Planning Commission approves townhouse community in Seven Corners

The new townhouse would be built in the area labled “subject property.”

The Fairfax County Planning Commission agreed Oct. 19 to endorse a rezoning application to permit the construction of 37 townhouses in Seven Corners on the site of a medical office building.

The next step is a hearing before the Board of Supervisors Oct. 24. An amendment to the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan for the project was approved in June.

A drawing of the proposed townhouses.

The project would be located on Arlington Boulevard between Target, the Federal Hill townhouse community, and the Arlington County border.

At the Oct. 19 Planning Commission meeting, the proffers were amended to add a traffic signal pre-emption device at the entrance, which would give priority to emergency vehicles.

The 3.7-acre property would be rezoned from commercial to planned development housing (PDH) to allow 11 residential units per acre.

During Planning Commission hearing on the rezoning application on Oct. 12, there was a discussion about improving the line of sight at the entrance to the property, which is accessible from a service road. VDOT is expected to address that issue by striping.

There was also a discussion about whether there should be a pedestrian connection to the Target parking lot and where it should be.

The townhouses will include three less-expensive “workforce” units with single-vehicle garages. The rest of the units will be slightly larger and will have two-car garages.

The applicant, Medical Building Inc., represented by Steven Coniglio, agreed to make some changes in response concerns to raised by Federal Hill residents: The number of units was reduced from 39 to 37, and the layout was changed to enhance screening and buffering.