The fate of a nearly 200-year-old house and its property may be decided in about a week. When the Fairfax County Planning Commission meets on Jan. 29, redevelopment of the Silas Burke property is on its agenda to make a decision regarding amending the county’s Comprehensive Plan.
The long-time privately owned Silas Burke House sits on roughly five acres of land beside Burke Lake Road, between Shiplett Boulevard and Lee Chapel Road. The area is currently zoned residential, or R-1, which limits the density for any buildings within the parcel to one-to-two dwelling units per acre (du/ac).
However, the Planning Commission will consider whether to amend the Comprehensive Plan to allow for a senior assisted living facility to be built on the property. The new proposed structure would include 82 units and take up about 54,000 gross square feet, according to the commission’s staff report. This would require increasing the zoning classification to R-3, or two-to-three du/ac.
In the staff report, the proposal accounts for maintaining the historic and structural integrity of the Silas Burke House itself. But there’s also the acknowledgement the visual impact of the property will be altered by the assisted living facility.
And while the property is currently on Fairfax County’s Inventory of Historic Sites, it is only eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Because redevelopment would decrease the land around the house, that would effectively remove the possibility of it being added to the National Register.
The Planning Commission’s agenda for Jan. 29 and full staff report for the Silas Burke property are available online at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/planning/calendar/calendarjanuary15.pdf. The meeting is open to the public and begins at 8:15 p.m. Public comments must be submitted ahead of time, however, by calling the Planning Commission office at 703-324-2865 (TTY at 703-324-7951), joining the speaker’s list through the office website or emailing plancom@fairfaxcounty.gov.