More complaints hit Shops at Bailey’s Crossroads

The Shops at Bailey’s Crossroads will have a CVS, Sardi’s restaurant, Next Day Blinds, T-Mobile, Burger 7, and Pita Pouch.

More complaints have been leveled against the Shops at Bailey’s Crossroads, a retail center nearing completion on Leesburg Pike in Bailey’s Crossroads, and representatives of the developer and Fairfax County government say the problems are not being addressed.

In one complaint sent to Spectrum Development, a nearby resident noted that the CVS which opened earlier this month, was selling single cans and bottles of beer and cigarettes, despite such sales being specifically prohibited in the proffers agreed to by Spectrum and the Board of Supervisors.

“I had a very strong hunch that this proffer would be ignored just like the ones about trucks going down Washington Drive have been and just like the ones regarding those waving signs were also ignored,” the resident wrote to Spectrum.

“We were told that these proffers would be incorporated into the tenant leases, and that any violation would be remedied and that tenants would be fined for non-compliance,” the neighbor wrote.

Peter Batten, managing partner with Spectrum Development, said those issues are being taken care of by the store manager. “Apparently the CVS developer did not pass on their copy of the proffers to the CVS operations people and did not make sure all was clear on proffer compliance going forward,” he wrote in an email to the resident. “The store manager has removed all single beers from the shelf” and informed his supplier about the restriction.

At the same time, the “grand opening sail signs” were taken down, Batten reports, after residents reminded Spectrum that banners are also prohibited in the proffers.

Many complaints

Among other complaints, neighbors noted the proffers call for the windows on the CVS facing Leesburg Pike and Charles Street to display historical pictures of Bailey’s Crossroads and that there are supposed to be signs in the parking lot in Spanish as well as English stating the lot is only for customers.

“The CVS store manager emphasized that he and CVS take all proffers and zoning ordinances very seriously,” Batten told the residents. “He told me that he, as well as CVS corporate, want to have good relations with the neighborhood and the county at all times and he is going to do his level best to make sure that occurs on a consistent basis.”

Ed Ballard, the supervising site inspector with Fairfax County, confirmed that the CVS no longer sells single beers. He said the advertisements and generic pictures in the window will be replaced and that wayfinding signs in the parking lot and bike racks will be installed.

In response to neighbors’ complaints that pervious pavement wasn’t used in the parking lot as had been planned, Ballard said a later engineering study found that wasn’t feasible. The parking lot is solid asphalt, while a pervious material would have allowed storm water to sink into the ground.

It is the developer’s responsibility to make sure the proffer requirements are in the tenant lease agreements, said Anne Cissel, a spokesperson for Land Development Services in the Fairfax County government.

Construction bond 

The county won’t release the construction bond for a project until all proffer requirements are met, Cissel said. The bond serves as a security deposit to ensure a developer completes all public infrastructure indicated on the approved plan and complies with the proffers. “It’s insurance for us that we get the construction approved the way it was in the plan,” she said.

The bond for this development was posted on May 10, 2017, for $994,100, she noted. It will expire on Nov. 12, so the developer would need to apply for an extension in October if the project hasn’t been completed by then.

If residents have concerns about an active construction site in Fairfax County, complaints can be filed here.

Over the past year as the project was developed, residents had complained about commercial trucks on neighborhood streets, flooding, vagrants, a blocked sidewalk, and other problems.

So are all new developments subject to as many problems as this retail center? According to Cissel, infill developments next to established neighborhoods, like this one, are more likely to be a target for complaints.

 “This one seemed to bring out a lot of complaints,” she said. “It’s not the norm, not what we hope will happen.”