Planning Commission endorses Merrifield Suburban Study – with a few key changes

A proposed comprehensive plan amendment would greatly expand the Inova Center for Public Health.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission approved an amendment to the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan for the Merrifield Suburban Center Sept. 19 that would facilitate redevelopment at the Inova Center for Personal Health (ICPH) and  Fairview Park.

The amendment goes to the Board of Supervisors for a final decision. The board will hold a hearing on it Sept. 24.

The Planning Commission agreed a to couple of key changes to the Fairview Park proposal offered by Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner:

• Reduce the maximum number of units at Fairview Park from 1,060 to 840, as recommended by the Merrifield Suburban Center Task Force.
• Increase the square footage at Fairview Park from 1.42 million square feet, which was recommended by the task force, to 1.6 million square feet.
• Building heights should be scaled down – from a maximum of 18 stories to 15 stories – to better reflect community concerns.

Those changes would accommodate some of the complaints raised by the task force during 26 meetings over the past year and by residents who spoke at a Planning Commission hearing last week.

Reducing the number of units and increasing the square footage, Niedzielski-Eichner said, “would limit overall population and density, while providing the property owner with additional flexibility to consider larger residential units, additional retail uses, or something novel like the small boutique offices we are seeing in other areas.”

“We should be careful not to create a barrier to mixed-use development,” he said. “Introducing mixed-use development into Fairview Park is essential to sustain its economic vitality.”

The ICPH proposal would allow 1.9 million square feet of redevelopment for healthcare, medical research, academic, residential, hotel, and retail uses concentrated on the western side of the 117-acre property. The eastern section would include 55 acres of parkland.

That development would occur in two phases. The first phase would bring the property to a density level of 0.7 FAR. The second phase would increase the density to 1.0 FAR.

The plan amendment proposed by ICPH “envisions a world-class facility that would bring critical health resources and ground-breaking research to the county and the region,” Niedzielski-Eichner. “The project would include major partnerships with well-regarded institutions, such as the University of Virginia.”

The plan amendment also recommends transportation improvements, although many community members who spoke at the hearing questioned whether they would go far enough to prevent traffic congestion and whether they would be in place before redevelopment happens.

Those recommendations include new turn lanes and other improvements for Gallows Road, an additional lane and a braided ramp on the beltway between Route 50 and Gallows Road, a new trail and pedestrian sidewalk along Gallows, and a pedestrian bridge over the beltway connecting the ICPH site to Fairview Park.

Niedzielski-Eichner proposed five follow-on motions, all of which were passed by the Planning Commission:

• The Board of Supervisors should direct staff to conduct a comprehensive study of multimodal transportation opportunities in and around the Merrifield Suburban Center with a focus on the Gallows Road corridor from Tysons to greater Annandale and parallel roadways. That study would address the use of “evolving and innovative technologies to enhance mobility and accessibility.”
• Staff should be directed to study ways to improve multimodal mobility to connect the Fairview Park and ICPH areas and mitigate the barrier created by the beltway.
• Staff should be directed to develop a funding plan for the transportation recommendations using a combination of public and private sector funds.
• The Board of Supervisors should direct property owners to form a Merrifield transportation management association to develop strategies to reduce single-occupancy auto trips, including implementation of a circulator system with connectivity to destinations inside and outside the Merrifield Suburban Center.
• Staff should be directed to coordinate with Fairfax County Public Schools facilities staff to determine school capacity needs as a result of the proposed redevelopment.