Planning Commission approves Pine Ridge police facility in Annandale

The layout of the new FCPD Operations Support Bureau, with Winterset Varsity Park on the right.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission approved a new facility to house the Police Department’s Operations Support Bureau on a 10-acre lot at 3911 Woodburn Road in Annandale.

The OSB is currently housed in a former elementary school on that site, which no longer meets FCPD standards. The building houses the SWAT team, bomb squad, K-9 unit, and other operations.

The parking lots and vehicle garages – used for the motorcycle unit and crash reconstruction – would be relocated on the property. A backup communications center would remain in place. The project is funded by a public safety bond approved by voters in 2015.

The police property is adjacent to Winterset Varsity Park, and at several community meetings on the project in recent months, neighborhood residents urged the county to keep the park open during construction.

The Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) agreed to keep parts of the park open, with limited access, if possible. The athletic field will be closed during construction, and the playground will be relocated.

DPWES and the Park Authority agreed to work together on a plan to add a water line to help the Braddock Road Youth Club install an irrigation system for the field.

Related story: Residents take issue with plans for expanding Pine Ridge police facility

Winterset Varsity Park would lose about half an acre to accommodate a new bioretention facility to control stormwater.

At a Planning Commission hearing Feb. 26, project manager Scott Bishop of DPWES, addressed some concerns raised by community members at meetings of the Mason District Land Use Committee.

In response to residents’ requests, Bishop said a pedestrian path would be added to connect the homes along Woodbine Lane to Woodburn Road. He also said the county would work with residents on the types of trees that would used for the required transitional screening.

Because the project is a public facility, it doesn’t need approval by the Board of Supervisors. Construction would start in 2021, and the project is expected to be completed in 2023.