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Coalition Update
January 6, 2025
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- 2025 County SSPA Process Begins Anew
- Public Hearings: Zoning for Food Trucks
- What Happened: Franconia Triangle SSPA Community Meeting (12/10/2024)
- Community Meeting: Franconia Triangle SSPA (1/7/2025, virtual)
- Kingstowne Towne Center Update
- Land Use 101: Urban Development and Placemaking
- In The News
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2025 County SSPA Process
Begins Anew
Once again, the one-month clock will begin for proposing new amendments (via nominations) to the County's Comprehensive Plan for a specific property. Such amendments allow exceptions to the Comprehensive Plan, which serves as a guideline for land use/development and zoning. Landowners who want to get approval for a change to how their property is zoned (residential, commercial, mixed use, etc.) have a tiny window to submit their "nomination". See Land Use 101.
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Referred to as the Site Specific [Comprehensive] Plan Amendment (SSPA) process, nominations ultimately accepted by the Board of Supervisors will be incorporated into the County's Comprehensive Plan Amendment "Work Program" for the rezoning review process.
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The SSPA process is divided into three key Phases:
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- Nomination Phase (January 13 - February 13). Nominations for sites that meet the eligibility requirements are submitted to the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development during this one-month window. The Nomination Phase typically opens only every two years. The Board of Supervisors (BOS) will take action to accept or reject nominations in March 2025. Those accepted will proceed to the Screening Phase. There is no public comment period during this phase.
- Screening Phase (March - April). Community Engagement Meetings begin during this phase between staff, nominator presentations, and the public. Community meetings are scheduled during March and April 2025. In addition, the Planning Commission (PC) will hold "Public Workshops" where staff and the nominators will present the submissions to allow initial public comment. The PC then will make recommendations to the BOS on which nominations should move forward into Comprehensive Plan Amendment Work Program.
- Work Program. Once the BOS adopts the 2025 Work Program, the Comprehensive Plan Amendments will be reviewed in detail by County Staff. The timeline for each amendment will vary depending on it's complexity, Staff resources, and assigned priority (aka Tier). In some instances, the SSPA and rezoning timelines run concurrently.
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*This guide is specifically for landowners planning to submit an application (aka nomination) to change the zoning for a specific property. Unfortunately, a "companion" guide for the public no longer exists. However, the County has made significant strides over the past year to improve public online access to information and instruction on how to take part in the review process through numerous Community Engagement Meetings and Public Hearings. The Rose Hill Coalition LLC has made concerted effort to fill that information gap and encourages residents to learn about the land use process via our website and "Staying In Touch".
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Zoning for Food Trucks (Planning Commission)
Evaluate current zoning regulations for 21-day administrative temporary permit uses and longer-term interim uses and consider ways to increase flexibility and remove unnecessary impediments and time limits.
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The changes may include, without limitation: (1) adding, revising, and/or deleting use-specific standards for food trucks when permitted by administrative permit, special exception, or special permit; (2) adding, deleting, and/or revising use-specific standards applicable to all special events; (3) adding a new tiered administrative permit process with new use-specific standards for special events; (4) adding, deleting, and/or revising use-specific standards for special events when permitted by special permit; (5) adding, deleting, and/or revising zoning fees for special events; and/or (6) revising the definition of special event.
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The Commission may make appropriate changes in the proposals as a result of the hearing and will forward their recommendations to the Board of Supervisors (BOS). The BOS will hold their follow-up Public Hearing on the food truck zoning amendments on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, at 4 pm.
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Franconia Triangle SSPA Community Engagement Meeting
Fairfax County is evaluating potential changes to the Comprehensive Plan’s land use recommendations for the area bounded by Franconia Rd, Beulah St, and Grovedale Dr. An in-person meeting was held December 10, 2024. A virtual community meeting also will be held by the Dept of Planning and Development on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, from 7–9 pm.
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- 120 affordable apartments on the Franconia Governmental Center Site,
- 63 townhomes and 30 multi-family units (repurposing of one office bldg.),
- An option for future residential use, and
- An increase in planned retail along Franconia Road
- The County has developed an in-depth website for the public on the redevelopment of this large site located in the heart of Franconia.
- A busy area already bogged down during rush hours will be further challenged by this proposal. VDOT has already determined the intersection of Van Dorn and Franconia to be "critical", as in excessive wait times at traffic signals.
- These proposed 200+ residential units will be in addition to thousands of units proposed and currently in the pipeline for Franconia.
- No plans for moving the Franconia Volunteer Fire Station have been proposed, so it also will be further impeded by additional congestion. Response times have suffered. Expect engines to continue crossing the medians to get through standing traffic.
- Many of residents in attendance expressed significant frustration with the County and Housing Authority from past meetings. County staff clarified information as needed and are commended for maintaining the peace.
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Kingstowne Towne Center Update
The owner of Kingstowne Towne Center, Federal Realty Investment Trust, submitted a rezoning application to Fairfax County on September 9, 2024, to drop retail from future housing . The rezoning application has been “approved for review” by the County (10/28/24) and will now proceed through the land use site-specific application (SSPA) review process.
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Public Hearings have been scheduled as follows:
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- Planning Commission: May 14, 2025
- Board of Supervisors: June 10, 2025
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Plan Forward Overview and Goals
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Fairfax County's Plan Forward policy update will provide land-use guidance for future development. Considerations include density, transportation, environment, and site-design to ensure that new developments fit into the context of the affected communities and overarching County priorities, especially with regard to increasing multi-family housing and reducing the cost of housing.
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If you want to understand and have a say in the future of the County, we recommend attending the community meetings.
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*The Plan Forward in-person general community meetings originally scheduled for November and December will be rescheduled for early 2025. "This decision was made to allow staff time to incorporate feedback received from the community outreach to date, as well as complete research and publish white papers on specific topics that will be used to guide the development of these future community meetings."
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No meetings have been scheduled to date for 2025.
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No Fairfax Casino Coalition Update
Legislation is expected to be introduced in the Virginia Senate when the General Assembly reconvenes in January 2025 that would authorize a casino to be developed along one of the four Metro Line Corridors in Fairfax County, and most likely along the Silver Line Corridor in Tysons. According to the No Fairfax Casino Coalition, they will need to have a plan and act fast once legislation is introduced.
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This moderated forum will provide residents with an unbiased platform to ask questions, share comments, and express concerns about the proposed project.
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- Casino opposition efforts to date
- Expected introduction of casino legislation and key dates
- Action plan:
- Help us get 10,000 signatures on the No Fairfax Casino petition!
- Letter writing campaigns: They work!
- Leverage contacts: Can you help us get faith based, businesses, elected officials outside of Fairfax County and other groups/individuals to make personal appeals to State Senators and Delegates?
- Donate. We need funds to support our efforts. We are all volunteers.
- Trips to Richmond: First trip is scheduled for Monday, January 13, 2025. If you would like to go to Richmond to deliver our messaging to State Senators/Delegates, there will be a short informational session at the end of this webinar.
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Urban Development and Placemaking
"Placemaking is one of six key themes of the Fairfax County Strategic Plan. This position paper outlines actions that will effectively bring this theme to fruition, with a specific emphasis on land use and infrastructure factors that support placemaking. Implementation will also amplify the Board of Supervisors’ policy directives captured in the County’s Strategic Plan, Comprehensive Plan, Economic Development Initiatives, and One Fairfax Policy. Placemaking offers a framework within which work can be accomplished by multiple parties and can guide entitlement application reviews, capital investment decision-making, and resource priority-setting. Such a framework is essential, as placemaking is by its nature multiagency internal to the County, while also requiring cross-sector collaboration among the public, private, and nonprofit sectors."
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In The News
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- Your Chance to Shape the County’s Development
The Fairfax County's Site-Specific Plan Amendment (SSPA) process officially opens January 13, 2025, providing an opportunity to propose land use zoning changes in the County’s Comprehensive Plan. Community input will shape the review process that is coordinated by County Staff, reviewed by the Planning Commission, and approved by the Board of Supervisors. An eligibility map and submission guide are available online to support landowners in submitting nominations by the February 13, 2025, deadline.
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news/coming-soon-your-chance-shape-countys-development
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- Tysons Casino Poses National Security Threat: Intelligence Experts
“We raise our acute concern about a possible casino at Tysons,” the letter says. “Within a ten-minute drive or less to such an establishment is a population of over 20,000 federal employees working at our most sensitive national security organizations: the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.”
https://patch.com/virginia/kingstowne/s/j2eph/tysons-casino-poses-national-security-threat-intelligence-experts
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- RHCA Offers Support for GSA Site Development Concept
"After receiving general support from community residents at a meeting of the
Rose Hill Civic Association in October, the owner of the GSA property on Telegraph Road is moving to determine the economic viability of a plan to develop
housing for seniors and a childcare facility along with up to 44 new homes on the site." (November 2024)
https://www.myrosehill.com/rambler
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- Public Database on Utility Work Near Roads Coming
Effective January 1, 2025, the Virginia Department of Transportation has been directed to maintain a publicly accessible database to map all utility work approved for its roads in residential neighborhoods. The database will include the location of the work, the start and projected end dates, the company undertaking the work, the type of work being conducted and other relevant information. The information will be available in the database at least 30 days prior to the start date.
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https://legacylis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=241&typ=bil&val=HB143
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Mark Your Calendar
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The Coalition Calendar provides detailed information on Public Hearings and other County meetings regarding land use affecting the Rose Hill Planning District. Each event includes an option to add an event to your personal online calendar. (Fairfax County provides a list of all Public Hearings and meetings.)
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Northern VA Transportation Authority
Thursday, January 9, at 7 pm
2600 Park Tower Drive, Vienna, VA
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NVTA invites the public to provide feedback on what regional transportation focus areas you'd like to see in 2025 and how to best tackle traffic congestion in the region, through a multimodal approach. Register to speak.
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Take Action!
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Planning Commission: Public Hearings and Staff Reports
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Schedules, agendas, information, and staff reports on land use applications that are scheduled for public hearings. PC meetings have different requirements for public testimony than BOS meetings.
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All Board of Supervisors meetings held in the Board Auditorium and Conference Room 11 are available to view live on Channel 16 and stream online. BOS meetings have different requirements for public testimony than PC meetings.
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Stay In Touch!
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The Rose Hill Coalition LLC provides current information and supports full transparency on land-use issues directly affecting the Rose Hill Planning District within Franconia in Fairfax County, Virginia. More than 330 subscribers!
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