The Fairfax City Council was briefed Tuesday (Feb. 24) on two proposed redevelopments — a revised pitch for the Courthouse Plaza Shopping Center and an office-to-residential conversion.
Council members received pre-application presentations on the multi-phase mixed-use development for the Courthouse Plaza Shopping Center at 10300 Willard Way and 3922 Blenheim Blvd as well as a potential conversion of an office building into a six-story multifamily residential building at 10340 Democracy Lane.
A lengthy approval process for an affordable townhouse development motivated Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read to testify in support of state legislation eliminating a key hurdle to affordable housing on church-owned properties.
State Sen. Jeremy McPike’s (D-29) Senate Bill 388 would let religious organizations develop housing on their land by right, without needing to go through a special exception, special use or conditional use permit or rezoning process that requires public hearings and votes.
Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read will not seek a third term in an office she believes is “broken.”
Read announced her decision not to pursue a reelection bid this year before adjourning the Fairfax City Council’s meeting last night (Tuesday), stating that she has been honored to serve as mayor but criticizing the city charter that governs the role as “outdated and ill-equipped to meet the demands of a modern, 21st-century community.”
A mix of pride and gratitude filled the voices of the government and nonprofit officials who spoke at a ceremonial groundbreaking yesterday (Monday) for Fairfax City’s latest housing project.
Speaker after speaker emphasized the array of contributors whose shared belief that housing should be a basic right, not a privilege, paved the road to construction for Beacon Landing, a 54-unit apartment building for people who are at risk of or experiencing chronic homelessness.
