Land use committee supports parking plan at Justice HS
The Mason District Land Use Committee had a packed agenda at its June 28 meeting:
They recommended the Planning Commission approve the expansion of Radley Acura and heard presentations on the Patrick Henry shelter replacement and a proposal to add a drive-through to the McDonald’s on Route 50 near Annandale Road.
The issue that drew the most discussion, however, involved parking at Justice High School.
Several MDLUC members said they aren’t happy that the Justice High School expansion project will result in many fewer parking spaces.
But in the end, the committee agreed that the expansion needs to go forward to address overcrowding and called for Fairfax County Public Schools to revisit the parking issue after five years.
Related story: FCPS to seek rezoning and parking waiver for Justice HS
The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing July 13 on a FCPS’ rezoning proposal to allow a reduction in the number of required parking spaces. Because the school site doesn’t have excess land, the addition needs to be built on the existing parking lot.
Construction of the addition is scheduled to start in summer 2023 and should be completed in summer 2025, said John McGranahan, the attorney representing FCPS.
Current zoning rules require 750 parking spaces to accommodate the expanded Justice High School. FCPS is requesting a waiver to allow just 340, McGranahan told the MDLUC. The school currently has 329 spaces.
Several community members and members of the public complained that nearly all the spaces will be taken up by employees and there will be hardly any spaces for students.
Since the MDLUC last took up the issue, FCPS proposed a series of new proffers, including the following to be undertaken by the school district:
- A new sidewalk along the north side of Peace Valley Lane.
- A minimum of seven electric vehicle charging stations.
- Two, rather than one, stormwater facilities.
- Traffic circulation during drop-off and pickup peak periods would be improved by the use of gates, cones, signage, and crossing guards.
- Designated spaces on Peace Valley where cars cannot be moved during peak times.
McGranahan said FCPS will also pursue opportunities for off-site parking along the north and south sides of the public segment of Peace Valley Lane.
He noted many of the streets around Justice are in a Residential Parking District — requiring permits — which will reduce overflow traffic in the community.
By virtually eliminating student parking, “this pits student needs against teacher needs,” said PTSA President Kim Lanoue, who lives next to Justice.
If the plan is approved, Lanoue said, many students will no longer be able to stay after school for sports or activities. The idea that students will use public transportation or bicycles is “a farce” because many students don’t live near a bus stop or can’t afford a bike, she said.
Lanoue urged FCPS to revive the idea of creating parking in Justice Park, but that is not going to happen. After community members fought hard against using parkland for school parking, FCPS dropped that proposal in September 2021
Related story: FCPS will not use Justice Park for parking
“This didn’t have to be as hard as it is,” said MDLUC member Jeff Longo, who blamed FCPS’s faulty process for pitting community members against one another. “FCPS, you did that,” he charged.
Several committee members said they would have preferred a parking garage, but understand that FCPS doesn’t have the funds for that.
The MDLUC approved a motion by Longo stating the committee endorses the rezoning proposal but calls for FCPS to revisit the parking reduction request five years after the rezoning is approved. At that point, if the parking situation doesn’t meet demand, FCPS would have to resubmit a parking reduction request or use bond money to address the need.
“There is no good solution,” said MDLUC chair Daniel Aminoff, but he said Justice High School needs to be expanded.
Correction. The recommendation was for the parking waiver to expire and be revisited 5 years after the nomination is approved – not after construction is completed. [The article was fixed.] Construction is expected to take 2-3 years, so there will be a 2-3 year period in which to assess whether the current waiver is satisfactory, and if not, for FCPS to propose an adequate solution to address the problem, or otherwise explain why they need to extend or make permanent another waiver, or hopefully, a combination of both (reduced permanent waiver in combination with additional parking).
As I said at the meeting… I felt this was the least sucky way to move forward, but I still wish we weren’t in this situation. I hated to see neighbors pit against each other like I saw – each actively trying to undercut the value of each other’s opinion. Every opinion put forward had value. Those that didn’t want to see a bunch of pavement added to the park that serves a bunch of black/brown folks didn’t deserve to have their opinions dismissed, and I wasn’t thrilled that it felt like it took the NAACP going to the press to actually have that opinion valued. But then the second option (which is more or less what we were presented) really didn’t do the lack of parking situation “justice” (pun intended?), and devalued the opinion of those who wanted sufficient parking for teachers, staff, and students.
It was a tough problem for sure, but there were opportunities for compromise that were squandered. As best as I can tell we need to move forward but keep the parking situation alive and move towards a “reset” in a few years and hope we can move towards pragmatic solutions.
But as Dan noted, and I agree with – this school needs this expansion.
If so many students are driving to school, there may be a possibility to reduce the number of buses that service the school; fewer buses, longer routes , more spaces = a win-win!
If FCPS had only addressed the parking in their original plan by adding a parking garage as part of the initial expansion this wouldn’t be an issue today. They were short sited and took shortcuts as usual and now Justice students and faculty will suffer. The park should have never been an option – it was a bailout of poor planning from the beginning.
Priority for parking should be for students that work and need a car to reach their job. Maybe carpools can be formed by students; that would cut cost of gas.