Lincolnia Task Force completes its work

Michael Burton (left) of the Fairfax County Planning Department, speaks to the Lincolnia task force.

The Lincolnia Planning District Study Task Force at its 19th and final meeting on April 29 signed off on a street grid plan for the “opportunity area” in the Lincolnia Community Business Center and approved an office building conversion project.

At the Task Force’s previous meeting, the group approved a plan for guiding redevelopment in Lincolnia but felt the proposed roadways in the opportunity area were too wide, so Fairfax County Planning staff made some revisions.

The opportunity area is currently occupied by the Plaza at Landmark, which is slated for redevelopment by the owner of the shopping center, Landmark HHH LC. The redevelopment would consist of a higher-density mix of residential and retail uses with a new a street grid.

The Mason District Land Use Committee is slated to consider the Lincolnia plan May 28. The Fairfax County Planning Commission would hold a public hearing June 26, and the Board of Supervisors’ hearing would be July 16.

The new street grid calls for a section of Little River Turnpike within the Lincolnia Community Business Center to become a boulevard with three 11-foot wide lanes of travel in each direction, a 10 to 14-foot wide bicycle and pedestrian lane in each direction, and an eight-foot wide landscape panel in each direction. The road would also have a 16-foot wide center median.

N. Beauregard Street between Little River Turnpike and Lincolnia Road would have two 11-foot traffic lanes in each direction, an 8.5-foot parking lane in each direction, and an 8-foot landscape panel in each direction. There would be a shared bicycle and pedestrian lane on one side of the street. A similar plan would be proposed for S. Beauregard Street.

The section of Lincolnia Road bordering Landmark Plaza would have one 11-foot travel lane in each direction, one 8.5-foot parking lane in each direction, an 8-foot landscape panel in each direction, and a 10 to 14-foot bicycle and pedestrian lane in one direction.

The plan calls for Oasis Drive to be extended through the existing shopping center to Lincolnia Road. It would have two 11-foot traffic lanes in both directions but one of them would be used  for street parking during non-peak hours. There would also be an 8-foot landscape panel, a 4 to 8-foot wide sidewalk on both sides, and an 8-foot wide cycle track in one side.

There would be two new cross streets through the area between the Oasis Street extension and Beauregard Street. One would be on the north side of Little River Turnpike, and one would be on the south side. Those streets would have an 11-foot traffic lane in both directions, an 8.5-foot traffic lane in both directions, an 8-foot landscape panel, and a 6 to 8-foot sidewalk.

The office building project, at 5250 and 5252 Cherokee Avenue, would involve converting two  increasingly obsolete buildings to a residential use.

Three stories would be added to make the project financially viable. In response to community concerns about density, the owners agreed to reduce the number of units from 130 to 120. The buildings would be a condominium aimed at professionals who do much of their work at home. Each unit would have one bedroom and a home office.

The conversion won’t happen for years, however, as the building has some long-term tenants, including a new one – a high school run by Immanuel Baptist Church that is expected to open in September.