A nearly 60% reduction in initially proposed units has not swayed many Franklin Farm residents to support efforts to bring affordable housing to a church site in their community.
But the project nonetheless took a procedural step forward at a Fairfax County Planning Commission meeting on May 22.
In a straw poll, commission members made an informal decision to move forward with the comprehensive plan amendment proposal to allow 90 apartments in a three-story building on the grounds of the Community of Faith United Methodist Church in the Chantilly area.
The church, working with the affordable housing nonprofit Sanctuary AP3, initially proposed 157 units with buildings up to five stories. It scaled back the plan after pushback from those in single-family neighborhoods that encircle most of the 8.9-acre church property, which is located at 13224 Franklin Farm Road near Fairfax County Parkway.
Some residents who turned up for a public hearing that lasted past midnight were still unconvinced.
The proposal would “destroy the open spaces and natural landscape” and “shatter our sense of security, said David Inkellis, a member of the Preserve Franklin Farm advocacy group.
“The community is wholly against this project,” he said.
That was a bit of an overstatement, even if opponents did outnumber supporters at the hearing.
Sandy Baron, a Franklin Farm resident and parishioner at the church, said additional housing is needed for young professionals and those who provide social-safety-net services to others. Those potential future residents of the site currently are largely shut out of Fairfax County, she said.
“Everybody lives in Prince William County because that’s where they can afford,” Baron said.
The proposed housing would be made available to those earning 60% or less of area median income. Rev. Abi Foerster, a pastor at the church, said the congregation is trying to “live our values” by providing additional housing options.
“We don’t want to overlook anyone who is hurting, and right now, there are a lot of people in Fairfax who are hurting because of housing,” she said.
Church leaders have acknowledged missteps in communicating with neighborhoods that surround the site. But some critics of the proposal saw it as more than an oversight.
Dale Luddeke said neighbors first heard about the proposal from FFXnow coverage rather than church leaders, stating that they “intentionally disregarded and dismissed our community.”
“Trust was broken and opposition began,” Luddeke said.
Rajiv Bartakke, a 35-year Franklin Farm resident and lay leader at Community of Faith, said more communication might be able to bridge the current gap between supporters and opponents.
“There are many misconceptions — myths dispelled by research and data,” he said.
Sully District Planning Commissioner Evelyn Spain, in whose district the community is located, acknowledged the situation could’ve been handled better, but she doesn’t believe church leaders acted in bad faith.
“The church has put its heart before the fact that it had to do certain outreach to the community, and that’s unfortunate,” Spain said. “To say that they’re just trying to ram things down your throat? I’m challenged to believe that’s what truly is in their heart.”
The revised proposal offers two options, both with 90 units and 72 parking spaces, all fronting Fairfax County Parkway. The main difference in the proposal is how the parking will be aligned on the site.
A number of commissioners, including Braddock District’s Mary Cortina and Springfield District’s James Thomas, raised concerns about parking and traffic congestion.
“There’s a lot more work that needs to be done,” Thomas said.
Neither, however, objected to recommending that supervisors move the proposal to the staff evaluation phase.
At the hearing, Dranesville District Commissioner Alyssa Batchelor-Causey urged critics of the plan to “open your minds.”
“Affordable housing doesn’t mean what you think it means, and doesn’t mean what it did in the past,” she said.
The commissioners concurred with a staff recommendation that the proposal be placed in Tier 3, the lowest possible level of priority. Applicants at that tier are encouraged to do more work with the community to find consensus.
The Board of Supervisors, which has the final say on all 43 site-specific plan amendments (SSPAs) under consideration, is expected to make a final determination on which ones to officially study at its Tuesday, June 10 meeting.
