Fairfax County Planning Commission members will try again next month to find the appropriate level of residential development on a series of parcels on Ox Road (Route 123) in the Lorton area.
A developer — L&F Laurel Highlands LLC — has proposed building almost two dozen new single-family houses on eight acres of mostly vacant land at 9224, 9300 and 9304 Ox Road near the intersection with Hooes Road.
The development will require an increase in the site’s allowed density from at most 0.5 dwelling units per acre to up to three units per acre — a change that some local residents and planning commissioners say might be too intense for the Pohick Planning District.
As a result, the commission voted after a public hearing on Wednesday (Jan. 29) to defer a final recommendation on the proposed comprehensive plan amendment until Feb. 12.
“We’ll be rolling up our sleeves to come up with a finished product,” Mount Vernon District Commissioner Walter Clarke said. “Some language may need to be tweaked.”
With a rezoning application submitted last year, the developer seeks to construct between 16 and 23 single-family homes on the combined parcel. That level of density would be on par with the nearby John Leary subdivision, but higher than other residential areas nearby.
The proposal was downsized from an initial concept that envisioned up to 70 townhomes, but residents nonetheless lined up at the planning commission public hearing to voice criticisms of the project, citing its potential impacts on traffic, tree canopy, local schools and their quality of life.
Commissioner John Carter, who represents the Hunter Mill District, said some of those arguments were persuasive.
“The community has a point about the compatibility,” he said.
Carter also said the impact of increased levels of development in the southeastern portion of Fairfax County, particularly on the Occoquan watershed, “bothers me a lot.” He pushed for a plan allowing one to two units per acre on the site.
Commission members made an effort to scale back the allowable development intensity before ultimately deciding to defer action. A Board of Supervisors public hearing on the application currently is slated for March 4.
If the comprehensive plan amendment ultimately is approved by supervisors, the developer is expected to submit a new rezoning application.
“If we make it to the rezoning process, we will come out with a project the community will be supportive of,” Clarke predicted.
While the site isn’t subject to the county’s affordable housing requirements, the developer has proposed a monetary contribution to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. A host of other improvements, including parkland, pedestrian and bicyclist upgrades and tree preservation efforts, also have been proffered.
