Mason District committee endorses townhouse project at Graham Park Plaza

A conceptional view of the proposed townhouses at Graham Park Plaza.

The Mason District Land Use Committee on Sept. 22 recommended the Fairfax County Planning Commission approve a townhouse development on part of the Graham Park Plaza property on Arlington Boulevard.

EYA Development LLC is planning to build 177 townhomes on the part of the shopping center that is now closed. The other half, including Giant, would remain and would be renovated.

EYA’s plan for Graham Park Plaza, with townhouses on the left.

The Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on the proposal for Oct. 7. The Board of Supervisors would have a hearing on Oct. 20.

The project would include 22 or 23 affordable homes that would be priced in the $200,000 range. The others would be in the $500,000s to $700,000s.

The homes would be 14, 16, or 20 feet wide. They would have two or three bedrooms, a loft that could be used as an additional bedroom, and a two-car garage. Residents would be required to use their garage for vehicles, not storage.

The development would include a park, a bike path and landscape buffer along Route 50, and traffic improvements on Graham Road and Allen Street.

EYA hopes to start construction in March or April 2021.

In 2016, the Board of Supervisors approved a plan by the Federal Realty Investment Trust, the owner of Graham Park Plaza, to create a mixed-use project on the site with 248 apartment units. Federal Realty subsequently downsized the project to 210 units and last year decided it wasn’t economically feasible and sold the site to EYA.

Related story: Townhouses, not mixed-use development, planned for Graham Park Plaza

The MDLUC also recommended the Planning Commission approve an expansion of the Luca’s Rainbow bilingual preschool based in Lincolnia United Methodist Church on Little River Turnpike. The facility was approved for 25 children, and the owner, Flor Brea, is proposing to double the capacity to 50.

Most of the MDLUC meeting was taken up by a presentation from the county’s zoning staff on the zoning modernization effort known as zMOD.

Much of the discussion was about the controversial provision that would make it easier to have an affordable living unit (ALU) in a single-family house.

An ALU would consist of a separate unit inside a home or in an addition – with a kitchen and outdoor access – for an aging parent, another relative, or a boarder.

Related story: Fairfax County proposes more flexibility for home-based businesses and accessory dwellings

Under zMOD, homeowners would no longer need a special permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals, which entails a public hearing, to establish an ALU. Instead, they would need an administration permit, which doesn’t require a hearing. In addition, ALUs would no longer be restricted to an individual age 55+ or with a disability.

ALUs would require a designated parking space, but Casey Judge of the zoning staff said the county would consider an exemption for ALUs close to transit stations.

A representative of the Mason District Council raised several concerns that ALUs will have a negative impact on the character of single-family neighborhoods, including parking overflow and paved-over backyards.

zMOD also simplifies the rules on home-based businesses, which would be allowed in townhouses, as well as single-family houses. There are restrictions on hours of operation and the number of customers. Examples of home-based businesses include music lessons and consulting services. Vehicle-based businesses would not be allowed.

The county enforces zoning rules on a complaint basis. If a community has a homeowner organization, the HOA could impose and enforce more restrictive rules than the county.

zMOD is a major rewrite and consolidation of the county’s zoning ordinance. It simplifies the language and includes more charts and graphs.

It also addresses emerging uses not previously included in the ordinance, such as cat lounges, trampoline parks, electrical vehicle charging stations, and food trucks in residential areas. It adds a zoning designation for live/work units in response to Mission Lofts in Bailey’s Crossroads.

Related story: Cat lounge opens in Fairfax

The county needs to have more conversations on how to deal with distribution centers, said Zoning Administrator Leslie Johnson. Amazon wants to build more of these warehouses-like facilities, and Johnson says this use might be a good fit for vacant big box stores.

Public hearings on zMOD are expected to be held at some point between January and March 2021.