Plans for an expanded public library paired with a new parking garage in the Town of Vienna have been solidified.
The Vienna Town Council voted unanimously on Monday (Oct. 28) to approve Fairfax County’s site plans for the facility — which will be known as the Vienna-Carter Library — even though it fall short of some code requirements for setbacks, tree coverage and loading areas.
The council also agreed to waive up to $35,000 in fees. According to Vienna Planning and Zoning Director David Levy, the move was proposed by town staff, not the county, which otherwise would’ve faced an estimated $24,272 for permits, inspections and the architectural review.
Fairfax County has waived fees for the town in the past, including for its community center renovation and new police station, so town staff recommended returning the favor “in the spirit of being a good partner,” Levy told the town council.
“The chief had a budgeted amount of $400,000 for the police station for fees that did not have to be expended, and I can’t tell you if all of that was for Fairfax County, but a significant portion was,” Levy said, confirming that state law allows localities to waive development fees for each other as a “gift.”
In the works since 2018, the project will replace the existing Patrick Henry Library at 101 Maple Avenue East with a 19,000-square-foot, one-story library and a four-level parking garage with 209 spaces, including 84 spots available to the town for commuters and other non-library parking.
To fit the structures on the same 1.43-acre site as the current, 13,800-square-foot library, the county requested a few modifications from the town’s zoning requirements:
- A 10-foot front yard setback from the property line along Maple Avenue, down from the existing 13-foot setback and 15-foot requirement
- A rear setback ranging from 2 to 10 feet from the Vienna Elementary School line, which is currently 45 feet away from the library building
- Just 2,600 square feet of tree canopy, or 4% of the site’s total square footage, below the 10% required by the town
- A 15-foot by 35-foot loading space
Because the site plan application was submitted in February 2023, it was reviewed based on the town’s old zoning code, which was replaced with an updated code that took effect at the beginning of 2024.
Though the new library building will be closer to the Maple Avenue property line, it will actually allow for a wider sidewalk of over 9 feet that the county has agreed to construct. The development will require an uprooting of trees along the street and the new landscaping that town planted last fall.
“The trees and the flowers will have to come out in order for the construction to occur,” Keith Leonard, an architect hired by the county, said. “There’s just such a spaghetti of utilities underneath that sidewalk. There’s no way to do that work and keep them.”
All of the trees, flowers, shrubs and other plants will be replaced, Leonard confirmed. In fact, with the library’s vehicle access point moving to Center Street, some more landscaping can be added in a planter box that will now span the entire Maple Avenue frontage instead of getting broken up by a parking lot driveway.
The longer planter box was one of several alterations that the county made to its site and landscaping plans based on recommendations from Vienna’s planning commission and board of architectural review.
“In addition to providing more plantings, this will make it safer along Maple Avenue, so you’re less likely to have people trying to quickly drop off people in a car,” Vienna Planning and Zoning Deputy Director Kelly O’Brien said.
The county also extended a brick column and ribbing feature at the garage entrance to its back wall, design changes that Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert complimented for making “a big difference.”
The site’s limited tree coverage remained a concern for the council, which urged town and county staff to compensate for the shortfall by planting more trees off-site — possibly around Vienna Elementary School, if allowed by Fairfax County Public Schools.
“We just spent two or three long years passing the tree preservation canopy [ordinance], and it’s going to look really bad if the town is part of a deal where we’re basically exempting ourselves from the canopy requirements,” Councilmember Chuck Anderson said. “So, I would urge the county to work with their own school board to try to figure out a place or somewhere else we can plant those trees.”
Ultimately, the council members agreed that the project’s benefits — including a more spacious and modernized library, long-awaited public parking, solar panels on the garage, a wider sidewalk and more — outweigh its flaws.
“I believe what we’re getting in return is of more importance to us as a town,” Councilmember Roy Baldwin said.
The Town of Vienna is contributing $4.9 million for the project’s construction, including $2.3 million from a Northern Virginia Transportation Authority grant. The remaining $23 million came from bond sales approved by Fairfax County voters in 2020.
According to Vienna staff, Monday’s vote was the last approval needed for the project from the town council, aside from some easements related to the parking garage.
“We appreciate you listening to us and taking our recommendations,” Colbert said to the county staff in attendance. “It’s a beautiful library. I’m very excited for it to be built.”
During construction, which is expected to begin in early 2025, Fairfax County Public Library will provide some services from a temporary site in the Cedar Park Shopping Center.
