Task force begins review of six major development projects proposed in Mason District

The Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center has big plans for expanding.

A task force of Mason District residents appointed by Supervisor Penny Gross has begun considering six development proposals as part of the South County Site-Specific Plan Amendment Process for amending the Comprehensive Plan.

At the task force’s first meeting, on March 5, county planning staff described the review process, explained the task force’s role as an advisory body, and gave a brief outline of the six projects.

These projects have been nominated for plan amendments:

• First Christian Church, at 6165 Leesburg Pike in Seven Corners, wants to build an apartment building on its property with up to 113 age-restricted units for seniors and ground-floor medical offices.  

• Priscilla Gibson, the owner of a house at 6152 Leesburg Pike, is proposing to build five to eight units of age-restricted housing on her one-acre lot. 

• The Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, at 3159 Row Street, is proposing a community center, an additional house of worship, 25 units of age-restricted housing, and retail on 7.5 acres currently occupied by seven single-family homes, including the Gibson home, which is across the street from the mosque. 

• Alberto Riveros is proposing an assisted living, nursing care, or memory care facility on seven properties on the 6400 block of Arlington Boulevard between Aspen Lane and Beechwood Lane in Seven Corners. Riveros owns four of the properties. 

• Nicholas Development, the owner of the two office buildings at 7616 Little River Turnpike, wants to create a mixed-use development with 573 multifamily units plus retail and office uses. The proposal would consolidate nine parcels between Hummer Road and Woodland Road, including several single-family houses. Most of the site is in the Annandale Community Business Center, and the applicant is proposing that the CBC be extended to cover the entire site.

• The owner of the one-story Public Storage at 4312 Ravensworth Road in Annandale wants to replace it with a four-story, climate-controlled storage facility.  

Deeper discussions of the nominations from First Christian Church, Gibson, and Dar Al-Hijrah will happen at the task force’s next meeting, on March 23.

The Arlington Boulevard, Annandale CBC, and Public Storage proposals will be covered at the task force’s April 2 meeting. Both meetings will be at the Mason Government Center, 7-9 p.m.

The task force is charged with making recommendations to the planning staff on the projects. The planning staff will then recommend whether any of the projects should be added to the county’s work plan.

At that point, the staff would look at such issues as whether project is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood and its impact on transportation and schools.

Related story: Mixed-use development proposed for underutilized office buildings in Annandale

The Planning Commission would hold hearings in June and make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. If the BoS approves a Comprehensive Plan amendment, the next step would be a rezoning request, which would include additional hearings.

The Comprehensive Plan is a long-term vision for land use that provides general guidance for county planners and developers. The zoning ordinance has specific rules for things like the maximum height of buildings, setbacks, density, and open space.

Under the Site-Specific Plan Amendment Process, anyone can submit a nomination for a plan amendment. The applicant doesn’t have to own the properties, but does have to notify the owners. The nomination period for the two-year process for the South County – consisting of the Mason, Lee, and Mount Vernon Districts – closed in December 2019.

The task force is chaired by Marty Machowsky, who had served on a community advisory group on the Seven Corners redevelopment plan five years ago. The other task force members are Bill Lecos, Alis Wang, Joshua Booth, Ed Feige, Binod Gupta, Barbara Burgess, Dave Nguyen, Karen Geier-Smith, Jan Keyes, Robert Chamberlain, and Jeff Longo.