A Vienna-based developer has secured a key vote of support for its plan to build 13 single-family houses on the current Wolf Trap Nursery site.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended approval of a proposal from Sekas Homes to rezone and redevelop the nearly 6.5-acre property at 9439 Leesburg Pike in Wolf Trap during its meeting on Sept. 30.
Sekas Homes acquisitions and development leader Mike Van Atta told the commission that the layout of the planned housing has been crafted to minimize impacts to adjacent neighborhoods.
“The new neighborhood will be anchored around community-gathering features, and the architecture and craftsmanship of the new homes will be consistent with the standards of excellence that Sekas Homes has demonstrated in this county for 40 years,” he said.
The overall site would have a density of 1.97 dwelling units per acre with an average lot size of 12,400 square feet, according to the application. The layout also provides approximately 50 feet of separation between the proposed dwellings and Leesburg Pike (Route 7).
County staff previously raised concerns about the number of trees expected to be preserved after the applicant sought a deviation from the tree preservation requirement due to the poor condition of existing tree canopy and invasive species.
Only 5,381 square feet of tree canopy is being saved, which falls nearly 40,000 square feet short of the county’s canopy requirement. However, Van Atta said the developer will make up for the gap through new plantings.
“The existing tree canopy on the property is mostly in poor to fair condition, and the healthy trees on the site are not necessarily clustered in one location to make it easy to get a significant amount of tree preservation in one area beyond what we already have,” Van Atta explained.
The commission noted discrepancies between the county’s forest conservation staff and the project arborist over how many trees could be preserved under the application. Van Atta, however, said the project would require the deviation regardless, because there were not a lot of high-quality trees to start with.
“That’s always been a challenge with this application, but it’s an infill residential development. There are a lot of different things we’re balancing here, and this was really the best we could do,” he said.
Van Atta also noted that the home builder is also proffering a contribution for additional offsite landscaping improvements in coordination with Fairfax County Forest Conservation Branch (FCON) and Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman’s office. The funds could be used for new plantings and removals of invasive species elsewhere.
Other proposed changes include new sidewalks, a community gathering area and an updated shared-use trail along Route 7.
The rezoning application is now heading to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for a public hearing and a final vote next Tuesday, Oct. 13.
In light of the pending redevelopment, Wolf Trap Nursery announced on its website that it would “begin winding down its operations at the end of June.” A closing sale is underway for the nursery, which has been providing plants and gardening supplies to the local community since 1972.
