Public urged to sign petition on Seven Corners redevelopment
With a final decision scheduled
within the next few weeks on a redevelopment plan for Seven Corners that would
allow 5,000 new housing units, an ad hoc group of community leaders is hoping
to build support for an alternative proposal.
The Fairfax County Planning
Commission already held a public hearing on a Seven Corners amendment to the county’s Comprehensive Plan and is scheduled to vote July 15 on a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The BoS is scheduled to hold a
public hearing on the plan July 28.
The ad hoc group has posted a petition, “Seven for Seven,” on Change.org outlining seven recommendations to revise the proposed plan amendment under consideration:
- Reduce residential development by 25 percent and overall development by 20
percent in the Willston and Seven Corners Shopping Center areas. - Preserve affordable housing.
- Transfer the Willston site to the Fairfax County school board for a new
school and county services. - Ensure that transportation improvements for Seven Corners will be funded
and implemented along with new development. - Increase parkland and open space requirements.
- Fully support county requirements for barriers and screening.
- Add community representatives to the permanent Seven Corners Working Group.
The group hopes that if enough people sign the petition, they will be able
to persuade the Board of Supervisors to scale back the density in the the proposed redevelopment
plan and make other improvements to “help achieve
the vibrant redevelopment of Seven Corners, creating a neighborhood where
people and families want to live, play, learn, and work.”
to persuade the Board of Supervisors to scale back the density in the the proposed redevelopment
plan and make other improvements to “help achieve
the vibrant redevelopment of Seven Corners, creating a neighborhood where
people and families want to live, play, learn, and work.”
24 responses to “Public urged to sign petition on Seven Corners redevelopment”
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Agree with 747, but developers are required to set aside 12.5% of new units as affordable which would be 625 in opportunity areas A & B. Isn't that more units than what is currently in place?
Also, how do screening and barriers “help achieve the vibrant redevelopment of Seven Corners"? Blocking off the community to new development seems backwards to me.
Barriers and screening will not block off the community. They are designed to help the transition from the single family homes that adjoin Seven Corners behind the Sears site to town homes and high rise development. It is a fairly standard requirement for major new developments.
Standard? Really? State some examples.
I hope people read the comments and realize that this group is does not reflect the opinions of all the neighbors they purport to represent. A Lake Barcroft rep is supposedly part of this group yet I never agreed to have someone represent me or to these restrictions. I would vote for the original plan, more progress, less subsidized housing. Sorry, but until we get rid of the slumlords and "affordable" housing, this area is never going to progress.
The original plan doesn't consider the housing on Patrick Henry and the entire 7 Corners area. So, the slumlords will still be active and the area will have increased density if the county plan passes.
The community plan takes into consideration the density on Patrick Henry and all of 7 Corners. This plan would reduce the overall numbers of subidixed housing in the entire 7 Corners area. So the community plan addresses your concerns and reduces density overall.
Then don't sign the petition.
The petition supports the community plan. Please sign it.
That is exactly like the Mason District Council. They purport to represent Mason District but in fact they are unelected individuals who organize meetings.
Remember that the seven corners plan is a 20 year plan. The 5000 units will be built over many years.
You should not state this unless you know this to be a fact. The Mason District Council recently held a meeting and elections. Perhaps you should have attended. Also, the presidents or voting reps of the civic associations, which make up the Mason District Council, will not vote on an issue unless they have run it by their community. I have attended several meetings where the presidents/voting reps have abstained from voting since they did not have time to run the issue by their respected communities. Please do not sling mud and misrepresent the truth.
ANON 12:57 et al
I just posted under the Culmore robbery article, but my thoughts seem appropriate for this discussion, too. Affordable housing is a huge issue that is not being addressed adequately by FFX County.
.“I am writing about something that has been bothering me for a long time. I think this article lends itself to discuss an important social issue. To me the crux of the situation in Culmore, 7 Corners, Bailey’s and Annandale is the lack of affordable housing throughout the county. There is a centralization of poor in Mason District (Barrios/Ghettos), which is archaic social policy. Putting the poor in one location builds frustration, drives increased gang activity and crime. There is a reason why Mason District is crime central for FFX County. It’s called NIMBY.
There are districts in FFX County with no affordable housing. In Mosaic and other new areas, developers are allowed to reduce the affordable housing from the 12% county policy if they provide other perks to new development. The poor of Mason District drive distances to show up for work in these districts and new developments, but can’t find affordable homes. So they pack people into overcrowded apartments and put their children and others at risk bringing transients into their aging homes in Mason District. In turn our schools are overcrowded and our social services are overwhelmed.
Supervisor Gross is VC of the BOS. She has the bully pulpit to address the lack of affordable housing throughout the county. But, does she? She does not live near Culmore, Bailey’s, 7 Corners and Annandale. She does not advocate for the poor with developers. Annandale Lanes and South East Quadrants projects are current examples of NIMBY.
In election years, Supervisor Gross re-establishes her Wednesday anti-immigration discussions and accuses her opponents of being anti-immigrant. This is classic Gross. But isn’t it anti-immigrant that Supervisor Gross does not use her VC clout to help establish affordable housing throughout the county? Unlike other Supervisors, Gross will not enforce occupancy code because she says the poor have no where to go. Yet, Supervisor Gross allows developers to play NIMBY in her backyard and doesn’t champion the poor through her position on the BOS. Isn’t this anti-immigrant?”
Yes, it's classic Gross for her to say that's not my responsibility. It’s always somebody else's job, unless a developer asks for something, then she will use all her Vice Chairman clout and fight for them to the bitter end.
VC clout is not enough to get significant amounts of public housing built in McLean, Vienna, Great Falls, Oakton, when that is opposed both by residents of those areas, AND by Fairfax GOP (who do not want to spend that kind of money) But I guess if you want to make your anger at having poors in Mason not seem like anger at the poor in general, I guess this is a good meme.
Its a NIMBY coup to over throw Penny. They keep deleting my posts.
Penny is the champion of NIMBY developers. They make sure she has the campaign money to stay in office and keep delivering to them.
We already sit in nightmare gridlock traffic in this area.What is going to happen with 5,000 more housing units?But that will bring in more taxpayer money for the county and that's all that really matters right? It's all about the money.No one cares about the quality of living here it 's about bringing in more money for the county.As usual.Rt 7 on any given day is bumper to bumper gridlock.Just try getting to 7 corners on a Sat. or any evening You will spend a good deal of your time in traffic.
Exactly why returning Willston to a school use would be stupid – you cannot get there from here.
Also, Willston School is very old.
I expect it dates back to the 1950's or before that..
The building would probably have to be demolished and rebuilt before it could be turned into a functioning modern school.
Every time I see the Willston Center grounds, I think, why is that not a school? Maybe years ago when I first moved here there was no need for it to be a school, but now – there definitely is.
"Exactly why returning Willston to a school use would be stupid – you cannot get there from here."
Just like the new upper Bailey's school.
Interesting that the last comment left on the Blog before it's 3 week absence was partisan PR for a petition re: the seven corners development issue.
I am beginning to question the blog's impartiality and journalistic impartiality.
You people crack me up. She just went on vacation bro. Stop looking for a conspiracy in every nook and cranny of a freakin blog. If you want intense journalistic integrity from pulitzer prize winners…there are other places to visit.
Adam, you're great. Just sayin' that I like you telling it like it is.
The Washington Business Journal and WTOP are reporting that the Foulger Pratt project at 5600 Columbia Pike is on hold. The property boasts a 169,000 sq. ft. office building and is assessed at about $20M. This would be an ideal site for Penny's Palace which was estimated to cost $120M. At a fraction of the cost of a new office building at the Willston site, Penny Gross could have her mega building and Fairfax County Public School's could get a reasonably sized 5 acre school parcel for future development. Its a Win-Win. Penny its time you compromised.
I find it sad to see so much effort put into a situation that can't be solved without an enormous amount of road work and funding. We all know there isn't any money for roads or haven't driven on the ones we have.