Let’s preserve the unique character of Holmes Run Acres
By Edith MacArthur
Put a lot of people in a bunch of houses and do you get a community?
Maybe, but it is unlikely to be the kind of community that Holmes Run Acres (HRA) has been for 65 years: a place with a rich architectural history and a lot of natural beauty.
Building parameters matter
Fairfax County’s Zoning Ordinance provides formulaic parameters for building on one’s property. The parameters don’t encourage good design or protect neighbors from nearby changes that harm their own environment.
Furthermore, the parameters make it easy to build banality.
Related story: Historic Overlay District proposed for Holmes Run Acres
Critical design, by contrast, could make you, the user, enjoy changes happening throughout your neighborhood. This kind of design requires much more than a formula. It takes into account that architecture requires a constant push-pull with what is allowable due to the specifics of the property and what would delight.
The architects of our houses – whose careers coincided with the post-war need for much more housing and housing at a modest cost – employed critical design 70 years ago.
They were influenced by an egalitarian philosophy being taught in architecture schools. They were influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright. And they forged a new “American” architecture.
Thus, our homes were built absent ornamentation, using simple construction ideas (repetitive bays), less material (our ceilings are our roofs), and more glass to invite the outside in, which makes the inside feel larger without being larger.
Members of the growing community they created enjoyed this unique place.
The architects sited our houses to enhance the natural topography, resulting in a park-like setting where nature is first and the architecture modestly settles into it. The houses were sited to allow modest, future expansion.
In HRA, nature is a hot commodity. The original design got the ratio of nature-to-built-environment right, a balance that is even more relevant now.
Barring a few renovations over the intervening decades, the homes and their natural setting have remained intact. Updated, modernized, expanded … but intact.
Today’s dilemma
Something has changed. There is a shift away from community-first design. This shift has brought several tear-downs – replaced by houses that ignore the history, spirit, and character of this neighborhood. Increasingly, additions and renovations reject the modest scale and nature-forward design of HRA. Moreover, they ignore the impact on their neighbors’ experiences.
Some say, “two McMansions in 70 years is hardly a monsoon.” But in the last five years, two tear-downs have been replaced by large builds, three other McMansions overlooking the neighborhood’s hand-dug pool have been built, and multiple large additions have changed the neighborhood.
We live in relatively small homes on relatively large lots, in a county where planners are pursuing density, urbanization, and road-widening in our back, front, and side yards. Soon, parts of HRA could no longer look like “the Acres.”
Yet, a Fairfax County Historic Overlay District (HOD) can place HRA on policymakers’ radars as American architecture worth protecting.
Inside the neighborhood, the zoning ordinance allows your neighbor to pursue nearly any project on their property. An HOD would not limit the types of projects allowed in the Acres, but would guide renovations in a manner that protects the design and character of the neighborhood.
Pros and cons
As an architect who firmly believes design informs behavior and as a civic association member, I’ve challenged Fairfax County’s sometimes questionable land-use policy on HRA’s behalf for almost two decades.
Such challenges, whether by me or by seven decades of Holmes Run Acres residents, have helped preserve architectural integrity and a tight-knit community. But our community has begun eroding.
I understand the limits of an HOD and wish the work group process were more innovative. The process started in early 2020 and is not well-suited to remote work and remote meetings.
Nevertheless, I believe an HOD is far better than the status quo, which encourages demolition of houses and diminishes our community’s architectural, social, and economic value.
The HOD is not formulaic, and that is not a weakness; it may be its biggest advantage.
Some neighbors say, incorrectly, that if an HOD is adopted, we will have to return our houses to their original 1950s dispositions or use outdated 1950s materials or construction methods.
Other neighbors believe, incorrectly, that an HOD is trying to prevent additions or freeze the neighborhood in time.
There are many examples in the neighborhood where additions have almost doubled the size of the original house, but have been designed in a way that retains the character of the original architecture. Without replicating the original architecture, thoughtful owners instead picked up on cues to allow their additions to fit in. Such additions would be welcomed in an HOD.
An HOD gives power back to the neighborhood – not a single neighbor, but all of us. An HOD is our best option for remaining a community of modest, beautiful homes set in a mature landscape.
And it might stop a march toward a banal collection of homes that look inward. Nothing can dissolve a community faster.
Edith McArthur is a longtime resident of Holmes Run Acres.
Oh wow, let me grab some popcorn real quick
Holmes Run Acres does not want your gift, ms. author. The Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance and The Commonwealth of Virginia are in charge, thank you.
All property owned here was purchased, paid for, and taxed in Fee Simple – with No Restrictive Covenants, No Agreements to Reduce Land Use, No Forfeiture of Property Rights, and No Authorization to Control the neighborhood. These neighbors are protected by Law and may certainly choose to pursue life in their home bounded by the Law and as they see fit.
ms. author can look no further than a mirror to see what is dissolving the community – it is this incessant march to “do it my way”. Stand down and stop eroding the spirit of the neighborhood.
I really hate the idea of my neighbors controlling what I do with my own money.
The author – not on Staff at Annandale Today – did not link a prior article from August 15, 2022. It tells another side to the story, and is quoted from two differing perspectives – something the author does not hear, see, or speak to. Talk about control ….
https://annandaletoday.com/historic-overlay-district-proposed-for-holmes-run-acres/
Want to change it without using the oppressive power of government? Convince your neighbors to create a homeowners association (HOA), that sets voluntary rules, collects dues, and provides for these and other issues (enforceable by contract and courts). Already have an HOA, then work with your neighbors to change it as needed. By going through government to force your change, you are showing you don’t have support for your idea, or can’t get enough folks to agree – so you (and those that agree with you but not enough to get an HOA or change an HOA) wrap around government to force your views on others and their property. If you can’t get an HOA, then it’s the law of economics (supply and demand), and creative destruction that goes with it. Good grief.
I hope most people in your community understand that this designation would not stop them from renovating their homes, it would just keep their renovations contoured to the historical character of the neighborhood. Yes, owners would have to get approval and it would take a little longer but both owners and neighbors would be assured that the changes are in keeping with neighborhood’s historical character. There are many owners who could care less about what their neighbors think and don’t want to be bothered to have to do something more but those people can always move. I hope the majority decide that the HOD is worth the extra mile because it would help to preserve the great community, its character, and historical value.
Well, an HOA can impose much more than architectural elements which I believe the HOD is meant to acknowledge the original intent of the neighborhood. As someone who sells real estate I can tell you very few people want to buy into a community with one. A Civic Association is more common in older neighborhoods and HOA’s were instituted by the county and state because they didn’t want to take care of roads, trash and other issues that were becoming very costly. So they passed that off to the HOAs to govern themselves. My understanding of HOD is just to consider the character of big change and its impact on an amazing community before changes are made, much like an Architectural Reveiw Board of a Civic Assocatation. I’ve sold several homes in HRA and believe that the character of it really sets it apart. It seems like people are talking over each other here. HOA’s can be very political and toxic entities. Be careful what you wish for.
These historic neighborhood designations should require a re-vote every 5-10 years. What the are odds anyone is going to care about car centric suburban design in 100 years?
This has more to do with appreciating architectural design and preserving beautiful lots with beautiful trees rather than being car centric. Fairfax County doesn’t have control of its own roads. So trying to turn everything into a dense inner city — or walkable community — won’t work everywhere and doesn’t sit well with those who worked hard to achieve a place in suburbia. It was an experiment, but that doesn’t mean it has no value in spite of what our arrogant planners think. Alot of living will happen in the next 100 years, but this is a big county and getting rid of cars altogether seems unachievable. There will still be electric vehicles and people will still want to get where they are going. But just trashing excellence for the sake of “not caring” seems rather harsh. Mid-Century modern homes are extremely livable and they have a place in the design world and in history. And that has value at least to me.
The Acres is special and would be impossible to build today. Car-dependent or not, the Acres was built at a human scale.
70 years ago, America’s Victorian neighborhoods—livable neighborhoods that would be impossible to build today—were suffering death by indifference.
Nationally, most of the Victorian housing stock was lost generations ago. Locally, Logan Circle—a once endangered Victorian neighborhood—remains intact thanks to the efforts of HRA architects Nicholas Satterlee and Francis D. Lethbridge.
In many respects, Holmes Run Acres—inspired by 1930s custom houses and New Deal cooperative housing—is as unusual as these Victorian houses. When HRA was planned in 1950, tree preservation, modern design, and modern house tours (by Sidwell Friends and the Civic Association of Hollin Hills) were uncommon or unheard of in our area.
The commercial success of Holmes Run Acres, and subsequent Mid-Century Modern neighborhoods, was hardly a given either. A number of 1950s Goodman-designed neighborhoods in the Merrifield area did not sell well. Holmes Run Acres did—thanks to young, idealistic and pragmatic architects who left nothing to chance. Satterlee and Lethbridge, only a few years out of architecture school and the military, sited every house and planned each street, met with federal housing officials, and drafted contracts and ad copy. (They even judged a gardening contest after the first homes were sold!)
If I trusted my neighbors’ judgment, I could be ok with HOA or HOD. After seeing all the yard signs, outdoor masking, and contentious posts on local social media over the past few years, I’m convinced about 1/2 or more of my neighbors are lemmings infected with a dangerous strain of groupthink. I’ll take my chances with banal construction. No HOA/HOD for HRA.
If you don’t trust your neighbors’ judgement, wouldn’t you want an HOD? It would seem the HOD would keep things tasteful…
“These homes have a following,” said longtime resident and real estate agent John W. Purvis Sr. “There’s an allure of something nontraditional and a natural setting that accents the homes nicely. . . . It attracts people who don’t want to be told what color to paint their front doors.”
Purvis, Sr. got it right! We don’t want oversight. Non-traditional and natural means leave us to our own devices.
They say that about 58 homes have already been modified to the extent that they no longer contribute to the community’s historic character. But these 58 or so homes are still occupied by families who bought them, maintain them, and pay taxes on the rising value of them. These homeowners should not be shamed, bullied, or held to some standard set by a design review board which did not exist when they pledged to a 30 year mortgage! None of the homes in this neighborhood should be ruled by a banal premise of erosion.
You better get designated. There are homeowners that want to renovate and change the character to mimic their homeland which would negatively impact its respective street and the value of nearby properties.
Why preserve something by law if the population paying property taxes doesn’t want it? Talk about NIMBY. It’s America, build whatever you want to build. I live on a street where the houses are all different. It’s kind of interesting and reflects the diversity of the population. Personally I plan to stay in my house and give it to my kids. I don’t want the value to increase because the property taxes increase. I’m here to stay. Are you looking to make a profit? Live and let live.
You sound like one of those home owners that cuts down trees so our children can get sick with climate change related illness.
Haha I understand the want for preserving nature in single-family home plots, but the idea of “community” here is very interesting.
This is an honest series of questions; How many residents of Holmes Run actually know their neighbors decently well? How many know more than 3 other homeowners around them? Do they let their kids play unsupervised in the neighborhood, thereby trusting others around them?
I don’t know what the answers to these questions are. But if the answers are mostly no, what is this “tight-knit community” other than a group of people that all have a shared interest in what their neighbor’s houses look like? Be careful about the language used to promote this agenda because it can be very misleading.
Actually, emphatically, yes to all of the above questions. Many people liken Holmes Run Acres to a friendly small town. It has an active civic association, community events all year long, and an adjacent pool, elementary school, tennis courts and a public park where neighbors frequently gather and socialize. The neighborhood has block parties, ice cream socials, holiday events, kids story time in the park, outdoor yoga group, and many others. It has an active listserve, a quarterly arts and literary publication and a community directory. It’s a very close knit neighborhood where most people know many other neighbors by first name and by house. No HOA, just a ton of civically involved neighbors, many of whom have lived here for decades or even generations, and are passionate about the community. A non-trivial part of what facilitates the whole vibe is the inspiring modernist architecture and park-like setting. I’ve lived in many cities and neighborhoods of all densities and have never lived in a neighborhood with a stronger sense of community than HRA.
That’s a beautiful and accurate description of our Holmes Run Acres. Thank you. Btw I know dozens of my neighbors by name.
Thank you for your answers. I hope that this can continue for more decades and generations.
I not sure the community spirt will survive if one group of people in the community is trying to force another group into something they seem to not want (judging from the comments on here) Bullying people never results in good neighborhood relationships!
I’m not either, but from what I see the bullying seems to be coming from one side only.
The problem with these types of things is the devil is in the details with implementation.
Somehow, the county got it in their head that they need to use the Department of Interior standards for preservation in these Historical Overlay Districts which 1) are a lot more restrictive and protective of original character defining features than HRA originally wanted and 2) are not required to be used by any VA historic preservation law and therefore can be changed but the county won’t. They in fact paid a consultant like $30k to basically copy and paste them from the DOI standards.
How will this play out in practice? Luckily we know since Hollin Hills adopted one of these in March 2022. Permits there have been denied for things like covering up the original chimney, despite the homeowner’s proposed addition design passing the community’s own design review board. So the Hollin Hills community approved of the design and the county had a problem with it because it obscured an original feature. Internally, some ARB members are trying to push the rest of them to be more strict and more closely follow these already strict DOI standards. Plus the county is already strapped for resources and can barely handle the volume of permits from Hollin Hills and the county department that handles this is hemorrhaging personnel.
HRA figured out what they would really be signing up for, and thats why a majority of the community is now against it.
The Emperor of the HOD has no clothes.
Virginia is a property rights state. The language of the HOD is full of toothless “should” statements that no Court can uphold on appeal. Toothless statements cannot protect trees or historic houses.
The County admits this. The ARB admits this. The author simply does not want to believe this. She fundamentally misunderstands the HOD.
Why are we spending County tax dollars on wishful thinking instead of real needs?
Guest Author, Past President, Past Committee Chair, Post-Community Poll facilitator,
YOU are still not hearing your neighbors!!!!!
The premise of obtaining a HOD was in your words to “Keep Out McMansions”.
* A HOD can not prevent tear-downs.
* A HOD can not prevent by-right development.
* A HOD can not prevent building to R-3 Zoning allowances.
Any effort to reduce or eliminate OUR property rights is a taking, and WE are protected by the Law.
HODs protect teardowns all the time.
Fairfax County is one of the most property-rights counties in the state. Loudoun, Arlington, and Alexandria are generally more strict than Fairfax when it comes to architectural review boards.
Fairfax County Circuit Court, even in the 1980s, refused to allow a teardown in a HOD.
Without a HOD, even Washington family farms are vulnerable to teardowns. With a HOD, they’re safe.
https://fredericksburg.com/lifestyles/retro-reads-how-walmart-unintentionally-saved-ferry-farm/article_80bdc5c3-1ce6-59ad-9f09-664777631b9d.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/09/15/river-farm-fairfax-vote-protect/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/22/historic-mansion-land-once-owned-by-george-washington-is-set-be-demolished/
> Fairfax County Circuit Court, even in the 1980s, refused to allow a teardown in a HOD.
Please cite the case. As a practicing attorney, I’d prefer to read the case myself to understand the court’s ruling.
The author has acknowledged that the HOD process was not ideal. Further, she urges HRA Property Owner 2.0 and others to look at the context within which the neighborhood flyer that indicated “Keep out McMansions” was created, rather than using a revisionist lense. Context always helps.
The author appreciates the NO-HOD contributors’ drilling down on details – some of which she agrees with – but she wishes they would also take time to understand the bigger picture, with an eye toward future generations. Within the context of, ‘either status quo or HOD’, the author finds more protection for this neighborhood under an HOD. This is a protection not offered to neighborhoods that do not have historic merit. And it’s a protection that allows for continued creative freedom and modernization, something that ‘preservation’ does not.
We can petition the county for more heritage staffing given the recent addition in work load. We can help the county revise guidelines. But we cannot bring back a house that has been torn down or irreparably enlarged, nor the attendant mature canopy and natural understory. The latter has a negative effect on the entire neighborhood and all its residents except the property owner undertaking this sort of ill-advised, un-reviewed, action. The HOD asks each individual to give a little, for the benefit of all, in perpetuity.
“she wishes they would also take time to understand the bigger picture, with an eye toward future generations. ”
Well that doesn’t make much sense since the younger homeowners in HRA are overwhelmingly not in favor. In contrast, the average purchase date of a “Yes” home is in the mid 1990s. The older folks had the time to make their additions, raise their kids, realize 2-500%+ in equity gain from their property. The younger generation has to plan for expanding their own families in an economically uncertain, rising interest rate environment, which was additionally fundamentally changed by work from home.
HRA Owner on Joan Ct, you must be so young.
“The older folks had the time to make their additions, raise their kids, realize 2-500%+ in equity gain from their property.”
We “old folks” have so many advantages that we have (unreasonably) earned by being alive.
“The younger generation has to plan for expanding their own families in an economically uncertain, rising interest rate environment, which was additionally fundamentally changed by work from home.”
In the good old days, people didn’t have to plan for expanding their family; the stork was still alive. While young people participate in the traditional economy, old people have an alternative economy exchanging drachma. In ages past people simply didn’t work, let alone work from home.
If I ever had such an entitled and privileged perspective as you, I’m glad that I’m now too old to remember.
Consulting its Wikipedia page, Holmes Run Acres is a rare example of an architect designed mid-century neighborhood. Based on earlier comments at least some neighbors appreciate its novelty, history, and importance.
“Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish.” -Richard Dawkins
The selfishness in this entire process seems to lie with our elders who are trying to change the rules of the status quo without our consent.
Older homeowners who had unlimited creative license to “get theirs” are telling younger homeowners to “slow down” and spend a ton of money to get everything reviewed by a committee to make sure it’s not too crazy or visually offensive to the architectural purists in the neighborhood.
The hypocrisy is gobsmacking.
And why do you think the ARB would reject it?
Your argument seems rooted in ageism and an irrational fear of design review. What are you so afraid of?
An HOD cannot do what the author suggests in her article or in her strange third-person replies.
See for yourself here… all links go directly to the start of relevant comments. 12 minutes of illumination courtesy of Fairfax County.
Holmes Run Acres Work Group Meeting: Dec 15, 2021
Elise Murray, ARB and History Commission and follow-up by Chris Daniels, ARB
Elise and Chris discuss how an HOD cannot stop tear-downs. About 3 minutes long.
https://youtu.be/4vV-nLUjMXk?t=4065
Kaye Orr, ARB and follow-up by Chris Daniels, ARB
Kaye and Chris discuss “by right” home size. About 2 minutes long.
https://youtu.be/4vV-nLUjMXk?t=4594
Holmes Run Acres Work Group Meeting: February 16, 2022
Kaye Orr, ARB
Kaye discusses “by right” and view corridors. About 2 minutes long.
https://youtu.be/33Q3qEdAgFs?t=3116
Lily Yegazu, Fairfax County
Lily gives a primer on “by right” development. About 3 minutes long.
https://youtu.be/33Q3qEdAgFs?t=3302
Kaye Orr, ARB
Kaye discusses “by right” and setbacks. About 2 minutes long.
https://youtu.be/33Q3qEdAgFs?t=4180
Fact: even at the height of 80s greed (Sept 1985), the Fairfax County Circuit Court ruled AGAINST teardowns in a HOD.
Lawsuits take time and money and I get that the ARB wants to avoid them. But if you’d taken time to read case law, @See For Yourself, you’d see for yourself that HODs protect against teardowns.
1985 was a long long time ago…
I trust Fairfax County staff to honestly report what an HOD can and cannot do. After all, they receive guidance from the County Attorney.
Cite me a more recent case then.
“1985 was a long long time ago” = Fairfax County Circuit Court precedent doesn’t agree with the argument you’re trying to make
I’d listen to my beagle before I took advice from Steve Descano.
It seems like there is some anger here that feels misplaced. I don’t understand the “older” vs “younger” arguments made here. Every generation has its challenges and comparing these has no bearing on this issue. No one is trying to tell anyone what to do here. It is an effort to preserve the character of an amazing community and an effort and nod to the original developers to acknowledge their vision into the future. The rest feels like an attempt to turn this into some toxic issue that is based on some us vs them value system. There are plenty of McMansions for you to choose from. You dont have to live in HRA if you don’t like it. But for those who love it and see how special it is I appreciate all the effort that has gone into preserving it.
I specifically bought in HRA because there was no HOA. I didn’t choose the HOD, I didn’t vote in the exploratory poll, I was not allowed to speak in the county meetings.
This is exactly the same zoning as when you and everyone else bought your house in HRA (if you live in the acres that is). Anyone could have chosen to buy in Hollin Hills which already has a DRB, or another neighborhood that has an HOA with design authority.
Re: the age argument – no understanding from your end is required. It’s quite simply a true, objective statement.
“No one is trying to tell anyone what to do here.” If this doesn’t force people to do or not do certain things, then why is it valuable? You have some reading up to do (VA zoning ordinance law & design guidelines specifically) if you actually believe this, but I suspect it’s an unsophisticated hand waving tactic. As is equating disliking the HOD to supporting McMansions. Hand waving the core legal framework and the ARB activity in Hollin Hills is why the Pro side lost control of this.
Oh please, so much navel-gazing . . .
“I was not allowed to speak in the county meetings.” –> FALSE (You spoke at a public county meeting!)
“Anyone could have chosen to buy in Hollin Hills which already has a DRB, or another neighborhood that has an HOA with design authority.” –> FALSE (Who are you to say what anyone could have done?)
“This is exactly the same zoning as when you and everyone else bought your house in HRA (if you live in the acres that is).” –> FALSE (The Fairfax Zoning ordinance is a living document which has been amended many times since HRA was established.)
“In contrast, the average purchase date of a “Yes” home is in the mid 1990s. The older folks had the time . . .” –> FALSE (Older folks have purchased homes since the 1990s and even still purchase homes today!)
What is this all about: community, property rights, zoning, architecture, history, . . . yourself?
I’m referring to the working group meetings and, no, only the working group was allowed to speak at least since I have been following this in 2022.
“Who are you to say what anyone could have done?” We’re literally arguing about whether or not some people + the county should be able to tell their own neighbors & friends what to do with their own property haha
This point seems to be lost on you so I’ll restate – the average purchase date of the Yes voters is skewed significantly older. In fact it’s a quite clear relationship, the more recently you purchased a house, the more likely you are to oppose the HOD, houses purchased after 2015 are 80%+ No voters. We did the work to find out. We also used that relationship as a predictive variable to estimate the distribution votes we didn’t know, since purchase dates are public information.
People just don’t agree with your position, and to be a bit bold & brash (name that reference) though i presume you are an adult i think you have some growing up to do
*starts beat* [sing to the tune of “WAP” by Cardi B]
Theres some HOD in this house (pronounced ‘Hode’)
theres some HOD in this house
theres some HOD in this house
theres some HOD in this house
I said it’s certified bleak
Seven days a week
When heavyset guidelines make that permit game WEAK
When we arrived in HRA we were repeatedly told that “Two McMansions have invaded HRA and there are bulldozers waiting on Gallows Road to come in and make way for more!” (Paraphrased)
The neighborhood was worried. There were community meetings. “What can we do to stop massive homes?” A County Supervisor stepped in and said, “hey, check out this HOD tool.” As a community, we said, “why not?”
County staff then stepped in and said, “umm… this HOD tool doesn’t actually do what you think it does. I know you’re looking for a ruler-based thing-a-ma-bob to control size, but an HOD is really just a look-book snarf-platz to control aesthetics and some red tape whos-itz and whats-its to slow down the building process. We can’t stop redevelopment, we can’t save trees, we can just make things look a little different.”
Now, instead of coming back to the community and saying, “hey y’all, this tool is not the right tool for the job.” HRA folks working with the County just kept going…?!?! Why, when presented with the wrong tool for the job, did they decide to just keep going?
They keep accusing anti-HOD folks of lying. There is a lot of information and they’ve done a pretty good job considering they had SIX weeks to respond while the YES-HOD folks have been chasing this car for a couple of years now. Effectively, we keep being told that everyone against the HOD is lying or stupid. The YES-HOD folks who just Don’t Stop Believin’ in the mythical HOD to save all of HRA are the only ones smart enough to understand something as complex as zoning..
Back to the why question. Why? Because they want to control the look of homes in HRA. They are offended by some of the changes our neighbors have made to their homes. They might even be offended by YOUR changes to YOUR home. They’ve said so themselves on our internal listserv.
Finally the author and the YES-HOD side is publicly talking about aesthetics in this post. The real motivations are being disclosed. Let’s do this. Lets talk about the actual impact of the HOD on the aesthetics of the neighborhood, not the Phantom McMenace of property developers tearing down HRA homes to build McMansions because 1) that has never happened and 2) that cannot be stopped by the HOD (unless the County staff are lying, too.)
Let’s be honest and talk about why we should control the aesthetics of our neighbors.
Let’s throw the Red McHerring back into the sea.
You win the Internet, and by extension, the argument.
Interesting about wrong tool for the job. I was not aware of this, but your explanation makes sense. And you make a good point about the smugness and hidden motives about the YES-HOD side. The internal listserv chatter really puts a bow on it. The YES-HOD side are the power seekers who want to force everyone else to demonstrate fealty to their cause. In this case, it’s not enough for them to own their own homes. They want to control the neighborhood.
Come on now…”They want to control the neighborhood”? “Hidden motives”? “Power seekers”? Did HOD supporters design, build or profit off the establishment of Holmes Run Acres? Will they be the ones running the design review? Where do these malicious and sensational ideas come from, exactly?
The yes-HOD people want to impose their design preferences on others through government power. They are deeply involved with developing the rule that they want enforced upon unwilling neighbors. There’s no need for them to personally review if they write the law. They can have their bureaucratic minions do it for them.
Anyone who supports an HOD runs the government, writes laws and commands bureaucratic minions? What? LOL
@MCM
They are working with the government and have 1-party rule. They have written the proposed language, and they do expect it to be enforced.
Totally false. They did not devise the language…they’re written by the Dept of Interior and a government contractor called EHT Traceries. The actual county gets final say on every part of it. As shocking as it is, neighborhood volunteers don’t work for the county, and the county doesn’t work for them. Your neighborhood volunteers simply participated in the county’s study. Stop engaging in conspiracy.
EHT Traceries didn’t engage volunteers and residents for verbiage?! You can’t possibly be that naive!
And there is the problem. The yes-HOD person finally admits:
“The actual county gets final say on every part of it.”
We were told the neighborhood would have an up/down vote – final say over the Design Guidelines.
The neighborhood only gets a non-binding vote on a draft. The ARB/County controls adoption of the final Design Guidelines.
The neighborhood has lost control.
Get a grip Chicken Little.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors has always had final say over HOD Design Guidelines. See the Fairfax County Zoning ordinance section 3101, specifically 3101.3.B.8.
You have lost the thread.
I agree! 3101 has always delegated this power to the County. Why then, were we not told this vital information during the 2019 vote?
The author of this post, while serving as the Chair of the Friends of HRA, led the advocacy effort for the HOD and explained the process as part of a long email to our listserv:
“6) Part of the study includes vetting that our neighborhood is worthy of an HOD. Part of the study includes a number of meetings with a team comprised of county staff and a group of HRA residents with varying expertise, in order to come up with the eventual guidelines.
7) If these community-specific guidelines are adopted by the community, then an HOD is designated. If they are not adopted or cannot be agreed upon, then no HOD designation is given.”
#6 happened exactly as described. #7 has not and will not happen. There is no statutory requirement for the community to approve the guidelines. As I said before, the neighborhood only gets a non-binding vote on a draft set of guidelines. The ARB/County controls adoption of the final guidelines. #7 above is patently false.
The author, a practicing architect with HOD experience, would certainly have been familiar with HOD Design Guidelines and Section 3101 of the Zoning Ordinance. Yes? Why then were we misled by the text in #7?
An HOD is not the right tool for every neighborhood. Sometimes, neighborhoods become interested in achieving HOD status largely to stop out-of-scale new development. An HOD should not be seen as an “anti-mansionization” tool.
The biggest issue with an HOD in practice is that it will attempt to protect large numbers of houses that do not actually have architectural significance. Just because a house is old, should it be protected from demolition? Furthermore, why can’t a newer house be built in such a way that it actually improves the streetscape? What about private property rights? Oh my, this is complicated…
An HOD is best utilized when a neighborhood has a cohesive historic character. Don’t most of these 70+ year structures have additions, exterior modifications, and alterations? From what I have read, the neighborhood has been an interpretive mix of designs for decades, and as such, would be a draw to those seeking independence from restrictions found elsewhere in NoVa.
It makes sense to accept the unique character of Holmes Run Acres by focusing on the goodness, richness, and beauty of a growing community of people who wish to live in this unique place they call home – without complicating it with an HOD.