairfax County interactive mapping gallery offers access to more than 70 available mapping applications. For more information, visit Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a division of the Department of Information Technology.

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Resources:

• GIS Open Data
• FY 2020 Information Technology Plan (PDF)
• Fairfax County Awards

At its meeting today, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors appointed Michael A. Becketts as the next director of the Department of Family Services. Becketts will succeed Nanette Bowler, who is retiring from the county on Friday, Aug. 2. Becketts will take on his official role as DFS director Sept. 3. 

Becketts currently works at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services where he has served as assistant secretary for human services and senior director for policy and planning. For the past two years, he has provided executive leadership in the delivery of social services programs and evaluating North Carolina's model used to deliver social services and child welfare programs.

Over a nearly 20-year career, Becketts has worked in settings that provide supportive services in the areas of child welfare, aging, health, mental health, juvenile justice, academic medicine and education, with a career focus on supporting the health, safety and well-being of marginalized and vulnerable populations. 

Becketts began his career as a child welfare social worker in the Washington, D.C., foster care system, supporting families working toward reunification or finding a permanent, stable home for children. He has also served as deputy director of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services and director of Durham County, NC, Department of Social Services. 

Becketts has a bachelor’s degree in social work from McDaniel College and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He also earned a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Baltimore, a master’s degree in education from Widener University and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Widener University. 

Becketts will receive an annual salary of $195,000.

Fairfax County partnered with Smart City Works and Refraction on their successful application for a $750,000 federal grant to increase regional capacity to bring technologies to market and grow innovative companies.

The grant is from the i6 Challenge program from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. The two organizations received the maximum grant award available, and they were among 26 organizations selected nationwide.

Fairfax County contributed a $50,000 local match for the grant. This investment advances the county’s and region’s efforts to drive innovation, spur entrepreneurship and grow emerging high-growth companies and the technology workforce, officials said.

With the i6 Challenge grant, Smart City Works and Refraction will lead the Northern Virginia Smart City Initiative to:

• Accelerate the development and lower the risk profile of companies seeking to provide innovative solutions to infrastructure challenges.
• Grow the number of startups and highly skilled tech talent in the region.
• Accelerate the commercialization of innovative products.
• Strengthen the regional smart city cluster supporting innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization.

As a result of this initiative, the two organizations expect to support and mentor 85 companies that will create more than 180 jobs over the next five years.

“This is an outstanding nod to the ongoing vision and commitments of Smart City Works,” commented Smart City Works Co-Founder Robert Mazer.  “EDA’s support allows for our group to continue to lead and innovate in the emerging ecosystem of mature businesses, startups, universities and governments in the region.”

“We are excited to receive this recognition from the federal government of our mission to advance the smart city tech cluster at a time when addressing infrastructure challenges is key to the future of our region and country,” said Esther Lee, CEO of Refraction and former director of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the U.S. Commerce Department.

The Initiative brings together government, educational, corporate and nonprofit partners.  In addition to Fairfax County, the partners include Alpha, Amazon, Arlington County, Center for Innovative Technology, Cushman & Wakefield, Northern Virginia Community College, Refraction, Smart City Works and Virginia Tech, among others.

As part of its strategic plan to grow and diversify the economy, Fairfax County continues to encourage innovation and testing of smart technologies. It held a smart cities workshop last year and since then the county has started to deploy these technologies, such as the pilot program to operate an electric autonomous shuttle in the Merrifield area.

Smart City Works is a nonprofit business accelerator whose mission is to improve the livability and resilience of cities. Refraction is a leading nonprofit innovation hub and coworking space focused on supporting and mentoring startups and high-growth companies in Northern Virginia. 

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Fairfax County’s plan to transform Tysons calls for a central, signature park to serve the entire area, and the newly approved development called The Mile will finally accomplish this goal.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the more than 3-million-square-foot, mixed use development on July 16. The project, which sits about a half mile from the Tysons Metro Station, will deliver a five-acre park that will make up an entire block of the development.

“I love the signature park,” said Fairfax County Chairman Sharon Bulova. “It’s really going to be landmark in Tysons.”

Long before the county began its efforts to remake Tysons nine-plus years ago, the property’s previous owner West Group had envisioned a park at this site, according to Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth.

“So here we are a number of years later and finally coming up with this place for the signature park in Tysons,” Smyth said. “And it wasn’t easy. You might think about that much acreage in Tysons and what you could do with it. And how much it would cost, just the land value all by itself.”

She called it a “lasting achievement for Tysons.”

Overall Plan

The Mile will remake an existing 38-acre, suburban office park located between Westbranch Drive, Jones Branch Drive and Westpark Drive. P.S. Business Parks intends to construct 2.8 million square feet of residential development, plus office, hotel and retail uses.

The plan calls for 10 new buildings spread across eight blocks. Five buildings are residential along with supporting retail, and another four buildings include options for either residential, office or hotel uses, plus retail. The 10th building is a 5,000-square-foot retail kiosk planned for The Mile’s Signature Park. The approved plans also allow for an option to include 300,000 square feet in mini-warehouse or storage in one of the residential buildings.

These new buildings will join Highgate, a 395-unit luxury apartment building along Jones Branch Road completed in 2017.

As part of its approval on Tuesday, the board also signed off on final development plans for The Mile’s first building to be constructed. Tentatively called Exley, the seven-story apartment building with ground-floor retail will offer up to 435 units on Westbranch Drive near the intersection with Westpark Drive.

Signature Park and Athletic Field

Overall, The Mile will provide 10 acres of parks as envisioned by the county’s conceptual parks plan for Tysons. The project’s largest park, called Signature Park, will make an entire block along Jones Branch Drive. At about five acres, it will include a:

• Large open lawn.
• Performance stage.
• Walking, jogging and biking trail.
• Children’s play area.
• Seating and tables.
• Bikeshare station.
• One- to two-story food pavilion.

This park will be given to the Fairfax County Park Authority or Board of Supervisors, and the developer will maintain it in perpetuity.

To meet the need for athletic fields, the developer will build a 330- by-180-foot synthetic turf field at an off-site property that it owns on the south side of Boone Boulevard near the intersection with Gallows Road. This field will include lighting, bleachers, storage facilities and at least 25 parking spaces.

Local Street Grid

The Mile will also help to build out the local street grid in this part of Tysons. The development includes construction of four new streets: Mile Avenue, Rowling Street, Blyton Street, and Maitland Street. Mile Avenue, which will run east to west, will function as an extension of the recently constructed Jones Branch Connector, and the avenue will intersect with Westpark Drive. Maitland Street also will be extended from Hornby Street, where it ends today, to Westbranch Drive.

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The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors appointed Christina C. Jackson as the director of the Department of Management and Budget (DMB) at their meeting on Tuesday, July 16. The appointment is effective July 20. Jackson has served as deputy director of the agency since November 2015.

Jackson has worked for Fairfax County for nearly 16 years, and previously served as DMB’s budget services coordinator, where she was responsible for managing budget information at all stages of the development process, formulating long-term forecasts and ensuring compliance with legal requirements related to the budget. In that role she also served as a key member of the compensation work group that developed a new pay plan for county employees and helped manage the county’s Lines of Business process. She began as a budget analyst in 2003.

As director, Jackson will oversee the agency responsible for coordination of the county's annual budget process, which includes the financial forecast, development of budget guidelines, review of agency and program requests, presentation of recommendations to the county executive and preparation of the multi-billion-dollar budget plan. DMB also manages bond sales and special financings and leads the coordination and development of the county’s Capital Improvement Program.

Jackson holds a master’s in public affairs from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a bachelor’s in public policy studies from Duke University. She will receive an annual salary of $180,000.

Springfield’s central business district will get a new look, and residents are asked to weigh in on proposed designs for “gateway” entrance signs and banners, including for the areas around Springfield Plaza, Springfield Town Center and the Franconia-Springfield Metro station.

To see what’s proposed and offer feedback, residents can drop in at the Springfield Town Center’s Community Room on Wednesday, July 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. A short presentation on the designs and locations will be offered at 5 and 6 p.m. Attendees are highly encouraged to watch the presentation before offering their input, although anyone can do so without watching the presentation by taking a short survey that will be available.  RSVPs are also encouraged, although not required.

The community room can be accessed through the main entrance of the Springfield Town Center by taking the escalator to the lower level and entering the hallway next to Claire’s Jewelry. Directions to the room are also available at Guest Services on the lower level, next to Starbucks.

Fairfax County plans to install the signs and banners to help brand Springfield, raising the area’s visibility and reputation as a premier destination to live, work and shop.

Multiple design options will be presented each for four to five possible locations, including:

• Old Keene Mill Road, near Springfield Plaza.
• Backlick Road, near Brookfield Plaza.
• Franconia Road, near Springfield Town Center.
• Frontier Drive, near the Franconia-Springfield Parkway.

Following the event, residents and businesses will also be able to offer feedback through an online survey. 

The civic branding project is a partnership with the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, Springfield Civic Association and Springfield Town Center. To help guide the effort, the partners established a community-based steering committee that includes the Monticello Woods Civic Association, Springvale Civic Association and county staff.

The project came about as result of a study recommending that Springfield’s commercial area would benefit from a unified identity and branding. The project also includes a new logo for the area that was developed last year.  Fairfax County is funding the design, construction and installation for the branding signage, banners and other graphic elements.

County, civic and business leaders are working with Merje, an environmental graphic design and civic branding firm, to create the designs. The final, proposed designs are expected to be completed later this year.

For more information about the project, event registration,  how to take the online survey and reasonable ADA accommodations, visit the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization website, or contact Doug Loescher at 703-324-9300, TTY 711.

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Susan Friedlander Earman will be presented her official commission as a Fairfax County General District Court judge on Thursday, July 18, at 4 p.m. at the Fairfax County Courthouse, Courtroom 5J, 4110 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax. 

Before joining Fairfax County General District Court as the 11th judge, Earman served as a substitute judge from November 2012, hearing criminal and traffic cases and in Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Prior to taking the bench, she worked alongside her father and uncle in their family law firm, Friedlander, Friedlander & Earman P.C., focusing on civil litigation with a concentration in land use and real estate.

A native of Northern Virginia, Earman earned a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from the University of Virginia and her Juris Doctor from the George Mason University School of Law.  Earman also served as a planning commissioner for the City of Falls Church for five years and then on its Board of Zoning Appeals for 10 years.

For reasonable ADA accommodations, email your request to GDCMail@fairfaxcounty.gov or call 703-246-3136 TTY 711.

Tysons will get its first high-rise, continuing care facility following the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ approval on June 25 for two senior living towers.

Called the Mather, the two towers—which will reach 19 and 27 stories—will offer medical care and services with independent living, assisted living, and memory support units and skilled nursing beds. It will be operated by nonprofit Mather LifeWays.

“It’s new for us in Fairfax County,” said Providence District Supervisor Linda Smith who represents the Tysons area. “We’re used to Greenspring and that’s the sort of horizontal spread of a senior living facility. What we have is an urban version, a vertical version where people don’t have to walk miles of hallway to get places.”

The high-rises will join CityLine’s more than 2.6 million-square foot Arbor Row development near the McLean Metro Station. The towers will rise up on a four-acre site at the southeast corner of the Westbranch Drive and Westpark Drive intersection.

The plan calls for 300 age restricted units and 78 assisted living, memory support and skilled nursing beds, along with 13,286 square feet of retail and a community facility. The Mather will be open to people ages 62 or older.

The Mather also will offer 2,750-square-foot community facility for public use by people ages 50-plus. While the nonprofit build, equip and operate this community space, they will enter into an agreement with the county to collaboratively develop programming and activities. This community facility will operate Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There are currently no continuing care facilities in Tysons, according to Mather Lifeways in its development application. The Mather also marks the first such facility since Fairfax County adopted its new zoning district for continuing care facilities last year.

“I’m pleased to see senior housing in Tysons,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova. “I think that is an ingredient that has not been included in other developments, and I think it’s great to have a new provider who will be at play in Fairfax County, providing senior housing.”

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