Few compromises were achieved at the final meeting of the Providence District Area Plan Review Task Force. The Tuesday, Dec. 7, meeting — known as the reconciliation meeting — was an opportunity for the Task Force and Fairfax County planning staff to reach an accord about nominations on which they did not agree.
Although only minor changes were made to one nomination, the atmosphere during the meeting was never confrontational.
The Task Force began meeting in October and heard 14 proposals to make changes to the Fairfax County's Comprehensive Plan.
At the Dec. 7 meeting, Task Force members revisited six of the proposals. The most discussed of the options was the proposal to down-plan a property on Wedderburn Lane.
The land just south of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail (W&OD) and west of Cedar Lane is currently planned for two to three units per acre, and the proposal would take that number down to one to two units.
Planning staff has supported retaining the current plan because it believed that the plan would provide a better opportunity to protect environmentally sensitive areas.
The Task Force accepted the proposal to down-plan the land to one to two units at its Nov. 3 meeting, and it did not change its decision at this meeting.
Charlene Fuhrman-Schulz, of the Department of Planning and Zoning, suggested some alternate wording for the Task Force to use. Her proposal included language that was more general and did not place as many specific restrictions on the parcel. "I'm trying to provide an option that is more likely to be implementable," she said.
The Task Force, however, did not agree with her assessment. It voted to remove one minor provision that was determined to be unnecessary. It also added language intended to increase environmental protections on the property.
None of the other nominations was changed.
Next, all 14 of the proposals to change the Comprehensive Plan will go to the Fairfax County Planning Commission for a public hearing.
The hearing for all of the proposals is currently scheduled for April 21, 2005, at 7:30 p.m. The hearings will convene in the Board of Supervisors Auditorium, Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway. Any items that do not begin before midnight will be heard at a carryover meeting scheduled for April 27 at the same time.
Residents who wish to speak at the public hearing may register to do so after March 1. Call 703-324-2865 or visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/gov/planning.
The Planing Commission is scheduled to discuss the proposals at a "mark-up" meeting on May 18, at 8 p.m. The meeting will be open to the public, but no testimony will be heard.
The Planning Commission recommendations will then be sent to the Board of Supervisors for the final decision sometime in June or July of 2005.