Board approves vehicle sales for Versar site
The Board of Supervisors on May 5 authorized a new use for a property in a hidden corner of Mason District with two vacant office buildings.
The board passed a motion to rezone the property from I-5 to the C-8 to allow the sale of passenger vehicles. The two four-story office buildings on the site will be demolished.
The property is located in Springfield between the I-495 and I-395 interchange and the Virginia Railway Express. The only way to get there is via a cul-de-sac at the end of Hechinger Drive.
The office buildings were built in 1950 as corporate headquarters. In 2023, the board revised the zoning designation – which previously restricted the site to office uses – to allow the sale, storage, and repair of dump trucks, tractor-trailers, and cement mixers.
But the sale of passenger vehicles was not permitted, so the owner came back to the board to request another rezoning.
The owner had tried for years to sell the buildings but wasn’t successful, so they tried to figure out another use for the property, said land use attorney David Schneider.
He said the existing flood plain resource protection area that runs through the property will be preserved.
Related story: Planning Commission endorses zoning special exception for vacant buildings