Fairfax County officials are asking the Spanberger administration to make the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) more responsive to housing developments it must review.
In a letter to three new Virginia cabinet secretaries, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay expressed concern that current VDOT review process for new housing has placed roadblocks in the way of adding both market-rate and committed-affordable units:
“VDOT is one of our important and very necessary partners in nearly all housing and infrastructure projects. However, VDOT processes can be long and inconsistent, leading to extra costs and unanticipated delays. The challenges we encounter are not limited to processing time alone. Of particular concern is the lack of transparency in VDOT’s review and approval process, the absence of clearly defined decision-making authority, and the uncertainty created when prior approvals are revisited or effectively nullified at later stages of a project.”
The board voted on Tuesday (Feb. 3) to endorse the letter and authorize McKay to send it. The vote was unanimous except for the chairman, who was absent from the meeting.
The letter went to a trio of new appointees: Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery, Secretary of Transportation Nick Donohue and Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources David Bulova.
A number of supervisors said a better review process is vitally needed.
VDOT “should not be the impediment to building housing,” Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said.
Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman said Gov. Abigail Spanberger has “a real opportunity” to make VDOT more responsive on land-use efforts — something Fairfax officials have sought for years.
“It builds on the effort we were trying to do,” he said.
Those efforts included backing state legislation forcing VDOT officials to analyze their practices, make improvements and report back to the General Assembly.
The bill patroned by local Del. Rip Sullivan (D-6), however, was passed over on a 5-0 vote last month by a subcommittee of the House Committee on Rules. Instead, the subcommittee recommended that a letter be sent to Donohue, requesting his assistance in improving VDOT practices.
When testifying at the Jan. 23 legislative hearing for the bill, Bierman called VDOT delays “the fly in the ointment” of development.
“There is inconsistency,” he said of the agency’s practices. “[It is] one of the things we hear most often from housing developers and county staff.”
Sullivan said ongoing lobbying from local elected officials could spur improvements in VDOT practices.
“I want to thank Supervisor Bierman for his dedication and his commitment to this bill and, more importantly, just speeding things up for developers,” Sullivan said.
Opting to send a letter to Donohue, rather than trying to force action by VDOT, may be a way for state legislators to give the new administration a chance to tackle the issue once its leadership team settles in.
On her first day in office on Jan. 17, Spanberger issued an executive order setting up a Commission on Unlocking Housing Production. The commission will advise her administration on strategies to increase housing “with the goals of eliminating unnecessary requirements, streamlining approvals, and reducing barriers,” the governor’s office said.
Spanberger’s action won support from Virginia Realtors, which last year estimated the Commonwealth has a shortfall of nearly 200,000 housing units — a figure that continues to grow.
“Market‑rate housing is essential to supporting middle‑class workers, sustaining local economies, and attracting new businesses — many of which cite housing constraints as a barrier to relocating or expanding in Virginia,” the trade group said.
At the Feb. 3 county board meeting, Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity said he supports efforts to streamline the review process at the state level, but pressed his colleagues to do more at the local level as well.
“We need to take the same kind of focus and look at our own processes, not just point at the state,” he said.
Last year, supervisors directed County Executive Bryan Hill to study ways to do just that.
“It’s coming,” Hill said. He suggested a staff response to the directive will be in the hands of supervisors “sometime in June if not earlier.”
“It should happen before June,” Bierman replied.
