By Brian Trompeter
McLean Citizens Association (MCA) board members on March 6 passed a resolution supporting a mixed-use development plan in eastern Tysons, but urged county officials to pay extra attention to growing pressures on schools, traffic and public services.
The application, dubbed “Westgate Block Hilton Hotel,” includes requests by developer KM Hotels LLC and managing agent Cityline Partners to change the approved use of a 1.78-acre parcel of the Scotts Run South development.
That “Westgate Block” currently is approved for 405,000 square feet of office space. The applicants now would like to build on Site A of the property a combination high-end and extended-stay Hilton hotel with 263 units. The 17-story building would be about 225 feet tall and feature ground-floor retail and a rooftop restaurant.
MCA leaders did not expect the hotel would affect the surrounding community more adversely than an office use would, but they did worry about it potential impacts on traffic.
The hotel’s proposed entrance off of Anderson Road would avoid worsening traffic backups on nearby Dolley Madison Boulevard (Route 123), but even with a second left-turn lane at that intersection, the crossing’s service level would keep its “F” rating, the resolution read.
MCA is asking county officials to evaluate cumulative traffic impacts from pending developments in the surrounding area to avoid exacerbating already overwhelming traffic congestion near the site. The resolution also calls on the county to address excessive wait times at intersections in the Scotts Run South vicinity.
MCA’s resolution did not take a stance on Site B of the parcel, which the applicants likely will request to convert from approved office space to residential use. MCA leaders acknowledged Tysons’ office-construction market has changed owning to pandemic-related stresses and the ongoing popularity of having employees work from home.
But if the applicants seek Site B’s conversion to residential use, the MCA board urged county officials to examine the proposal carefully in light of cumulative impacts of Tysons residential developments on traffic, schools and other public services. The MCA fully supported plans to build an interim park on Site B.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission will review the matter March 13.
MCA Backs Proposed Condominium Building at McLean Professional Park: A proposal to rezone and redevelop McLean Professional Park with a 104-unit condominium building received strong support March 6 from the McLean Citizens Association’s (MCA) board of directors.
The applicant, T&M McLean Venture LLC has applied to Fairfax County to rezone the 2.8-acre site at 1499 Chain Bridge Road and replace the existing six office buildings with a five-story, 68-foot-tall multi-family condominium building. The structure would have about 12 workforce-dwelling units as part of the mix
Four low-rise office buildings located on a parcel at the site’s rear would remain and serve the housing units.
The application calls for 205 off-street parking spaces – 77 more than required by county code – and most of those would be located in parking structures. The extra parking spaces are the result of market dynamics, larger dwelling units and recently reduced county parking requirements, said MCA first vice president Paul Kohlenberger, who served as case manager for this application.
The housing units would generate an estimated 473 vehicle trips per day, or a little more than half as many as the 830 estimated under the existing use, according to the resolution passed by the MCA board.
The proposed development would straighten out the site’s entranceway, which is shared with adjacent Sunrise of McLean Village, said Robert Perito, chairman of MCA’s Planning & Zoning Committee.
“This will have the advantage of making it possible for more cars to stack up there when waiting to turn,” Perito said. “It will also, I think, ease the flow out of there.”
The applicant would underground utilities, install streetscape improvements and create and maintain a 0.3-acre urban park at the site. The development proposal would provide 31 percent open space (the county requires 20 percent), preserve existing trees and have a 24,652-square-foot tree canopy within 10 years, up from the required 12,203 square feet. The site’s impervious area would increase by 42 percent, compared with the existing use, MCA’s resolution read.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission will take up the application March 20 and the Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on it May 7.
MCA Wants ‘Stress Testing’ of Government Pension Plans: Worried about increasing unfunded liabilities for Fairfax County’s three pension plans despite increased county contributions each year, the McLean Citizens Association’s (MCA) board of directors on March 6 passed a resolution calling on county officials to submit those plans to independent, in-depth “stress tests.”
All three plans – the Employee Retirement System, Police Officers Retirement System and Uniformed Retirement System – have failed to meet their return-on-investment assumptions during eight of the past 10 years, according to the resolution.
“This pattern cannot continue without adversely affecting the county’s financial position, its ability to fund other programs and its standing in the bond markets,” MCA’s resolution read.
The Virginia Retirement System since 2017 has undergone stress tests and sensitivity reports, the results of which are forwarded to the General Assembly. But regular reports on the county’s three pension plans do not focus on adverse scenarios, explain ramifications in plain English or outline potential strategies to reduce unfunded liabilities rapidly, the resolution read.
The MCA board’s resolution called for stress tests that would accomplish those objectives and analyze optimal governance structures, including trustee selection and training policies, for Fairfax County’s three pension plans.
