Bank of America is taking over the former Uno Pizzeria and Grill at Gatehouse Plaza in Merrifield.
The shopping center’s owner, an affiliate of the developer Silver Companies, revealed the identity of its new tenant at 3058 Gate House Plaza in a special exception request that Fairfax County zoning staff accepted for review on Feb. 25.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission gave its support last week to an updated Reston Station sign plan — on the condition that developer Comstock Companies reduce the brightness of two digital installations.
Among the signs deemed problematic is a screen identifying the JW Marriott Hotel and Residences that wraps around the southeastern corner of the 26-story building’s roof at 11350 Reston Station Blvd.
While the Fairfax County has worked on boosting affordable housing, local officials are wary of state bills that would reduce local zoning authority over residential development in commercial zones.
HB 816 by Del. Dan Helmer (D-10) and SB 454 by state Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-16) would require local zoning ordinances to permit by-right multifamily and mixed-use residential development on a portion of commercial or business zoning district land.
A proposal to build 120 units of affordable housing on a site now occupied by the Franconia Governmental Center has won the support of the Fairfax County Planning Commission.
Commission members voted without opposition on Feb. 4 to approve the plan by Franconia Development Partners, a consortium of several housing groups seeking to redevelop the 3.3 acres of leased county land at 6121 Franconia Road with a four-story apartment building.
Fairfax County supervisors gave their blessing on Tuesday (Feb. 3) to a new Flagship Carwash express location near the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Dranesville Road north of Herndon.
“I’m very happy to see this coming through,” Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman said after the 9-0 vote.
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:
Local residents have until the end of the month to submit feedback on proposed changes to Fairfax County’s rules for accessory living units (ALUs).
“We see ALUs as a valuable tool in the housing toolkit,” Casey Judge, a deputy zoning administrator in the county’s Department of Planning and Development, said in a Jan. 21 online community forum.
Over the course of two years, only one restaurant participated in a pilot program that Herndon council members created with the hope of expanding outdoor dining options within the Town.
That lackluster response — followed by Mile 20’s decision not to obtain another permit in 2026 — led to council members’ unanimous agreement at a work session on Tuesday (Jan. 13) to let its “streetery” initiative expire.
Fairfax County supervisors on Tuesday (Jan. 13) set public hearings for later in the winter to consider expansion of zoning districts where group homes, also known as congregate living facilities, would be allowed.
The proposal also would update nearly quarter-century-old standards for the facilities.
Fairfax County supervisors on Tuesday (Jan. 13) set a pair of future public hearings on proposed revisions to zoning rules for large-scale battery storage in the county.
The proposed changes would impact what are known as Battery Energy Storage Systems, or BESS. Language in the amendments would add a new definition for BESS and add new use standards and submission requirements, including minimum setbacks and the completion of a noise study before a site plan can be approved.
