Revitalizing Old Town Fairfax: What would the candidates do?

Fairfax City Citizens for Smarter Growth sent a questionnaire to all of the 2020 candidates for Mayor and City Council. The candidates responded to 8 questions. Today, we are posting the responses we received to our second question:

What is your vision for the area in Old Town bounded by Old Lee Highway, Layton Hall Drive, University Drive and North Street? What additions to the Old Town activity center would you like to see?

We will be posting responses in daily installments between now and May 9. Come back tomorrow to read their responses to our third question. You can view the full questionnaire here. The candidates’ thoughtfulness and investment of time in responding to our questions are deeply appreciated.

Elections are scheduled for May 19. Please vote!

Mayoral candidates

Mark Angres

Although I have ideas about the area of land that encompasses Courthouse Plaza, the
Library, and the office park to the north of Courthouse Plaza, any future vision of this area should be identified by consensus by meeting with the community, the City Council, Planning Commission, other stakeholders and business owners. Indeed, a great deal of this has already taken place.

As some of you are aware, the City Council established a Downtown Visioning Committee last summer. Mike Fabio (a member for CSG) and I, along with other residents and business owners in the City met several times over the summer of 2019 and developed a vision for the downtown. The report, which I presented to City Council in December 2019, outlines several avenues to create vibrancy, redevelop parts of the downtown, establish arts as a focus, and create a partnership with George Mason University. I encourage all City residents to take a look at the committee’s report. I’m happy to provide that to you.

Additionally, the City is engaged in an effort to create a “Small Area Plan” for the downtown to identify open space, development opportunities, ways to make the area more pedestrian friendly and add to the sense of place our historic downtown already provides. This SAP process was also done with the input and recommendations of our community, City boards and commissions and City Council. The SAP will serve as a welcoming plan to redevelop our downtown.

As for my personal views of the area around Courthouse Plaza, I believe that this area is ripe for change. The shopping center itself is likely past its actuarial lifespan. Joe’s Pizza and McDonald’s have been vacant for years. The land is mostly impervious surface parking lots. Mixed-use development with adequate open space to gather, road connectivity between Old Lee Highway and University and a central walkway to encourage walkability will be helpful. We should be open minded to proposals in this area of town, and work diligently to make sure they are consistent with the small area plan that will hopefully adopted by the Planning Commission and City Council this summer.

David Meyer

The area bounded by the parameters described above is approximately 32+ acres.  Approximately 10 acres is owned by Combined Properties (Courthouse Plaza) and 6 acres will be owned by Capstone Collegiate Housing.   These two entities comprise 50% of the area.  The balance on the south end (Library, Foster Building and condo offices just north of the Foster building) is about 6 acres and the area north of Courthouse Plaza and east of what will become Capstone comprises about 12 acres.

Just in the past six months we have had initial conversations with Combined about Courthouse Plaza.  There are many challenges, most especially the long-term lease with Safeway.  But the City and Combined are looking at ways to create a new commercial center that could include some multi-family units and connectivity to the new Capstone community.  The office townhouses on the north side of Courthouse Plaza are individually owned – this Balkanized ownership is a challenge when planning for redevelopment.  So, this is the current state.

My vision for this area:  This area, if redeveloped as a walkable, right-scaled community, and joined with what has already been redeveloped in Old Town Village and the to-be-built Capstone project, could create the “critical mass” for a truly viable, vibrant downtown.  Specifically, Courthouse Plaza could contain specialized retail configured so business facades face each other (instead of the linear storefronts that currently exist), creating a walkable commercial area that is far more dynamic and engaging.  Residential units above can offer guaranteed minimum foot traffic for these businesses.  Structured parking would allow more land to be dedicated to commercial, residential, and open space.  We need to pursue possible partnerships between land owners, the City, and George Mason University for space for community and university activities. The idea of a City-GMU collaboration will move from just a concept to a real possibility when the Capstone project is a reality.

Extending Whitehead east to Old Lee Hwy could and should be considered, as well, to create a grid network that would incentivize the redevelopment of the office condo area and the Providence Hill office buildings to the north.

The City continues to work with Fairfax County for a possible joint use of the current Willard Health Center site at the north corner of Layton Hall Drive and Old Lee Hwy..  I believe we will be successful.  This will only strengthen the potential to redevelop the area on the south side of Layton Hall Drive for a resident-centric community buttressed by a redeveloped commercial center on what is now Courthouse Plaza.

Additionally, a new west façade to the Foster building could be constructed, extending the building closer to University Drive and adding additional commercial/retail square footage at some point in the future.   This may have to wait until the entire area’s economic strength would make this cost-effective.

City Council Candidates

Kate Doyle Feingold

I want Fairfax City to apply for the Virginia Historic Main St program – this is run by the state and provides experts, funds, and guidance for developing walkable, vibrant historic Main Sts in Virginia. Many small cities like ours have participated and have become places that people travel to visit. https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/virginia-main-street-vms.

Joseph Harmon

Old Town should be an area for entertainment, commerce and history.

I would like to see the Courthouse Plaza turned into a walkable city center and the area where the McDonald’s is turned into a park.

Janice Miller

All development should be guided first by the Comprehensive Plan – and hopefully in the near future by our adopted Small Area Plans.  These two documents plus the zoning ordinance serve as a blueprint to proposed development and provide guidance to policy makers and staff alike.

While my vision or individual council members’ visions or the vision of staff is an important component of the development process and the future of the Old Town area, what is MOST important is the collective vision of our community – the vision of residents, property and business owners.

In my view, a future Old Town Fairfax would be more pedestrian friendly and provide vehicular alternatives around the downtown core.  A future Old Town Fairfax would preserve the historic character of our community and provide entertainment venues and spaces that would promote the arts.  A future Old Town Fairfax would have businesses that complement our past and future.

Diverse new residential units would complement growth in this commercial sector and a partnership with Mason would provide a university presence in the Old Town area. Development of the office/parking lot corridor would provide a variety of new possibilities in the University Drive corridor creating a vibrant, walkable area to live, work, and visit.

Tom Ross

Our historic Old Town is the heart and center of our community both historically and symbolically.  Over the years we’ve attempted and largely failed to make it a success.  One of the major detriments is the significant and ongoing traffic impact especially at morning and evening rush hours which makes it difficult for pedestrians.  Another factor is a shortage of residential units which actually has improved in recent years with the creation of housing nearby.

One of the best opportunities for Old Town is the creation of major new college housing (Capstone) and the interest in creating improved entertainment and performing arts facilities.  In my view, Old Town will not survive economically nor as our “heart and center” unless there are activities that appeal to a broad range of interests, not just restaurants and bars.

Jon Stehle

As I said during discussions around the Comprehensive Plan and the Capstone project review, our Old Town should be a destination for our residents and beyond. The vision for Old Town has been in the works for decades and this Council took a positive step forward by encouraging further connections to George Mason University. The recent expansion of the Starship enterprise robots delivering to our residents is a prime example of how we as a City can leverage our connections with the University to provide a positive impact to our unique community.

I am particularity encouraged by the conversations I have heard from our theater community regarding the possibility of a theater in the downtown. Creating the right combination of partnerships, including private investment, nonprofit engagement, university engagement, and the community we have the opportunity to create a result that is greater than the sum of the parts. I look forward to these discussions continuing.

Sang Yi

Given the uncertain economic environment we face coupled with preexisting challenges of vacancies in the central portion of our City, we need creativity and proper planning to improve this area. Proper planning also includes robust community input with technical expertise. Our Small Area Plan consultants and the Old Town Visioning Committee are two notable entities in the planning process for this area. Per the Old Town Visioning Committee’s presentation before Council on December 10, 2019, their first guiding principle is to “build strong partnerships.” These partnerships specifically included relationships with Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University. I agree with the Old Town Visioning Committee’s principle and encourage the formalization and improvement of these partnerships. I also agree with the Old Town Visioning Committee’s principle to embrace historical buildings. The preservation of the unique character of our City is very important to me.

As a member of the City Council, one of the constant concerns residents share with me is about the traffic congestion and the ability of would-be patrons of our local businesses to locate parking. The area in question is significantly occupied by one particular company and it is my desire to encourage that company to improve collaboration with the City to realize an invigorated commercial space. While a new residential project dedicated to student housing is planned to also enter this area in question, we need to ensure that adequate commercial activity exists to seize upon the increased potential pedestrian density. I believe it is also important to ensure that any such commercial activity encouraged is also mindful of the needs of the City’s general population as well as the reputational aspirations we hold as a City in the region. Based on Census data used to create our City’s 2020 Fact Book, 68% of our residents are comprised of families with or without children with the average household size of 2.72. Our median age by ethnicity ranges from 33.0 to 43.7 years of age. These are our most predominant current demographics, and with a robust senior population, we should always consider who we are serving first when devising strategies for redevelopment.