Redevelopment proposals in the Merrifield area will likely get high-priority consideration by Fairfax County planners, as the county nears the finish line of its reconfigured site-specific plan amendment (SSPA) process.
After a nearly four-hour-long workshop on Thursday (March 23), the Fairfax County Planning Commission gave its support to staff’s recommendation that the pitches for Merrifield and an AT&T office site in Oakton be designated as “Tier 1” in the SSPA work program.
A proposal for improvements to the Hook Road Recreation Area in Reston is currently under review by the county.
The plan would include new pedestrian walkways, traffic safety measures, improvements to existing pedestrian walkways, a restroom pavilion and the repositioning of a baseball field on the site.
Fairfax County high school students will soon have access to free mental health services. Starting April 10, Hazel Health will provide students with weekly virtual therapy sessions at no cost to families.
The school system’s website says Hazel’s therapists can help students with mood or behavior changes, anxiety, social skills, bullying, family relationships, and academic stress.
A new rental community for older adults has officially opened its doors in Herndon.
Brightview Senior Living opened its 46th community at Dulles Corner (13700 Magna Way) this month. The 196-unit apartment building is part of a project with a library, fitness studios, pub, movie theater, salon and art studio, along with an outdoor garden area with a covered porch.
Saloon-style doors are coming to the Vienna Metro station’s fare gates.
The Orange Line terminus is one of nine stations in the first phase of Metro’s fare gate retrofits, which will install taller, glass doors on all of the transit agency’s recently modernized gates to deter people from jumping over to avoid paying to ride the rails.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recently honored a local police district that help crack down on a string of car thefts earlier this year.
At a meeting last week, the Board of Supervisors recognized the Franconia District Police Station and the Fairfax County Police Department’s Auto Crimes Enforcement Team.
Why D.C. Area Could Smell North Carolina Wildfire — “Weather models indicate that low-level winds, around or below 2,500 feet, have been generally blowing from eastern North Carolina toward D.C., Maryland and Virginia at about 20 to 45 mph since early Monday morning. That probably was strong enough to transport the smoke into the D.C. area by about midday” [Capital Weather Gang]
Route 1 Widening Already Displacing Local Businesses — “Stubbs’ angst about his shrinking business is due to the expansion of a 3.1-mile section of Richmond Highway in the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County, near Mount Vernon — a project that is already starting to displace businesses along the strip even though construction isn’t expected to start until 2027.” [DCist]
In the year 2030, travelers on The One — the dedicated bus service planned for the Richmond Highway (Route 1) corridor — will be able to wait for their next ride while taking in artwork designed by local students.
Proposed artwork for seven of the nine future Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit stations is now online, and county residents can share their preferences by filling out a survey that is open through April 3.
Local organizations are exploring the possibility of creating a new icon for Reston.
The icon would serve as a local, visible symbol that would be memorialized in sculptures across the community. The symbol would be available for local businesses, corporations and residents to display as a fundraising effort that will provide money for public art.
Less than two years after overhauling its plan for the West Falls Church Metro station area in Idylwood to allow more development, Fairfax County needs to make a relatively limited but critical revision.
During its meeting last Tuesday (March 21), the Board of Supervisors authorized a study of an amendment to the comprehensive plan for the West Falls Church Transit Station Area (TSA) that would allow more office on Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center at 7054 Haycock Road.
