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 Collects and shares information on the current Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan which is the "blue print"; for land use and rezoning decisions in the County. We will look at the current Comprehensive Plan as well as previous land use decisions by County officials in Reston and surrounding areas south of the Park and Ride. It is our belief that the High Density of the Clark proposal is totally inconsistent with the character of hundreds of acres of surrounding Low Density neighborhoods. We also believe that the County's own planning documents express the goal of protecting existing low density neighborhoods in the area from exactly this type of high density development.
If you are interested in volunteering, feel free to contact Brian Grzelak at the address below.
Name: Brian Grzelak (Chairman)
 Approximately 10 acre site. - Surrounding properties currently zoned at 1-2 units per acre. Current zoning would allow 6 residential units without rezoning. - Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan prior to 1992 when County acquired most of the parcels would have permitted a rezoning for a maximum of 20 detached single family dwellings (SFD's). - Current use as a Park and Ride facility already generates traffic well in excess of 20 SFD's. - Current use as a Park and Ride facility already generates impervious (roofs, asphalt paving, etc.) surface area much greater than that generated by 20 SFD's. - Current use as a Park and Ride facility already generates greater area pollution than 20 SFD's (especially with morning "engine warm up periods? for over-night parked school buses).
The negative impact of the current Park and Ride lot of surrounding homeowners is already much greater than anything the County would have previously allowed to be developed at this location if the property were privately owned.
 The Clark PPEA proposal accepted by the County proposes a residential density of approximately 150 units or roughly 15 units/acre. - At this density, required parking is typically provided by landscaped, open, surface lots. - However, because of the housing mix proposed and the need to "co-use" the property for commuter parking, a 511 space, muti-storied parking structure will also be required. - Assuming approximately 300 sq. ft. per parking space and partial drive lane, this garage could be as large as 150,000 sq. ft. (compared to 109,000 sq. ft of retail store area in the Fox Mill Shopping Center). - With 2 bedroom condominiums typically averaging 1,200 sq. ft. per unit, the mass bulk of the parking garage would be the visual equivalent of another 125 dwelling units. - So now, we are up to a development that will appear visually similar to that of 275 total dwelling units or more than 27 units per acre all on a site that would have been developed for a total of 20 units if the County hadn't have gotten involved in 1992.
The County claims that this proposal generates a lot of "free" benefits for residents such as workforce housing units and road improvements. However, there is nothing "free" about the County unilaterally creating value by allowing a greater than tenfold increase in density. [On a more "upbeat"note, if the County would apply this same principal to just a few hundred low density acres along Route 7 in Great Falls, the affordable housing shortage for all of Northern Virginia will likely be solved and thousands of valuable commuter parking spaces will be created.]
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