The Herndon Town Council is toying with the idea of rezoning several offices on Herndon Parkway in an effort to address a long-standing policy conundrum: the town’s lack of affordable or workforce housing.
Councilmember Cesar del Aguila suggested at a work session on Sept. 3 that the council should actively explore whether it is legally and logistically possible to rezone several areas along Herndon Parkway between Elden and Spring streets from office uses to mixed-use.
Del Aguila lamented the town’s lack of progress in boosting its affordable housing stock. Unlike Fairfax County, the town has no statutory authority to mandate the inclusion of workforce or affordable housing units in new developments.
“Nothing’s really been done about it so I want to do something about it,” del Aguila said during the work session. He wants to work with staff to determine how and if the town can take specific steps to require workforce or affordable housing in new developments.
Del Aguila also said some property owners may soon bring rezoning requests to the town, which could get ahead of the curve by rezoning some properties. That would shorten the process and send a clear message about the town’s hopes for the future, he said.
The discussion specifically targeted office buildings in the Sugarland West Business Center and Sugarland Business Park II. While the buildings at 380 and 400 Herndon Parkway are fully leased, ones at 360 and 365 Herndon Parkway have vacancy rates of 39.4% and 36.6%, respectively, according to town staff.
It’s unclear what the town can legally do to proceed with zoning changes, said Councilmember Keven LeBlanc Jr.
Fairfax County Housing Director Tom Fleetwood will discuss ways the town can incorporate affordable housing at a meeting on Sept. 19. That should clarify many questions about policy options available to the town, according to Herndon Community Development Director Elizabeth Gilleran.
She cautioned that the town’s comprehensive plan would need to be updated to allow any rezoning. Spot zoning — when specific changes are applied to a handful of random properties that have different zoning laws surrounding them — is illegal, she noted.
“You can’t just decide that you are going to okay a rezoning or rezone to something other than retail without changing your comprehensive plan first,” Gilleran said.
Herndon’s current comprehensive plan has marked 2.6 million square feet of office space for redevelopment, primarily as housing with some hotel and commercial uses also proposed.
While that plan seems well-intentioned, its full implementation could be “decades away,” del Aguila observed.
“It seems like we’re always waiting for something,” he said.
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