Huntington Station Redevelopment

UPDATE (1/18/2011)

The JMCA is in the process of working with county staff in bringing the Jefferson Manor Conservation plan up to current standards. This is a required precursor to amendments to the county Comprehensive Plan.

The current markup of the conservation plan can be found here.

UPDATED DOCUMENTS (3/16/2010)

On March 16th, Lindsay Mason of Fairfax County presented the revised recommendations on the proposed redevelopment of the Huntington Station Plaza area. These updated plans include a draft text and drawings that depict the new FAR levels reflective of the concerns that were discussed at the previous community meeting including removing the Jefferson Drive properties from the development area and positioning the larger developments towards North Kings Hwy and incorporating green spaces and transit oriented walkways to allow easy access from the Jefferson Manor neighborhood to the metro.

Updated draft plan
JM_draftplantext.pdf (442 KB)

A PDF version of the updated draft plan based on community inputs.

Presentation Slide Show
JM_Community_presentation_03-16-10.pdf (1.6 MB)

Presentation slides shown at March 16, 2010 JMCA General Member Meeting.

Next Steps:

The county will take into consideration comments from this meeting and complete a final draft plan. Public hearings will be held in the coming months and the final plan will be presented to the board for approval.

UPDATE (1/4/2010)

In the spring of 2009, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved an out of plan study for part of Jefferson Manor bounded by North Kings hwy, Jefferson Drive, Monticello, and Fort Drive, which includes the Huntington Station strip mall, the garden apartments, and several duplex homes. The County is considering whether to allow for denser development, given its close proximity to the Metro. On Dec 15^th 2009 meeting, Lindsay A. Mason of the Fairfax County Department of Planning & Zoning gave a presentation to JMCA on their initial findings.

Ms. Mason showed PowerPoint slides showing several initial options being discussed by the planning team, with density (Floor Area ratio, or FAR) ranging from 2.0 to 3.00 FAR, maximum building height from 8 to 14 stories, different mixes of residential (apartments and/or townhouses) and business, and above-ground parking. Some of the options shown would entail displacing four houses on Farmington Dr (but she stressed this would NOT be done without owners’ approval). Ms. Mason stressed that these were initial thoughts, and could be adjusted based on, among other things, community input. In the following discussion, residents expressed concerns about the potential impact of a move to denser development on vehicular and pedestrian traffic on N. Kings and Fort Drive, local schools, and noise. Some residents worried about higher buildings blocking sunlight in the neighborhood; several residents expressed support for a plan with less-dense development, lower maximum height for buildings, and preservation of the Farmington Dr. houses.

Note: This exercise is not a form plan for redevelopment of the site. At this time, AJ Dwoskin Assoc. have no plans to redevelop the site for the forseeable future.

What is next?

Based on input at the meeting and any follow-up input, the planning team will refine the options and write a draft plan (January/February), meet again with the Jefferson Manor community (March) to discuss draft, further refine the plan and incorporate conservation pan (March-May). The final staff report will be presented at a Planning Commission public hearing in June, followed by a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors public hearing in July.

Written comments may be sent to:
Lindsay Mason
12055 Government Center Pkwy Suite 730
Fairfax, VA
Lindsay.mason@fairfaxcounty.gov

UPDATED DOCUMENTS (01/2010)

County presentation
JMCommunitypresentation.pdf (3 MB)

A PDF version of the slide show presented to the Jefferson Manor community on 12/15/2009.

Official JMCA minutes
12152009notes.doc (1 MB)

Official meeting minutes from the 12/15/2009 meeting. Provides a good narrative of the discussion that evening.

DOCUMENTS FROM 2005/2006 REDEVELOPMENT EFFORTS(01/2010)

Revised APR Language
Land_Unit_L_M.pdf (96 KB)

The Dwoskin team has presented this revised version of their plan amendment proposal, based on feedback from neighborhood residents, JMCA committees, and Fairfax County staff.

Conceptual Basis for Plan Amendment Proposal
Huntington_APRsm_04030MOD3.pdf (3.3 MB)

This document contains visual references for the plan amendment proposal. Note: these are conceptual drawings, not final proposals.

JMCA Draft Position on Revised Plan Amendment Proposal
APR_JMCA_Position.pdf (50 KB)

This memo has been approved by the board and has been sent to Lee District officials and staff in advance of the May 22^nd Lee District Area Plan Review Task Force meeting, at which the plan amendment proposal will be considered. This position statement supersedes the JMCA position on the plan amendment found at the bottom of this page.

Questions about the documents and last-minute comments should be directed to Darren Smith at landuse@JeffersonManor.org.

Project Overview(2005/2006 efforts)

The owners of the Huntington Station shopping center (A.J. Dwoskin & Associates) and the Jefferson Gardens apartment buildings have jointly filed a nomination for amendment of the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan as part of the Area Plan Review process, in order to facilitate mixed-use redevelopment of the site. The changes are fairly minimal, as the comprehensive plan already calls for mixed-use redevelopment of the site with building heights up to 150 feet, or approximately 12 stories. The amendment would change the area plan to reflect a different distribution of building heights and different pedestrian and traffic patterns. Planning for the redevelopment of the site is still at a very preliminary stage, and actual construction, if redevelopment occurs, is likely at least four years away. The proposed amendment can be viewed by following the link below.

Area Plan Review Nomination
DwoskinNomination.pdf (922 KB)

The Dwoskin team also plans to advocate for significant changes to the North Kings Highway corridor in that area, including traffic flow, parking, landscaping, and pedestrian safety changes. These changes are not part of the Area Plan Review process, but are proposals that the Dwoskin team believes would fit the character of their proposed development, and also in themselves would be beneficial to existing neighborhood residents. The Transportation Committee will be taking the lead on consideration of these ideas; please see that committee's page for more details and updates. The proposed changes to the North Kings Highway corridor are detailed in the following document:

North Kings Highway MetroZone Proposal
NKingsMetroZoneProposal.pdf (1 MB)

The JMCA Board, the Land Use Committee and Transportation Committee have developed JMCA's positions regarding support of the Area Plan Review Nomination and the North Kings Highway MetroZone Proposal, and determined JMCA's role in advocating for particular neighborhood priorities in relation to these proposals. In this process, the Board and the committees were guided by input from residents provided at the Land Use Workshop on January 24, the presentation by the Dwoskin team on February 7, and any submitted comments received before February 20, 2006. The JMCA position is detailed in the following documents:

JMCA's Position on the MetroZone Proposal
MetroZoneProposal_JMCAPosition_20060301.pdf (41 KB)

JMCA's Position on the Plan Amendment
PlanAmendmentProposal_JMCAPosition_20060301.pdf (39 KB)