Del. Kory wants to improve Park Authority transparency in light of Justice Park parking lot conflict

Del. Kaye Kory talks to a reporter at an open house at Justice Park in June hosted by opponents of the parking lot proposal.

Fairfax County Public Schools and the Fairfax County Park Authority were able to push a proposal for a parking lot in Justice Park without public hearings because they used a section of the Virginia Code (Section 2232) rather than go through a rezoning process.

Del. Kaye Kory (38th District) wants to tighten up the Section 2232 process and improve transparency and accountability among local park authorities.

Under Section 2232, a local government that wants to build or expand a facility it owns must go through a Planning Commission hearing, but needn’t be subject to a Board of Supervisors hearing. 

However, if the facility is a “feature shown” on a comprehensive plan, the land-use proposal can be approved administratively without the need for a public hearing.

FCPS presumably pursued the feature shown option in getting approval for the parking lot as part of the Justice High School expansion project because they thought it would be faster and easier than going through a rezoning process. Rezoning requires notifications to the community and public hearings. 

Related story: Public officials failed to inform public on Justice Park land negotiations

Stephanie Leedom, director of the Park Planning and Development Division at the Park Authority, signed a document last fall stating she “owns” the land at Justice Park and agreed that the proposed parking lot can be considered a “feature shown.” However, neither the county’s Comprehensive Plan nor the Justice Park Master Plan shows a parking lot in that location.

A Nov. 13, 2020, memo to FCPS officials from Michelle Stahlhut, chief of public facilities and plan development in the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development, affirmed the use of the “feature shown” option. 

The Park Authority, “the title owner of Justice Park,” the memo states, signed a consent statement which authorizes FCPS to show parking and parking lots on FCPA property, identified as ‘FCPA Justice Park’ as a part of the Justice High School proposed addition FCPS 2232/‘feature shown’ application.”

The 2232 process “is really a travesty,” Kory said. The Board of Supervisors doesn’t publish 2232 applications and only provides them to the public upon request. 

To prevent the future misuse of Section 2232, she is drafting legislation that would require park authorities to:

• fully disclose all properties they own and their market value;
• disclose the Economic Interest Statement of each park authority board member; 
• post the minutes of all meetings; 
• post agendas for board meetings at least one week in advance;
• require the governing body of the jurisdiction that oversees the park authority to hold a public hearing to review the park authority’s performance every five years and authorize the park authority to continue operations for no more than five years at a time;
• clearly state that all properties technically owned by a park authority are held and managed as property owned in common by all residents, and as such, may not be transferred, leased, or sold without public notice, a public hearing, and a public vote by the park board.

“As chair of the Cities, Counties and Towns Committee” in the House of Delegates, Kory said, “I am particularly concerned with the transparency and accountability of all actions of local governments in their role as stewards safeguarding public property and public welfare.”

Related story: Board of Supervisors reauthorizes Park Authority for 30 years, despite complaints from Justice Park advocates

Regarding the Justice Park parking lot proposal, “the 2232 process was violated, if not by law, then certainly in spirit,” said Jeff Longo, a member of the Mason District Land Use Committee (MDLUC). 

The only reason the Justice High School community learned about the parking lot is because the MDLUC reviews all 2232 applications in Mason District. 

“If we didn’t have a land-use committee, this would never have come out at all,” said Longo. He credits Mason Supervisor Penny Gross for creating the committee and notes that not all supervisor districts have a land-use committee. 

In a major reversal, the Fairfax County Park Authority announced in July that a parking lot in Justice Park is “simply not acceptable,” citing strong opposition from residents and the need to follow the county’s equity mandate in the One Fairfax policy. 

Related story: Park Authority calls parking lot in Justice Park ‘unacceptable’

FCPS has not revealed whether it is considering alternatives to the parking lot in Justice Park. 

In response to an inquiry to Jeff Platenberg, assistant superintendent for facilities and transportation, his assistant, Carla Austin, wrote: “Our office is in the midst of compiling proposed solutions in such a manner that information may be shared with you and the community at large. However, at this time we have no further information to provide. We anticipate being able to offer information on proposed solutions to the community early next month.”