Residents of Crestwood Manor in Annandale demand action
 |
| Vehicles crowding Jayhawk Street. [Aaron Kelly] |
The following is an open letter from Aaron Kelly, representing the Crestwood Manor neighborhood in Annandale, protesting the lack of action by public officials to address complaints about problems in the neighborhood, including crime, speeding, and vehicles parked by non-residents.
An Open Letter
We, as residents of Crestwood Manor are aware of reports of yet another major crime incident occurring in our residential neighborhood. A neighbor eyewitness during their early morning walk saw multiple police officers in tactical gear and a large police dog rapidly moving throughout the neighborhood in their hunt for the alleged burglar.
Specifically, there was a home break-in near the corner of Backlick Road and Falcon Street in Annandale. The perpetrator apparently entered the home from an unlocked door while the resident was in the home.
This burglary reportedly occurred in the early morning hours of Friday, May 1, and is the latest in a string of crimes targeting our community, like grand theft auto, other home burglaries, and a rash of attempted vehicle break-ins and larcenies. There were over 100 reported criminal incidents in 2019 alone in the Crestwood Manor neighborhood, according to a report provided by Fairfax County Police.
In this latest incident, the burglar apparently believed the resident was not home at the time. Similarly, in another home burglary in Crestwood Manor that took place in late 2019, a non-resident vehicle with out-of-state license plates parked near the home and performed surveillance for a period of time prior to deciding the best time to break in. The perpetrators of that burglary have still not been arrested.
Related story: Residents urge officials to curb speeding and ban trucks on Backlick Road
As a result of the alarming rise in crimes, directly correlating with the safety and quality of life of residents and seriously affecting home values – people don’t want to live in targeted high-crime, unsafe areas – the Crestwood Manor community has worked tirelessly to offer solutions for crime prevention and safety improvement.
We officially submitted petitions to local authorities (Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman, the Fairfax County Police Department’s Franconia Police Station, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, and Virginia Department of Transportation) to specifically address and target contributing factors which have resulted in dangerous crime and safety issues plaguing Crestwood Manor.
These measures, all within Crestwood Manor, urge officials to implement:
- Speed reduction and Thru Truck Restriction (TTR) on Backlick Road, due to the high rate of motor vehicle crashes and even fatalities;
- A Residential Permit Parking District (RPPD) to prevent non-resident parking, crime surveillance, incessant curb violations, including blocking private driveway entrances, loitering, and littering; and
- Traffic Calming to prevent speeding and cut-throughs near multiple school bus stops and adjacent pedestrian sidewalks on Backlick Road and Lanier, Jayhawk, Falcon, and Exeter streets in Crestwood Manor.
Since the submission of the original petition in October 2019 and an addendum in April 2020 to add Lanier Street, the relevant authorities have not implemented a single measure as requested in the petition.
Since the original petition was submitted, Crestwood Manor has instead received notification of certain studies that have taken place, including a traffic calming study on neighborhood roads (excluding Backlick Road) which resulted in no action due to not meeting the established criteria of 500 traveling cars per day. A second follow-up study was immediately requested by the community.
VDOT has informed the neighborhood their study for speed reduction and TTR on Backlick Road was completed in late February 2020, but no further action or implementation has taken place and the study results have not yet been shared.
We have also received notification from Penny Gross’ office that the addendum petition to include Lanier Street for RPPD has been received and forwarded to FCDOT, but yet again, no action to implement RPPD has taken place.
Fairfax County Police and the Franconia District Police Station have in the meantime agreed to monitor and patrol these serious safety concerns in the community in the interim, however, they say there are limited resources and officers assigned to cover a large area of Fairfax County.
Police enforcement as a mitigation in the interim is only a band-aid and cannot be the remedy due to limited resources; our local authorities should not pass the buck.
Until the local authorities take action and implement these important safety measures in a timely manner, our community will continue to suffer with crime, safety, home values, and quality of life due to inaction and no solution.
Take a quick glance at any one of our neighborhood streets, and you will find a large amount of commercial work vans and non-resident vehicles blocking private driveway entrances, abandoned junk vehicles, speeding upwards of 40-45 mph on narrow residential streets near school bus stops and pedestrian sidewalks, large tractor-trailers and semis speeding upwards of 60 mph on Backlick Road, and suspicious vehicles parked – some of them observing and surveying our neighborhood for a potential opportunity for crime.
We as a community have tried our best to contact local authorities to report all the stated concerns, but we need your help!
Please join our Crestwood Manor resident group on Nextdoor to stay informed on actionable ways you can make a difference. Write, call, and document your concerns to local authorities!
As the residents of Crestwood Manor and nearby communities, if you are also concerned about your neighborhood, we encourage you to reach out to local authorities, including Supervisor Penny Gross, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chairman, FCDOT, VDOT, and FCPD to communicate and document your concern and ask them to support transparency, fair and reasonable action, and solutions.
Here’s a list of useful points-of-contact:
Mason District Supervisor – [email protected]
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman – [email protected]
FCPD Franconia Commander – [email protected]
VDOT – [email protected]
FCDOT – [email protected]
We hope to work together with all to improve safety and quality of life for our residents and contribute to a better community for all.
Well done Crestwood Manor! As a 17-yr resident in an Annandale neighborhood off Ravensworth – parallel to Backlick – and another one of the only main connecting roads in our area.
These two roads are among the few alternates to the highway, but cars zoom up/down like it IS a highway! The speed limit is not enforced, but I also think it's set too high – AND confusing because it might be one limit in one direction and a different limit in the other. All of this just creates havoc for any poor suckers who try to get onto the road (aka residents living in any neighborhood along the road), let alone pedestrians trying to cross it (aka residents living in any neighborhood along the road).
I have concluded that VDOTs standards are aimed at highways not neighborhoods (ergo, the 500 car minimum traffic threshold) and at "vehicular rights" (aka – how can we streamline all impediments so cars can more easily traverse these pesky neighborhood streets!). It's a big problem and since Annandale is unincorporated, I feel we are pretty much powerless.
Thank you for writing this. I live in Braddock District not far from where you are located. This problem exists here for a multitude of reasons not the least of which is that we have a County government and are lacking city services. Our police district is West Springfield which goes from Heritage & 236 all the way to Occoquan. That is a huge area with pockets of very heavy populations. These communities were the experiment of suburbia and were never meant to house so many. All along Americana Drive there are multitudes of cars and commercial vehicles which aren't supposed to park there but they park above the curb destablizing soil that runs right into Accotink Creek when it rains. Of course we are all paying to restore Accotink Creek so how does this continue with little to no enforcement. It isn't like there isn't ample parking in Annandale, the parking lots here are massive but no one has the courage to allow residential parking there because they don't want the liability. The same problem arises when you speak of a permit system, there is no one to administer this. I agree, it would be awesome. But the truth of the matter is these communities are overcrowded because they were never designed to be housing adults with cars in every bedroom. These were designed for single family dwellings and the lack of affordable housing is at the root of this problem. But our Board of Supervisors can't wait to approve more housing around Metro that has little or no affordable housing component in them other than the small percentage the developers have to give up in order to get approval. Why has so much money been spent to put people near Metro when no one can afford these units. They can run upwards of 475K for 680 square feet. Instead of incentivizing more affordable units they are developing like it's 1960 all over again. The BOS wants more taxpayers, more urban development despite the fact that many of us disagree with that approach. It ruins our natural resources and creates a horrible urban quality of life that is not what this was ever supposed to be. Whoever came up with the brilliant idea to move the property tax system to be a percentage of market value created a monster here. It allowed the government to get fat and happy and used to running on all that extra cash. Now they have to live with the consequences of unaffordable housing, overcrowded neighborhoods, increasing crime, and many out of work. Instead of encouraging small businesses, opening up more parks for gardening so people can grow their own food, and ASKING the taxpayers what they want to see in their communities and let that be the driving force for the developers they have completely sold our way of life to them. The developers have written the rules and we all have to live with that. I agree that VDOT is ill equipped to deal with the massive urban roads of Northern Virginia. I've heard they want to turn back control to the County since they have created this monster. VDOT can't handle what they have to do as it is. These problem lie squarely on the Board of Supervisors and it is time we demanded they rethink the approach the old BOS rammed through with revamping the entire county to accommodate the land use machine. Then they had the nerve to ask us all to participate in a survey to ask us what we thought, all the while implementing changes they decided back in 2015. The Gartner report is the driving force for this and no one except the developers were asked to participate. So you and I are left out to enjoy the outcomes of this creation. And we can be so proud of our 2 million square feet of empty office space while we keep building more. Such a breathtaking failure.
Sounds like the residents have done many of the right things – petitioned the government for a redress of grievances. Per our Virginia Constitution, “government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community.” In their case it’s their people and community. Hopefully government for and by the people will respond more favorably than what’s been reported.
All three of these suggestions should be implement as soon as possible. The concerns are absolutely real and valid. Time to reduce the speed limit on Backlick Road to 35 mph, institute traffic calming to reduce speeding on residential side streets, and we should indeed have parking zones for residents only. In addition, it would be helpful if Fairfax County strictly enforced zoning regulations — too many homes being used as dormitories with 7, 8, 9 cars parked in the driveway or out front, contractors storing materials in the front yard, etc. Unfortunately, Penny Gross will probably do what she does best, which is nothing, but let's hope with enough community pressure, these improvements will eventually be made.
I live in Crestwood and it is awful. I am afraid to walk down my street because of the recent crime activity. There is over crowding in the townhouses and apartments across Backlick Road and they park on our streets. They laugh at us when we ask that they do not throw trash in front of our homes. They sit in their cars at 2am in the morning waiting for a pick up to take them home. I fear that some our stalking our homes preparing for a robbery. Our driveways are often blocked. We have called the county ans signed petitions to restrict parking to residents. Still waiting for some action.
I'm glad the residents of Crestwood Manor are demanding action from County officials. However, I fear the situation will only get worse for Crestwood and Mason more generally. The County proposes to loosen the standards for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and home based businesses. As a result, many single-family home neighborhoods and townhouse communities may see additional overcrowding, and an increase in traffic, parking issues, and commercial activity. This is on top of the Short Term Lodging (STR) regulations the BoS approved in 2018.
Residents should consider taking the County zMOD surveys (Google "Fairfax County zMOD," it should be the first hit). The zoning regulations are in need of a general refresh, but the proposed changes are significant when compared to the current framework. The cynic in me says the BoS will do what it wants to do (loosen the regs). Yet, if enough residents speak up, then perhaps we'll end up with a sensible final product.
I know everyones comment is from May of 2020…I live in the Annandale Terrace neighberhood and on my street there is restriction parking ( distric 37) means no parking for none resident from 10pm to 10am. The people that park in front of my home and right underneath the sign know that no one will come by to enforce it. I always have to call for the police to come for them to be ticketed. Recently, I called because there were 3 cars parked in front of my home, and when the officer came by to investigate he told me they would take care of it. The next day my husband found the hand written notes ( on the street in front of our home) that 1 officer had left on each of the car windshield, telling the driver that it was not a ticket, but for them not to park here again or they would get ticketed next time if he or she would be called to come out!!
I have in the past called Penny Grossman office to complain and I was told that "these things are complaint driven" and she forwarded my complaint to the police supervisor in the west spg district. All he said was thank you and nothing ever came of it!!! 🙁