Seven Corners residents raise traffic concerns at meeting on proposed townhouse project

Federal Hill, as seen from Arlington Boulevard.

Residents of the Federal Hill townhouse community in Seven Corners raised concerns about traffic congestion at a community meeting April 3 on a proposal for 40 new townhouses next door at 6060 Arlington Blvd.

The property, currently occupied by a medical building, is only accessible via a narrow road from a service road along Arlington Boulevard.

The layout of the proposed townhouse development.

Several residents of the 76-unit Federal Hill community said they would like to see traffic management improved on the service road and at Arlington Boulevard intersections, especially during peak hours.

People trying to get to Target use the service road, as well as people trying to access their homes. Sometimes cars heading to Target take the access road by mistake and have to turn around. Often, the backups on the service road are so extensive, people can’t get out of the neighborhood. “It’s a nightmare,” one resident said.

While the project calls for improvements to the access road, and there might be some minor tweaks at the intersections, county officials said VDOT isn’t likely to undertake major road improvements.

Other issues raised by residents at the meeting include litter blowing into their neighborhood from the Target parking lot; poor drainage; and noise, dirt, and vibrations from the demolition and construction of the new homes. One resident said there is a “large rat population in the area that will be stirred up by the construction.”

The owner of the aging, mostly empty medical building has submitted requests for a Comprehensive Plan amendment to change the allowable use on the 3.67-acre property from office at an intensity of .20 FAR (floor area ratio) to residential, with 12 dwelling units per acre. The owner also submitted a rezoning application.

The building, constructed in 1962, is mostly vacant. The owner is listed as Medical Building Inc. Several developers are interested in the project but no one has officially signed on yet, said Elizabeth Baker, an attorney with Walsh Colucci, who represents the owner.

A new townhouse development would replace this building and these trees.

Baker said 15 of the 40 new townhouses – the ones closest to the Arlington County line at the rear of the property – would be 24 feet wide and would have a two-car garage in front plus driveway space for two cars. The rest of the units would be 21 feet wide and would have garages in the back accessible via an alley and no driveways.

There would be 28 additional parking spaces in the development, for a total of 3.4 spaces per unit.

The project would include an active recreation area with benches, landscaping, and possibly a tot lot, Baker said, plus an underground stormwater retention vault to improve drainage.

There won’t be a cut through providing vehicle access from the property to Federal Hill or Target, but there could be pedestrian access making it easier for Federal Hill residents to get to the shopping center.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing on the plan amendment on June 15. The Board of Supervisors scheduled a hearing July 25. A Planning Commission hearing on the rezoning application would be in September.