Fairfax County supervisors approve Annandale plan amendment
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a redevelopment plan for Annandale July 13, paving the way for a comprehensive transformation of the suburban community into a walkable, urban, and active mixed-use center.
The Annandale Community Business Center Comprehensive Plan Amendment adopts a new form-based approach that provides flexibility by using building form and height to guide development instead of floor area ratios (FARs). The plan covers approximately 200 acres, including all of the Commercial Revitalization District.
It includes innovative urban design, streetscape improvements, urban plazas, and parks. It also includes a plan to widen Little River Turnpike through central Annandale. The county Planning Commission approved the plan amendment last month.
According to the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization and Reinvestment, which developed the plan amendment, “These design and transportation elements will contribute to and establish a cohesive and unique identity and support revitalization efforts in Annandale.”
During the Board of Supervisors hearing, Daniel McKinnon Jr., a long-time advocate for the revitalization of Annandale, spoke in favor of the plan amendment. “Form-based planning is new to Fairfax County and Annandale is a perfect place to test its utility,” he says. “Now let’s see if we can attract reinvestment.”
“Getting rid of the old plan of making Little River Turnpike an over eight-lane scar of asphalt as divisive as the Berlin wall and replacing it with a tree-lined boulevard can only be described as genius,” he added. “It may take the Commonwealth years to produce any money for pavement, but boulevard amenities of sidewalks, trees and bike paths can be front and center the next time the county has a transportation bond referendum.”
The Board of Supervisors also approved a plan amendment to guide future redevelopment in Bailey’s Crossroads. Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross said the Bailey’s Crossroads plan amendment “balances retail, residential, and civic and open space and takes advantage of a proposed streetcar line connecting Skyline Center with Pentagon City. The supervisors approved a modification to the plan amendment to add a community parking lot on the west side of South Jefferson Street, next to the streetcar route.
