Public Affairs

Fairfax County has published a consolidated draft of all its proposed revisions to 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, May 14, at 7 p.m., at the Fairfax County Government Center, conference rooms 4 and 5, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax.

This meeting can also be viewed live on the Fairfax County Zoning Facebook page.

zMOD includes a categorization and modernization of the uses permitted or conditionally permitted in different zoning districts. The consolidated draft was developed in four parts over the past 16 months through the combined work of Clarion Associates and Fairfax County staff with input from extensive public outreach and engagement:

• Industrial uses (October 2018).
• Public, institutional and community uses (November 2018).
• Agricultural and commercial uses (January 2019)
• Residential, accessory and temporary uses (April 2019)
• Consolidated draft of uses (May 2019).

The proposed zoning ordinance land use regulations include:

• Tables showing where each use is allowed as a permitted, special exception or special permit use in each zoning district.
• A reorganized list of general standards, as well as use-specific standards for the individual uses or categories of uses.
• A definition for each individual land use, as well as definitions for each broader category into which the uses are categorized.

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

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Dontaè L. Bugg will be presented his official commission as a Fairfax Circuit Court judge on Friday, May 10, at 4 p.m. at the Fairfax County Courthouse, Courtroom 5J, 4110 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax.  The public is invited to attend the investiture ceremony. 

At the ceremony, State Senator Scott A. Surovell will present Bugg with his official commission and Retired United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia will ceremoniously administer the oath. Bugg previously took his oath of office on March 15.

Before joining the Circuit Court, Bugg served as a substitute judge for the General District Court and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court from November 2016. Prior to taking the bench, the judge was the founder of Bugg Law Firm, PLLC, focusing his practice on criminal defense in federal and state courts, as well as domestic relations. 

A native of Newport News, Va., Bugg earned his Bachelor of Arts in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland and his Juris Doctor from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. 

For more information or reasonable ADA accommodations, contact Kim Callahan, Fairfax Circuit Court, at 703-246-4166, TTY 711.

Fairfax County has published proposed revisions to residential, accessory and temporary land uses and zoning regulations as part of its zoning modernization project called zMOD.

These proposed regulations will be presented at a public meeting on Tuesday, April 23, at 7 p.m., at the Fairfax County Government Center, conference rooms 4 and 5, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax.

This meeting can also be viewed live on the Fairfax County Zoning Facebook page.

zMOD includes a categorization and modernization of the uses permitted or conditionally permitted in different zoning districts. Drafts of the modernized use names, definitions and regulations are being released in four installments, in the following order:

• Industrial uses (October 2018).
• Public, institutional and community uses (November 2018).
• Agricultural and commercial uses (January 2019)
• Residential, accessory and temporary uses (April 2019)
• Consolidated draft of uses (May 2019).

The county’s consultant, Clarion Associates, will return May 14 to 16, to conduct several public and stakeholder meetings to present and answer questions about proposed changes to all the land use regulations.

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

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Help shape what the streets, plazas, parks and buildings may look like in the future along the Richmond Highway corridor. 

Fairfax County is working on urban design guidelines that will help to shape the corridor’s overall design, appearance and character.

Drop in anytime at two Pop-Up Studios to learn more and share your thoughts:

• Monday, April 4 from 4 to 7 p.m.
• Saturday, April 6 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Both pop-up events will be held at the Mount Vernon Plaza Shopping Center, 7648 Richmond Highway, Alexandria in a storefront behind McDonald’s on Fordson Road. County staff will be on-site to showcase pedestrian-friendly streetscapes and building design ideas.

These are informal events where the public can quickly pop in while out shopping or running errands.

Residents are also encouraged to take an online survey by April 23 to share their thoughts.

The final design guidelines will help to implement Embark Richmond Highway, the plan adopted last year to transform the 7.5-mile corridor. The plan aims to remake the corridor into a series of distinctive and vibrant urban neighborhoods that will be walkable, bikeable and served by a future bus rapid transit system.

For more information or reasonable ADA accommodations, contact the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization at 703-324-9300, TTY 711.

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Fairfax County, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) signed a letter of intent to offer educational and career certification programs at the Original Mount Vernon High School. The redevelopment of the Original Mount Vernon High School is part of the revitalization plans embodied in Embark Richmond Highway.

“I am thrilled that the county has entered into an agreement with NOVA to partner toward incorporating a learning academy at the Original Mount Vernon High School,” said Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck. “This is a culmination of years of effort by myself, Supervisor McKay and School Board Chair and Mount Vernon District Representative Karen Corbett Sanders to bring new opportunities to the Richmond Highway Corridor, which has been substantially underserved in the areas of higher education and human development. As we work to create a community hub and human development center at this central location, our goal is to provide opportunities for innovation, business incubators, college access, recreation, child development and the arts, with NOVA and FCPS providing important education components.”

The nonbinding agreement provides a framework for the public schools, college and county to:

• Expand workforce training and certification programs that lead to employment with a focus on IT, cyber-technology, health and hospitality and culinary arts.
• Expand training and workforce development for early childhood educators.
• Develop a plan to establish a dual enrollment program to offer college credits to high school students, as well as possibly develop an Early College High School.
• Offer high-quality, affordable, early learning and development programs for initially up to 160 children from birth to age 5.

“I’m thrilled that we have reached yet another major milestone as part of our progress at the Original Mount Vernon High School,” said Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay. “The new agreement signed last week brings us further to turning these plans into a reality, and brings us one step closer to benefiting the folks on the Route One Corridor and keeping our promise to revitalize the area as part of our Embark vision. I look forward to continuing to work with all of our community stakeholders on this important work.”

School Board Chair and Mount Vernon Representative Karen Corbett Sanders said, “The importance of having access to college level educational opportunities and career certifications for students and families in Mount Vernon and Lee has been a priority for community leaders. The inclusion of NOVA in the redevelopment had the full support of the community when it was presented to the Board of Supervisors in 2015. The letter of intent is the result of the efforts of the NOVA’s leadership, the schools and the county working together to more fully realize these opportunities for a community that does not have ready access to college and career training available in other areas of the county. We are thrilled to see this becoming a reality at the Original Mount Vernon High School location.”

As potential anchor tenants in the planned re-use of the former high school located at 8333 Richmond Highway, Northern Virginia Community College and Fairfax County Public Schools bring community linkages to the knowledge and skills that can build pathways to employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

“NOVA sees the need for a higher education presence in this underserved area and looks forward to continuing to work with state and local officials to explore educational and training opportunities that fit and could make a real difference,” said Dr. Mel Schiavelli, NOVA’s interim president.

The overarching vision is to leverage the former high school to build communities of opportunity, create career pathways, connect different generations and better integrate residents into the economy.

Per the letter of intent, the county, schools and college will work together to determine space needs for each program, cost and scope of need for necessary renovations and cost responsibilities, to include future lease payments. They will create a strategic document that includes interim and long-term educational uses by Aug. 30, 2019.

A master development planning process for the former high school began in spring 2018. The planning phase is expected to conclude this spring, with priority placed on the renovations and adaptive reuse of the historic high school structure. Additional community engagement opportunities will be held before planning is completed.

The former school building, built in 1939, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Historic Landmarks Register. The adaptive reuse of the historic building and surrounding campus is being led by the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services’ Public Private Partnerships Branch. A community visioning task force provided recommendations in 2015 that included higher education in the building and early childhood education.

This agreement also advances the county’s and public schools’ commitment to One Fairfax, a racial and social equity policy jointly adopted by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County School Board in 2017. In addition to the education programming in the building, there are plans to create an approximately 11,000-square-foot teen and senior center to offer indoor and outdoor recreation.

For more information, contact the Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs at 703-324-3187, TTY 711.

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Commercial, industrial and nonprofit property owners looking to make their buildings more energy efficient might get help from Fairfax County.

The county is proposing a program that would allow eligible property owners to take out loans with private lenders for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water saving projects.

Called Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy — or C-PACE for short — this program would offer loans through private lenders. Under state law, the county must pass an ordinance to establish the loan program—but the county would bear no costs for it. It neither loans the money nor guarantees or backs the loans. The program would be administered by a private company that the county will select through a competitive bid.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors discussed this financing program during its Feb. 12 Environmental Committee meeting. It is anticipated the board will take action to establish this private, loan program at their March 19 meeting.

C-PACE would help to spur business owners to invest in energy efficiency projects that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, officials believe.

Eligible improvements include heating and ventilation, lighting, insulation, low-flow water fixtures, reflective or green roofing and renewable energy such as solar or wind. These projects could be undertaken on existing buildings or when constructing new ones.

The program would offer benefits to both property owners and the county.

For property owners, C-PACE loans are more attractive than traditional commercial bank loans. First, property owners aren’t required to make any down payments or put cash up front. The loans would be secured with a lien on the property, not by the business. Compared to traditional commercial loans, which often have to be repaid in five years, C-PACE loans would be amortized over a project’s useful life, which could be 10 to 20 years. Finally, hard and soft costs could finance through the program.

If ultimately adopted, the program will advance the county’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting sustainable energy efficient infrastructure. C-PACE will also enhance the county’s property tax base and supports employment and economic growth.

The county has already cut its own greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent per capita. However, the county government and public schools only account for 3 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Fairfax County. The remaining 97 percent are generated by businesses and homes. Therefore, it is critical to encourage homeowners and businesses to reduce these harmful emissions that produce poor air quality and climate change.

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Fairfax County is considering funding $2.5 million in new energy efficiency projects for LED streetlights and electric vehicle charging stations.

The Board of Supervisors discussed funding for these new projects at their Feb. 12 Environmental Committee meeting. It is anticipated that the board will approve the money in March as part its third quarter review of the county’s current budget.

These projects put into action the county’s ambitious Operational Energy Strategy that was adopted last year. This strategy aims to cut energy use in county buildings by 20 percent per square foot over the next 10 years. The overall strategy moves forward Fairfax County’s commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

As part of the energy strategy, county leaders previously approved $4.5 million in September to install LED lighting at 19 facilities, including libraries, community centers, the animal shelter and parks. Retrofiting incandescent and fluorescent bulbs with LEDs should be completed late this year.

As a new project, the county is looking to replace the approximately 56,000 streetlights in the county with LEDs. Because Dominion Energy installs, owns, operates and maintains virtually all of these streetlights, the county must pay to convert them. However, Fairfax led the negotiations this past summer for a new regional agreement with the utility that lowered the conversion costs.

The total cost to change streetlights to LEDs is an estimated $9 million, and county officials are considering a phased conversion over five years. To begin the first phase, $1.8 million will be required.

The change will yield both financial and environmental benefits. LEDs will cut operating costs for these streetlights by 52 percent, generating an estimated annual savings of $1.4 million once the conversions are complete.

LED streetlights will also cut 32.4 million pounds of carbon emissions every year. This is equal to the greenhouse gas emissions from 1,760 homes for a year or 1,653,696 gallons of gasoline burned.

As another energy efficiency measure, the county proposes installing electric vehicle charging stations at up to 20 county facilities phased over two consecutive years, such as its office buildings, community centers, libraries, RECenters and commuter parking lots. The stations would service county vehicles, but also would be available to the public for a fee.

The total cost for designing, permitting and building the EV charging stations is $1.5 million over two years. To build the first set of stations, the county would allocate $750,000. The county will contract with a private company to own, operate and maintain these stations.

Reducing the county’s electricity use is key to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Electricity accounted for 51 percent of the county’s total energy use in 2016—and it produced 65 percent of carbon emissions. Electricity was also responsible for 69 percent of the county’s total energy bill.

When fully implemented, the Operational Energy Strategy is expected to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 533,000 metric tons compared to today. This is equal to the amount of climate-warming gases that would be released from burning 1.24 million barrels of oil or 584 million pounds of coal.

The $2.5 million proposed for the streetlight conversions and EV charging stations makes up some of the $48 million investment called for by the strategy. However, the strategy’s energy saving projects will pay for themselves over 10 years, generating an estimated $80 million in utility cost avoidance.

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Fairfax County has published proposed revisions to agriculture and commercial land uses and zoning regulations as part of its zoning modernization project called zMOD.

These proposed regulations will be presented at a public meeting on Feb. 26, at 7 p.m., at the Fairfax County Government Center, conference rooms 4 and 5, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax.

This meeting can also be viewed live on the Fairfax County Zoning Facebook page.

zMOD includes a categorization and modernization of the uses permitted or conditionally permitted in different zoning districts. Drafts of the modernized use names, definitions and regulations are being released in four installments, in the following order:

• Industrial uses (October 2018)
• Public, institutional, and community uses (November 2018)
• Agricultural and commercial uses (January 2019)
• Residential, accessory, and temporary uses (expected Spring 2019)

The county’s consultant, Clarion Associates, will return in May 2019 to conduct several public and stakeholder meetings to present and answer questions about proposed changes to all the land use regulations.

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

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It’s no secret that housing is expensive in the D.C. area. 

Median home prices in the region have risen by 40 percent over the last 10 years, and rents climbed 17 percent over five years.

However, it’s not just affordability that’s a problem. People with disabilities and older adults can face unique housing difficulties.

There’s a shortage of accessible housing for the more than 70,000 people with disabilities in the county. Only about 5 percent of housing units in the county have accessible features—and it’s difficult to match residents with landlords who have these units. Older adults can also face housing challenges. They may need help with their daily needs or financial support in order to stay in their homes.

To find innovative solutions for these housing needs, Fairfax County held a hackathon on Jan. 24-25, 2019. The event was co-sponsored by George Mason University, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.

It brought together players from the private sector, nonprofits and universities to explore how technology can help. There were 70 people who registered, including data analysts, engineers and developers. Teams competed for cash prizes for first, second, third place, plus a student prize.

The two-day hackathon focused on three housing challenges:

• Helping to match property owners and people with disabilities to accessible housing units.
• Finding a better way for people with disabilities to search for accessible units.
• Connecting older adults who want to rent a room to younger people, including those who are willing to help around the house in exchange for lower rents.

Teams developed tech solutions that were judged by a panel of five technology, housing and disability experts.

One team, for example, created a website that matches renters with disabilities to apartments with the specific accessible features they needed. This system would aggregate data from landlords with accessible units into a single site that renters could search for apartments. The real-time system would automatically put renters on waitlists and make notifications when units became available.

Almost like a dating app, another solution presented was a matching and recommendation engine to bring together younger people and older adults who want to rent space in their homes. It would allow renters to find a place based on their preferences, including distance to public transportation, restaurants, whether pets are allowed and in-kind services they may provide in exchange for reduced rent.

In addition to the cash prizes, the three winning teams were offered the chance to join a 90-day program at business accelerator Smart City Works to help further develop their products.

Whether any of the hackers ultimately bring their products to market, they offered new ideas and solutions that ultimately could help make housing more accessible and affordable.

“It is so inspiring and heartening for me, and I know for a number of my colleagues working in housing, to see so many young people come together and work on this issue,” said Tom Fleetwood, director of Fairfax County’s Department of Housing and Community Development. “We’ll all profit by it. We’ll all benefit from it. You’ll definitely make our world and our community a better place. So, thank you, thank you!”

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What does the future of Fairfax County look like?

Fairfax County Government is beginning a strategic planning process with the community to shape the future together. Our goal is to hear all voices and reach all segments of our community.

What are hopes and aspirations for the future of our community? What challenges do we face and what priorities must we address first?

This effort will span most of 2019, but in this first phase, the community is being asked to:

1. Take a short five-question online survey
2. Consider joining a community conversation in person between Feb. 13 and March 6
3. Share the survey and conversation invitation with neighbors, co-workers and county family and friends

As the strategic planning process unfolds, Fairfax County will have:

• Defined a clear understanding of the county’s priorities for 2020 and beyond, organized around a set of 7-10 priority areas that we will seek additional input on later this year
• Developed a set of community-centric, quantifiable, and meaningful key performance indicators for each outcome/priority area
• Prioritized strategies and implementation paths that will be pursued to achieve the outcomes and “move the needle” on the key performance indicators
• Integrated other important county planning efforts such as the economic success strategy, Fairfax County Public Schools strategic plan, One Fairfax and more
• Completed the strategic plan by January 2020 that will create a roadmap for Fairfax County to achieve the desired outcomes of the community

"There's going to be one set of county priorities that will be generated by the community and staff and endorsed by the Board of Supervisors," explains County Executive Bryan Hill, who has made developing a countywide strategic plan a priority since his arrival in January 2018.