The Providence District Council (PDC) has held two recent meetings dedicated to discussion of the proposed Out-of-turn Plan Amendment affecting the Fairlee and Sweeney tracts, East Blake Lane Park, and a portion of the Metro station property, all parcels located south of the Vienna Metro Station. This amendment is of great significance because it more than doubles the number of residential units in the current Plan that was reaffirmed during the last APR cycle and adds 300,000 square feet of office space plus 25,000-75,000 square feet of retail space. Therefore, its impact is more than twice that which would result from implementation of the current plan.

Providence District Council member organizations recognize that the effects of high density development adjacent to the Vienna Metro Station extend far beyond the area immediately surrounding the subject parcels. Traffic, schools, parkland and storm water impacts and mitigation have been inadequately addressed in the current out-of-turn plan amendment.

Providence District Council does not recommend approval of the current Comprehensive Plan Amendment for the subject parcels; there needs to be an evaluation of an expanded study area performed. For example, the boundaries of this larger study area may be Route 50 on the south, Route 123 on the west and north and Gallows Road on the east. This expanded study should incorporate the amendments to the Merrifield Suburban Center which were adopted in 2001.

The expanded study area should include an analysis of the impact of mixed-use (commercial-retail-residential) versus residential-only development using case studies. Providence District Council is also concerned that a significant number of communities that will be directly affected by this amendment were either not contacted or allowed to participate in the planning "Work Group."

However, if it is the intent of the Planning Commission to make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors regarding this proposed Out-of-Turn Plan Amendment, without first reviewing the current and proposed Plan provisions in the context of an expanded study area, then the Council recognizes the following inadequacies of the OTPA and recommends, at a minimum, the following changes to the proposal.

3. The communities surrounding Fairlee-Metro West are significantly lower density neighborhoods; the currently proposed density and building heights are out of character with these communities;

4. The amount of support retail proposed in this OTPA is insufficient to effect desired reductions in single occupancy vehicle trips, with the support service language inadequately defined;

5. There is no commitment for commercial construction in the plan language; the history of the area suggests that commercial is unsuccessful in this area;

6. The destruction of East Blake Lane Park for use as a "regional" storm water management pond does not meet the requirement for treating a 10-year storm event, will be a significant loss of wildlife habitat, creates a potential liability for lake safety, and may be inadequate for providing BMPs. Utilization of EBLP for storm water management bypasses a public hearing process for changing the use of this parkland and sets a bad precedent for park usage. There is no land added to the Fairfax County Park Authority system with the subtraction of parkland for SWM and BMPs;

7. The Plan Amendment does not provide a plan to build, maintain and staff the suggested community facility; the land/facility is not being given to the Park Authority, yet it being treated as meeting the Park Authority’s impact analysis;

8. Although the "Sweeney" parcel has been defined as temporary parking, the loss of 650 parking spaces for Metro parking is significant to current users of the Metro system;

9. With the project’s proximity to I-66 and Tysons Corner, area traffic will inappropriately increase with the proposal’s suggested density; and

10. There has been an apparent lack of coordination and input with the schools, police, and fire department.

1. The plan is a suburban plan, therefore, less density is appropriate;

2. If the PDC suggested expanded impact study is not performed, the cap on residential use should be a maximum of 1500 units;

3. Building heights should be staggered and limited to no more than 12 stories or 135’, with the taller buildings located near the Metro Station;

4. Support retail must be a larger component of mixed-use designation with a minimum of 5% support retail provided. Plan language must state that 5% is based on the total square footage of the proposed development;

5. East Blake Lane Park shall not be utilized for a storm water management pond and BMPs;

6. All storm water management facilities shall be part of Phase 1 of any development;

7. There must be a statement of commitment to build the commercial component to support mixed-use and to not convert the commercial component to residential use at any later time;

8. Any development needs to be phased with Metro capacity expansion (e.g., addition of new cars); and

9. Any plan must contain pedestrian and bicycle connectivity.