Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Meeting, Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Place: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 6h 39m (video)
Official meeting video (Fairfax County): https://video.fairfaxcounty.gov/player/clip/2758
Official Board of Supervisors page (Fairfax County): https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-11-04. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:06] Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our board meeting of February 21, 2023. And we are going to begin this meeting as we always do, which is keeping folks in our thoughts and prayers. And after we do that, we will all stand for a moment of silence and for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:00:23] And let me start just by saying this morning how happy I think all of us are as a board of supervisors to welcome back our world-class urban search and rescue team, Virginia Task Force One, who returned to the county in the early hours this morning safely.

[00:00:43] And just as a reminder for folks, this is our federally funded urban search and rescue team and was deployed to Turkey and spent 11 days on the ground. We were joined by the Los Angeles-based USAR team and combined those USAR teams traveled with more than 170,000 pounds of specialized tools and equipment such as hydraulic concrete breaking equipment, saws, torches, and drills, along with advanced medical equipment for their sophisticated search and rescue operations. Together, the teams assessed over 6,000 buildings

[00:01:20] for rescue operations and provided detailed assessments of critical infrastructure to assist the people of Turkey as they move towards recovery. Our team also assisted others in complex rescue operations with both equipment and technical guidance involving countless hours of direct action and hard work in close coordination with USAID. In addition to its search and rescue operations, the team provided critical support to the coordination of the international response effort. We of course want to thank all of the members of Virginia Task Force one and their families in particular, including their brothers and sisters in our fantastic fire

[00:01:59] and rescue department who were here filling in vacancies while Urban Search and Rescue was able to go to Turkey and make a big difference. Our hearts go out to our friends, of course, in Turkey and Syria. I think all of us have seen the amazing death toll, which is now top 46,000 people with over 110,000 injured. And I know how happy the family members were to get their loved ones back from Turkey, but we need to keep those members of the task force and their families in our thoughts and prayers. Seeing and hearing those numbers, I think are eye-opening for all of us,

[00:02:38] a traumatic experience for each and every one of our folks who were deployed over there on this international mission. And we want to keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they process, as they physically recuperate being back, but also mentally process the things that they saw over there. And so we salute them. Secondly, I think the board is aware that Ted Lerner passed away on February 12th at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland of complications of pneumonia.

[00:03:10] He was 97 years old. Ted was known as a real estate developer who bought the Washington Nationals in 2006 and oversaw their thrilling 2019 World Series victory. He built over 20 million square feet of commercial and residential space, much of it in Fairfax County.

[00:03:30] Was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Urban Land Institute in November of 2015. Ted opened, of course, Tyson's Corner Center in the late 1960s and the Galleria at Tyson's 2 in the late 1980s. He's survived by his wife, son, and two daughters, nine grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.

[00:03:52] Obviously, Ted made a huge difference in the real estate landscape and the economy of Fairfax County as his family continues to do that and make investments in our community. If we could keep Ted and his family in our thoughts and prayers, that would be appreciated.

[00:04:09] Additionally, Guy Rando, Supervisor Alcorn may know Guy Rando, had a passion for design, art, and nature and seamlessly intertwined the three throughout his life and practice. He pioneered work with Whittlesey and Conklin on the master plan for the new town of Reston, including the creation of Lake Anne and Washington Plaza.

[00:04:36] Throughout his career, he advocated and was committed to Robert Simon's vision of Reston and its diverse community, if we could keep Mr. Rando and his family in our thoughts and prayers. And then finally, I think all of us watched in horror on February 13th with the senseless act of gun violence at Michigan State University.

[00:05:00] And normally I wouldn't mention something that seems like so far away, but certainly after the tragedies at Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, I think all of us watched in horror, as we saw yet, another act of senseless gun violence on one of our university campuses.

[00:05:18] And, you know, I know this board's heard me say and many of you have said so many times recently how difficult it is to be a young person these days in school, just trying to learn in what should be always the safest environment that any young person or young adult can be in.

[00:05:37] And so if we could keep the students and faculty, the first responders at Michigan State University, in our thoughts and prayers, the three victims who unfortunately suffered death as a result of this senseless gun violence, and also our Virginia colleges and universities, you know, places like George Mason right here in Fairfax County.

[00:06:01] As I watched some of the young people get interviewed after the Michigan State University event, I couldn't help but flash back to hearing what some of the young people were saying at UVA and Virginia Tech after these things happened. And, you know, our kids going to school should never be scared just to go somewhere and learn.

[00:06:20] And so this is really, you know, a tragedy, I think, that while it might have hit Michigan State University, it hits all of us close to home here because it happens too, too often. So if we could keep that university and their first responders in our thoughts and prayers, it would be appreciated as well.

[00:06:38] And with that, I'd be happy to recognize any other board members. Let me start on this side for once after Supervisor Gross first. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We learned on just this weekend that Bob Kahane, who had been the president of Annandale Rotary and the chairman of the Taste of Annandale, passed away.

[00:07:01] He had a lot of health issues, but he was very active in the community. And his wife indicated that his dearest wish was that the Taste of Annandale will continue, which is scheduled for late April this year.

[00:07:18] So it will be in memory of Bob. He was extremely active even as he was battling some health issues. So please keep him in our thoughts and prayers. And also, President Jimmy Carter is facing his final days.

[00:07:39] And I know that some of the folks around this dais don't even remember when he was the president. But I do remember. I was working on the Hill. And that was a very heady year, 1976, for the presidential campaigns.

[00:07:58] And he was unusual. Washington didn't quite know what to do with him, but certainly if there are second or third acts in life these days, he has made an even greater difference in the world since he was president.

[00:08:17] And so reading the newspaper this morning about folks in Plains, Georgia, his hometown, and how they feel about him, you know, would that anyone facing the end of their life would be so respected and loved as Jimmy Carter.

[00:08:34] And so we anticipate, I think, that there will be some sad news coming along, but I think it also, there was a quote that, and I won't quote this specifically because I can't remember exactly what it was said, but that he has lived a long and fruitful life and is at peace.

[00:08:56] Would that we could all say that. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Gross. Supervisor Palchuk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And just adding to that, I'm glad you brought that up, Vice Chair Gross, I think in addition to his legacy as president, the Carter Center, as you know, has done incredible work around the world.

[00:09:16] But to me, my favorite is that his 75-year marriage is longer than many of our presidents were alive. And so I think he really, truly has been a model of both citizenship, but also of their strong, strong family and the love in their community. I want to share one thoughts and prayers. Many of you may have heard, we actually had someone that was about to hop on the metro last week. And unfortunately, the orange line was shut down temporarily. And Mr. Harold Riley,

[00:09:53] who was 50 years old, was unfortunately dragged by the train. His dog, Daisy, did survive. She was inside the train there is still investigation i believe mr alcorn ongoing on that but just our thoughts and prayers to mr riley and his family i believe his daughter one of them has started a gofundme page to help support his funeral services and our as we continue that investigation just want to thank our romant employees and our police who came out to support as soon as they saw that

[00:10:29] something had occurred. So please continue to share our thoughts for him. And adding to Mr. Lerner, I won't second anything that the chairman said, but I think one of my favorite things about Mr. Lerner was that he was the son of immigrants from Palestine and Lithuania. He has a wonderful family. And one of my daughter's favorite songs now, Mr. Lerner was lovingly known as Grandpa shark um as the owner of the nationals and when they won the world series i know that um he brought

[00:11:03] a lot of joy to our community and again built quite a bit starting really from scratch um built an empire of um many buildings that really mark what we are today in the county with both of our big malls uh in the providence district and a family that continues to share his legacy so um just our thoughts and prayers for his family and his long and fruitful life. And to that, again, I know that there are many opportunities to participate and support the victims in Syria and Turkey,

[00:11:38] and I want to thank Mosaic. They have created a space for donations just outside of Target, Mosaic. If anyone would like to bring blankets and other supplies there, that is an additional opportunity to the others that have been created by the embassy and we continue to to think and support them and thank Virginia One for their work that's all. Thank you Supervisor Pouchek and to that point on Turkey we are my office working closely with NBRC again to see what we might be able to do for our county residents to make contributions to the earthquake victims as well

[00:12:15] they're having significant logistical challenges and so it might look different than what we've been able to do with relief efforts in the past, but we're hoping in the next week or so that we'll make a formal announcement about ways that people in the county, businesses, and residents can make contributions in coordination with NBRC. And as soon as we have more information on that, we'll be sharing it, of course, to the board offices so they can participate as well.

[00:12:41] Supervisor Herity. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I'll try to be quick. I want to thank you for recognizing the USAR team. I'm certainly glad they're back safe and sound after the work they did. And Ted Larner, another of our Titans, along with the Hazels and Petersons. We seem to be losing too many of those here in the recent past.

[00:13:01] And Guy Rondo, I actually skated with Guy at Old Timers for many years, and he was a character both on and off the ice, and he will surely be missed by the Ashburn Old Timers group as well as the community for what he did.

[00:13:16] And it's interesting how you can skate with somebody for so long and not realize all the things that they have accomplished over their life. But I am sad to announce the passing of Johnny Monaco on February 4th at age 75. He was a well-respected community member, dedicating his life to mentorship, youth sports, and service to our community.

[00:13:38] He's got a respected 43-year career with the Census Bureau. However, those who knew him would tell you that he was most known for his love of baseball. He began coaching his son's Little League team in West Springfield Little League back in 1981, continued to coach for many more years after that.

[00:13:55] He joined the board for West Springfield Little League, dedicated many volunteer hours to the organization and leadership roles, including chair of the rules committee, player agent, historian, all-star coordinator, manager, coach, and many more. He was known for his baseball-loving spirit and kindness.

[00:14:11] I ask that we keep Johnny's wife and children and his West Springfield Little League family in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you very much. Supervisor Herity, others who would like to be recognized. Supervisor Walkinshaw. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[00:14:27] Unfortunately, I want to share news that the Braddock District family and Fairfax County family lost Rhiannon Duck. And Rhiannon worked as a staff aide for Supervisor Cook. She handled social services issues. And most recently, she was the executive director of the Shepherd Center of Fairfax Burke.

[00:14:46] And I had the opportunity to work with her when she worked with Supervisor Cook on the Council to End Domestic Violence Issues. She was a passionate advocate for ending domestic violence and had a real servant's heart and made an incredible impact on the Braddock District in Fairfax County as she's survived by her mother and her two sisters.

[00:15:08] So please keep them and all of her friends in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Supervisor Walkinshaw. Supervisor Alcorn. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for bringing up Guy Rando. You know, he left an impact not only in the work that he did in Reston, but also one of his children, Marco Rando, is a teacher, art teacher at South Lakes High School and produced the art project for the Lake Thoreau Spillway.

[00:15:41] So, you know, some of these things do pass down generations. Certainly do want to pass along our condolences to Marco and the rest of the family on his passing. So, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Supervisor Alcorn. And seeing no one else who would like to be recognized at this time, if we could all rise for a moment of silence to be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:16:02] Please face the flag.

[00:16:24] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And we have no formal proclamations this morning because we know that a good chunk of our meeting will be the county executive's proposed budget presentation, but we do have appointments to boards, authorities, commissions, and advisory groups.

[00:17:02] And at this time, I will turn to Supervisor Gross for a motion. We have approval of the list dated today, listed as final copy. Second. Heard the motion. It's been multiply seconded. Any discussion? Any discussion?

[00:17:19] Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? And that motion carries. Next up is report on General Assembly activities. I will turn to Supervisor Walkinshaw, the chair of the board's legislative committee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Since our last board meeting, the legislative committee has met once on Friday, February 17th. There's been a lot of activity on the board's county initiatives.

[00:17:45] The first, which would allow Fairfax County to use contractors to remove illegal signs from the right-of-way, passed the Senate unanimously and is now headed to the governor. The second, which would clarify that localities in northern Virginia are authorized to post appropriate and clear signage requiring motorists to stop for pedestrians and crosswalks at unsignalized intersections, passed the Senate and was reported from the House Transportation Committee 18 to 4. It now awaits consideration by the full House. Unfortunately, the third, which would have clarified that counties

[00:18:21] that do not maintain their own roads are authorized to reduce speed limits to less than 25 miles per hour but not less than 15 miles per hour on highways within their boundaries within business or residential districts was tabled by a house transportation subcommittee early in the session and did not advance. At Friday's legislative committee meeting the board received a lot of information about both the house and senate budgets currently under consideration including the detailed budget chart that's included in the legislative report.

[00:18:53] Though we discussed a lot of the items in both budgets, I want to highlight two areas that we discussed at length, K-12 education and behavioral health. In particular, the Senate budget provides $270.6 million statewide in FY24 to fully eliminate the cap on support positions that was implemented in FY2010.

[00:19:17] The cap costs Fairfax County public schools approximately $26 million annually. The county strongly supports fully eliminating the support cap, which has artificially lowered the state's funding contributions for critical educational support positions for more than a decade.

[00:19:34] Additionally, Virginia's behavioral health services were already strained before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for services has increased significantly due to the global health crisis. Both budgets seek to address a variety of issues related to behavioral health, particularly challenges related to the behavioral health workforce.

[00:19:56] Unfortunately, there are some issues of concern in the House and Senate budgets. The current state budget passed by the 2022 General Assembly includes the state's portion of 5% salary increases in FY 2024 for K-12 employees. Both the House and Senate budgets this year instead propose 7% salary increases.

[00:20:17] But as the board knows, the state only funds a portion of the K-12 positions it recognizes based on the school division's local composite index of ability to pay. In a high cost of living locality like Fairfax, that means the state is likely to pay approximately 18% of the cost of an additional salary increase, while local dollars would be needed to fund approximately 82% of that cost.

[00:20:44] For example, in FY23, the state provided FCPS with approximately $22 million in state funding for a 5% salary increase, while requiring approximately $103 million in local funding, which, as we'll hear later today, is approximately three and a half cents on the real estate tax rate.

[00:21:05] That's extremely confusing for our school employees and the public to hear that the General Assembly is raising pay for teachers when the reality is they're providing a small down payment on a pay raise for teachers. Although Fairfax County and FCPS have long been supportive of efforts to increase compensation for teachers and support staff, current funding formulas do not accurately reflect the true cost to localities to fund a high-quality education.

[00:21:36] With respect to behavioral health, the Senate budget directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to develop a plan to restore the psychiatric bed capacity of the state hospital system, which was reduced when beds were taken offline in recent years due to workforce shortages.

[00:21:54] But the amendment does not include funding and has an extended timeline. Addressing the current state psychiatric bed crisis requires a more comprehensive approach, including funding to bring beds back online immediately, as well as substantial ongoing funding to increase the availability of community-based crisis services, community residential capacity for early intervention to prevent hospitalization, and local psychiatric beds for people with behavioral health issues.

[00:22:26] As I mentioned, we discussed many other items at Friday's meeting as well, and our legislative staff will continue to share the county's feedback with the members of our delegation as budget negotiations continue in the coming days. The Legislative Committee received updates on a number of bills related to public safety, land use, human services, and transportation, among other topics.

[00:22:48] And the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn this Saturday, February 25th. Though there are a lot of items to work through in a short period of time, as we all know, sometimes things get resolved quickly in the final days of the session, and sometimes they need extra time.

[00:23:06] We don't know yet what will happen this year, so stay tuned, and we'll be in touch with you. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I move that the board adopt Legislative Committee Report No. 3. And I'm happy to second that motion. Is there a discussion on the motion? Discussion on the motion.

[00:23:24] Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Heardy, nay. Any abstentions? And that motion passes. And is that all, Supervisor Walkinshaw? That's it. Thank you. Okay, and I believe, do we not have a meeting this Friday?

[00:23:42] To be determined. To be determined. It's a leading question, but okay, great. Thank you very much. We will now move on to the next item on our agenda, which is the county executive's presentation on the proposed FY 2024 and FY 2025 multi-year budget plan.

[00:24:00] And I want to remind everyone the most important thing to take away from today is that this is the first step of a very lengthy process that will include public hearings and substantial public input. For those watching, just as a refresher, this is the county executive's proposed budget.

[00:24:19] And of course, as we work through the weeks and months ahead, literally, we will be fine tuning this budget, and making it the board's budget by the time we're ready to vote, and that will only occur after a whole lot of public input, including public hearings, and so this is step one.

[00:24:38] And with that, let me turn it over to our county executive, Mr. Hill. Welcome. Good morning, Chairman McKay, members of the Board of Supervisors. It's an honor and pleasure to be here today. I do want to apologize on the length of this budget presentation.

[00:24:53] It is not 10 pages, it is 30, so I do apologize in advance. As I progress through the slides, you will see that much has changed, not much has changed from our forecast presentation in November. Our economy continues to recover from the pandemic, although our over-reliance on real estate continues, particularly our reliance on residential homeowners.

[00:25:18] Our needs are many, and I would have loved to have been able to recommend adjustments to meet them all. But we must balance our spending with the impact on our residents, and I believe that this proposal allows us to do just that.

[00:25:43] This year's budget proposal focuses on stabilizing what I'm calling our core, meaning our employees and the existing programs we have in place to serve our residents. What we are seeing across the board is that it's costing us more and more to sustain this core, thanks to a tight labor market and high inflationary environment.

[00:26:06] As we will discuss later in the presentation, you'll see that the primary focus of this proposal is on employee compensation, both for our county employees, but also to support employees in Fairfax County public schools through our transfer to FCPS.

[00:26:26] It is imperative that we continue to support our finest asset by focusing on pay as part of this budget. But you will see that a portion and certainly a greater portion than what we've seen in the past years of our resources are going towards inflationary and contract rate adjustments.

[00:26:46] We know that we are not the only ones impacted by this economy and our community partners with which we work every day are similarly struggling with labor and cost increases. Like last year, the primary driver of our revenue growth is residential real estate.

[00:27:10] Although the market slowed for the second part of 2022, values as of January 2023 were still elevated almost 7% over values the year before. For fiscal year 2024, we are also benefiting from rising interest rates and their impact on investment portfolio.

[00:27:29] I must caution, however, that I anticipate that both residential real estate and investment earnings, though helping us this year, are likely to provide little to moderate revenue growth in fiscal 25, as we anticipate that the real estate market will continue its slowdown and the Fed may cease interest rate hikes and may start to cut rates in 2024.

[00:27:53] The revenue projections in the budget are based on the existing real estate tax rate of $1.11, which would result in an increase to an average homeowner of just under $520.

[00:28:15] As we will discuss later in the presentation, this proposal funds recurring requests in the school superintendent's proposed budget. For compensation, this budget funds employee pay adjustments averaging over 4%. This includes 2% market rate adjustment along with performance merit and longevity increases and pay adjustments for classes, job classes found to be out of market.

[00:28:40] Other adjustments are included to address inflationary and contract rate impacts, required debt service, capital obligations, and new facilities. Additionally, I have included other limited and targeted adjustments to address workload and operational needs. Although I have recommended some new positions as part of these adjustments, all of these have been offset by other position reductions.

[00:29:04] Thus, this budget includes no net positions. In order to provide the board flexibility to respond to our community and their thoughts on the budget, whether that be to reduce the real estate tax rate, provide additional compensation for employees, or invest in other county priorities, we have left the balance of over $90 million. Slide four highlights the county-wide strategic plan. Of note is the

[00:29:43] release of our first annual report, which is now posted on the strategic planning website at fairfaxcounty.gov backslash strategic plan. The report summarizes our organizational alignment with the plan elements and outlines the initial progress the county has made to advance our proposed strategies. It also highlights equity and emphasizes the importance of continuing to operationalize our One Fairfax policy and the county's work and focuses on strong collective efforts to improve the use of data in decision making. This includes sharing information on new

[00:30:22] data dashboards and the identification of headline metrics, which will allow us to collect, analyze, and use the data that is most relevant to each of the 10 community outcome areas.

[00:30:43] Now I want to spend some time talking about the economy and the impact on our revenue projections. For fiscal year 2022, the economy grew at a rate of just over 2%, lower than the 5.9% increase in 2021.

[00:31:02] The national unemployment rate has fallen at a level not seen since 1960. Inflation has begun to back off from its peak last summer, but it's still well above the Fed's 2% target rate and continues to be a concern. Our fiscal 24 general fund revenue forecast assumes that the national economy will be flat.

[00:31:25] There is uncertainty about whether the Fed will be able to manage a soft landing, meaning reducing inflation to its target rate of 2% without causing a recession or whether they will be an economic downturn.

[00:31:42] With that said, I have listed on the slide several factors that could impact the future performance of our economy as significant uncertainty remains. Factors that include the gradual winding down of federal stimulus, the degree to which the Feds raise rates to slow the economy to fight inflation, and the geopolitical conflicts that could push up the price of oil and food and increase economic uncertainty.

[00:32:11] Now turning to our local economy. In Northern Virginia, the number of jobs has fully recovered compared to its pre-pandemic levels of December of 2019. Some sectors have feared better than others, in particular the number of leisure and hospitality jobs remain down between 6% and 7% compared to December of 2019, even as the number of professional and business services jobs have increased.

[00:32:42] In Fairfax County, the department, excuse me, in Fairfax County, the December unemployment rate was 2.3%. Despite being incredibly low, it's still higher than December of 2019, rate of 1.7. However, the county's labor force is smaller than it was in 2019, reflecting lower labor market participation compared to the pre-pandemic levels.

[00:33:10] Office vacancy rates in the county have increased as employees continue to adopt telework postures. And this continues to have a negative impact on assessments for commercial office elevator buildings. Our real estate assessment base in 2024 increased, driven by gains in the residential real estate market in the first half of the year from low interest rates and a limited supply of homes for sale.

[00:33:38] Higher interest rates in the last six months of the year brought fewer sales and slow depreciation. Non-residential real estate increased modestly as well. We will talk more about real estate later in the presentation. This slide provides information about the annual changes in general fund revenue.

[00:34:06] Due to strong residential appreciation, the FY 2024 revenue forecast includes an estimate of 5.8% growth over our current FY 2023 estimates. This level of general fund revenue assumes no change to the real estate tax rate and slow economic growth.

[00:34:25] As we will note, at the end of the presentation, you can see that our projections for fiscal 25 are not as positive. based primarily on anticipated slowdown in residential growth. It should be noted that the chart shows revenue growth related to our normal revenue base and does not include the impact of one-time federal stimulus funding that the county received in fiscal years 2020 through fiscal 2022.

[00:34:56] As you know, the county relies primarily on real estate tax to fund county needs. In fiscal 2024, approximately 67% of the general fund revenue is derived from real estate taxes, which are projected to increase to 6.6% over FY23 levels.

[00:35:21] Personal property taxes are projected to be flat in fiscal year 2024. After a large increase in fiscal 23, and we will talk more about that in a couple of minutes, sales tax revenue is driven by strong consumer spending and inflation and has benefited from federal stimulus.

[00:35:42] It is expected to be up 5.2% in fiscal year 2023 and another 2% in fiscal year 2024. As you can see from the chart, investment interest and revenue is projected to increase significantly in both fiscal 2023 and 2024.

[00:35:58] After reducing interest rates to near zero to deal with economic effects of COVID, the Federal Reserve raised rates seven times in 2022 and again in January to 4.75% to deal with inflation. More interest rate hikes are likely coming through the feds' meeting this year.

[00:36:20] In FY 2024, investment interest earnings on county portfolios are expected to grow 76% to over $113 million. This slide provides more information on the real estate tax base, including a history going back to 2012.

[00:36:51] In the column for fiscal year 2024, at the bottom right, you can see that the real estate total base is projected to increase 6.59%. Residential real estate experienced an overall increased value of 6.97% due to low interest rates coupled with low inventory, which caused housing prices to increase significantly during the first half of the year, though home sales decelerated by year end.

[00:37:20] We are anticipating that the second half trend will continue through 2023. Based on current mortgage rates, thus you can see that currently we are projecting residential equalization to be flat next year. Commercial real estate, on the other hand, increased by 1.65%.

[00:37:42] Some types of commercial real estate, such as apartment dwellings, have recovered strongly. Others, such as office buildings, are still experiencing decline in values as companies have been slow to bring their employees back to work, and many have reduced their office footprints.

[00:38:00] As you can see in the column on the left, one penny of real estate tax rate generates $31.4 million. Because of the strong increase in residential values in fiscal 2024, our commercial and industrial base declined to just 16.2%, and this is the lowest rate in many years.

[00:38:20] And we tried to go back and find the exact time it was lower, and we're still looking past 2009. Our next slide provides additional facts regarding our residential real estate market.

[00:38:38] The average sale price of homes sold in the county rose 7.4% during calendar year 2022. The number of homes, however, decreased over 25% as rising prices and increasing mortgage rates made homes increasingly unaffordable.

[00:39:00] Homes that sold during the year stayed on the market for an average of only 17 days, the same number of days in 2021. The appreciation in home values are experienced across the board of more than the 312,000 taxable residential properties in the county with equalization changes over 89% saw an increase in assessed value.

[00:39:26] So 89% saw an increase in assessed value, while only three experienced a decrease. For the second year in a row, single-family homes values outpace townhomes and condominiums.

[00:39:46] Single-family homes value increased 7.8%, down from almost 11% seen last year. Single-family homes are the largest component of county's residential tax base, making up 72% of the equalization value.

[00:40:02] Townhomes increased 6.31%, also down from last year, while condos were up 3.98%. Overall, we were up, excuse me, overall residential equalization was just under 7%. The amount of empty office space increased to 21.3 million square feet.

[00:40:29] There has been a slowdown in leasing activity due to the remote work and its effects on the office space requirements. At year end of 2022, the direct office vacancy rate in the county was 16.7%, up from 16% at year end 2021.

[00:40:49] Vacancy rates in most areas of the county are in the 14 to 17 percent range, with the lowest vacancy rates seen in Burke and McLean, while the highest are seen in Bailey's Crossroads, Lorton, and Newington. There are currently four buildings with just under a million square feet of office space currently under construction, with one delivering over 500 square feet in Chantilly, two in Reston near Metro stations, and one smaller office building in Merrifield.

[00:41:22] Due to the increases in the vacancy rate, office and real estate assessed values are down for the third year in a row.

[00:41:40] Hotels, which increased 14.5% as leisure and business travel, have continued to recover, although this category has not recovered from the significant reduction two years ago. Industrial properties increased just under 10%, fueled by increased demand for storage and warehousing.

[00:41:59] Office elevator properties, the second largest component of the non-residential tax base, experienced a decline of 3.7% in fiscal 24. This is the third decrease in a row for these properties.

[00:42:17] As we know, the pandemic impacted supply chains and the manufacturing of technological components. And over the last few years, new and used car prices have soared. Normally, vehicles are assessed at 100% of the trade-in value, but to partially offset the unprecedented increase to vehicles, the Board approved an assessment ratio of 85% in fiscal year 2023.

[00:42:47] During our development of the fiscal year 2024 budget proposal, analysis of vehicles using November 2022 data from National Automobile Dealers Association, or NADA, indicated that values have declined as compared to January 2022.

[00:43:02] Despite these reductions, vehicle values are still elevated as compared to pre-pandemic levels. Based on this preliminary information, we recommend to keep our personal property tax rate projection flat over 2023. Updated January information from NADA confirms the decline in values and suggested that a 90% vehicle assessment ratio might be appropriate for fiscal year 2024, which would keep the average vehicle levy relatively flat.

[00:43:31] we will continue to elevate, excuse me, evaluate trends and make a final recommendation to the board about the assessment ratio prior to the budget adoption. All right, this is slide 15, so we're halfway there. Slide 15 is a slide that we always include that provides a nice snapshot of overall budget proposal. In the chart at the top, you can see that the total projected revenue

[00:44:10] increase is just over 365 million dollars. That takes into consideration about 2.7 million in lost revenue due to the expanded tax relief for seniors and disabled approved by the board last year. Changes to that program this year include, excuse me, changes to the program this year include a new 75 percent bracket and a new tax deferral program. Our revenues also include about of almost $2 million from a recommendation to increase EMS transport billing fees.

[00:44:48] We have not adjusted these rates since 2014, and we are recommending increasing to keep up with Medicare reimbursement rates and based on increases that we've seen in surrounding jurisdictions. The second part of the chart lists how we have utilized the projected revenue increase.

[00:45:07] You can see that just over $144 million is allocated to the Fairfax County Public Schools. With most of that for operating support, county increases total about $134 million, with the majority of that increase for compensation, including pay and benefits.

[00:45:27] After all of our recommended adjustments, which we will discuss in more detail in the coming slides, a balance of $90 million remains. I've asked staff to include the next slide because I wanted to provide a visual to show how we have allocated new spending in this proposal.

[00:45:52] Excluding the balance that we have set aside for the board's consideration, 52% of our projected resources are proposed to be allocated to the Fairfax County public schools. Another third is allocated for employee pay and benefits.

[00:46:10] The next three categories, including debt service, capital, inflationary, and new facility adjustments, total 12%, and primarily based on supporting our existing facilities and programs and new facilities that have been in the works for many years.

[00:46:27] Thus, that only leaves about 3% of proposed spending is for other priorities. As I noted earlier, this budget is about supporting our employees and our existing programs, and I think that this chart demonstrates that. Support for the Fairfax County Public Schools in this year's advertised budget totals an increase of $144 million.

[00:46:59] This primarily is driven by a recommended increase in schools operating transfer with a smaller amount for school debt service, which we will discuss in a couple slides. The transfer request included in the superintendent's proposed budget was an increase of $159 million, or approximately 7%.

[00:47:20] The schools are projecting healthy increases in sales tax, state aid, and have included a robust compensation package, including a 3% market scale adjustment, steps, a salary scale extension of one step, and a 1% retention bonus.

[00:47:38] An increase of at least 5% is necessary to maximize state revenue per the governor's recommended budget. And the state would also provide a small offset to the cost of the 1% bonus. My recommendation of an increase of $144 million was based on the fully funding the recurring portion of the superintendent's request.

[00:48:03] Thus, we subtracted the net $15.5 million cost of the 1% bonus or retention. As it is a practice of the county, I think the one-time adjustments are more appropriately funded as part of quarterly reviews, and we will partner with the schools to help identify funds for this bonus if necessary.

[00:48:24] Although I understand that there are discussions at the state level that the bonus may ultimately be changed to a base pay adjustment. I want to note that both the superintendent's budget and this proposal were developed before the news came out regarding the state's miscalculation in school funding.

[00:48:45] My understanding is that the FY24, that error totals about $12.7 million. I know that we are all hopeful that the state will bring funds to the table to mitigate this issue.

[00:49:00] We will currently continue to monitor General Assembly activities and keep the board apprised of developments that impact this year's budget. As I noted in my earlier comments, the primary focus of this budget proposal is compensation for county employees.

[00:49:24] We have taken a lot of actions to improve pay for our employees, including the steps approved by the board less than a year ago to fully fund our compensation program. Begin to address pay compression for public safety employees, approve benchmark program, begin to address compensation, excuse me, regrades, and to add a 25-year step for public safety, longevity step for public safety.

[00:49:51] Since that time, we have added hiring incentives up to $15,000 to attract job applicants, particularly for our police department. And we have implemented pay compression reviews to begin to address long-serving employees who have fallen behind as compared to less experienced counterparts.

[00:50:11] We have been working to incentivize the best and brightest to come to Fairfax County and build a career and for our current employees to finish their careers here.

[00:50:28] I believe this budget proposal will assist us in that endeavor. As we discussed as part of our November forecast presentation, the calculated market rate adjustment, or MRA, is 5.44%. The highest calculation that we have had on record going back more than 25 years.

[00:50:50] Based on the significant cost of the calculation, more than $86 million, I was not able to fully fund the MRA part of my proposal. I have proposed funding the MRA at 2%, which, when combined with performance, merit, and longevity increases, will provide an average pay increase of 4.06% for non-uniformed merit employees and 4.39% for uniformed merit employees.

[00:51:19] Additionally, a number of job classes have been determined to be out of the market when compared with other local jurisdictions, including maintenance workers, custodians, programmers, trade supervisors, and plan operators. These positions will see additional pay adjustments, which we are planning to accelerate to May, right after the budget is adopted.

[00:51:43] County compensation also includes benefits, and this year we are required to increase employee contribution rates based on liability losses and FY2022 investment returns, all being below the 6.7% assumed rate of return.

[00:52:07] The general fund impact of these increases total almost $25 million, with the largest increases required for our two public safety programs. Fortunately, we have some savings to offset this increase.

[00:52:22] We are able to realize some savings based on current position vacancies, even if we assume an upswing in successful recruitment efforts next year. Additionally, we can capture savings and contributions for county's OPEB or other post-employment benefits based on retiree experience.

[00:52:41] Our plan, which is, in essence, is fully funded, is a tremendous achievement for the county and demonstrates our commitment to providing adequate funding to support retiree benefits for all of our employees.

[00:53:05] For our debt and capital requirements in fiscal 24, we have included just under $10 million in total, with most of this funding going towards required debt service repayments. Our estimates include the impact of a $50 million increase in our bond sale capacity shared equally between the schools and the county, which was included in our general obligation bond sale just last month.

[00:53:31] The required increase for school debt service as a result of the bond sale adjustment was largely offset in the payoff of debt for the South County High School. As a result, the next impact to school debt service is relatively small.

[00:53:48] These estimates are also impacted by increased interest rates. As you can see, the interest rate of 2.98% that we received in January was up over a percent from last year and more than double the record low rate we received two years ago.

[00:54:08] Our costs of borrowing rise, our flexibility to address other county priorities declines. We have also included some modest increases for general fund capital program, with the primary adjustment being funding to replace maintenance work previously performed by county community labor force.

[00:54:34] I hope to be able to provide additional capital pay down investments per the recommendations of the Joint County Schools CIP Committee, but we will continue to look at one-time investments as part of our quarterly reviews until we can build baseline funding for this purpose.

[00:54:59] Also released today is our fiscal year 2024 to 2028 Capital Improvement Program, or CIP. Our capital program continues to be impacted by global economic factors.

[00:55:21] Project bids are continuously coming in at higher amounts than we have anticipated. And as we mentioned earlier, our borrowing costs have increased as well during rising interest rates.

[00:55:38] Based on what we are seeing in the construction market, we have added inflationary factors to most projects in order to be more realistic in future year project costs. We have also worked closely with our agencies and our facilities management department to examine projects and to reprioritize based on operational needs and the aging and required maintenance of existing facilities.

[00:56:03] As a result, projects are recommended to be accelerated, such as Tyson's Fire Station and the Criminal Justice Academy, while others are recommended to be deferred, such as the Tyson's Police Station, the WellFit Facility, and the Chantilly Regional Library.

[00:56:18] These changes can be seen on the next slide where we provide our updated budget referendum plan. Additionally, one of the changes that we made last year was to shift the fall to 20, excuse me, to fall 2024 parks referendum to 2026 and shift from a four to a six year cycle.

[00:56:43] This recommendation generated much community interest. We made that recommendation based on more than 150 million in unsold bonds from 2016 and 2020 referendums. Park advocates were concerned that the changes would result in project delays.

[00:57:00] The board will recall that we recently allocated $25 million of the county's ARPA funds to specifically address cost increases associated with the Mount Vernon Rec Center. And after working with park staff, we are recommending a $180 million 2026 parks bond.

[00:57:19] This represents a 20% annual increase over the previous cycle of $100 million every four years. and I believe represents the appropriate balance of making the necessary investments in our capital program and managing affordability.

[00:57:42] Switching back to our operating budget, our next category of adjustments are those to address inflationary impacts and contract rate adjustments. Like the county, many of our service providers, especially in health and human services, are also struggling with impacts of inflation and a tight labor market.

[00:58:03] Consistent with the actions that we took to carry over for the current fiscal year, we are also recommending additional baseline funding for utility expenses. Additionally, as discussed at the November Housing Committee meeting, baseline funding is included to address staffing issues at homeless shelters, as our nonprofit partners have struggled to attract and retain qualified staff.

[00:58:29] ARPA dollars were utilized this year in order to meet this need. In total, we have included just over $18 million to address inflationary, excuse me, to address inflation as part of the budget proposal. Just over $5 million in three positions have been included for several new facilities that have already opened or are scheduled to come online in the next year.

[00:58:59] The largest of these includes the South County Animal Shelter, for which we added partial year funding and positions at carryover. We have also included adjustments related to the Pet Assistance and Wellness Services, or POS, clinic which will provide low-cost veterinary services at the facility.

[00:59:20] That program will be fully offset by revenue with no net impact to the general fund. Funding is also included to support the workforce innovation located at Hyper Valley. This program is being funded through ARPA dollars in fiscal 2023.

[00:59:36] Other new facilities include Patrick Henry Family Shelter, for which resources are needed to provide for emergency shelter expenses during construction, and Patriot Park North, for which partial year funding was provided in the fiscal 2023 budget.

[00:59:54] Lastly, funding and positions are included to operate the Springfield Center Without Walls, for which funds for construction and build-out costs for new lease facility were approved as part of carryover. Just under $10 million and 14 new positions for all recommended increases.

[01:00:27] These adjustments are included to address various needs across the county. The next two slides provide highlights of these recommendations, but I would note that the advertised budget summary contained in the overview volume of the budget includes a brief description of all recommended general fund adjustments.

[01:00:45] You will see that I have not been able to include major investments, and most of these recommendations are limited in nature. The largest increase is to support the Tysons Community Alliance, consistent with funding approved by the board at Carryover. I've also included positions to address workload issues in the Office of Elections, driven by the legislative changes, and increased complexity of voting equipment, as well as positions in the police department to create an equity lead and provide resources and victim services and financial resources.

[01:01:17] In order to help further the county's environmental and energy agenda, We have added positions to support Charge Up Fairfax and CCAP, and we have added another $500,000 to the $500,000 approved in the baseline budget last year for equity initiatives in the Park Authority.

[01:01:36] This $1 million in baseline funding will allow all summer camp program fees to remain at fiscal 2023 levels. Other priorities funded include those with board support and endorsed by county work groups.

[01:01:56] These include the first year of funding for behavioral health system navigation program for children and families as endorsed by the county's successful children and youth policy team, SCIPPT, and a manufactured housing coordinator as recommended by the Manufactured Housing Task Force.

[01:02:16] I've also recommended a new leadership position in the Department of Economic Initiatives in order to build the bench in this relatively new agency and continue the important work of creating partnerships and strengthening our business community. Our recommendations include a position to support LLE residents in FCRHA, senior living, communities where no county staff is off-site to provide supportive services and funding to provide training for community members on racial and social equity and help diversify the county's boards, authorities, and commissions.

[01:02:55] Two other new positions are included on the next slide. One which includes partial year funding is a transition to the work of regional preparedness system from Urban Areas Security Initiative, or UASI, funding to county funding, and the other is to address workload concerns in the probate division of the Fairfax County Circuit Court, where no positions have been added over the past 20 years.

[01:03:30] Also, as I've noted in the beginning of this presentation, this budget contains no net new positions. Thus, the new positions that I have described are offset by position reductions in other agencies. We will work with agencies and examine vacancies, and I will continue to work towards looking to existing position flexibility before adding to the county position count going forward.

[01:04:01] Looking forward, we will certainly continue to monitor our major revenue categories and keep track of General Assembly actions to determine impacts on the 2024 budget. In April, we will submit and submit our add-on package for the board with suggested revisions to this proposal.

[01:04:22] We will have three upcoming budget committee meetings to discuss the budget in more detail with a joint meeting with the school board scheduled one week from today. Looking ahead to fiscal year 2025, I anticipate that the next year's budget will be challenging.

[01:04:41] Our revenue projections will depend upon the ability of the Fed to rein in inflation without going too far and creating other economic problems. With real estate values impacting fiscal 2025 set as of January 1st, 2024, we anticipate that mortgage rates will remain elevated and that we will put downward pressure on our prices.

[01:05:06] Currently, our Department of Tax Administration anticipates no growth in residential real estate for next year. We will continue the focus on our employees with the Fiscal 25 budget being the first developed under new collective bargaining agreements that we hope reach with employee groups over the coming months.

[01:05:27] Negotiations have begun with the International Association of Firefighters, and we are planning for negotiations with Southern States Police Benevolent Association. I appreciate all the hard work of our staff and our employee groups as they have prepared for these important discussions.

[01:05:54] There are a number of ways that the public can participate in our budget process, and helpful resources are included on this page. Residents can submit written or video testimony and participate in April's public hearing by phone or in person. The presentation and all of the associated budget documents are now available on our website at FairfaxCountyGov backslash budget.

[01:06:23] Okay, the last slide provides the upcoming timeline for the fiscal 24 budget. As I noted earlier, one week from today, we will hold a joint board meeting with the Board of Supervisors and School Board, followed by the Board's action to advertise the budget and tax rates on March 7th.

[01:06:40] In addition to the budget town halls that each of you will be hosting over the coming weeks, public hearings will begin on April 11th. That will give our residents an opportunity to provide feedback on the budget. Ultimately, the board will mark up the budget on May 2nd, followed by adoption on May 9th.

[01:07:03] I want to thank you for your time and attention this morning. I want to remind the board that the budget questions can be submitted to the Department of Management and Budget as part of normal budget Q&As. I want to thank my staff, our staff, for all the hard work over the last year to get us to this place.

[01:07:23] And at this time, I'm happy to entertain any questions from the board. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Hill. And the board is seeing this for the first time. So as I reiterated at the beginning, this is the very beginning of our budget process, as your chart just showed.

[01:07:41] And, you know, budget adoption being May 9th seems like a long time from now. Usually it's in April, but we know that time will go fast. But there's a lot of opportunities for public input on the budget. And I think probably all of us have a sense of mixed bag here, to say the least.

[01:08:02] This kind of feels a little bit like, you know, watching the stock market. One day things are looking good, and the next day it's all gone. And I kind of felt like that as we flipped through the pages. Certainly some good news here. Certainly some caution and some challenges, some headwinds and uncertainty still ahead of us.

[01:08:21] I do want to highlight the FCPS transfer for a moment just because, and I just want to make sure people watching understand this, is that your budget proposal fully funds the transfer request. However, we know, and we know as recently as last week at our legislative committee meeting, that there will likely be significant changes at the state level.

[01:08:46] I mean, the state is sitting on a historic, unprecedented, I hate to almost call it a surplus because we know there's so many bills at the state level that don't get paid at the county level. And that's one of the drivers of our budget here, including teacher compensation.

[01:09:02] And so I think we need to watch that carefully. I guess if there's significant swings in state revenue for public education, while your budget may fully fund the school's transfer, we need to consider that revenue as it comes in as county revenue that needs to be used to meet the needs of the county as well.

[01:09:22] And so I appreciate the starting point is that fully funded, but we do expect to do better at the state level. And to that end, I would request that as a budget Q&A, we get a breakdown of what, you know, teacher pay amounts are required in order for us to maximize every dollar that would come from the state.

[01:09:43] And so as Supervisor Walkinshaw mentioned just a few moments ago, when the state says they're increasing teacher pay, what that means is they're sending a giant bill to Fairfax County to increase teacher pay. And we need to see those dollar amounts exactly for us to achieve every dollar that the state is sending.

[01:10:01] What would it cost the county? We certainly don't want to leave a single state dollar on the table. It's puny, tiny, tiny, tiny part of our school budget. But we want to make sure we maximize every dollar. So if you could chart that out for us, I think that would help. You know, one other question, of course, I think all of us have is with employee compensation.

[01:10:24] We see the averages there. I think we're all grateful that longevity, performance, merits are all included. We certainly heard from our employees how important those are. But with the change in the MRA, which you presented a rationale for, I know this is a $93 million investment employee compensation.

[01:10:44] But I think all of us would like to see in a real way how that affects our workforce. And so if you could chart out for us, just like an average assessment, we know no one is average. and we see what the average employee compensation amount is. But if you could chart out for us how that relates to county employees themselves.

[01:11:04] In other words, you know, which areas are getting the largest compensation increase and how many employees don't get any merit longevity performance and would only be left with the MRA. I don't know what that number is, but I think it would be helpful for the board to see that.

[01:11:22] I'm glad there's no new net positions in this budget. You know, I think looking at the next couple of years is going to be a challenge to meet compensation, which is the number one goal I know of this board moving forward.

[01:11:39] And that becomes more difficult as position growth occurs. And so I'm encouraging the county executive, as you already said, to continue to look at any new positions If there's a way for those to be absorbed with a vacant position, I think that helps, you know, long term the county meet its obligations to support our county employees in a real way.

[01:12:01] And I think that's something we absolutely want to be keeping our eye on. I think all of us are concerned about the commercial tax base numbers. I don't think any of us can sit here and be surprised. I mean, frankly, those numbers, as bad as they are, probably there's many jurisdictions across the country that would beg to have those numbers.

[01:12:22] And so while they're tough to absorb, I think everybody in the country knows that obviously office space in particular is a challenge. And it's going to remain a challenge for the foreseeable future. And so obviously we have to keep our eye on that. The EMS fees that you mentioned, you did say that many of those are covered by health insurance plans.

[01:12:47] Is that right? Yes, sir. And this also puts us on par with what other jurisdictions around us are charging and matches what the federal reimbursement rate is for Medicare. Is that right? Yes, sir. And we can do a Q&A on that so we can show you a chart of what we came up with.

[01:13:03] I think that would be helpful. And at the same time, if you could tell us what percent of EMS transport fees are not paid by health insurance providers or by federal Medicare reimbursement, I think that would be helpful. Just last two comments on the tax rate and on car assessments.

[01:13:22] I'm certainly glad to see that the budget is based on a reduction in car assessment ratio because there is some relief out there, but it's still tough. And, you know, I appreciate that right out of the gates, you've already assumed that 10 percent where the board will end up, you know, obviously is a part of the discussion moving forward.

[01:13:41] But at least the recognition of trying to keep those flat is important on the tax rate, 520 for the average. And we know no one is average, at least in my opinion, is far too high given last year's number. And so I appreciate that there's $90 million on the table included that we can most likely use for tax relief.

[01:14:05] At least I will certainly be strongly supporting residential real estate tax relief because that's a hefty increase on top of last year's. And affordability is still a challenge. As the EDA often reminds us, there's 130,000 vacant job positions in the DMV region.

[01:14:24] 130,000 vacant jobs in the DMV region and the number one reason most of those jobs aren't full is because people can't afford to live here and so this is something I know our board's acutely aware of and and certainly something that we're going to have to address with this budget so I appreciate that there's flexibility on the table but at least for this supervisor we're going to have to address that issue it's just too large an increase after last year's on on residential real estate assessments. And so at least that's, you know, kind of my first reaction to seeing the numbers. And so, you know, I appreciate the work you've put into this. I know you've been working

[01:15:03] on this for a long time, our budget staff, who does an amazing job kicking this effort off. And just to remind, you know, the public, we have our public hearings on April 11th, 12th, and 13th. People can begin signing up for those. And as we go around and each board member wants to share a thought or ask a question again we're seeing this for the first time so we'll have many more opportunities and committees and other conversations but certainly if you have a budget town hall that you want to announce as well we would appreciate hearing that because clearly we want to get as much public input as possible leading up to the important day on May 9th when

[01:15:42] when we adopt our budget and so with that let me ask my colleagues if they would like to be recognize. I'm going to start on this side with Supervisor Alcorn. Oh, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Three items very quickly. First of all, I guess, information technology. Mr. Hill, I think I saw in here that we're looking at addressing inflation issues relating to IT, but it sounds like we're still looking at making critical IT investments as part of the quarters.

[01:16:16] We're not looking at doing anything as part of the regular annual budget. Is that correct? At the disjuncture, yes, sir. Okay. All right. And that's something I think as a board, you know, I mean, I know we have a lot of competing needs, you know, capital pay down and other things. So that's something I think we need to keep an eye on and make sure we understand.

[01:16:35] That's our strategy for that. Two items that I think are budget questions as well. First of all, on slide, I believe it's 19 relating to retirement systems. there's a reference there to the funded ratios I would ask if we could get for the past few years that basically what of those ratios been what's the trends looking what are the trends looking like I know I know a few years ago there was some major change in how the accounting is done so maybe since that that year if we could and frankly if you could break it down by each retirement system and so

[01:17:15] we could keep an eye on that. And then the third thing, I see where we are with office space and, you know, our non-residential real estate and, you know, elevators down. And you mentioned remote work. Obviously, we're in a, especially the pandemic accelerated a major shift in where work it's done. I'm very curious. What I'd love to see is a couple of things as a budget question.

[01:17:47] First of all, I know for folks that have professional businesses in their homes, they're supposed to basically get permission to do that. And I'd love to see how many of those we actually have, how many of our residential units are actually approved for professional occupancy. So that would be, I think, really helpful to understand that. So many other folks just work remotely without having their own business out of their own home, and there's no reason for them to register with anybody, except maybe their employer,

[01:18:23] whoever that is. So for them, I would ask if there could be any estimates for how many of our residential units are actually being used for income generating purposes i know that's not something we track but i bet somebody out there is starting to look at that um i think it's really useful for us as a board to get a start getting a better handle on that uh because we are seeing these dramatic increases in our residential um properties and and the values of residential

[01:18:57] properties continues to increase. But I think what we're also seeing simultaneously with that is our residential properties being used for more things than they were, say, 10, 20 years ago. So I think any sort of estimate that we could get on that I think would help us as we think about, frankly, our tax structure as well as our immediate need here, which is to set tax rates for the coming fiscal year.

[01:19:25] So thank you very much, Mr. Hill. And Supervisor Alcorn, do you have a budget town hall date? You know, I do, and March 20th and March 28th, I have two budget town halls. So those are my dates. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Excellent.

[01:19:41] Supervisor Walkinshaw. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Braddock District Budget Town Hall, just one, will be on Monday, March 13th at 7 o'clock with our school board member, Megan McLaughlin and Mr. Hill. Folks will be able to watch on Channel 16, on my Facebook page, call in with their questions, or email braddocktownhall at fairfaxcounty.gov.

[01:20:03] Just a couple of questions, Mr. Hill, on slide 12, along the lines of Supervisor Alcorn's questions, where you noted the increase in empty office space, said it was an increase to 21.3 million square feet.

[01:20:19] Do you have any idea, or does this need to be a budget Q&A? So the increase is from X to 21.3, and what's X? How much of an increase? Yeah, we can provide that for you. Okay. Slide 13, one of the bright spots was the increase in industrial property equalization.

[01:20:41] And you mentioned storage and warehousing. And I'm just wondering, is any of that increase attributed to the relatively small number of data centers that have or will be built in the county? Well, I'm going to say it's not due to the future data centers.

[01:21:03] I'm going to let Christina answer the question. Yeah, Christina Jackson, a chief financial officer. Data centers are actually included in the other category on that slide. But we have talked with the Department of Tax Administration, and next year they're planning on separating out data centers as a separate category.

[01:21:21] Okay. All right. Thank you. Slide 15, the EMS billing increases. I'm just curious, have we scrubbed the budget in our operations to identify whether there are other similar items, fees or billings that haven't been increased for years, and especially now in light of higher inflation, need to be reviewed again?

[01:21:51] Obviously, you know, that seems to be a prudent decision, relatively significant amount of revenue. I'm just curious, are we confident we've done a deep dive to make sure there aren't other categories like that where, you know, folks are paying based on a reality that existed 20 years ago and we need to make the hard decision to take a look at an adjustment?

[01:22:15] I would answer that question is we are looking at every category and we will have fee increases in other areas. But I believe that we have done an exhaustive search on trying to articulate how and why we picked EMS vis-a-vis something else.

[01:22:36] We have a lot. This budget is a huge budget, and every year we look at everything. But this is one of the ones that came out, you know, 2014. We're in 2023. And we're looking at everything in every possible way. So the answer to your question, yes, we've looked at a lot of different things.

[01:22:55] Okay, thanks. Okay, Supervisor Stork. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Mr. Hill, and thank you, staff, for your obviously tremendous amount of work that you do every year. But given the numbers of changes over the last several years, it's just I'm sure the Hill, the Mr. Hill, or at least the Hill overall, it seems like it gets a little bit higher every year.

[01:23:21] So I appreciate your efforts in this. And I know we, my constituents, particularly appreciate the tax relief that the board initiated, those changing the parameters for that, I think, are in critical part.

[01:23:37] Also, I share the chairman's concern about the tax rate, the overall increase in tax, and I will be looking for ways to reduce that. I think that's essential. I have a question on page 21, and just, I know we'll get it as a budget question, but just it struck me because it was much higher than the current inflationary number.

[01:23:59] The top item, the 10% to 12% inflationary factors have been added to most projects. Is that something unique to construction that we're seeing, that is the going rate, or is that just anticipatory because of supply chain or other issues that we're looking at?

[01:24:17] I'd say that it's both. I mean, it's based on what we're actually seeing in terms of when the bids are coming in for our projects, but it's also anticipating some additional inflationary impacts in future years. So it's possible that over the course of the year, we may see that dissipate some, although with given the earthquake and everything else you could see, and obviously Ukraine and everything else, you could see that potentially going the other way given supply chain.

[01:24:42] Yeah, we thought it was prudent to put that in there because, you know, we put in money in a construction escalation reserve at our quarterlies, past couple of quarterlies, and we're really utilizing those funds. And so we're finding that we just wanted to be a little bit more conservative in terms of our out-year projections. I understand, again, the Mount Vernon Rec Center I know was hugely expensive, far more than any of us expected.

[01:25:05] One of my major focuses every year, and I know it's a challenge, but it's one that I know I hear probably more than almost anything else from my constituents, has to do with personal property tax, in particular the scuff laws, the folks who house cars.

[01:25:21] And this is maybe more true of the eastern, southern part of the county where we have folks who can more easily live in Maryland, have a Maryland address, but really the car is parked and they live in Virginia. So I am looking for that as a budget question.

[01:25:37] I am looking for ways that we can tighten that up and ways that we can, frankly, minimize the amount of leakage, the amount of people who don't pay their fair share. So that's a huge irritant that I hear about constantly, and I'm looking for ways to try to address that.

[01:25:54] I absolutely support the schools and fully funding the schools with this caveat. If the schools can get, frankly, the additional money from the state that they deserve, and we should get, whether it's for additional staffing that they've not funded in the past, I don't care.

[01:26:11] But we should look for those dollars to be used. If we get more state dollars, we should look for those dollars to be used for tax relief for our residents. I realize it's going to be difficult to do that given how they've structured their pay increase for that we all only fund, you know, 80-plus percent of it.

[01:26:32] But it is one of those things I think we need to make part of our conversation with the schools right now and consistently that we need to look for ways to provide tax relief. And the environmental positions I think are helpful, and the housing clearly support for our community is essential to do well and ensure that people can live here.

[01:26:54] So thank you all very much for your work, and look forward to the dialogue over the next many months. Thank you. Supervisor Stork, Supervisor Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The budget town hall for Sully District is going to be March 2nd at 6 p.m.

[01:27:11] Oh, do you have your budget, Tim? I forgot to do. Supervisor Stork, you. Yes, ma'am. My budget will be at hybrid meeting on March 15th at 7 p.m. Again, March 15th, it's a Wednesday, 7 p.m.

[01:27:27] I'll be on budget hybrid meeting. Thank you, Supervisor Smith. Thank you. Supervisor Smith. Okay, March 2nd, 6 p.m., Channel 16 Studios with Stella Pekarski, the Sully School Board representative. I look forward to having a discussion with the community. I'm going to hold my questions now.

[01:27:43] But if the community wants to get any questions ahead of time, You can email sully at fairfaxcounty.gov. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Smith. Supervisor Palchuk. All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me go ahead and start before I forget the Providence District Town Hall, although most of ours are virtual now, so you can really join any of them from the comfort of your home.

[01:28:07] But it will be March 16th at 5.30 p.m. I think it's an earlier one for those who want an earlier time, both on Channel 16 as well as streamed online, and I believe on Facebook as well. with school board member Carl Frisch first of all just want to start by thanking you Brian Hill Christina and Phil and your whole teams for your work on this budget I know as we go into trick your budgets moving out of the federal funding this is so critical so clearly some specific questions moving

[01:28:41] ahead but first of all want to you know join in the chairman's discussion of I I think number one for me is our employees, both school and county employees. As we know here across the board, public and private sector, the challenges with our workforce and with being able to both hire and retain our best employees.

[01:29:02] So I think as we move forward, making sure that we are making those investments, that we continue to do so, and to help address and understand the differences, as were pointed out in the required investments for our retirement systems i think is something i will be following as well this year i especially want to maybe better understand and i can follow up with a question i'm looking at our market rate adjustments and the schools msas both the actual rates

[01:29:37] as well as our adjustment rates and our average increases so i appreciate being able to get that that breakdown of average versus where people are along those lines and maybe where we're seeing the biggest need. I know we've been really, and I've been really focused on our, when it comes to mental health and early childhood and education investment as well as public safety, where we're seeing the biggest need and perhaps where we're maybe seeing lots of competition from some of these wonderful businesses moving to our area.

[01:30:13] want to make sure we're still competitive there so i'll follow up with specific ones uh today i think i i just want to make sure um on the early childhood investments i believe the schools are including two million dollars i'm not sure if that is from grant funding if that's part of our investment obviously it can be broken down differently but i guess i want to see the school's investment early childhood as well as our whether it's new or recurring investments i know facilities are coming down in the bond but looking at the programmatic parts of that but really appreciate that we are making the human services and investments very much needed

[01:30:52] in addition to the healthy minds fairfax support through skipped um and then want to continue to track the state and federal funds going to um special mental health supports and investments both immediate as well as i know there are some um the state is doing some studies for the longer term investments there um and then just for today coming down to the um the different areas of commercial and i guess today i'll just stick to the commercial that's been brought up quite a bit the non-residential um i know we have the equalization changes here um and and brian i

[01:31:31] think you mentioned a few new buildings i think that's what you're referring to in merrifield Reston and Chantilly. And I can follow up, but I'd be interested to see. I know I have some of my businesses moving to newer facilities. And so a better way to break down the difference between equalization of existing non-residential, especially the office buildings versus new construction that's coming along. I think that will help us better understand where that's going.

[01:32:01] Absolutely. So I think that is all for today. There's so much in here. I'm looking forward to diving in Diffley, and as was mentioned by Supervisor Smith, please feel free to reach out, providence at fairfaxcounty.gov, with any comments or questions, and really appreciate our continued assessment and investments here in Fairfax County.

[01:32:24] Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Palchuk, Supervisor Herdy. Yep, and I'll echo, there's a lot in here and a lot to dig into. I certainly want to start by thanking the County Executive, Phil and Christine, for your work pulling this together, because it is a lot of work every year. um the my budget town hall i'm actually going to do virtual for the first time in a while um we're going to do that wednesday march 22nd at 7 p.m it'll be on channel 16 or stream stream on facebook live um questions can be sent to springfield bos at parafaxgenny.gov and then

[01:32:56] we can we're also going to take them during the uh during the town hall um as for the budget happy to hear. Some of my colleagues mentioned that the 7% increase for the average taxpayer is unacceptable, and hopefully we can do that. But kind of my question would be, we've got $90 million left over. Why wouldn't this budget have included a rate reduction right up front?

[01:33:26] If you remember last year's budget, we did that. And in talking with the supervisors, we decided that that would not be in our best interest to do that this year okay i don't follow that conversation but okay um i certainly wouldn't have been in agreement with that i probably wasn't at the time so we had it during a budget committee meeting after um all right so but it's there for a for a tax reduction which is good and i think we've got additional work to do um the uh what is

[01:34:04] Is the assumed vacancy rate in the budget, do you have that, or is that going to be a budget question? Is that part of personnel? We can give you that as part of a personnel budget Q&A. Okay. But right now, I believe we're in the neighborhood of about 14.2.

[01:34:21] So 14% of our positions are vacant. Yeah, but we'll give you a budget Q&A and let you know where everything is. Okay, that's good. And, again, that, again, ties back into workforce, and, you know, that's an assumed vacancy in our budget, and that means the remaining employees are working harder in picking up some of those positions, the work of some of those positions, or things aren't getting done, one of the two.

[01:34:50] You know, since I joined the board, you know, workforce has always been a concern in our employees. They're our biggest asset. They walk out the door every day, and we want them to come back. And it certainly is a concern, even more of a concern, in this decade as workforce has become, like, the number one issue for businesses and everyone else.

[01:35:13] So we've got to start on workforce issues, I think, in this budget. But I think we're going to have more work to do, especially in specific positions in public safety, mental health, et cetera. So I'm looking forward to see that. I know you've got some positions identified, and I'm going to want to dig into that a little bit more as we move forward.

[01:35:36] I think there's some good news in the budget, and I want to thank you, county executive, for identifying positions to eliminate so that there are no net new positions in here. But I'd like to see which positions you eliminated as a part of the budget.

[01:35:53] I think it's important that we see what's getting cut, and certainly we can see what's added. But if we can get a list of the positions that were eliminated as a part of the budget, that would be good. Still have some concerns around car tax.

[01:36:11] I think I'm going to save those comments for later. Slide 24, probably a little pet peeve of mine. Where is it?

[01:36:27] Springfield Center without walls. We're putting walls around it. we got to come up with a better way of spain springfield center without walls since it's going to have walls um i'll leave i'll leave that one there a little bit a little bit of hammer but um just to mention the school without walls in dc does have walls as well yeah yeah um so and in the last thing and this is one i want to compliment you on brian um you know page 19 in the OPEB and the retirement plans, and I know you've been very quiet.

[01:37:03] It's something that people don't pay attention to, but monitoring where we are in our fiscal ratios on pensions, and it's one you've made a lot of progress, and unfortunately we've, at least in the retirement plans, we slid back a little bit because the market slid back, but also because we've made some risky investments, not we.

[01:37:25] The retirement plan boards that decide what gets invested They've made some risky investments, and I think we as a board need to take a little deeper look at that because that is a big impact on the budget. It's almost a penny increase here, and it's because in this case partially because of some of the investments that were made, whereas if they had just been invested in the market, we'd be a lot better off.

[01:37:51] But congratulations on the OPEB almost getting that to be fully funded. I mean, I think that's critical to us keeping our AAA, and it's critical to our retirees, and it's critical to our workforce and our taxpayers that we look at that and pay attention to it.

[01:38:07] So, again, a lot more to dig into, but those are the ones I'm ready to comment on now. And I want to thank you again, County Executive and staff, for all the work you do. Supervisor Faust. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[01:38:23] Thank you, County Executive. It was a great presentation. Appreciate it. the um state budget when will we know uh when do we expect to know i know that question that's a really good question um i don't see claudia here i i'll have to get you an answer to that because i i'm sorry yeah and the session is scheduled to end saturday so if they negotiate and reach an agreement it could be saturday if they're not able to reach an agreement it could be days or weeks we experienced that last year with a with a lengthy delay so too soon to say

[01:39:03] And I guess in terms of the state revenues that you have assumed in your advertised budget, we're talking worst case scenario, best case scenario, most likely scenario.

[01:39:23] Is there a likelihood that we're going to do better than what you've anticipated here? I think there's a, on the county side, I think there's a good chance we're going to do slightly better, right? I mean, from the county's perspective, we don't get a lot of money from the state.

[01:39:41] But I think in terms of if they end up making changes to compensation, for example, for state employees, we'll get a little bit more reimbursement in that area. I think we are likely to see a little bit more movement is potentially on the school side, as the chairman mentioned earlier. If some of those proposed budget amendments go through, I think the schools could end up being in a much better position than where they were when they released this proposed budget.

[01:40:03] Okay. The advertised budget, yeah, you have something in the neighborhood of 14% vacancy and positions. I'll just say between 10 and 15% just to be. And my issue is that the advertised budget funds those vacant positions.

[01:40:29] And we've had them for at least one fiscal cycle, probably more. I don't think it's realistic to assume that over the coming year you're going to fill every one of those, and yet you've funded every one of those, as far as I can tell.

[01:40:52] So I would like to know what the impact, if we try to be more realistic in terms of what the head count will be and what that will cost and what that would free up.

[01:41:08] I know that it will be left over at the end of the year, but that's not what we're trying to do today. We're not trying to come up with a year-end balance. We're trying to come up with a budget for the year. So let's be as realistic as possible in terms of what our costs are going to be.

[01:41:27] So I guess that's a budget question? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. We got you. We can take it as a budget Q&A, or I can talk a little bit about it now, either way. Okay. I appreciate that. This is the only other thing I have for today. On retirement plans, the numbers don't seem to be moving much to percentages, and yet we are putting a lot of money in.

[01:41:51] Can we get the last five years what the contributions have been and what the percentages have been in terms of funding? And we had an amortization plan. Are we still, is that still the plan that we're going to get there at the rate we're going by 2032, I think, to fully fund?

[01:42:17] I think the number keeps changing a little bit depending on the investment returns each year. But we are continuing to fully amortize 100% of our unfunded liability, which I think was the accounting change that Supervisor Alcorn had mentioned earlier, because that was a big deal when we made those changes a few years ago.

[01:42:33] You know, the policies that we put into place, I think, you know, unfortunately this year, just with investment returns, we're seeing an increase in contribution rates. But I think in the long term, I think we're going to continue to see those funded ratios continue to increase. We have a policy in place that once we increase that employer contribution rate, we don't decrease it.

[01:42:53] And so even in years where maybe we have liability gains or investment gains, that's going to allow us to just push even further a little bit faster. So I think this year is an unfortunate year, but I still think that we're on the right path. Okay. The way I would say it, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think everyone should know, the public should know, that each year we're fully funding the obligation that is identified, and in addition, because of past market ruminations or whatever the right word is, we are amortizing that deficiency.

[01:43:30] I mean, if it says a 2%, there's an 18%. But we are funding that. We have a plan, and we're working toward eliminating that deficiency. And that's accurate? Okay.

[01:43:46] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Supervisor Lusk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll also commend the staff for the presentation of the materials. Very well done. I've got just a couple questions or comments. let me start by saying really appreciate the focus on you know making sure that we are able to attract and retain our employees so comment on what I've heard here before and I'll say in the public safety arena in particular looking at where we are with the vacancies in the police department and is where we continue to be so for me it might be helpful and I heard you identify a

[01:44:24] couple of those positions that might be a part of that benchmark study but would want to see specifically the ones that you are referring to and then specifically what we are going to be doing with regard to public safety and the police in particular. Just want to better understand that. Also on the commercial tax base, as a person who kind of worked in economic development for so many years and just really looked at that number as being one that we had

[01:44:58] target for, meaning we wanted to have at least 25% of our revenues associated with the commercial tax base. Clearly, we are off. And this is not good. And I think the chairman made that point, and I'm going to tell you it's very disconcerting to me. And I think we've got to get really focused on developing some plan or strategy on how we're going to address this issue. And I think if you go back in 1970s i think it's 75 76 there was a blue ribbon panel that was put together to look

[01:45:35] at the commercial tax base and try to figure out how we could better diversify and come up with recommendations and solutions to address this issue i'm going to say now this is something we need to be doing because the numbers are going down and if we don't do anything here they're going to continue to go down. So just want to be a part of defining what we're going to do to address this issue. On the question of the car assessments, and I think I was the one who made this point last year as a car guy, you know, looking at what was happening and seeing this

[01:46:12] increase in the used car market for vehicles and the fact that this is kind of still continuing, I appreciate that it's gotten a little bit better, but I feel very strongly that We can do everything we can to hold our taxpayers harmless as it relates to the, you know, increase on their car tax bills.

[01:46:34] Because this is just, you know, this is a problematic situation and one that if we can do something to control and help, I think that's something we should. I appreciate the point that, you know, we could kind of push it to 90% from 85, but I might say I want to look at that carefully and see if that's even necessary.

[01:46:55] And then I want to make the point, I know on page 8 we talk about the BPOL tax, and I'm just curious here, I know we've got that one held flat, you don't have to answer it now, but I just want to understand that a little bit better, what that rationale and kind of the methodology for making that decision with regard to the BPOL tax.

[01:47:17] I get that we're going to probably continue to have some softening, but to have it be the same as projected for this fiscal year, we can talk about that later. then I do appreciate this point on the manufactured housing coordinator position so acknowledging that this was something that came out of the study that was done I'd be really curious to see at some point and I guess you'll have this developed with that position to going to do exactly what's the you know you know goals for that but I acknowledge that that's something that's going to help us

[01:47:55] address in an area that I would argue is one that we you know need to be doing more work and supporting those residents as they do have some defined and specific needs so let me go ahead and conclude there and say our first meeting will be held on February 28th it'll be on Channel 16 we'll have our school board rep and and others as a part of that discussion so we might actually do the same as Supervisor Alcorn. We might actually have two, but for now we have the

[01:48:32] one scheduled on the 28th at 7 p.m. So thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Supervisor Lust. Supervisor Gross. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Mason District Budget Town Meeting will be on Thursday, March 9th at 7 p.m. at the Mason District Governmental Center. It's an in-person meeting, And we will have Christina Jackson as our guest.

[01:48:58] Last year, I think we had six people show up for our budget town meeting. I'm thinking I suspect we will get more this year. But it was really sort of stunning to not have too many people. Thank you, Mr. Hill, and to everybody who worked so hard on this.

[01:49:20] This is always the highlight of our year. I appreciate the investment in our employees, recognizing that the MRA was a little bit of a disappointment at 2%, but we need to work through this. I think that part of our challenge is, you know, with the supposedly the pandemic being behind us, the crushing effects of the

[01:49:53] pandemic are not behind us. And supply chain issues and others, it is going to take us a long time to get out of the pandemic economy. When we had the Great Recession in 2008, there were folks who thought, oh, we'd be out of it within about three or four years. And we actually, it was about 2015. The economists were saying it would be 2012. It was actually about 2015. So it's going to take longer to get out of this particular trough, the pandemic trough. The interest, looking at the

[01:50:31] amount of the $113 million on our investments, was a pleasant surprise. We used to, in years past, It was always in the $60, $70, $80 million range, and then it crashed considerably, but it's moving back up.

[01:50:56] But we can't anticipate that it's going to stay at $113. It's going to probably even off at some point. The Fed is anticipated to raise interest rates again by about 25 basis points over the next two or three Fed meetings, although the financial experts see a trend sort of evening off by the end of the year.

[01:51:20] But that is still going to be higher than what we are used to. And certainly it does affect our real estate values. What is also affecting our real estate values is that people are willing to pay a whole lot more for a property than even the asking price, which gives everybody else a boost in their values, which means they have more to assessment on their property.

[01:51:51] So this is sort of a vicious cycle, and so we need to figure out how are we going to smooth some of that out. I appreciate that last year we were able to figure out an assessment ratio for personal property tax because we were pretty sure that was not going to be just a one-year kind of situation.

[01:52:13] But now we have that formula, and it makes it easier to address those spikes. This is a—and I also appreciate the $90 million for the board's consideration.

[01:52:30] It is this board's responsibility to set the tax rate, to decide what their expenses are. We get advice from our county executive and our staff, but it is our responsibility to establish that tax rate. So thank you, Mr. Hill, for providing a good deal of wiggle room for us on this.

[01:52:50] I know how I would like to see that $90 million taken care of, and that would be to reduce the tax burden on our real estate taxpayers. And for the 28th year, I will mention again our continuing to need to press the General Assembly for diversification in revenues.

[01:53:13] I see former Chairman Hanley in the audience, and Kate, I remember our first budget together, FY97, I think it was, was looking at diversification of revenues. And we have not gotten what we've asked for time and time again.

[01:53:33] we need to be able to diversify our revenues the burden on the real the real estate taxpayer is enormous but apparently as i like to say if it was good enough for mr jefferson in 1742 apparently it's still good enough for virginia and that's just not right it needs to change so one of the things we will have to continue to press for is diversification of revenues give us more authorities to diversify our revenues. Don't keep taking our revenues away from us, and that seems to be what has been happening in the General Assembly. So we really need

[01:54:11] to be able to push on that. It hasn't happened yet. It gets a little bit of discussion at the General Assembly, and then it gets pulled back. So I think this is still going to be our tremendous challenge. But finally, I would just say as difficult as our budgets might be and as difficult as our conversations will be, we need to maintain Fairfax County's reputation. We have a national and international reputation and we need to maintain it. So as I look around and I

[01:54:49] say, oh my goodness, the budget, this is going to be tough. We are so fortunate to live in Fairfax County. I see and meet with counties all over the country through the National Association of Counties, and every time I just go, wow, aren't we fortunate to live in Fairfax County? I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much, Supervisor Gross. And before we wrap this up, you did prompt two thoughts in my mind. First, the diversification of revenue obviously is something we've talked about for a long time, but I think an even greater need in

[01:55:26] Virginia is to modernize our taxing system at the state level, period. And actually, the General Assembly appears to be wanting to dig a hole even deeper by giving more tax breaks to people who don't need them, instead of being strategic about how you have a major surplus and how you can help people who need that relief the most. And sadly, with the federal bill that was passed that caps salt reductions that people itemize on their federal income taxes also hurts more and more people every year in Fairfax County as assessments rise. And I don't know what the percent is,

[01:56:01] but I would be interested in seeing what the percent of residential property owners in the county now that have a tax bill that exceeds the salt cap that the federal government put on itemized deductions, because that is affecting people in a much higher number than we've ever seen before. And I think, you know, when you look at the average price of a home, we're getting increasingly close to near that cap number. And I think that's something that we need to keep our eye on. But, you know, frankly, tax modernization in Virginia, every time it comes up, and I feel

[01:56:36] like Delegate Watts here sitting here at the moment, every time it comes up and we try to have a conversation about it, the General Assembly defeats it because it's election year and they want to talk about tax modernization and so hopefully one day that will happen and it hasn't happened in a long time to supervisor gross's point but we have some work to do here appreciate the county executive your presentation as always and just a reminder to the public every budget process is improved through public input community engagement and opinions of people not only in our

[01:57:13] county who are residents but of course our first-rate workforce as well so we look forward to those conversations in the weeks and months ahead thank you mr county executive with that we are ready to move on to board matters and i am going to turn the gavel to supervisor gross for a moment i have just two quick board matters first i move to approve without objection the proclamations listed in this document which is to recognize surveyors week public safety telecommunicators week and also a proclamation to recognize fred hoffman's 100th birthday without objections so

[01:57:49] ordered thank you um and for those who are wondering who fred hoffman is that's norma hoffman's husband and everybody knows who norma hoffman is my next board matter um is is really just to raise public awareness um the rich cultural religious racial and ethnic diversity of the county is one of our greatest strengths and assets our residents can experience and immerse themselves in cultures from around the world without having to leave the county. Whether it's at one of our restaurants, multicultural festivals, interfaith events, or as a student in FCPS, we can travel the world without a passport. This is truly a part of what makes the county so special. However, we

[01:58:27] know that there are people who do not share our values of inclusion or view diversity as some sort of threat, and we wholeheartedly reject this notion as a community. While we have not seen an increase in bias-related crimes in the County, we recognize that some of our surrounding jurisdictions have not been as fortunate.

[01:58:45] Unfortunately, many times houses of worship have been targeted, including here in Fairfax. As such, it is imperative that we are proactive on this front and ensure our residents know that they are safe here always. The Fairfax County Police Department are certified to conduct security surveys for facilities such as houses of worship and have offered this service, as the board knows, for many years.

[01:59:09] As we see a national trend in rising bias-related crimes, we want to be sure our residents and faith communities are aware of this service. In the coming weeks, FCPD's crime prevention officers will actively reach out to our faith leaders through their established networks to further raise awareness.

[01:59:27] This service helps individuals and groups understand the state of their own security and identify areas where it can be improved. FCPD is committed to keeping our community safe, as they always have been. That said, and given the number of houses of worship within the county, we do ask that our community provides the department with the necessary time as they work diligently to provide these surveys to all who would like them.

[01:59:50] Therefore, I request that the Office of Public Affairs work with FCPD to share applicable information with our community about how best to protect ourselves, worshipers, and houses of worship that includes but is not limited to security surveys.

[02:00:06] And Madam Vice Chair, I will just add that what's been happening in nearby Montgomery County and what we read about happening at Georgetown University and what we saw happen here in Fairfax County last week with the leaflets left at the doorsteps of people in our county, we are not immune from people who want to come into this county and frankly practice hate and intolerance.

[02:00:30] And we need to make sure not only that our board always affirms a rejection of that, but also particularly houses of worship that unfortunately have been targeted in the past, know that there are resources and assistance available and a sophisticated police department who can help them protect themselves and the worshipers in their community.

[02:00:51] Okay, this was a, did you want to make that a motion? I do want to make it a motion for OPA to work with the police to share information on this. I'd be happy to second that motion. Is there a discussion on the motion? Seen and hearing none. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Any opposed, say nay. Any abstentions? That motion carries unanimously.

[02:01:09] Thank you, Vice Chairman Gross. And that's the end of my board matters. Up next is you, Supervisor Gross. Higher Horizons, a private nonprofit organization, was founded in 1963 as the first licensed early care and education facility in Fairfax County.

[02:01:26] Higher Horizons serves 300 low-income children and families in the Bailey's Crossroads and Falls Church communities. Marianne Cornish became Executive Director of Higher Horizons, also known as HIHO, in July of 1977, over 45 years ago.

[02:01:44] Under her leadership, HIHO has received numerous awards and recognitions for its innovative programming and commitment to quality and service. In 1993, they received the Agency of the Year Award from the Capital Area Food Bank. And that same year, families and staff were invited to the White House when President Clinton signed bipartisan legislation reauthorizing the Head Start program.

[02:02:06] There is more information here. I'm not going to go into all of that. But without objection, I moved at the Fairfax County Board, command Marianne Cornish for her storied career at Higher Horizons and dedication to quality education and service for our area's children, An issue is Certificate of Recognition to be signed by Chairman McKay and Vice Chairman Gross for presentation outside of the boardroom.

[02:02:28] And without objection, that is so ordered. Supervisor Gross. That's it. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next up, Supervisor Walkinshaw. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have no board matters. Two announcements. The first in my continuing series of introducing new and not so new staff members in the Braddock District Office.

[02:02:51] we're joined today by Irma Mejia-Lewis, who is a staff aide in our office. Not shy about waving, good job. Irma handles human services, code compliance, taxes. She's also responsible for some of our biggest events, Braddock Nights and Arts in the Park Children's Series, and the first ever Braddock Bark Festival that we had last year.

[02:03:15] She pulled that off with Supervisor Stork and his office's help. Irma was born in El Salvador and raised in Falls Church. She's an Air Force veteran. After serving in the Air Force, she earned her Bachelor of Science in International Business. And she has a background in case management, community outreach, forging relationships with community-based organizations and faith-based organizations in the corporate and nonprofit environment.

[02:03:38] She has more than 16 years of experience working with underserved communities, educating parents, navigating the special education system, assisting clients and residents to tap into community resources, and teaching clients how to advocate for themselves. She resides with her family in Manassas, and in her free time, she spends time with her family and friends, listens to music, cooks and eats good food, drinks good coffee, travels, and loves watching a good police drama.

[02:04:07] Mr. Chairman. So we will pretend like we didn't hear the Manassas part. Everything else sounded great. Everything else sounded great. Supervisor Gross. Mr. Chairman and Irma, it's nice to meet you because we usually talk on the phone. She also participates in my Hummer Road task force for day labors as a monthly meeting of a number of folks, and she represents your office in that.

[02:04:32] So I just wanted to mention, good to see you. Outstanding. Welcome. And announcement that I want to make one of the things that Irma's been working on. On March 4th, Chairman McKay, Supervisor Gross, and I will be cutting the ribbon on the new Annandale Community Center on Heritage Drive.

[02:04:54] something we've been working on for three years since day one that I was elected. We've been working on and we're partnering with the Boys and Girls Club to bring some great programming to the community there and want to invite all the board members and members of the community to join us Saturday, March 4th, 12 p.m.

[02:05:14] We'll have an open house activities and light refreshments. That's all I have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Excellent. Thank you, Supervisor Walkinshaw, Supervisor Faust. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are those who might think I forgot to announce my budget meetings, but I was just trying to keep everybody in suspense.

[02:05:36] March 27th, 7 p.m., Channel 16, this district-wide budget meeting with Elaine Tolan from the school board. And I also have a March 9th meeting, a virtual meeting you need to sign up for, I guess, or Facebook, 7 p.m., and it's organized by the McLean Citizens Association.

[02:06:07] One other announcement, Mr. Chairman. On October 11th, I had done a board matter asking that when the draft regional analysis of impediments to fair housing choice was released, that the Office of Public Affairs, the Office of Human Rights and Equity Programs, and the Department of Housing and Community Development be directed to collaborate and take the necessary steps to widely publicize the opportunity and means to comment on the draft RAI.

[02:06:43] It has been released, and comment period is open through March 31, so I would just simply renew that request of staff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And we're getting head nods in agreement, so thank you. Supervisor Faust.

[02:06:59] Supervisor Lusk. Okay, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have one board matter. Cricket is among the most popular and fastest-growing sports in the world. As one of the most diverse, multicultural, and populous jurisdictions in the country, it makes sense that it is also one of the most popular and in-demand sports in our county.

[02:07:21] This is evidenced by the regular inquiries that my office receives requesting increased access to fields that could serve as cricket pitches. Unfortunately, the field dimensions required for a regulation cricket pitch are extremely difficult to assemble based on the standard field dimensions utilized by the park authority.

[02:07:42] Given these challenges, the ability for Fairfax County residents to play cricket on a regulation pitch is virtually non-existent. Fortunately, last year, Major League Cricket, MLC, announced the approval of an exploratory relationship with George Mason University to investigate the feasibility of developing a new multi-purpose cricket and basketball facility. If deemed feasible, the potential facility would host major league cricket matches, GMU baseball games, and other community and university events.

[02:08:18] This innovative approach has the potential to fill a recreational void in our community, provide a multi-use amenity of benefit to the entire county, and generate a meaningful economic impact as the sole facility of its kind in the region. I'm personally excited about the possibility this joint venture presents and feel that it is critical that our county step forward as a thought partner in this evaluation. While the Department of Economic Initiatives has undertaken initial efforts on the project, I'm seeking to increase visibility by engaging additional departments in a coordinated effort to expand recreational access in the county. So with that in mind,

[02:08:56] Mr. Chairman Supervisor herity and I move that the county executive assign the appropriate staff to establish a working partnership between George Mason University Major League Cricket and the Park Authority the Department of Economic Initiatives and the County Sport Tourism Task Force and Visit Fairfax to ensure not only that there is an open dialogue between each of those stakeholders but also that the county is fully integrated into the study so they can provide both feedback and information as part of that review.

[02:09:29] To be clear, my motion is not requesting that additional resources or funding be allocated to this effort, but rather that those entities be integrated into the existing study that is already underway and that is directly correlated to these respective core missions.

[02:09:46] So with that, Mr. Chairman, that concludes my motion. Second. It's seconded by Supervisor Harrity discussion on the motion. I'll start with Supervisor Lust and Supervisor Harrity Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Mr. Sherman again I just want to reiterate that this desire for this motion is based on inquiries and requests that we've received Specifically in my office and it is a challenge if you think about the size of a regulation cricket field It is the size of three baseball fields regular baseball fields So not an easy thing to kind of establish and to build out.

[02:10:25] While I'm not aware of where George Mason is proposing this, I'm not aware of the discussion of location, I'm just interested in seeing if we have the opportunity to at least have the conversation and to see if there's any feasibility on this coming to fruition.

[02:10:40] Because I know, again, there are many in the community who have been asking for this and we really enjoy having this opportunity to play cricket in a facility of this nature. So with that, I'll conclude my remarks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Supervisor Herodin.

[02:10:56] Yeah, just real quick, and I know on this effort, Scott Sizer is kind of on top of it and has been working it, and I think it's useful that we bring this forward just to make sure we are on top of it. There is a huge demand for cricket. I've worked with the Park Authority on a number of occasions.

[02:11:12] it's anytime they build two football fields they basically build them next to each other on a level ground where they can and put a pitch in the middle to increase the availability that way it can be a multi-purpose you put the pitch in the middle of two two rectangles as we call them which are football across soccer fields uh you can get a cricket regulation cricket field out of it so i know it's something the park authorities are already looking at and working at um but i think this is something we should stay on top of. Further discussion? Supervisor Walkinshaw.

[02:11:47] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be supporting the motion. I did discuss this with Supervisor Lusk last week. And first, let me just say, I love cricket. I've played cricket. Not well, but I have. My father actually grew up playing cricket in India for a time. And I do think that this is an exciting opportunity for the county that deserves exploration, and I look forward to seeing the results of George Mason's feasibility study. I do need to note, and Supervisor Lusk

[02:12:23] noted, that we don't know the location, and that's true. I think we know that it will be somewhere on the Fairfax campus, either the West campus, which is quite literally nestled among neighborhoods and has presented a lot of challenges over the years or on the Shirley Gate property which is at the intersection or the corner of Braddock Road and Shirley Gate Road and that property specifically is in the Occoquan Watershed Water Supply Overlay District and this board even relatively

[02:12:57] recently has reaffirmed its commitment to the Occoquan Watershed and I think it's going to be very important that as we learn more about the proposal and the university's plans that we're consistent in our support for the policies connected to the watershed. And I'll just say, very regularly, my office has property owners in that Shirley Gate property corner there who come to us and ask for an exception to the policy who would like to be connected to the

[02:13:33] sewer that's relatively close and consistent with my predecessor's policy Braddock district supervisor Boliva's policy the board's policy the answer is we don't allow sewer connections in this part of the county and so you know I think we're going to have to keep that in mind as we move forward the other thing I'll just note in terms of entities to be engaged here we we do have an existing entity that's that's not listed here that supervisor Herity and I serve on the Fairfax campus community advisory board that was created after some challenging I'll say some decisions

[02:14:12] that the university made that created real challenges and animosity in this in the community and in the surrounding neighborhoods and it's going to be really important to manage this process so that that doesn't happen again final final point you know I'm I'm I am a champion of George Mason University I think their continued success and growth is our continued success and growth and they've undergone a really great I think master planning process to look at the future of the of the campus and one of the things that I

[02:14:47] have stressed throughout that is please please please take into account your responsibility as an institution to make sure people can get there don't put it all on us and we're investing a lot of money in the shirley gate extension and county dollars in the shirley gate extension to improve access to this part of the county there aren't going to be additional improvements there's not going to be anytime soon improvements to the intersection of braddock road and 123 so if we are going to be building a facility here that will bring large groups of people the university's got to take some responsibility for how are those people going to

[02:15:25] get to and from the campus because the existing transportation network doesn't doesn't support it so happy to happy to support the motion excited about the the opportunity but but do have some some potential concerns that are worthy of discussion maybe when the feasibility study is released thank you thank you supervisor Walkinshaw further comments supervisor Faust thank you Mr. Chairman

[02:15:52] And listening to Supervisor Wilkinshaw's excellent points, it just made me think, if this group looks into, I know my district, but I assume anyone's district, and starts making motions toward creating a field, I would suggest you bring the supervisor into the discussion early, not late.

[02:16:18] Absolutely. And actually, this is directing the county executive assign appropriate staff and whatever that is, we'll be repeating, we'll be reporting to the board. I mean, we certainly don't want to recreate the same mistake that was made with the Sports Tourism Task Force where these are not coordinated with the district supervisor who's most affected.

[02:16:38] And what Supervisor Walkinshaw just outlined is there's nothing that can happen at George Mason University that doesn't affect the Braddock District. And so we need to make sure we go into this with our eyes wide open, focused on that. We have a strong relationship with George Mason University, but George Mason University enjoys something we don't even enjoy in the county, which is they don't have to go through our land use process as a state institution.

[02:17:04] And so we want to be involved in the dialogue. If it's on their property, we may want to know right away so that we can comment on potential impacts or be supportive. But for the public watching, unlike the county, they don't go through our regular land use process.

[02:17:20] And I think that's one of the reasons why you're hearing some of the caution flags about making sure this process works right and that the board is informed of what's going on. Supervisor Herity. Yeah, three things. One, the Sports Tourism Task Force report went to every supervisor on multiple occasions, so they were well aware of all the different properties that were being looked at.

[02:17:40] number two um that george mason property is surrounded by the springfield district on a number of sides so i would hope the springfield district stays involved in that number three i would like to accept as a friendly amendment along with supervisor lusk i see him nodding his head adding fcab to the list because fcab should be uh should be on that list and i appreciate you bringing that up supervisor walker supervisor harry i you know we're not going to rehash the sports tourism task force process here but i don't know of another member of this board who felt like they were involved with the properties of their district, and we want to make sure we don't repeat that mistake again, because these are important

[02:18:19] land use decisions. They need to be made with the supervisor whose district is affected as a part of the process. That's how this board always does land use. Absolutely, and the supervisor's been here long enough, he understands it. Well, didn't understand it in that process. Supervisor Lusk.

[02:18:36] I was going to just make the same point that Supervisor Herity made, I was going to be willing to accept that as a friendly amendment to the motion from Supervisor Walkinshaw. And let me ask the county executive, you're tasked with this to assign the appropriate staff.

[02:18:54] Are you okay on that, or do you have any other questions that the board needs to clear up before you go down that path? No, sir. I actually spoke with the President Washington last week, and I've subsequently spoke with Supervisor Walkinshaw about some of the items prior to the board matter.

[02:19:16] Scott Sizer is currently actively involved with George Mason in understanding what is going on on that campus, and we're at a point where we were going to bring that to Supervisor Walkinshaw to see where he wanted to go forward. If we have to add people per the board matter, we certainly will, but our process is to talk the Supervisor Walkinshaw first and then move forward. Excellent. Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. County Executive. Supervisor, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any

[02:19:50] opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Supervisor Lusk. No additional matters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Okay. Supervisor Alcorn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have one board matter, one announcement. The board matter relates to the Carter Family Cemetery Preservation.

[02:20:08] The Carter Family Cemetery, which is just outside of Tyson's in the Vienna area, represents the remnants of a thriving black community at Freedom Hill near Tyson's Corner. The Carters of Freedom Hill were and are a multiracial family with roots reaching back to the indigenous Doshanent people of Fairfax County.

[02:20:28] The Carter Family matriarch, Keziah Carter, purchased 50 acres of land in 1842, upon which her family lived and farmed for decades. This area became known as Cartersville and Freedom Hill Park, and I would just note there's a really excellent documentation of her and what she did at the Freedom Hill Park right outside Tyson's.

[02:20:51] Today, those 50 acres make up Carter's Green Subdivision, portions of Raglan Road Park, and the Tyson's Towers Senior Apartment Community. During the development of the Carters Green subdivision in the 1970s, a lot containing a family cemetery was retained by the developer but not maintained.

[02:21:10] The cemetery is directly adjacent to the current Raglan Road Park of the County Park Authority, which was also ancestral Carter land. This lot includes a headstone for Millie Carter whales, and records found to date indicate that at least four additional burials are in the cemetery, and according to family members, probably many more.

[02:21:34] In recent years, the Carter family cemetery has suffered from vandalism and dumping of landscaping waste. The immediate neighbor has also expressed safety concerns over a mature tree hanging over their property. Part of descendants remain in the area and continue to have a vested interest in the final resting place of their ancestors.

[02:21:54] They approached the county for assistance in preserving and protecting the cemetery property that has been abandoned. I would just add that the park authority has done actually a good amount of preliminary work that's documented the historic nature of this cemetery and also what needs to be done to recover the property and to preserve it in perpetuity.

[02:22:17] So therefore, Mr. Chairman, I would move that the board direct staff to investigate options for addressing safety concerns and the long-term stewardship of the Carter Family Cemetery property. I'm happy to second that motion. Discussion on the motion? Supervisor Alcorn.

[02:22:33] Yeah, thank you, and thank you, Mr. Chairman, for co-sponsoring this with me. I should have mentioned that from the beginning. This has been a while in coming. We're getting to the point where there are some outcomes that look like they may be truly viable, So appreciate the board's indulgence.

[02:22:49] But this would be coming back to the board before any final action involving the county. Thank you, Supervisor Alcorn. And, you know, one of the things we may want to think about at that point is, you know, criteria for the other properties in the county. I think the one thing about this one that jumps out as particularly impactful is that the park authority owns the property right next door and takes care of that.

[02:23:14] And so there are some strategic reasons why this lift may not be that significant. But I do think, you know, obviously the rest of the board and other groups are going to have questions about, you know, criteria moving forward. And so I think we focus on this one, but we may learn from this one some good, you know, tools that we can have in our toolbox and also some criteria that we can apply if we get requests like this in the future.

[02:23:38] So I'm happy, happy to obviously support this and look forward to what staff comes back with us to Supervisor Walkinshaw. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and really appreciate Supervisor Alcorn's work on this. And he shared some of the travails of this of this property with me.

[02:23:55] And I think all of us are having the reaction that, you know, we have maybe not directly analogous, but similar kind of cemetery challenges. And it's my understanding, I think, that there is an inventory that staff have been working on countywide, which maybe is close to completion and should give us an idea of the scale and scope of this challenge.

[02:24:21] And I am really hopeful that we can develop a policy and a program over time to look at these systematically. Each one is a little bit different, and some might be better positioned for our engagement than others.

[02:24:36] But I think having a consistent policy across the county is going to be really important to make sure, you know, from a one Fairfax perspective that all of these cemeteries are treated fairly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Supervisor Walkinshaw, Supervisor Smith. Yeah, and I think part of that is probably looking if there were any proffers if something was developed and they proffered to take care of something.

[02:24:59] we should know that. Thank you. Great question. Thank you. Okay. Any other comments or questions? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Supervisor Alcorn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a quick announcement. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend on Sunday at the McLean Community Center in the Drainsville District, the presentation and talk of Nicole Hannah-Jones. This was an

[02:25:27] Excellent, excellent event. I was very happy to be there. Just a couple of shout outs. County executive did a great job welcoming folks to the event. Carla Bruce moderated it, did a one on one. And you know, at some point, we'll probably ask Carla to do something she can't do. But I haven't seen it yet. And that was a great example. She did a fantastic job interviewing and so much history that was discussed.

[02:25:57] and it really just underscored for me how a lot of the discussion a lot of the investigation a lot of the research including what she's done expands our understanding of history so so importantly uh and and doesn't restrict it at all so uh it was wonderful to be there and just wanted to let the board know uh shout out to the county exec to carla and to our library system for doing that so thank you supervisor alcorn supervisor stork thank you mr chairman and and just to really to tag on that point we've spent a tremendous amount of time and i know carla's been working very hard gum springs but also county-wide to address and kind of identify i think we're making

[02:26:36] progress but it's slow maybe methodical is probably the right way that's kind of how the county does things so i'm i'm looking forward to more coming forward as part of that whole conversation we started the conversation this past week in gum springs obviously a lot of questions concerns about it and we have a lot more engagement with the gum springs community surround that but more importantly ultimately the county will have some deep engagement on this as well so that's just kind of a follow-on to that point and i also wanted to thank um the chairman and our county executive brian hill the police chief uh for joining me at the mount vernon town

[02:27:11] meeting about 10 two weeks ago the 36th annual town meeting was again a huge success uh we did something different this year which was to have a taste of mount vernon and and it turned out i I mean, it tasted good. I mean, we had a lot of folks there, and I tried some new Hawaiian food, and there's a new Mexican restaurant that I got to sample their food, and then subsequently we went there as a team and had some lunch to kind of help to support the newer businesses that are trying to get started and make a difference.

[02:27:45] So, again, thank you all very much for being part of that. I have a couple board matters. The first one I want to read is the proclamation recognizing the 60th anniversary of the Woodlawn Needlework Show. This is on March 2023. Woodlawn and Pope Lady House, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, celebrates 60 years of the annual Woodlawn Needlework Show.

[02:28:10] Adelaide Bolte and Emma Pinky Matheson founded the show in 1963. The show continues to be inspired by the women of Woodlawn. Elinor Nellie Curtis Lewis, first owner of Woodlawn, learned her expert needlework skills from her grandmother, Martha Washington.

[02:28:27] Items such as cushions, bookmarks, and works of art made by both are still in the collections of the Woodlawn and Pope Lady House. Enslaved by the Lewis family, Dulcy taught her daughters, Suki and Nellie, her niece, Lucinda and Eliza and Polly, to use their needles for making and mending clothes, quilts, and other items used daily by their families and by their enslavers.

[02:28:50] The needle artistry of both groups of women was used to decorate homes and clothes, create gifts for families and friends, express themselves, and frankly pass down this skill to their descendants. Adelaide Bolte and Pinky Matheson harnessed the dual passions for needlework and historic preservation to craft an incredible event.

[02:29:10] Starting with 68 exhibitors, the show flourished over the years, bringing together an enduring community of needlework artists and preservationists from around the world in the process. Adelaide and Pinky hosted needlework classes and managed dozens of volunteers to produce the annual show, which has grown exponentially to become one of the largest judged shows of needlework in the nation.

[02:29:30] Today, a dedicated group of artists co-founded by these two extraordinary women, the Nellie's Needlers, continues their founder's mission of supporting Woodlawn through the art of needlework year-round. Adelaide Bolte and Pinky Matheson crafted a lasting community at Woodlawn, a place where people of all skill levels and all ages come together to find joy and comfort in the craft.

[02:29:57] Therefore, Mr. Chairman, without objection, I ask that a proclamation signed by the chairman and myself be presented to the Woodlawn and Pope Leigh House in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the Woodlawn Needlework Show opening February 27th, 2023. And without objection, that is so ordered, Supervisor Stork.

[02:30:16] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And then the second item I have is kind of also an annual tradition started by my predecessor, Jerry Highland. This is the sixth annual Ides of Bark Dog Show Festival at Gristmo Park. I have a flyer, which I'll hold up while I'm reading this.

[02:30:33] On Sunday, March 26th, the Mount Vernon District and the Feverish County Park Authority are hosting the annual Ides of Bark Dog Festival from 1 to 4 p.m. at Gristmo Park. Participants will receive treats from local canine businesses, play in the dog park, learn pet care and pet CPR from pet technicians, and have the opportunity to participate in a canine obstacle course.

[02:30:54] The festival is a great day with our furry, four-legged friends and their humans to meet others and enjoy a day in the park. This amazing community event could not happen without the incredible support of the Fairfax County Park Authority, Fairfax County Police Department, Fairfax County Fire Department, local animal organizations, and our wonderful vendors.

[02:31:15] My sincerest appreciation goes out to each of these groups, and I invite everyone to join us on March 26th. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I ask without objection that the board supervisors direct the Office of Public Affairs to advertise and promote the Ides of Bark Dog Festival. And without objection, that is so ordered.

[02:31:34] Supervisor Stork, Supervisor Gross asked me if you are pet CPR certified. And I don't know the answer to that. There is a there is a class there. I am not pet CPR certified, but there is a class that you can sign up for there. And there's some basic first aid skills that they do teach you there.

[02:31:53] So, yes, it's just you always pray for good weather. That's the most important thing, right, because of good weather. Even if it's a little chilly, if it's a little sunny and people can get out, we usually get 200 or 300 animals, and then their owners come with them oftentimes.

[02:32:12] So they'll just kind of wander in, but if they do, that's okay, too. We have the Animal Protection Police to take care of those and work with those animals as well. So, thank you all very much. Always a fun event, and weather is important. Nobody loves a wet dog. So, even myself, who's a dog lover, so we look forward to that on Sunday, March 26th, and without objection, the Office of Public Affairs will publicize.

[02:32:38] Supervisor Stork. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That's it. Excellent. Thank you very much. Next up is Supervisor Palchik. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. just a quick follow-up to the ides of bark we had a opportunity to meet the new um therapy dog in department of family services i hope she will be invited she was a wonderful addition and a wonderful dog to bring out um just one board matter jointly with uh chairman mckay and supervisor walkinshaw i think we're coming upon the 60th anniversary of many of our organizations here

[02:33:10] in the county, and this one is for PRS. Members of the board, PRS started in 1963 as a social program to assist the recently discharged patients from Western State Hospital. Since its inception, PRS has been providing mental health services and supporting individuals with mental illness and co-occurring disorders, such as substance abuse disorder. PRS aims to change and save lives in our community by empowering hope, safety, recovery, wellness, independence, and community

[02:33:42] integration. In August of 2014, PRS and Crisis Link merged to transform the delivery of mental health services in response to the community's growing needs and the changing mental health landscape. As a result, Crisis Link is now a core program of PRS and offers crisis intervention and Suicide Prevention Services, strengthening PRS's ability to offer 24-hour support, not only in our region, but also across the nation.

[02:34:12] Over its 60-year history, PRS has grown and provides a broad continuum of behavioral health and crisis and suicide intervention services. PRS has added programs to support an expanded population of clients, including young adults experiencing their first psychotic episode, integrated primary and behavioral health services, mental health outpatient therapy, peer supports to families with children with mental health and or substance use disorders, and expanded crisis-linked services to include regional crisis and suicide text line and outbound well-checked calls to isolated seniors in Fairfax

[02:34:51] County. A few of their longtime programs include individual-supported employment services, community support services, and psychosocial aid programs. In FY 2022, 90% of individuals served avoided psychiatric hospitalization. 85% of individuals served used coping skills to manage psychiatric symptoms or behavioral challenges, and 85% of individuals served demonstrated their ability to complete basic independent living tasks. PRS Crisis Link answered 84,008 calls,

[02:35:28] had 2,584 text conversations, answered 28,066 chats, and made 26,774 outbound and follow-up contacts for a total of over 140,000 contacts handled.

[02:35:44] So therefore, without objection, we move that a proclamation be prepared and presented to PRS at a future board meeting to honor and celebrate 60 years of their commitment to changing and saving lives. Without objection, that is so ordered. Thank you, Supervisor Palachuk.

[02:36:01] And was that all? That is all. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Excellent. Thank you very much. Supervisor Herity. Yes, Mr. Chairman, April is National Autism Awareness Month, promoting acceptance for individuals on the autism spectrum. One in 54 children in the United States and more than 3.5 million Americans are on the autism spectrum, including over 125,000 Virginians.

[02:36:23] Persons with autism form an incredibly diverse community with vastly different abilities, limitations and preferences from individual to individual the coronavirus pandemic pandemic has made a significant impact on individuals on the autism spectrum resulting in constant changes to routine and making it more difficult for them to access vital services approximately 80 percent of adults on the autism spectrum were unemployed or underemployed before the coronavirus pandemic and economic fallout for the pandemic has caused them to lose jobs at a faster rate than the general

[02:36:58] population. Young adults on the autism spectrum demonstrate the lowest employment rates among people with disabilities. Individuals on the autism spectrum have amazing strengths and skills that often go untapped without proper supports in place. Existing incentives or strategies for businesses to hire persons with autism are currently underutilized or unknown. Modifying hiring practices to accommodate persons with autism, taking advantage of work opportunity, tax credits, partnering with a non-profit resource provider, and working with a job coach have all

[02:37:33] proven to be effective in supporting persons with autism and their employers. In fact, 59% of individuals on the spectrum gained employment after receiving vocational rehabilitation services. Fairfax County is fortunate to have organizations like Service Source, Phyllis Programs, and many others that are dedicated to this mission of promoting gainful employment for those on the autism spectrum our community is stronger and more diverse because of our autistic residents and our businesses and nonprofits who partner with them therefore Matt mr. chairman I without objection I ask that we prepare a

[02:38:09] resolution that celebrates April is autism awareness month and encourages all citizens to exercise respect and compassion for our relatives friends co-workers and fellow Americans on the autism spectrum this resolution should be presented to servicers of phenomenal community partners serving the needs of residents with autism. Furley asked the resolution include recognition of this unique of the unique challenges faced by individuals with autism and that it reaffirmed the commitment of this board to encourage businesses and employers to utilize existing incentives and strategies to assist them

[02:38:42] in hiring persons with autism. Without objection that is so ordered and as soon as we have a date for that. If we could circulate that to the board, that would be helpful. Excellent. Supervisor Herdy, was that all? That's it, Mr. Chairman. Okay. Thank you very much. With that, we're ready to move on to admin items, and there are only four. So let me ask Supervisor Gross if she has a motion for admin items one through four. Move approval, Mr. Chairman. For the motion, I'm happy to second that along with Supervisor Lusk. Any discussion on any of the items or any that folks would like to pull for a separate vote.

[02:39:20] Mr. Chairman. Any discussion? Supervisor Alcorn. Admin 4, please. Admin 4. And admin 4 is authorization for the Department of Transportation to apply for and accept grant funding from the United States Department of Transportation's FY 2023 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Discretion Grant Program in the Drainsville, Franconia, Hunter Mill, and Mount Vernon District.

[02:39:44] Supervisor Alcorn. Yeah, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Just a couple quick things on this. two very important projects one the cycle trek along Sunrise Valley they're actually this is important for one of the communities I represent the the polo fields there have have some issues with the configuration of Sunrise Valley this project actually will help it will provide additional pedestrian bicycle connectivity there and also with the phase two silver line opening in the the

[02:40:16] new metro station. So very good. And then the only other thing, and Mr. Michaudney, I see you there. Thank you for coming down. I know for the other project, it is a very large project, the BRT project. Excellent. Very happy we're moving forward with this. If you could just address, I know one of the things for getting federal funding in the NOFO, which is my most favorite acronym, Notice of Funding Opportunity, is Buried in there, there is some language that does talk about community engagement, community fee benefits agreements, PLAs, those sorts of things.

[02:40:56] So could you just address when that would be part of Fairfax County's application to the federal government for the grant funding? Supervisor Alcorn, Tom Bishadny with the Department of Transportation.

[02:41:12] The application is due next week, and as part of that, we are going to be going through each of the criteria in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and responding to each of those to prepare the best application that Fairfax County can prepare to compete for these funds.

[02:41:30] Okay, and I know this is something that they're asking. They would look favorable on things like PLAs. Would that be part of our application to help improve the chances of us getting the funding? So based on the conversation that several departments, including the Department of Public Works and the Department of Transportation, had with the board previously about the implementation of project labor agreements, DPW is moving forward with a pilot project, and I believe that any project over $40 million would be considered for project labor agreements in the future.

[02:42:06] Yeah, that was my understanding as well. So I just want to make sure that was on the record. It's great. Really happy we're doing this. uh so no separate vote on this so thank you mr thank you thank you supervisor alcorn any other questions on admin for supervisor faust yeah i just he said any project over 40 million would be considered for a project labor agreement whose consideration is that something that will come to the board every time a project is at 40 million dollar or more is that something you anticipate staff is considering so supervisor faust the um the recommendation to the board last i think it

[02:42:46] was last june was that there be a pilot project established but that um the staff would look at projects over 40 million dollars for project labor agreements contingent upon the completion of the project the pilot project so that there was additional um information that might have been learned through the pilot project and that pilot project is moving forward right now but the recommendation was that for projects 40 million and greater have project labor agreements have project labor it's not staff will

[02:43:24] consider whether there's a project labor but the board has instructed that there will be a project labor agreement that was part of the recommendation that came to from staff last June good thank you other questions supervisor Herdy so regardless of how the pilot project comes out we're going to require them I know that's probably not a fair question to ask you that's not a question for you I mean that just doesn't make any sense yeah hold on one second supervisor Alcorn did you have a question related to that yeah I believe I believe mr.

[02:44:01] Bishadny and as the board transportation chair I know we had talked about this I I believe in Transportation Committee, and I believe the pilot is informing any future changes to our policy in terms of projects above $40 million, but the default would be that we were going to do this on a regular basis.

[02:44:22] Do I have that right, Mr. Bishadny? It's been a while. It has been a while, and I would say that the Department of Public Works is leading this effort, So I'm a little bit out of my area of expertise, so we probably should get back to the board with details on that.

[02:44:38] Yeah, my sense is what was just said was right based on what I remember, but we can get further information from staff on that and recognizing that some of these projects, certainly when you get over the $40 million mark, are going to require federal funding. And in many cases like this one, probably likely trigger this regardless.

[02:44:58] And so I think what we want to get is some additional clarity from staff on that. Okay, any other questions on Admin Items 1 through 4? There's been a motion made to approve Admin Items 1 through 4. It's been seconded. If there's no further discussion, all those in favor, please say aye.

[02:45:16] Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? And that motion carries. We'll now move to action items. And action item number one is consider approval of the Economic Incentive Program application of Skyline 4 LLC and 5111 Leesburg LLC.

[02:45:36] Supervisor Gross, this is in the Mason District. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would move the county executive's recommendation, and I will speak to the motion. I'm happy to second that discussion. Supervisor Gross. Yes, Mr. Chairman, later today in our afternoon land use hearings, We will be taking up this particular skyline for LLC and 5111 Leesburg LLC for a decision on a land use case.

[02:46:07] And we used to defer the EIP until after the adoption of the land use case. However, the county attorney has opined, as I understand it, that it is perfectly acceptable now to do it, sort of flip that back.

[02:46:25] So if the land use case is not approved, then this becomes moot. So we're still working our way through EIP. It's new enough, but this would be one that would be redeveloping, repurposing two large buildings at Skyline, just as we're doing with three other large buildings at Skyline.

[02:46:53] The Washington Business Journal got in touch with me and said, you know, why are you doing this? I said, well, vacant office buildings do not enhance community, but work-live units, you know, revitalize our areas, and they do enhance community. So I'm very pleased with this coming forward.

[02:47:12] SMI is an excellent opportunity and really a creative use of an area, you know, the county that needs this. And I appreciate the clarity with the county attorney in terms of order because I had gotten the same direction.

[02:47:28] I just wanted to make sure we were having heads nodding from staff that that was, in fact, what the recommendation is, that we can approve this. If the land use case is not approved, then this becomes moved. Okay, excellent. With that knowledge, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye.

[02:47:44] Any opposed? Any abstentions? And that motion carries and brings us. Mr. Chairman, if I just may note, it's in the board item, but, you know, the EIP is usually a 10-year tax abatement on the improvements.

[02:48:00] Because the EIP for this particular area commenced in 2022, most likely there will only be about an 8-year tax abatement on this particular one. We did put some guardrails around this on timing when we established the EIP.

[02:48:18] So this is, I think, maybe the first one that is less than the 10 years. Yes, thank you very much. Action item number two is resolution to apply for a waiver to administer Pioneer and Garfield precincts in the Franconia district and the Penderbrook and Burke number two precincts in the Springfield district as split precincts pursuant to Virginia code section 24.2-307.

[02:48:43] And this impacts both the Franconia District as well as the Springfield District. Is there a motion? Yeah, move approval to county executive's recommendation. It's been moved by Supervisor Herity. I'm happy to second that motion along with Supervisor Lusk.

[02:49:00] Any discussion on the motion? Any discussion or questions on the motion? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor of action two, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Thank you very much. Action item number three, authorization for the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority to make loans to subsidiaries of Lincoln Avenue Capital up to an aggregate amount of $14 million to finance phase one of the residences at the Government Center to development in the Braddock District, Supervisor Walkinshaw.

[02:49:33] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Move approval of the county executive's recommendation on action item three. The chair is happy to second that motion along with Supervisor Palchuk. Any further discussion on the motion? Any questions or further discussion on Action 3? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

[02:49:49] Aye. Any opposed? Heardy nay. Any abstentions? And that motion is approved 9 to 1. And brings us to Action Item 4, approval of an amended agreement between the Town of Vienna and Fairfax County to design and construct the Tapawingo-Kingsley Urban Bioretention Project in the Hunter Mill District.

[02:50:09] Supervisor Alcorn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move approval of A-4 as recommended by the county executive. I've heard the motion. I'm happy to second that motion. Any discussion? Any discussion? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor of action four, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions?

[02:50:24] That motion carries. Action item number five, board endorsement of changes to limited access lines required for the Frontier Drive extension project in the Franconia district. Supervisor Lusk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move approval of the county executive's recommendation for action 5.

[02:50:42] You've heard the motion. I'm happy to second that motion. Is there discussion? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor of action item number 5, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? And that motion carries and brings us to action item number 6.

[02:50:58] Approval of comments on Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authorities, WMATA, Proposed FY 2024 operating in FY 2024-2029 Capital Improvement Program, Supervisor Alcorn. Thank you. Recommend approval of ASICS as recommended by the county executive.

[02:51:15] Second. You've heard the motion, and a second by Supervisor Lusk is their discussion on the motion. Let me just say that a lot of us who serve on NVTC have been providing continued input on this, And I'm glad to see a number of those recommendations slash challenges that we've raised included in this because I think we're, you know, in lockstep with some of the concerns that have come up in NVTC.

[02:51:44] And then, of course, we also have a subset of our own concerns and how WMATA, in particular, their operating budget might impact some of the longer-range riders that, you know, mostly reside in or use our WMATA stations in Fairfax County.

[02:52:00] So really important to weigh in. I want to thank Tom and the team from DOT in capturing all of those concerns in this document. Supervisor Alcorn. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for those comments. And I have a feeling when this comes around next year, there's going to be a little more discussion about the budget.

[02:52:18] So we've got some significant financial challenges on the horizon for the following year. So thank you. Indeed. Indeed. Okay. Any further discussion on action item number six? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

[02:52:34] Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Action item number seven is endorsement of comments on the I-495 Southside Transit Transportation Demand Management Draft Executive Summary. And this impacts a lot of districts.

[02:52:51] Supervisor Alcorn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move approval of A-7 as recommended by the county executive. Second. You've heard the motion and the second by Supervisor Lusk. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of Action Item 7, please say aye.

[02:53:07] Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? And that motion carries and brings us to Action Item 8, which is Approval of Release of Revisionary Interest on Various Properties Conveyed by the Board of Supervisors to the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority, FCRHA.

[02:53:26] Supervisor Faust. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I recommend approval of the County Executive's recommendation. And I'm happy to second that. Discussion on the motion? Any discussion or questions on the motion? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of action item 8, please say aye.

[02:53:45] Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? And that motion carries. Thank you very much. And that brings us to our consideration item. We have one, and it's approval of amended bylaws for the Young Adults Advisory Committee. Supervisor Gross. Thank you.

[02:54:03] I move approval, Mr. Chairman. Second. You've heard the motion for approval of consideration item number one, seconded by Supervisor Lusk. Any discussion or questions? Just a question, Mr. Chairman, not on this, but actually to the county attorney's office. Where are we on the bylaws for all the various boards, authorities, and commissions?

[02:54:22] I know we've been taking care of that over a number of years, but are there still some hanging out there that haven't been done? Yes. Good morning. Supervisor Gross, Martin Desjardins, Assistant County Attorney. The process is ongoing. There are 80 plus of these. I have about five in my files right now that are going to be updated, I think, in the months ahead. We are also conducting a close review of the bylaws and the statutory basis, given the recent changes to be FOIA law.

[02:54:57] Ah, very good, just for the board's information for a very long time. Although there were bylaws, some of our board's authorities and commissions didn't even know they had bylaws. And so several years ago, we undertook the beginning of making that change, and we're making some good progress, and because of the county attorney's office, really good work, but I wanted to make sure that we're not dragging the ones that we still need to do.

[02:55:29] Thank you. And uniformity is strongly encouraged. We know that every one of these is a little bit different and have different state code sections referenced and other things, but the more uniform these can be, I think the easier it is for us to administer them, particularly on the electronic meetings FOIA and those components that might be new.

[02:55:50] And then put them on a regular schedule for review and update. Thank you very much. Supervisor Gross, any other questions on consideration item number one? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions?

[02:56:06] And that motion carries. And that brings us to closed session. Before we make a motion for closed session, let me ask the county attorney how long we need for closed session. Mr. Chairman, I think we ought to allow two hours for closed session. two hours. And our first public hearing is 1.30. So that gets us back here. I'm sorry, 3.30.

[02:56:26] That puts us back here at 1.30. So should this motion pass, we will report to closed session at 1.30. Supervisor Gross. And Mr. Chairman, before I make this motion, I do want to announce my intent to defer the public hearing on the very first 3.30 item to April 11th at 2.30. But we'll make that formal motion at the time indeed thank you thank you mr chairman i move that the board of supervisors recessing and go into closed session for discussion and consideration of matters enumerated in virginia code section 2.2 dash 3711 enlisted in the attached agenda for

[02:57:04] this meeting and in addition one as permitted by virginia code section 2.2 dash 3711 a three potential acquisition of real property in the sully district for a public purpose where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the county's bargaining position.

[02:57:22] Two, as permitted by Virginia Code Sections 2.2-3711A7 and 8, legal briefing regarding several proposed settlement agreements in the opioid litigation. And three, as permitted by Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711A1, consideration of a prospective candidate for appointment, as well as annual evaluations for the county executive and the county attorney.

[02:57:47] Heard the motion. I'm happy to second that motion. Any discussion? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Okay, so that puts us in recess until 1.30, which is a little bit less than an hour.

[02:58:05] So we will reconvene at 1.30 for closed session, and I know everyone will be right on time.

[03:09:06] The board is back from closed session. At this time, I'll turn to Supervisor Gross for a motion. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Board of Supervisors certify that to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements by virtue of Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711 and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which closed session was convened were heard, discussed, or considered by the Board of Supervisors during the closed session.

[03:09:35] You've heard the motion. I'm happy to second that along with Supervisor Lusk. Any discussion, further discussion on the motion? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? And we do have some motions coming out of closed session.

[03:09:52] I'm going to turn the gavel to Supervisor Gross for one moment so that I may read my motion, which is I move that the Board of Supervisors adopt the attached resolution approving the county's participation in the proposed settlement of opioid-related claims against Teva, Allergan, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, and their related corporate entities, and directing the county attorney and or the county's outside counsel to execute the documents necessary to effectuate the county's participation in the settlements. Seconded by Supervisor Lusk. Is there discussion on the motion? Seen and hearing none.

[03:10:30] All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Any abstentions? That motion carries, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much, Vice Chairman Gross, and I know we have a couple other at least two other motions coming out of closed session supervisor smith thank you mr chairman i move that the fairfax county board of supervisors request the fairfax county redevelopment and housing authority to pursue acquisition of property located in the sully district that will be used for public purposes pursuant to the terms and conditions discussed in closed session the chair is happy to second that motion along with supervisor lusk discussion

[03:11:07] on the motion any discussion on the motion seeing and hearing none all those in favor of the motion please say aye aye any opposed any abstentions that motion carries supervisor smith thank you the circuit court recently notified the county attorney that the term of fairfax county board of zoning appeals member dante tanner will expire on april 15 2023 and mr tanner has expressed interest in reappointment mr tanner was appointed to complete the term of a prior bza member and has served only two years. Therefore, to allow Mr. Tanner to serve a full five-year term, I move that the Board of Supervisors concur in the reappointment of Dante Tanner to the Fairfax

[03:11:47] County Board of Zoning Appeals. Second. Heard the motion. It's been seconded by Supervisor Lusk. Discussion on the motion? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. And are there any other Motions to come out of closed session.

[03:12:06] Seeing that there are none, we now are going to move on to public hearings. And just a reminder for folks about public hearing that individuals wishing to provide testimony have a number of options. They can testify here in person or they can provide testimony by phone or YouTube video.

[03:12:22] At the designated point in the public hearing, I will call for any speakers from the speakers list. And they will either come forward or their video will be shown or they will be connected by telephone. There will be an opportunity for anyone else here present who would like to speak to the application to come down to the podium or to call in on a number that will be provided on the screen.

[03:12:43] Speakers testifying via video must sign up and submit their video no later than 9 a.m. on the day prior to the hearing. For all testimony, speakers are given three minutes to speak as individuals. If you're a spokesperson for a group, you are given five minutes. With that being said, I know our first case, first public hearing is going to be deferred, but that is a public hearing on SEA 95-M-029-02, McDonald's Corporation in the Mason District, Supervisor Gross.

[03:13:14] Mr. Chairman, I move that the public hearing on SEA 95-M-029-02 be deferred to April 11, 2023 at 2.30 p.m. You've heard the motion and the second by Supervisor Lusk. Any discussion on the motion?

[03:13:35] Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries and brings us to our next public hearing, which is a public hearing on SE 2022-MA-00026 Wesley Housing Development Corporation in the Mason District.

[03:13:56] And as soon as we are ready, if we could please have the applicant, please reaffirm the affidavit. I'm Sarah Mariska with the law firm of Oden, Feldman, Pittleman, and I reaffirmed the affidavit, dated February 8, 2023. Thank you very much, Ms. Mariska. Any disclosures from board members?

[03:14:13] Any disclosures from board members? Seeing and hearing none, I will now recognize county staff for a staff presentation. Thank you and good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. My name is Sharon Williams with the Department of Planning and Development. me today i have katie herman who's also with the department of planning and development as well as katie torgeson the department of public works and environmental services the 6.8 acre subject property is currently developed with the first christian church of falls church along leesburg pike southeast of its intersection with patrick henry drive the site is on r3 it's located within

[03:14:49] the highway corridor overlay district the property contains 26 100 excuse me contains the 26 142 square foot church and its associated surface parking the southern portion of the site is heavily wooded with mature vegetation and significant grade exists along the southern portion sloping towards the adjacent ravenwood park community the applicant requests the approval of a special exception to permit an independent living facility and an office in a residential district the proposed special exception for the office in a residential district would encompass the entirety of the subject property whereas the independent living facilities proposed only on the eastern and southern portion of the site should

[03:15:27] also be noted that the applicant filed a concurrent special permit on a 2.79 acre portion of the site as shown here and the Board of Zoning Appeals approved that on February 15th the applicant proposes to develop a 92,500 square foot independent living facility with a maximum of 95 dwelling units to the east of the existing church the facility would be an affordable independent living facility and all units would be a made made available for households earning 60 percent of the AMI or less the special exception to permit the independent

[03:15:58] Living Facility is proposed to utilize a 4.03 acre portion of the larger 6.8 acre site as you saw in the previous image the maximum at they are for the Independent Living Facility portion of the site would be 0.53 with a density of 23.6 12 units per acre the facility would be 4 stories tall with the maximum height of 50 feet and it extends underground to include a basement in a parking garage the building is proposed to be L shaped with its front lobby oriented towards Leesburg Pike and surface parking is proposed to be located along the eastern and western facades of the facility. A drive aisle would connect the existing surface parking

[03:16:34] lots for the church and the proposed facility. And then a roughly 5,000 square foot office component, which was the Colmar Clinic, is proposed to be located within the Independent Living Facility at the southern end of the western wing of the building. This clinic would serve both the residents of the Independent Living Facility and the surrounding community. Access to this clinic would be provided internally through the facility and along the drive aisle separating the church and proposed facility.

[03:16:59] This clinic has been operating out of the church for several years, and this special exception formalizes the operation within the church until the proposed independent living facility is constructed and occupied. Although the special exception for office in a residential district includes the existing church, there are no physical modifications proposed related to the office use within the church. And then just to note, the southern portion of the site is proposed to remain undisturbed to ensure the preservation of existing vegetation which will help screen the facility and a wood fence is proposed along the southern property about boundary 20 feet off the property line to further screen the proposed

[03:17:37] improvements a minimum of 50% open space is proposed to be provided throughout the subject property and 40% of the site is proposed as undisturbed open space the applicant proposes to provide 72,320 square feet of 10-year tree canopy on-site and then there are several amenities proposed to be provided on-site, which include a community garden with raised beds to raise and grow vegetables, a pollinator garden, lounge seating spaces, grilling stations, and a recreational lawn.

[03:18:05] These amenity spaces are accessed via a six-foot-wide sidewalk, which wraps around a large portion of the building and includes ramps to allow residents of all abilities to utilize the sidewalk for exercise. The subject property is located within the Four Mile Run and Cameron Run watersheds, and the stormwater management plan indicates that the water quantity and quality requirement will be addressed through a combination of manufactured treatment devices, trench drains, permeable pavers, underground detention, and retention, as shown here.

[03:18:35] To manage the amount of runoff draining to the Ravenwood Park neighborhood, the applicant proposes to retain the runoff for the 2, 10, and 100-year storm at a runoff rate based on good forested conditions, which exceeds the minimum regulatory requirement. This concludes my presentation. Thank you so much.

[03:18:51] Thank you very much. For that, at this time, we would welcome an applicant's presentation. Good afternoon. I'm here today with Wesley Housing, and we are excited to be here after a very long process as the first joint affordable housing and faith-based partnership in Fairfax County.

[03:19:14] This has been a long time coming, and there's been lots of conversations, so we are very happy to be here today. With me here is Camilla McAfee and Aaron Vincent, our civil engineer. I think you all have gotten a lot of letters about stormwater management, so I brought folks that are much smarter than me about stormwater management to answer any questions.

[03:19:31] Sharon, if you could go to the next slide. This site, you can see on this slide that Leesburg Pike runs kind of up and down on this slide, and the site is about seven acres along Leesburg Pike, and it's actually been part of the community as a faith-based institution since 1952.

[03:19:47] This building was constructed in roughly 1955, and it's surrounded by a mix of uses from a funeral home to garden-style apartments to condominiums to single-family homes. Go to the next slide, please, Sharon. The church has long contemplated how to best use its property to carry out its mission in the community And after much discussion, the church resolved to co-locate affordable senior living on an underutilized portion of its 7-acre site.

[03:20:14] They issued an RFP, interviewed development partners, and as a result of that effort, they're here today with Wesley Housing. As you can see on this slide, the church was previously designated for public facilities and was not contemplated for any kind of redevelopment efforts and was not contemplated for any kind of residential use.

[03:20:32] And so to that end, we pursued a comprehensive plan amendment. Next slide. As outlined on this slide, efforts to provide affordable, independent living began in 2019 with the filing of an SSPA nomination, which was discussed by the Mason District SSPA task force.

[03:20:49] we went through the screening phase it was added to the work program and ultimately in april 2022 the board adopted an amendment which permits an option for age-restricted multi-family residential use up to 113 units and also contemplated approximately 5 000 square feet of accessory office use next slide please we're here today to implement that adopt a comprehensive so plan a moment with 95 units of affordable, independent living in a four-story, 50-foot building.

[03:21:22] The proposal does also provide a new home for the Colmore Clinic, which provides low or no-cost health care services. That clinic has been operating for many years. It's a faith-based partnership that has moved around from faith-based institutions in the Mason District, and we are very excited to move from outdated basement space in the church to a brand-new facility that would be integrated into the affordable living facility.

[03:21:47] Next slide, please. On this slide, you can see on the left-hand side is the kind of blue teal structures, the existing church. As Sharon mentioned, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved a special permit on February 15th, and the church actually predates the zoning ordinance and had been operating without a special permit.

[03:22:06] So the approved special permit actually approves the use that has been going on for a very long time. We are proposing about 1,500 square feet of a bump out to accommodate an elevator, but no other changes, no capacity changes, no operational changes are proposed to the church.

[03:22:23] On the right-hand side is that proposed L-shaped, orange-colored, independent, assisted living building. We have moved that as far forward toward Leesburg Pike as possible. That has been intentional to provide a visual impact that's minimal on the adjacent community and then also to provide some sound mitigation for the single-family dwellings.

[03:22:48] We have been working at this, as I mentioned, a very long time, and we've made a lot of changes, and I want to highlight some of the most significant changes that we have made throughout the processes that we have been going through. As I mentioned, we started this looking at 113 units, and we are now here proposing a 95-unit independent living facility.

[03:23:06] We looked at how best to be compatible with the surroundings. We've changed from a pitched roof to a flat roof. We've reduced parking. We've moved it internal to the building to make sure that the impervious surface is as limited as possible. And we've maximized the tree save, which has been a major topic of discussion.

[03:23:24] We've located our outdoor amenities very close to the building. We had previously proposed a different configuration, and there were some concerns. have tucked these up next to the building and provided ada accessible routes around the building to those amenities we have done a number of other improvements that i'm excited to highlight including dedication of 62 feet of right away for the future bus rapid transit plan for leesburg pike we will also be upgrading the existing bus stop that is directly in front of this building with a new pad shelter bench and trash can and we're also providing infrastructure for electric vehicle

[03:23:59] charging we are pursuing green building certification and then we also are improving the rear of the property with some additional amenities to provide greater visual buffer and enhancing the landscape area that currently exists next slide please this just gives you a sense as Miss Williams mentioned we are preserving a large amount of the site as open space including 40% of the site as undisturbed open space so I just wanted to touch on how much of the site will remain as either undisturbed open space or open space next slide please and again just to highlight the amenities that have been proposed directly next to

[03:24:37] the building to minimize impacts I know that there have been some concerns expressed about exactly the amenities that are illustrated on this concept this is a concept we will be refining these through final design so these could evolve and these could change and we certainly have welcomed the feedback and look forward to thinking through how this ends up in our final design scheme next slide what's being circled on here is the seven stormwater management facilities that are being proposed with the special exception stormwater has been a major topic of conversation throughout the comprehensive plan in the

[03:25:13] zoning process the church is not responsible for the current downstream flooding that's experienced in Ravenwood Park which I'm sure that you will hear more about from public speakers today but the applicant has worked diligently during the plan amendment and zoning process to improve existing conditions. As part of the plan amendment, the adopted plan language stated that stormwater management controls above the minimum standards should be provided to reduce runoff to good forested conditions to the greatest extent possible to help mitigate downstream flooding.

[03:25:42] This plan language holds the applicant to the most stringent, quantifiable, definable standard in Fairfax County with respect to stormwater management. There are no stormwater controls on this property today. This plot meant as far as we possibly could, and we are providing a design that meets the good forested conditions standard for the two, 10, and 100-year storms. This is accomplished in a couple different ways. Namely, we are diverting water from the Cameron Run watershed to the Four Mile Run watershed, and then proposing underground detention facilities that will store runoff and delay its release. This is an extremely extensive system that meets the

[03:26:22] comprehensive plan language and the incredibly high bar of good forested standard and ultimately the water draining toward ravenwood park today will be reduced and less water will go in that direction once this application moves forward i further note that wesley housing and the church will be on the site hopefully in perpetuity and they will be good stewards of this system they will maintain it they will record a maintenance agreement with the county they look forward to being a good neighbor and addressing issues as they arise in the future which has not necessarily been the case with developments in the vicinity of this site in the next two slides sharon you'll

[03:26:58] see the conceptual elevations the design has been done to try and complement the materials found in the adjacent community and on the next slide i noted that we are proposing a flat roof and have moved parking underground to ensure that the disturbance on the site is as limited as possible on this slide is a site section and that has been a kind of secondary topic of conversation has been building height and how it interacts with the adjacent single-family community so i want to point out a couple of things on this particular image one is that although the building

[03:27:35] is 50 feet in height based on the zoning ordinance definition of height the rear of the building really reads as approximately a three-story building from the actual grade of the site It's approximately 38 feet from actual grade in the rear of the site, so roughly similar to a townhouse in the vicinity of this property.

[03:27:55] And then as you can see, there is a substantial distance between the building and adjacent homes, and then there is the vegetation between the new building and the homes. I'll also highlight that we have added a fence that has been called out in this image in cooperation with the neighbors, on some discussion that we have tried to locate roughly 20 feet from the lot line to provide the maximum benefit in terms of screening. Next slide. Illustrated here are as an image from those adjacent homes you can see that at installation there will be some minimal visibility of the building given the

[03:28:32] grade difference between the new facility and the neighboring homes but our intention really is to enhance and preserve the screening and maintain it such that at maturity there really is very minimal visibility from the adjacent homes of the new facility. Next slide. And on this slide in closing I want to just note that we have tried to illustrate what the site would look like hopefully in the future between the church on the kind of upper part of the slide and then the new L-shaped independent living facility.

[03:29:07] All projects are a balancing act to provide a viable project that addresses county and community interest and we are looking forward to improving the stormwater management, upgrading an underutilized portion of the church property with a critically needed housing type, providing a new home for the Colmore Clinic, and serving as a model of what can be achieved in partnership with the county and faith community. With that, I'll close by saying that the Mason District Land Use Committee did vote to support the application. The Planning Commission has supported this and staff is recommending approval. I know there's a number of speakers, but in advance of those, I would be happen to answer any questions you all might have. Thank you very much Mr. Mariska and at this time

[03:29:43] let me ask if the board has any questions either of staff or of the applicant. Supervisor Gross. Thank you and thank you Sarah. Could you briefly address the proposed fence and its maximum height and what is the allowable height because I know that there was some discussion that I had with the community just last evening. They'd like to see perhaps an eight foot fence which I think is not allowed it's not allowed um so if you could please address the proposed fence what it's going to look like sure um who will own and maintain it so i have a when you finish that i have another

[03:30:22] couple questions absolutely so the fence our intention is what is reflected in the special permit plat and certainly we can continue to to think about this at time of site plan but the intention is it would be a six foot board on board fence roughly 20 feet into the property There is a development condition that also memorializes that the landscaping between the church property and the fence or the property line and the fence would be maintained by the independent living facility owner and operator.

[03:30:50] And the intention is that the independent living facility, Wesley Housing, would maintain the vegetation, the fence, a wall in the rear of the church parking. All that would be done by Wesley Housing as part of their care and maintenance of the site. I know that there is a desire for a higher fence.

[03:31:08] It's something we can certainly look at. My understanding is that we would have to ask for an increase in fence height and that even though an 8-foot fence might be desired, my understanding is that we could not go above 7 feet. I'm looking at staff to see if that's their understanding as well. And there is a grade so that the fence will be up higher on the grade.

[03:31:29] Correct. The fence would be up in the middle of the hill, and it was proposed 20 feet into the site intentionally to provide as much visibility blocking as we could provide in that location. Okay. Mr. Chairman, when I met with the applicant and they showed me what they wanted to do with a fence 20 feet off of the property line, I said, wait a second.

[03:31:51] We've had a lot of challenges in Mason District when you put a fence that far off the property or even closer to the property line because you essentially establish a no man's land that is very hard to maintain. But in discussing with the community, they want that fence to 20 feet off the property line. I said, fine.

[03:32:11] I will step back, and that would be okay. There is, I think, still going to be some, going to have to be some discussion about the maintenance of that open space area because 20 feet all along there, and I think it goes, I'm not sure how many.

[03:32:29] It goes quite a ways. It goes several, it crosses several adjacent property lines in the back. So it's going to be quite a bit of open space to maintain. Yes. And there probably will have to be some collaboration between the Wesley Housing and the property owners, their neighbors to the rear, as to just what some of that looks like sometimes.

[03:32:53] If there's a tree that comes down further down, they're going to need to let people know and so forth. So there will be some more collaboration. Also, would you talk a little bit about the maintenance of the amenity space in the rear of the building? I believe on one of the slides it showed it as potentially artificial turf.

[03:33:15] Sure. There's been some discussion about should it be grass, should it be regular grass, should it be artificial turf. There are going to be planting boxes somewhere out there. Could you discuss that a little bit further, Sarah? Sir, we had proposed in this image, and again, I do want to emphasize this is conceptual.

[03:33:32] We are happy to get the feedback from the board and from others on this proposed concept. We are reflecting it in this image as artificial turf with the intention that it would be usable year-round, that it would be potentially usable much faster after a rainstorm.

[03:33:48] It would be potentially less maintenance for our property maintenance staff on site. But this is a concept, and we welcome feedback on that proposal. All right. Thank you. And one other item that occurred to me as I saw one of the overheads, if you could put up one of the plats that shows the church and the proposed building.

[03:34:12] It doesn't matter which one. I think there were a couple. There we go. Right now, you access the church property with a right turn in from Route 7. Going east, you cannot turn. Well, I suppose you could try, but it's very dangerous.

[03:34:32] And then you go around the building and exit back onto Leesburg Pike, turning right only. Correct. Do any of those turning movements change as a result of this proposal?

[03:34:48] No. And, in fact, one of the benefits in our view of this proposal is that there are, as you mentioned, the two existing access points onto Leesburg Pike that we are not touching. those remain in their existing location existing configuration and that both this the church and the new structure would be able to take advantage of those existing movements okay let me let me drill down a little bit further because right now it's one way it's a u-shape one way but will you be able to access the new building on the eastern side of the church which is currently a driveway

[03:35:25] back out to yes yes will that become a two-way in a way in a two-way no what it would be a one way in and then a one way out as you can see and it's a little bit hard to see on this slide because it's very busy but you can see that um kind of on the it's on plan right but it's really the south but plan right there is a new aisle of parking to the south of the church building between the church and the independent living facility and that reconfigured area would be allowed for two-way in that vicinity and then there would be two-way traffic in front of the new independent living

[03:36:01] facility as well. Okay, so somebody instead of coming, if they were going east on Little Reesburg Pike coming, they could access the first right-hand turn. Yes. They could also access the second right-hand turn. Correct. Okay, just wanted to make sure that there were choices there and it wasn't something's a situation where you would have to come all the way around the church to access the new building no okay thank you i have another question i'm sorry yes go right detention facilities there are seven there are six actual detention facilities and a rain garden

[03:36:40] i believe that's correct um can you tell me or perhaps your engineer could tell us how much stormwater I know we talked about 10 the 210 and 100 year storm but in gallons how much one of those retention facilities would retain to then put the water out slowly Aaron might have to do some math but um Aaron might be helpful if you talk a little bit I have um images showing kind of where the storm water is going how we've changed that and then also this so if you want to maybe address all of those things that might be helpful uh my name is Aaron Vince can you guys hear me? Yes. My name is Aaron Vince and I'm with Walter L. Phillips. We're the engineer for the

[03:37:20] project. Supervisor Gross, the short answer is there are six large detention facilities and the bioretention facility, as you mentioned, that bioretention facility also has gravel storage underneath it. So all seven facilities provide a significant amount of detention for the site.

[03:37:35] In total, we have an excess of 13,000 cubic feet of storage in gallons, which I find easier to picture, that's just under 99,000 gallons of detention capacity. Okay. All right. It's a lot. If you think of milk jugs, it's quite a bit. And some of that stormwater would go toward Route 7. It's not all coming back toward Ravenwood Park. Some of it, the ones on the front edge of Route 7 actually go into, I'm trying to remember the watershed there. It goes to Long Branch Creek

[03:38:13] long ranch thank you okay so it's not all flowing downhill it is actually flowing across that's correct today in the existing condition where no controls exist roughly 28 of the site drains to long branch creek and four mile run with the balance 72 going toward through ravenwood park and toward cameron run okay with our proposed diversion that that miss mariska mentioned earlier 40 percent of the site will be directed toward long branch creek and four mile run with 60

[03:38:50] continuing to drain toward ravenwood park okay thank you i think that does it to me thank you if i could just follow up on that because i i'm understanding the measurements here but i want to make sure i understand in terms of what would be required versus what you're providing in terms of capacity do you do you have an easy way to explain that to us no um the short answer is under normal circumstances um just to speak to the design storms that we're dealing with the hundred year

[03:39:26] storm is not a requirement in any capacity under normal circumstances so one of the biggest things that our plan proposes to do in terms of just how aggressive our stormwater management approach is is we in in the you know 27 months or so that we've been working with the community through this process our stormwater management plan has become more and more aggressive and one of the things that we heard very early from the community and we study this in detail and we agree is that there are significant issues downstream of us during very large storm events and so the biggest sort of difference between what we're doing and what might be required under sort of a baseline

[03:40:03] no issues situation is that we are taking the 100-year storm event back to a release rate that is equivalent to a forested condition and so we that's probably the very largest most aggressive move that we're making relative to a standard air quotes project okay and that and that's the cumulative benefit of all seven of the facilities correct okay okay okay any other questions of staff or of the applicant okay uh this is a public hearing and i do have 10 speakers who have signed

[03:40:38] up in advance to testify our first three speakers are in person speaker number one is stephen moore if stephen if you could come on down speaker number two is martin machowski marty is here and speaker number three will be joseph dwyer and then we have a series of videos to play but stephen moore is here representing the first christian church of false church and has five minutes welcome the floor is yours thank you i'm steve moore the senior minister of first christian Church of Falls Church. With me today are just two of our over 100 members of the congregation

[03:41:12] who stand in support of the passage of this special exception. I know you've also received letters from other members of our congregation that live throughout Fairfax County. Now I could talk to you today about the extraordinary efforts the applicant has taken to bring the site to good forested conditions. I could talk to you about how the cost of any additional stormwater controls will not significantly improve the situation in Ravenwood Park.

[03:41:42] I could talk to you today about the height of the building, which with the current grade will equal a three-story building in the part which is most visible to our neighbors. I could talk to you about the efforts to preserve as much tree canopy as possible, including planting more trees and also building a fence.

[03:42:01] I could talk to you about the over 10 years we as a congregation have been in this process after leaders of Fairfax County government approached us to consider partnering to use some of our land for good use. Each of these issues have been addressed in the proposal you have before you today. I've learned more than I can imagine about stormwater, building heights, trees, parking, as I've said before. They do not teach us this in seminary

[03:42:31] to graduate school instead what i think gets lost in these conversations are the neighbors who would be the residents of the affordable senior housing perhaps our neighbor would be brenda a teacher and single mother who currently rents an apartment in fairfax county unable to afford a house of her own by the time she retires even with her pension housing affordability will be more costly with this type of project, there is a possible place for Brenda to live in the community she loves

[03:43:09] during her retirement. Perhaps our neighbor will be Janice, currently living off a small family trust managed by her brother in Seattle, Washington. Janice, now in her late 60s, grew up in this area and recently discovered that she is having to move. She doesn't want to move out to Seattle, Washington, but she wants to stay here in Falls Church, Virginia, to be close to her friends and her faith community. With this project, there might be a place for Janice to live.

[03:43:42] Perhaps our neighbor will be Jorge, a handyman by trade who works 10-hour days building his business, yet never quite being able to afford a down payment for a home. He's raising his family in the area, and when he retires, he would like to stay in this area close to his grandchildren. With this project, there is a place for Jorge and his wife to live.

[03:44:07] Our mission at First Christian Church of Falls Church is to touch lives by being and sharing God's love with all of God's children. We are ready to share that love through building of 95 independent living senior apartments with 5,000 square feet of space for the Colmore Clinic.

[03:44:29] We are ready to be the first faith community in Fairfax County to be such a partner with you and with Wesley Housing. So let's make this happen. For people like Brenda, for people like Janice, and for people like Jorge and his wife, I encourage you to pass this special exception.

[03:44:52] Thank you for your time, and thank you for your consideration. Thank you very much, Mr. Moore. Appreciate your testimony. Our next speaker is Martin Machowski, followed by Joseph Dwyer. Is Joseph here? Okay, excellent. Marty, welcome.

[03:45:08] The floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Madam Vice Chair, members of the board, my name is Martin Machowski. I live at 6208 Comac Drive in Ravenwood Park, which abuts the church property. Mr. Chairman, I had an opportunity to discuss this special exception application with Supervisor Gross and members of your staff, and I submitted a presentation for the board earlier.

[03:45:29] I'll keep my comments today to the point. Despite all you've heard about stormwater management on the site, the application falls short of meeting the commitment that was made to the Ravenwood Park community in the plan amendment process to manage all stormwater, not some, all stormwater, to the good forested conditions standard.

[03:45:51] The stormwater language in the plan, as Ms. Mariska read, reads as follows. Stormwater management controls above the minimum standards should be provided to reduce to good forested conditions to the greatest extent possible, the greatest extent possible to help mitigate downstream flooding.

[03:46:10] The staff presentation to the Board of Supervisors in April makes it clear that this standard, the greatest extent possible, applies to the entire 6.82 acre property. Staff said, and I quote, this would include portions of the site that were developed before current stormwater management guidance that currently lack modern stormwater controls.

[03:46:36] These portions that the staff was talking about are the church and the parking lot. No one questioned this commitment in April. No one. But the stormwater summary information in the application shows that some of the stormwater from the 6.82 acre property will be managed to the good forested conditions standard and some will not.

[03:46:58] That some stormwater that falls on the parking lot will be managed to the good forested conditions standard, and some will not. And that no stormwater that falls on the church, the current existing property, will be managed to the good forested conditions standard.

[03:47:17] None. This stormwater will be managed, it will be collected, it will be delivered to those seven detention facilities, and it will be released. But the proposed detention facilities are simply not big enough, and the release rates that will be engineered will not manage the stormwater to the good forested conditions standard.

[03:47:44] But they can be. They can be. Mr. Chairman, when the board adopted the plan amendment, you and other board members spoke eloquently about the importance of this project, about the important role that the faith community can play in meeting the need for affordable housing in Fairfax County.

[03:48:04] I agree. I said it then, and I'll say it now. But what I'm asking today is that the church, Wesley Housing, I'm summing up, and the county keep faith with the Ravenwood Park community and meet fully the commitment made in the plan amendment process.

[03:48:22] Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Michowski. Appreciate your testimony. Our next speaker is Joseph Dwyer. Mr. Dwyer, welcome. Can you see my presentation?

[03:48:40] I think there's no way for us to see it on there, I don't think, is there? Let me ask our clerk's office. Ah, there we go. Perfect. Now we can. Good afternoon. My name is Joseph Dwyer, and I live at 3122 Adrian Place in a one-story, 1,600-square-foot home, which is directly behind and in closest proximity to the proposed Wesley Housing Development Project, which will be 92,500 square feet and eventually tower over my home.

[03:49:06] As public school teachers, it took my wife and I nearly 20 years of working and saving to buy our first home here in the summer of 2022. At that time, we were unaware of the proposed housing development and have serious concerns about our loss of privacy and the negative visual impact. As public school teachers who have struggled to live in the areas where we teach, we definitely understand the need for affordable housing, but believe those interests should be appropriately balanced to account for the spillover costs being generated by the project.

[03:49:33] With some very small adjustments to their building plan, I will fully support the building proposal behind my house. I want to feel proud of this important project, but under the current plan, I feel unheard. My backyard extends about 10 feet past the brick retaining wall you can see in the bottom of the photo.

[03:49:51] The applicant did not show my yard in their presentation. To get perspective, you can clearly see a shed, which is 6.5 yards from the proposed edge of the building, which will face our property. Being on a hill, the visual impact will be amplified. This is from the building's point of view where you can see the proposed edge of the building.

[03:50:13] And then in the next slide. In this picture, it's not hard to see the serious negative visual impact that it will have both from our view and on our home's privacy. The limited foliage that you see screening our property will be lessened as trees are removed during the building process and invasives are removed.

[03:50:31] The comprehensive plan language is extremely clear on this matter. Visual impacts to adjacent residential neighborhoods should be minimized through building and site design, including appropriate transition in scale and height. The applicant is not currently offering an appropriate transition in height.

[03:50:52] The height of the proposed building is 50 feet. That's the absolute maximum allowed on the site. Although the applicant states that the portion of the building facing our property is transitioning from four to three stories, this claim is misleading. the level of the roof will remain consistent across the entirety of the building.

[03:51:09] There is not a step down nearest our homes acting as a transition. So as an extremely reasonable compromise, please step down the height of the building by one story for half of the wing, which is in closest proximity to my neighborhood's properties.

[03:51:26] We are aware that our compromise may reduce the number of affordable housing units by approximately four. Although this is regrettable and unfortunate, the compromise is equitable, since more than four of my neighbors being negatively impacted by reducing the height of the building the applicant will simply be paying for some of the spillover costs that they're not currently paying further the number of units offered will still be above the medium number served in their other local developments this is fair and this is equitable i think an important question needs to be asked can the non-profit operate at this level without incurring a loss i'm almost done all that we're asking for is the

[03:52:02] rendering that was already shown to us so you can see on the screen in a rendering that was shown approximately a month ago you can see a step down to the building that's all we want please don't shove this project down our throat we want this project we can create a win-win um not a win-lose i really appreciate your time and thanks for listening thank you very much mr dwyer speaker number four is mallory nail who has submitted video testimony hi my name is mallory nail and and I live in Ravenwood Park beside the church property.

[03:52:38] Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on this proposal. I have two comments for the Board of Supervisors' consideration. The first is on building height. I would like to see the building height reduced by one floor, one story, specifically in the area of the building closest to Ravenwood Park.

[03:52:53] The current structure that Wesley Housing is considering building would loom over our predominantly one-story homes. reducing the building height by one floor, one story would help preserve our privacy as well as our neighborhood. Representatives from Wesley Housing have stated that, you know, reducing the building height by one floor, one story is impossible because it would remove six or eight units from the building. But we know it is possible. That is a change that they could make

[03:53:28] and still have a successful project. My second request is on trees. Unfortunately, the Wesley proposal requires them to cut down the healthiest trees on the property. And this is incredibly unfortunate because this is one of the last wooded areas in our planning district, a planning district that doesn't have many trees to begin with. So I would like to see Wesley housing be required to create a robust new tree buffer and be required to maintain that tree buffer for the

[03:54:06] decades to come. We really do need a win-win solution for this proposal. Wesley Housing should be able to advance their project and build their building and serve our community, but we should also be able to preserve our homes and our neighborhood. Thank you. And our next speaker will be Brian Gilbert, who also has submitted a video. Hi, my name is Brian Gilbert, and I live beside First Christian Church in neighboring Ravenwood Park. Thank you for allowing me to

[03:54:46] provide comments on this important proposal. I have concerns with the Wesley proposal. I request the Board of Supervisors require two changes. I'm very concerned about the negative impact that the proposed building will have on the mature forested area separating the church property and Ravenwood Park and the proposed height of the construction. The current building in the proposal is just too tall and oriented directly beside our properties with only feet to spare. We'll tower over our predominantly one-story homes. I think that this proposal needs to be updated to be three stories

[03:55:20] and definitely not four as it is. Additionally, Wesley Housing should be required to maintain a healthy and robust tree buffer for the years to come. Maintenance of this tree buffer is so essential. It's one of the last forested areas in our planning district. While I know that this is a worthy project for the community, it has to be done right to protect the interests of Ravenwood Park as well. Thank you so much for your consideration. Thank you. Our next speaker...

[03:55:50] 1916 is a soft ripen age goat. Our next speaker has also submitted a video, Chris Thompson. Hello, my name is Chris Thompson. My wife Karen and I live at 3121 Adrian Place in Falls Church, Virginia, and our property adjoins the church property that's going to be developed.

[03:56:16] I've participated in meetings on this topic beginning back in the summer of 2017 and have been very engaged with the church and the developers throughout the entire process, both in public forums as well as private meetings between all the groups.

[03:56:32] I agree with a lot of the sentiments that's been expressed that such a large building adjoining our neighborhood is not congruent with the way things should be developed here in Fairfax County. However, it does appear that this development is going to be going through.

[03:56:48] If accommodations cannot be made to lower the height of the building, as has been requested by my other neighbors, which I also agree with. I do ask that the plan be more specific in what they are requiring for the developers to do as far as providing coverage between the large building and our neighborhood as far as tree planting and what have you.

[03:57:13] I'm taking this video today from my backyard right near my property line. If you look behind me at the tree line, it's very difficult to tell, but this is about where the top of the structure will be. So any tree plantings that are done in the next couple of years will not provide any appreciable coverage between myself and the structure for the next 25 to 30 years.

[03:57:40] So we ask that some very specific language be put into the plan to indicate that the developer will indeed plant very thick, large trees to provide at least some amount of coverage for us.

[03:57:57] Because as you can see, currently there is no coverage between us and where the building will be closest to our property. We also ask that some language be put into the plan that specifies the height of the fence right now. We are appreciative of the fact that the developer has indicated they will build a fence about 20 feet off the property line, but it doesn't specify what kind of fence.

[03:58:23] We have heard verbalized in recent meetings discussions of a six-foot fence. My neighbors and I would appreciate an eight-foot fence, because as you can see behind me, this is a pretty steep hill, and a six-foot fence would not provide much privacy or protection from such a structure that's on a hill of this slope.

[03:58:46] Thank you for the opportunity to share this information with you. Good night. Thank you very much, Mr. Thompson. Our next speaker is speaker number seven, Jill Norcross, who has joined us by phone. Jill, can you hear me okay? Yes, I can. Can you hear me?

[03:59:02] We can hear you fine. Welcome. The floor is yours. You have five minutes. Thank you so much for the opportunity to give my testimony today. My name is Jill Norcross, and I live at 11956 Grace Squirrel Lane in Reston, Virginia.

[03:59:18] I'm in my second month as the Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance, or NAVAHA, as we are known. Navaja promotes healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities that meet the diverse housing needs of Northern Virginia residents. And we do this by advocating for public policies and adequate financial investments to develop and preserve housing that's affordable.

[03:59:40] We build political will to advance affordable housing through better understanding of the interplay between housing, health, equity, and economic development. We partner with underserved communities to lift their participation in our civic discourse. We call for the deconstruction of land use systems and policies that perpetuate inequities and the allocation of resources to address the disparities created by these systems.

[04:00:04] And finally, we conduct research on housing needs and policies to promote inclusive, equitable communities in Northern Virginia. In the past, Navaja typically has advocated for sound housing policy and not necessarily for specific projects. projects. But for your consideration today, there are really two projects before you which are founded on sound housing policy, innovative partnerships, and best practices. And I'm here to speak in favor of both of them today. So Wesley Housing's partnership with First Christian Church to develop an affordable, independent, senior living community of 95 homes for low-income

[04:00:38] seniors earning 50 to 60 percent of the AMI will be Fairfax County's first approved faith-based affordable housing development since the county suggested the strategy in the community-wide housing strategic plan in 2018. In a previous role, I served as project manager and a consultant to eight congregations who wanted to build affordable housing on their property. In northern Virginia alone, six congregations now have completed affordable housing on their faith institution-owned land with a cumulative total of 673 apartment units. We have been waiting to

[04:01:16] see this best practice model of partnerships, shared mission, and the reuse of underutilized property come to fruition in Fairfax County since that plan was adopted five years ago. And as you know, in July 2016, Wesley Housing was selected to be the designated developer to work with First Christian Church to construct the 95 units of affordable, independent senior living immediately adjacent to the church.

[04:01:44] And we're very supportive of this new housing stock that will support residents with low incomes of 50% to 60% of the area median income. And obviously, in addition to the residential offerings that have been mentioned, the approximately 5,000 square feet of accessory space that will house the Colmore Clinic will provide access to primary care for adults with low income living at the property and throughout the surrounding neighborhood at little to no cost.

[04:02:09] This also is another best practice that collates community-serving facilities within an affordable housing complex, and the collate location of an actual health clinic on an affordable housing site is an innovative approach to addressing the cross-sectioning of health and housing.

[04:02:26] With an anticipated 2025 project completion, this project too will take about 9 to 10 years to complete. a typical and unfortunate timeline for many of our affordable housing communities and especially ones that involve the faith community partner. These projects simply take too long to get approved.

[04:02:42] We know we are behind in addressing the affordable housing needs in our county. We have reports from the Urban Institute, targets set by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government, and production targets tracked by hand. Delays with projects such as these cost time and money for the church, the developer, and the community who needs senior affordable housing now.

[04:03:04] Our county has set an aggressive goal of 10,000 new affordable housing units by 2034, and we are overdue in making all of these 95 units count toward that goal. Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate the opportunity to speak today. Thank you very much, Ms. Norcross.

[04:03:22] And speaker number eight is Barbara Wolf, who also has joined us by phone. Barbara, can you hear me okay? I can indeed. I'll take you off as speaker. Excellent. And you are the president of the Ravenwood Park Citizens Association and have five minutes. Welcome.

[04:03:38] Thank you very much. I'm Barbara Wolf of 3121 Vinewood Place, which is directly behind the church property. The citizens of Ravenwood Park have tried everything we know to work with the county and Wesley Housing to be sure that whatever development plan emerges is fair in terms of keeping their project viable without damaging impacts to our community.

[04:04:00] And as you heard from Mr. Machowski and others, the research, the time, the care we put into fostering an equitable, workable plan for all has been exhaustive. We've consistently registered our concerns and have approached this plan with the hope of an equitable outcome that brings new affordable housing for seniors to the Mason District, while at the same time preserving or enhancing the little wooded land we have between us, putting in place controls that prevent damage to our properties from stormwater runoff, and, of course, preserving the character of existing neighborhoods in terms of transition that is consistent with the requirements of the county's comprehensive plan.

[04:04:39] We've made this case at every possible opportunity, including the recent Mason District Land Use Committee and County Planning Commission meetings. That had been the culmination so far of our years-long volunteer effort in which we took the lead to open and keep moving communications with Wesley and the First Christian Church.

[04:05:00] These concerns are shared by many well beyond the 112 Ravenwood Park residents who signed the letter to the Board of Supervisors and others. Wesley has said that they've made concessions and that assertion seems to have swayed the county decision makers, in particular the Planning Commission.

[04:05:16] To bring some clarity to this process that has proceeded thus far and seems to clearly be influencing the outcome, Our position is that no real concessions have been made, just adjustments to Wesley's plan from what they originally envisioned. So, for example, a four- to five-story building that they've learned would not be allowed permissible with only a max of four allowed floors based on height restrictions.

[04:05:41] So they went for the max, despite community concerns about that height. They've also claimed that they conceded by altering their plan from a pitched roof to a flat roof. but we don't see how a pitched roof on a four-story building would be in compliance with height restrictions, so we don't see a concession there. They originally planned for a 113-unit development and reduced that to 95, a slight reduction, and far more than the average 75-unit buildings in their portfolio. Wesley has said that they situated the long front of the L-shaped building as close to 7, Route 7 as possible, so that the wing leading back down toward Ravenwood

[04:06:18] Park could be set back as far as possible from our neighboring homes. But was there another plan originally that the wing leading to us, closer to us, that they compromised on by changing the plan? These are things that haven't been answered. They've also said that they would do much to maintain the tree buffer, reforest, manage stormwater runoff between the properties in Ravenwood Park. And unlike the neighboring Champion Oaks HOA, in which those promises has failed miserably, particularly with regard to stormwater management, that they could do that, Wesley could, because they have the resources committed to do so.

[04:06:53] But from what we understand, the forested land between the development of Ravenwood Park would still be owned by and the legal responsibility of the church, which has already indicated they didn't have the resources to manage that land in the first place. So despite all of our community's concerns, we don't feel they've been addressed in a meaningful way.

[04:07:16] Stormwater will always need to be managed by developers. So despite the plans that have been laid out by Wesley, which are impressive, those are simply what must be done. And so to call that above and beyond doesn't seem correct.

[04:07:38] My neighbors and others have spoken eloquently about the community's request and the justification. We support the future residents of the Wesley Project and all of the current residents of the affordable housing community surrounding Ravenwood Park, such as the two-story community of Hollybrook at Route 7 in Patrick Henry, which is a sprawling, vibrant community, and the two-story affordable community of Salem Village in Colmore.

[04:08:04] These are all neighbors, two-story apartment communities, affordable. As I see it, one of the biggest failures on the county's part in this process related to our three specific requests was the opportunity to understand what a drop down in the height of the wing of the building leading to Ravenwood Park would actually mean for Wesley in terms of revenue and project viability.

[04:08:27] By Wesley's own accounting, that drop down at some juncture in the rear wing of the building would mean the loss of just six to eight units. It would seem that in the many hours of time staff spent working through the proposal with Wesley, this issue that was a grave concern to the community would have been addressed to learn if it was a deal breaker.

[04:08:48] I think not, but we do deserve an answer on this since our request seemed to be dismissed out of hand. It appears the proposal will go forward as proposed, so all we can do now is ask that there be some provision to allow Ravenwood Park to have a meaningful voice in the steps that follow.

[04:09:06] Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. Wolfe. I appreciate that testimony. Our next speaker is speaker number nine, Nathan Chason, who has submitted a video testimony. Hi, my name is Nathan Chason, and I live at 3205 White Street.

[04:09:24] I have testified in front of you guys in the past and would be there in person if I could. I am here to speak about the water runoff from the developed portion of the church's property as well as the soon-to-be-developed portion. We have experienced significant flood damage in our house and our next-door neighbor Marty Machowski's and Pat Machowski's house as well and I know that the

[04:10:03] board is well aware of this situation as I have testified and Marty has testified and several of our neighbors have testified as well. One of the things that we have been asking for as a community is for the property that is already developed to be taken into consideration as far as the percentage of area that needs to be in good forest condition and we implore you that although the

[04:10:34] building code technically reads that the site as defined by the building code only requires them to make the disturbed area into good forested condition we request that the entire site including the existing parking lot and church property also be required to be in good forest condition as well. I realize and recognize that this means slightly more money for the development

[04:11:11] but it also means serving the community downstream that is as important as serving the community that that will be moving into these spaces. I appreciate your time and your attention to this matter and our request.

[04:11:28] Thank you. Thank you very much, Nathan. This is Democracy Now! Democracy Now! Our speaker number 10 is Shelly Murphy. Ms. Murphy, welcome. The floor is yours. Thank you, Chairman McKay and Board of Supervisors.

[04:11:46] I come to you today in a different capacity, but I also come to you because Wesley Housing will also be a big piece of my heart. I am Shelly Murphy. I'm speaking as an individual. My address is 613 East Nelson Avenue in Alexandria, Virginia. In my role as CEO with Wesley Housing, we've been working cooperatively with the church and the community for over six years, especially the neighbors at Ravenwood Park. This will be our fifth faith-based partnership, and I can tell you these partnerships build vibrant communities

[04:12:24] that really help to address the needs of each specific community. In this case, the ability to house Colmore Clinic, who has been a long-term partner serving those who have no medical insurance and no way to get health care other than through a free clinic, is significant in an area such as Colmore, where there is such a high level of need and a high poverty area.

[04:12:53] This was one of the things that excited us most when we entered into this joint venture with the church almost seven years ago. The idea that we can have a three-way partnership to continue to meet the needs of the community in the best way possible.

[04:13:12] Since that time, as we've worked through community concerns, we've done our level best to address them. You heard many of those things today. I believe the minimum open space requirement is 25%. We're at 50% with 40% undisturbed.

[04:13:28] The comp plan amendment allows for up to 113 units. At one point, the members of the community, I asked, what would be an appropriate size that you would consider? And they said less than 100. So we redesigned at 95 units. The stormwater conditions that we've talked so much about, I guess the way I would sum them up as a layperson who also knows more about this than I ever thought I would is that the stormwater conditions after this project is complete will be better than they are right now.

[04:14:04] And the only way to provide these benefits to the community is to build the project. We've done our level best to meet community needs. We agree that these needs are real. most importantly we would like to move forward and we ask for your support because it's our mission i'm sorry i still say our to uh build up the lives of of those that live in the communities that we serve we've just finished leasing up four new properties those properties all leased up

[04:14:36] within a couple of months that shows you the level of need in the community and we're very excited and ask for your support to move this project forward. Thank you very much, Ms. Murphy. And that was the end of our speakers who have signed up in advance to testify. But this is a public hearing. Is there anyone here present who has not spoken who would like to testify? If you could please come on down, state your name and address for the record. Is there anyone else here present who would like to testify on this matter that has not signed up and has not already spoken?

[04:15:13] Anyone else who would like to testify? Okay, you will be speaker number 11. Good afternoon. I'm Diane Rudnick. I live at 321 Sergeant Drive in Falls Church, and I live in Ravenwood Park. First of all, I commend the Planning Commission and the board in making more affordable housing available in Fairfax County.

[04:15:37] My husband and I have no problem with the building of this development. However, in the current proposal, the needs of the Ravenwood Park community have not been satisfactorily addressed. We are asking the community to address these concerns before the project is approved.

[04:15:55] I agree with all my neighbors about the stormwater runoff, the building height, and the preservation of trees. First on stormwater runoff. When it rains, water from my neighbor's property runs down her property, down into her walkway, into my driveway, and into the street.

[04:16:16] You say, well, that's not an issue, you may think, as it discharges into the street however when the temperatures are below freezing that water ices up the ice extends into the driveway and half of the walkway in front of my driveway and the driveway becomes a sheet of ice it also it makes it difficult to enter or leave our driveway this is an example of unintended storm water runoff i don't want that to happen in the in the Ravenwood Park community with the development of this church.

[04:16:48] This is what we are afraid of, unintended consequences of stormwater runoff. I want the developer to meet the Fairfax County comprehensive plan that requires that stormwater management meet good forested condition.

[04:17:05] I would like the developer to exceed those standards and make sure that stormwater runoff does not impede into Ravenwood Park. And I would like assurance from Fairfax County that this is not going to happen. And if the standards are not met and we have a problem with flooding in Ravenwood Park, then what do we do?

[04:17:25] What recourse does Ravenwood Park have? So we want the developer to have a plan that must be accepted by Fairfax County to ensure Ravenwood Park doesn't get any intended stormwater runoff problems. Now, second is the building height.

[04:17:40] many people have my neighbors have said and I would tell you that at the Planning Commission recently Wesley said that we would only have to reduce the number of apartments by six to eight so that it goes down to three stories the three stories was the original submission by Wesley so now they've changed it to four we are requesting it goes back to four to three stories I I don't think reducing the number of apartments by 6 to 8 should not be that big of a problem.

[04:18:13] If the four stories does come in, it's going to mean the development does not allow for any backyard privacy. How would each one of you feel sitting in your backyard to have your building looked at while you did? Am I up? My time?

[04:18:29] Yeah, if you could sum up. I can sum up. Okay. Third is the preservation of the existing trees and adding new trees. I would ask that Fairfax County have an arborist to identify exactly what trees need to be removed and what we can do to mitigate climate change.

[04:18:47] We need trees. They help reduce climate change. So I ask that we have large trees because the large trees are the ones that help it. Specifically, the type of trees that I'm asking for them. I lost my place.

[04:19:07] They're broad-leaved trees, such as oak, beech, and maple. And why these specific trees? Because they have a larger surface area of leaves, which creates more photosynthesis. So in conclusion, we're asking, reduce the building height from four stories to three, preserve as many existing trees as possible, and add new trees and bushes, and mitigate any storm damage.

[04:19:30] Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you, Ms. Rudnick. And is there anyone else here who would like to testify? last call for anyone present who would like to testify seeing and hear one hearing no one let me ask the clerk if anyone has called in any additional callers have called and no additional callers have called in at this time I turn to the applicant for rebuttal just be brief because I think Ms. Murphy did a wonderful job of summing up the process that we've been through I just want to highlight we do have a large number of development conditions and very detailed plans

[04:20:06] that do hold us to a very high level of detail and standard with respect to trees in terms of design and just to clarify I think we discussed it earlier Ms. Gross but that the church I'm sorry the Wesley housing intends to own the vegetated area as well as the fence as well as the wall all of that would be subject to a site plan and future subdivision that we would process us. And again, we have actually added a condition that obligates us to create a group to continue the conversation with the community. And we look forward to doing that. I'm happy to answer

[04:20:40] any other questions. Any questions of the applicant? Let me ask one question, because I think all of us on the board were, you know, certainly familiar with the stormwater issues when they came up at the time we did our plan amendment. And I know the language greatest extent possible was referenced earlier I know that the applicant believes they're exceeding the stormwater requirements but I guess my question is is do you feel like the greatest extent possible element of the language is addressed at

[04:21:19] site plan I mean obviously we don't have a fully engineered plan at this point we have a plan that is submitted as a part of this application but obviously you'll be going full full site plan approval process do you expect the greatest extent possible stormwater management will be addressed more acutely through that possible process at time of site plan we will advance the stormwater design we've done a lot of design work as you mentioned it will be refined at time of site plan we also look forward to discussing with the county a partnership potentially to improve efforts in the ravenwood park community so i think that things will evolve

[04:21:58] as we move forward okay and let me ask the same question to county staff is that and obviously that's plan language they're attempting to exceed the stormwater requirements to meet that plan language but obviously that language will still be with this application as it goes through site plan process as well is that right yes that's correct and we have a development condition number nine also that speaks to the partnership a continued partnership between the applicant and DPWS to continue to further meet our goals and

[04:22:29] that language okay um other questions supervisor gross a couple of other things um there are now with the addition of a 33rd development condition which we put which was added today there are i believe 12 of the 33 development conditions address landscaping or trees

[04:22:59] And so in one of the, I think it was Mr. Thompson's video, showed trees right now. Yes, it is. I'm sure that this was, his video was done within the last few days.

[04:23:18] There are no leaves on the trees. However, there were a lot of trees in the background that were heavily ivied over. So I'm wondering, has an urban forester or a tree expert taken a look at those trees to see?

[04:23:35] Sometimes when there's so much ivy on them, they are not necessarily going to be very healthy. And so I'd like to address that and also the efforts to replant trees and the kinds of trees that would be replanted.

[04:23:53] And, of course, they would all be shorter than what's there now. Correct. A couple of things. We have identified all of the trees within that buffer. As you noted, there are a number that are not in great condition. Those would be removed.

[04:24:09] We would remove invasive species. We would remove diseased or dying trees. But then we would supplement predominantly at the edges between the new building and the vegetation. We would be adding some landscaping in that area. I'm looking at Aaron to see if he wants to provide some specificity with respect to species and sizing.

[04:24:30] Sure. Aaron Venson with Walter Phillips. a few things an inventory was done it's on page 403 of the of the special exception and we also have a tree preservation plan in addition to the the buffer area that we've really focused our entire project on preserving which preserves roughly 70 of the buffer between us and our neighbors we are adding in addition to that area we are adding 32 new trees roughly along the the our edge of the buffer area those are going to be a mix they're going to be roughly 60 evergreens

[04:25:07] they're going to be category two trees which are going to be six to eight feet at time of planting and then there will be some other deciduous and ornamental trees which again the the deciduous trees will be um you know roughly one and a half to two and a half inch caliper okay so relatively large trees at time of planting and they will be roughly 10 to 12 feet at time of planting. So the screening of the area would be pretty intense, although not as tall as what's there now, most likely. We are certainly being as aggressive. We are being very

[04:25:44] aggressive in our attempts to screen ourselves. All right. Thank you. Okay. Any additional questions? Yes. Supervisor Stork. I've heard the comments on the stormwater management. That's really what I want to focus on a little bit more infill development I'm very familiar with particularly in older communities creates significant storm water management issues I think our current internal processes are inadequate for that and so I'm looking for if you will to optimize what can and should be done and I I heard I've heard the testimony I'm not I want to come back

[04:26:22] to I guess the the effort to retain more the storm water on site even if it is part of a part of the site that's not being redeveloped can you discuss why that's wasn't considered further I'm actually going to defer to Aaron as well we have spent a lot of time but he can speak much more eloquently than I can on this one of the things I will acknowledge there it does appear that between the community and staff and ourselves there was a some something of a misunderstanding stormwater management ordinance defines a site as

[04:26:57] disturbed area so as designers and as county staff at the risk of putting words in county staff's mouth that is the language we speak so to speak so when we talk about taking the site down to forested conditions we're thinking and designing toward and reviewing against the site as the disturbed area one of the things that we think is a real positive of this site is that we're able to accomplish what we're proposing while disturbing just over 50 percent of the site we think that's significant that that's a result of us focusing on tree preservation and limiting our development footprint so within that disturbed area we are taking that the runoff within that area down to forested conditions for the 210 and 100

[04:27:36] year storms with the rest of the site through the preservation of trees a total of 80% of the site will release runoff at a rate equivalent to good forested conditions and so that's why when we look at the comprehensive plan language that refers to a site and we are taking 80 of the site to forested conditions while disturbing 50 of the site so that's what that's one of the the sort of data points that lead us to feel pretty strongly that we are far in excess of comprehensive plan language i understand but

[04:28:12] if the reality of that is still the same meaning there's excessive runoff and and i know that's part of what we will be wrestling with further as a board as we go forward but try to look at ways to minimize and contain that now i think is a core part of what at least i have to look at and understand and and part of my consideration if you will is what that overall impact is and i know that again i wasn't involved with the detail of this i know but it's part of every conversation we have anymore about a property development in an older neighborhood and what i heard you say is the the existing property the existing church property wasn't really considered

[04:28:51] part of this conversation you're just looking at the part that's being redeveloped and of that 80 is what you're going to get to in terms of existing 40 conditions i'm glad you brought that up supervisor store because i did want to clarify today there are no controls on the site whatsoever i think there is one inlet that serves the entire property there is no curb there's no gutter there's no stormwater management so regardless of of whether or not we quantify an area as being reduced to good forested we are implementing stormwater controls we have inlets we have curb and gutter we are proposing controls at the entire perimeter of the site so there will be no

[04:29:30] storm water that leaves parking or building or any disturbed area uncontrolled the the question is not whether we will control it and enhance the the condition over what exists today the only question is to what extent and for 80 percent of the site that extent is as aggressive as is quantified by the county's public facilities manual and stormwater management ordinance but the existing part of that meaning the overall site and what it's it's sending out in terms of stormwater where will that end up versus where it is today in terms of that specific site and what if you could just answer

[04:30:09] that we're diverting um when we're done let me just get to the right page of my plan to make sure i say this correctly we are taking um 12 of our project area which is just under an acre that today drains to ravenwood park and we are diverting it to long branch creek which is north of route seven from us and we are doing that by providing detention uh significant attention to take the diverted runoff and actually release it at the pre-development pre-diversion rate so even if we proposed no stormwater management on the rest of our site that drains through ravenwood park

[04:30:48] we would affect a 12 change in the amount of water going through our neighboring community okay thank you okay further questions or discussion at this point uh seeing and hearing none uh we'll now ask for closing comments and a recommendation from county staff uh thank you on february 8th 2023 the planning commission recommended the approval of se 2022-ma-00026 subject to the proposed development conditions which were dated february 7th 2023 as we've heard today the

[04:31:28] development conditions have since been updated to include language to ensure the maintenance of that strip of land between the fence and the property line as well as an additional condition establishing a group of representatives of the applicant the church and ravenwood park association to discuss matters related to construction maintenance and or operation of the independent living facility the proposed development engines are now dated february 21st 2023 and were distributed to you all this afternoon no other changes were made to the conditions following the planning commission decision the planning commission also recommended approval of the waivers and modifications which

[04:32:03] are contained in the handout distributed to you dated february 1st 2023 and staff concurs with these recommendations thank you thank you very much any questions from board members questions from board members let me ask one question because i appreciated the series of questions that supervisor stork raised with regard to stormwater management and i you know obviously we want to make these affordable housing developments work and in some cases with houses of worship i could i know of some instances where perhaps if there's not an existing stormwater

[04:32:42] problem downstream where we might not want to you know force somebody to come in and exceed the stormwater management requirements especially to provide stormwater management for undisturbed parts of the site but obviously in this particular case we know that there are some stormwater issues in and around the vicinity you know not necessarily the fault of the church but a pre-existing condition and so you know I appreciate the attempt to exceed the stormwater requirements I'm just trying to figure out from this point you know moving forward how exact we're going to get with

[04:33:20] those and I you know I'm looking at development condition number nine and I just want to ask staff if they could read development commission condition number nine that talks about DPWS and their work on the stormwater solutions to this site. Sure. Development condition number 9 states that prior to the site plan approval, the applicant will continue to work in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services to design and or construct stormwater management solutions to reduce the peak release rate for the 100-year storm to a rate consistent

[04:33:57] to good forested land cover. And I just wanted to highlight that one because obviously we don't have a fully engineered plan in front of us as we discussed a few moments ago. We do know that there are challenges to the stormwater in and around the site and I just want to make sure that we're giving our site plan reviewers and the next agency that's going to be reviewing this plan frankly the ammo necessary to make sure we're getting the best stormwater solution that we can.

[04:34:29] It's one thing you know at this stage to say we're going to exceed the stormwater requirements it's another to push as far as we can to get the stormwater issues addressed you know on this site but also recognizing that there are some downstream and I appreciate the diversion and the you know the the information that's been shared here but that development condition is there for a reason and it's meant to make sure that you know DPWS and our site plan review folks can work closely with the applicant to make sure that we get this right and the reason why I'm saying that is not just because there's a pre-existing condition but because we're very

[04:35:06] grateful and we heard that from the speakers to this applicant for doing the first of its kind in Fairfax County and that is to provide affordable housing on site on a site that is owned by one of our houses of worship which is a major undertaking. With that of course comes a responsibility to make sure this works because we want to replicate this other places and obviously it only works if the community around it gets gets the sense that you know the stormwater issues will be improved here and that we will hold we will we will hold in good faith the language is in this development

[04:35:44] condition the language that was in the comprehensive plan amendment and you know knowing and working with Wesley on other projects I mean I have no reason to believe they're not going to continue to work on this issue and refine it but I do want to state very clearly that our ability to do these types of projects on other sites that are owned by houses of worship this one will be looked at as the kind of the litmus test for lack of a better description and so we have to make sure we get this right so that we can continue this type of creative partnership with our houses of worship and make sure that you know we obviously heard the community and their stormwater

[04:36:22] concerns and to their credit they've been consistent throughout the process both through the planning process now through the rezoning process and we have to make sure they're consistently applied through the site plan process as well and so I appreciate that other questions or comments at this time yes Supervisor Pouchek thank you and I appreciate where you were going with that and I think I hope we go maybe even further I was wondering looking at this I appreciate that it's the first of its kind I've been hoping we'd be a little bit further along at this point

[04:36:59] in helping our faith communities who are interested in this kind of work and and i think this really shows that there are many challenges uh in getting this done especially in our community where this is needed in our older communities that are seeing um either stormwater maintenance or infrastructure challenges that exist and so as they are working with dbws i hope and i think you were going there chairman is that if there are any incentives we need to use i know we have whether it's a stormwater fund or others I guess they're not a regular developer so I don't know if staff have already

[04:37:34] looked at or can come back with options for going farther you know if there are additional efforts that can be made on the stormwater side that knowing that this is a non-profit developer that we may be able to look at funding or grant options for that so I don't know Sharon if that's already been looked at or if there are options there I think it's a great question Supervisor and let me turn it over now to my colleague katie torkerson dpws she can maybe provide some better important background on other projects that are going on to address the stormwater concerns in

[04:38:10] this area hello my name is katie torkerson um i'm with the department of public works and environmental services stormwater planning division um i think we looked we we've been with dpd um from the beginning at this of this process starting with the sspa process um looking at potential partnerships that we can do we are trying to approach things at the watershed scale so in in this case for this ravenwood park community we already have two active flood mitigation

[04:38:49] projects underway one is downstream to mitigate the two homes that have structural flooding and that's an active design and then a second is a study of the watershed itself the drainage area that includes this property as well as others and looking at basically modeling the existing conditions looking at built-out conditions and then looking at potential concepts that we can use to improve infrastructure and stormwater management and that is underway and we hope to

[04:39:25] to have a model developed by the end of the summer so we are looking at this as kind of a pilot option where we can partner with developers to do stormwater management enhancements on their site that go above and beyond the regulatory requirements particularly nonprofit developers and and as it meets our watershed management plans I'm very happy to hear that I know we have joint enters with the schools and have been able to see the great improvements there so I think I'm much more comfortable hearing that we're looking at that and

[04:40:02] we'll see more efforts both for this but other possible projects as we move forward so thank you okay any additional questions or comments from board members at this point seeing and hearing none I am now going to close the public hearing and recognize supervisor gross for a motion thank you mr.

[04:40:20] chairman I have some comments I'm going to make but to supervisor Palchuk's inquiry about stormwater improvements um i will be having some additional discussions about county contributions um not prepared to come forward with that at this particular point need to have some conversations with mr hill um but uh i i will that is something that um as a follow-on that we will we will do and to everyone who's been involved thank you for the very robust discussions that we've had um reverend war i don't know if steven is still here

[04:40:58] there he is um another pastor in my district uh wayne yawn who was the pastor of united baptist church of annandale who which is an urban church didn't have this kind of space around it but was looking at how they might use some of their um their their church building uh for other uses told me one time, I got into this business to manage souls, not property. And I think that's probably exactly the way you feel at this particular point. Mr. Chairman, as we've heard,

[04:41:38] about a decade ago, the faith community and the county recognized that their missions to address community housing needs aligned. The churches that were built decades ago often had an excess of land around them tended to be plopped right down in the middle of the acreage. And that land could be repurposed for low-income housing developed by nonprofits. The goal was the same for all of those entities, the faith community, the county, and the nonprofits. Sadly, what seemed to be a solution to housing needs was met with many challenges. Zoning barriers, increasing

[04:42:17] stormwater and open space requirements, and sometimes community opposition. So the many proposals that we expected did not come to fruition. In Mason District, we now have a special exception application by First Christian Church of Falls Church and Wesley Housing for an independent living facility for low-income tenants, along with a permanent location for the Colmore Clinic, which has been serving uninsured and underinsured residents for more than a decade. This application, as you have heard, has been many years in the making. It needed a plan change. It went through

[04:42:54] previous SSPA process, and multiple years of discussions between the church and the adjacent community, especially Ravenwood Park. Many issues have been addressed by the applicant, and both staff and the Planning Commission have recommended approval. I'd like to speak to a couple of items that need further clarification. I think we actually have had the clarification here in the discussion. Stormwater runoff has plagued some Ravenwood Park residents for many years, due in park to the county system, which was appropriate when Ravenwood Park was developed in the mid-20th

[04:43:31] century, but which is now undersized in severe and sometimes not so severe storms. One of the people who submitted a video was Mr. Chaison. Unfortunately, his property is at the very bottom of a funnel.

[04:43:49] Mr. Machowski's property is a little bit farther up, but everything seems to run down to that location at White, I think it's White Street. And I've seen videos. I've been by there to look at what has happened. And that's the way it was designed. It all goes down there. So I am not at all surprised that there is a really severe concern that additional development might exacerbate what is already a difficult situation. The church property was developed before stormwater controls were required. And as you've heard, the property has no stormwater infrastructure

[04:44:24] controls at present. The applicant has proposed to install seven detention structures, including a bioretention garden, that will release stormwater gradually and help meet the good forested conditions in their development condition. County staff and private engineers have indicated to me that this is the most extensive approach to managing stormwater that they have seen in applications of this nature. The other major concern appears to be the height of the building.

[04:44:56] The grade slopes down from the Route 7 frontage where the building will have four stories or about 50 feet in height. At the rear closest to Ravenwood Park, the building, as I understand it, will nestle into the grade for an expected 35-foot height or 38-foot height, slightly taller than a townhouse.

[04:45:18] There also will be extensive buffer of existing urban forest augmented by a lot of additional plantings as we heard from Mr. Vincent. The artist's renderings of the proposed building are helpful, but as I explained to the neighbors, the board does not approve the architecture and the specific look of the development.

[04:45:36] Those details are part of the site plan process and approval and must meet building code and county requirements. The original proposed unit number of 113 has been reduced by 18 units to 95, which is a 16% reduction.

[04:45:53] I know that there are requests for additional reductions of six to eight units. That would be about 25% of the original proposal, and from my understanding, would pretty much render the development moot. In last-minute discussions with the neighbors, a development condition has been added to create a small communications group with representatives of Wesley Housing, First Christian Church of Falls Church, and Ravenwood Park, And staff from the Mason District Supervisor's Office, which will meet as needed to maintain information and communications about the development during and following construction.

[04:46:32] And Sharon Williams read most of that condition, but I do want to say the last sentence of that is the group meetings will be coordinated by the Mason District Supervisor's Office and will occur no more frequently than quarterly. That would seem to be about the right amount of time.

[04:46:50] Of course, there will always be opportunities to put questions through to the supervisor's office to get additional work, but the formal piece would be quarterly. So, after years of work and extensive discussions with the community and positive recommendations of the staff and planning commission, this proposal is ready for consideration by the Board of Supervisors so that the next steps in the very long journey to increase housing opportunities for low-income seniors can proceed.

[04:47:27] I will submit for the record a digital file of communications in support for the special exception, as well as communications my office has received expressing concern or opposition. And with that, I have a series of motions to make, and I would first request that the applicant confirm for the record their agreement to the development conditions now dated February 21st, 2023.

[04:47:52] We are in agreement with those conditions. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Board of Supervisors approve SC2022-MA-00026 subject to the development conditions dated February 21st, 2023.

[04:48:08] And I further move that the Board of Supervisors approve the waivers and modifications contained in the handout dated February 1st, 2023, which will be made part of the record. Second. Heard the motion. It's been multiply seconded. Discussion on the motion.

[04:48:24] Any discussion on the motion? Supervisor Stork. I just want to comment about the core of the challenge that we've had, because I share that the opportunity is real to work with faith groups.

[04:48:40] And there's been several efforts made in Mount Vernon District to do something similar, and they have been far more difficult than I ever imagined. And I think this is an example of why they're challenged, because while the property may be several acres, typically, where the buildings are centered and how to build around it, also how to protect the neighbors and community around it are a big challenge and then ultimately the church community itself and their concerns about being considered a good neighbor by folks who currently live around them and and not necessarily understanding the the new neighbors

[04:49:17] that can come in that are really going to be an essential part of how we frankly have one fairfax how we have a truly a community where all can live and thrive here so for that i i'm i'm absolutely willing to support this i i do have significant concerns about stormwater management i think this site is no different but it's this site is one of many that that are in the county that we have challenges with i i think for the board itself we have a lot of work to do on this issue and i'm looking forward to to having further conversations about it because i i think we need to keep those

[04:49:52] conversations and i think we need to look for ways to reduce the impact of stormwater management particularly in our older communities where, as Supervisor Vice Chair Gross mentioned, frankly, little or none existed when the facilities or the buildings were built to begin with. But I will be supporting this for that reason.

[04:50:11] Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Stork. Any other discussion? Supervisor Palczyk. Just briefly, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really want to thank the many, many hours of staff and community time that went into this. And Supervisor Gross, Vice Chair Gross, for your leadership on this.

[04:50:29] Like I said earlier, it's our first, but I hope will not be our last in Fairfax County, a place where we want all to be able to live, play, work, and retire. And more and more, I think we see the importance and the need for our committee, especially our employees, to be able to retire in the community.

[04:50:49] And I guess my one hope and request that from this, what the church has learned, what our staff have learned, what our nonprofits and our developers have learned, what your office has learned that can help us think of a proactive plan. I know we want to see more of these and it's become clear there's so many challenges, they won't just happen. So perhaps a follow-up to better understand how to help support additional communities who may be looking to ways to do this but feel a little bit overwhelmed by the work and the burden of it.

[04:51:24] So I'm very happy that this is coming forward and that I think all of the work put into it really is creating the best possible outcome with so much more work still to come. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Palczyk. And let me also say I will support the motion, but I do want to thank the applicant, our faith community, for boldly stepping forward to do this.

[04:51:49] I also want to thank Wesley. We have a great partnership with Wesley building high-quality, affordable housing throughout the county. But I also want to thank the community for having every right to raise the concerns that they have raised. And in particular, I want to thank them for focusing on the land use components here.

[04:52:10] It's a lot to be said for a community who never has opposed this for the reason that it's affordable housing. And I find that particularly to be quite refreshing. We've seen before when affordable housing comes forward that there's a veiled attempt to oppose it for land use related matters.

[04:52:31] When in reality, the opposition at the core is that there are people who don't want affordable housing. And I never, not for a minute, got that sense from this community. And so I salute them for that and for raising what are legitimate land use questions and for getting development conditions and other protections in place to help alleviate some longstanding issues, certainly with regard to stormwater management and legitimate concerns about screening and barriers and other things that are in the development conditions.

[04:53:03] And, you know, it is my hope that as this application moves through a site plan that these things can continue to be refined based on the language that are in the development conditions and that Supervisor Gross' office has worked on with the applicant and the community.

[04:53:19] And I understand what we have here is not a perfect product, but I think a lot of movement towards trying to address the issues that have been raised. But I really, you know, do want to thank all the people involved. Supervisor Pouchik mentioned this is, you know, being a pioneer can be painful sometimes.

[04:53:39] But I think it's really important for setting the stage for replication of this type of creative land use in the future. I only hope that as these come forward as difficult as this one is, that we have communities that stay focused on the land use components as this one did.

[04:53:56] And one of the things we can learn from this is the importance of doing that and making this about a land use case and not about affordable housing specifically, and so I salute them for that and look forward to hearing as this moves forward through the process ways that we can continue to address the issues that were raised here today.

[04:54:15] With that, I think we're ready to vote. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries, and Supervisor Gross, I will also be submitting. My office received 60-plus letters in support of the application.

[04:54:33] We will be submitting those for the record as well. Supervisor Gross. Mr. Chairman, we're not done yet. I have a follow-on motion. I move that the board directs staff to develop a funding plan for stormwater infrastructure improvements that may be installed concurrently with the development of the independent living facility as proposed in SE 2022-MA-00026 by Wesley Housing Development Corporation.

[04:55:02] This gets to what Supervisor Palczyk was talking about. I'd be happy to second that. It's been moved and seconded by Supervisor Palczyk. The Chair is happy to second that motion as well and look forward to getting more information back from staff on that. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

[04:55:19] Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. And is that all? Thank you very much, Supervisor Gross. And our next public hearing is a public hearing on PCA-C-052-10, CDPA-C-052-03, and FDPA-C-052-016, RZPA-2022-MA-00054, Skyline 4, LLC, and 5111 Leesburg, LLC, in the Mason District.

[04:55:58] And who do we have here who can reaffirm the affidavit? Good afternoon. For the record, I'm Greg Regal from the McGuire Woods Law Firm. On behalf of the applicant, reaffirming an affidavit dated the 1st of, excuse me, January 27th of 2023. Thank you. Thank you very much.

[04:56:15] Are there any disclosures from board members? Disclosures from board members. Seeing and hearing none, I will now recognize county staff for a county staff presentation. Thank you and good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.

[04:56:31] Once again, my name is Sharon Williams and I'm with the Department of Planning and Development. And here tonight, I'm here to present this PCA and CDPA proposed to adaptively reuse two office buildings and the Skyline Center. The 5.56-acre subject property is zoned PDC, and it lies within the Highway Corridor Overlay District, Sign Control Overlay District, and the Bailey's Crossroads Commercial Revitalization District.

[04:56:55] The site is located within the Skyline Center and is developed with two nine-story office buildings that are connected to Skyline Building 6, which is not included in this application. The subject property includes part of an existing surface parking lot located north of buildings four and five. Access to this site is provided from South George Mason Drive as well as the internal road network within the Skyline Center.

[04:57:15] There is significant grade change from the existing building down towards South George Mason Drive and so part of the buildings, particularly the western facade of building four, cantilevers over the space. The two office buildings were constructed on top of a three-story underground parking garage, which contains 1,885 parking spaces, 1,117 of which serve buildings four and five.

[04:57:39] The rest of the parking spaces serve building six. In addition, the existing office buildings are internally connected through a series of underground tunnels, which extend north to provide direct access to the adjacent gym and retail. The applicant is proposing to repurpose two existing office buildings into a maximum of 510 live-work units, which could be utilized by tenants as either an office, a residence, or a combination of the two. On the lower levels of each building, the applicant proposes to provide a minimum of 5,000 square feet of space for amenities and or retail, restaurants, personal service establishments, small-scale production,

[04:58:15] and other similar types of uses. The CDPA-FDPA highlights several key features of the proposal, showing how the two buildings can be retained and incorporated into the overall skyline center with enhanced amenity spaces throughout, including a courtyard between the two buildings, as well as maintaining the existing garage access.

[04:58:34] And so the two access points, there are two access points into the garage located within the surface parking lot, and then there's one along the western facade of building number four underneath the cantilevered plaza area. Pedestrian circulation is facilitated by existing pathways and sidewalks located on the site, and a new five-foot-wide sidewalk is proposed to be installed to meander through the existing trees and shrubs along South George Mason Drive.

[04:58:58] Additionally, the applicant proposes to install a pedestrian crosswalk across the entrance of the site where the internal drive aisle meets south towards Mason Drive. The building interiors are proposed to be completely cleared, except for the existing elevator shafts and the general locations of the bathrooms. While the building exterior will generally retain the same architectural structure, the applicant proposes to reface the facade of Buildings 4 and 5 and replace the existing windows with clear glass to brighten the building facade as shown here.

[04:59:26] The applicant proposes to provide 1.3 acres of recreational open space, which includes a variety of amenities broken up into three distinct park spaces shown in more detail on the next slides. The community sports park is proposed north of the buildings.

[04:59:42] Within this space, the applicant proposes to create open spaces with active features, including pickleball courts, game tables, a yoga pad, and a beach with a volleyball court. Another plaza space called the International Game Table Park is proposed along the western facade of Building 4 and would contain seating and game tables.

[04:59:59] This park leads to proposed pedestrian bridge which provides access to the proposed arts park along George Mason Drive connecting the cantilevered space to the ground plane and finally south of the buildings the applicant proposes to provide a linear park wrapping around the perimeter of the development with a variety of climbable and interactive areas as well as screens that would contain art leading up to the entrance of the buildings Again, the proposed pedestrian bridge will be located within this space and is shown here in this image Now to provide the open space along South George Mason Drive, the applicant proposes to remove approximately one-third of the existing surface parking lot behind the buildings.

[05:00:35] The surface parking located east of the proposed open space areas adjacent to Building 6 is proposed to remain. Finally, the applicant has requested 17 waivers and modifications, several of which staff supports, as detailed in the staff report.

[05:00:52] And this concludes my presentation. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. At this time, we'd recognize the applicant for an applicant's presentation. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, good afternoon. I'll start by saying, frankly, how we got here, I think, is contextually relevant. And I'm sure as many on the board recall, back in 2018, this board had the foresight to see, frankly, what was coming in terms of structural shifts in the economy with respect to where and how people are living and working and what the effects of that might be on conventional office buildings. And in turn, you adopted some of the most

[05:01:28] forward-looking repositioning policies in the region. Frankly, this application and others like it are the logical response to what proved to be a very timely and well-thought-out policy. And similarly, the overwhelming community support for this project affirms that people that are invested in their community welcome seeing the opportunity for empty buildings to be put back to productive use. Now, while your repositioning policy generally applies strictly to office to residential conversions, we like to think we take the concept a bit further with a live-work concept that was described by the staff. The result is highly efficient. We often describe it as whole

[05:02:07] life cost savings that capture what is gained by not having to bear the cost of maintaining separate living and working spaces and avoiding the associated commuting costs that are typically associated with that arrangement. We're doing more than simply putting an empty building to productive use. We're also embracing, frankly, the fastest-growing segment of the new economy. Specific to Skyline for a moment, the right answer is one of evolution and not replacement. As most know, Skyline never lacked for vision, and this is an opportunity to celebrate that original vision in a way that properly

[05:02:43] reflects the new economic realities. This application also illustrates the intersection between economic development, community building, and placemaking, and that's best illustrated by the scale and quality of the public spaces that staff showed you on the screen. As you might expect in this type of a project, what were unadorned surface parking and hardscape areas are instead highly programmed active spaces with significant new landscaping and overall amenity. And perhaps most importantly, these spaces are public with a capital P. All the spaces and amenities you saw on that screen

[05:03:17] are available to all that might be living, working, or shopping in Skyline or in this part of Bailey's. True to the purpose of the repositioning policy, the application provides a means to implement a wide range of well-settled county objectives that include economic development, housing affordability, green building, certainly reusing buildings as the ultimate green building program, transportation demand management, placemaking, community building, and of course, true to your policy, staying at the forefront of creative ways to ensure that buildings remain viable.

[05:03:51] I want to close with a thanks to staff. Building repositioning doesn't always fit cleanly into the regulatory box. It's been a lot of hard staff work to get us here. And they've been particularly sensitive to timing realities. These are time-sensitive deals, and they've worked hard to help meet our deadlines.

[05:04:08] And we're very excited to move this forward. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. At this time, are there any questions of staff or the applicant? Supervisor Faust. Yeah, thanks, Greg.

[05:04:25] 4 and 5, this Skyline 4 and 5? Yes, sir. Has 6 been addressed yet, or is that what, just so I know what I'm doing here in terms of evaluating 4 and 5? 6, interestingly, is a least and reasonably successful office building, and we think we actually make it more successful by taking the vacant space out of the market.

[05:04:45] So 6 is a good complement to what we're repurposing here and what's about to come online in 1, 2, and 3, if you know Skyline. so it is a successful office building yes yes sir okay any other questions all right seeing and hearing none this is a public hearing um i have one speaker uh who recently signed up and that is alina and tochi is alina joining us in person or on phone she's on the phone uh alina can you hear me okay yes i can hear you can you hear me we can hear you fine uh you have uh five minutes as a

[05:05:21] representative of Skyline Square. Welcome, the floor is yours. Well, thank you very much. Again, my name is Alina Monica Antoji, and I have been a resident in the Skyline Square condominium for the past five years. I am also here the chair of the Community Advocacy Committee, which was set up by our board of directors here at Skyline Square, which represents about 850 families. Now, the Skyline community, it's a larger community, which comprises of Skyline

[05:05:53] Square, Skyline House, and Skyline Plaza, totaling about 2,363 families. The two new projects that have been in discussion, Skyline 1-3, which is currently under development, and the one that's being discussed today, Skyline 4-5 and 51-11 Leaport, will obviously add to this growing community. Now, the testimony today is that we would like to show strong support to this new initiative and to this great proposal to revive those vacant office buildings in our skyline

[05:06:29] neighborhood. We also support the plan to use better utilization of the existing infrastructure to this repurposing and redevelopment with raised pedestrian crosswalks and access to bridge overlook. We also welcome the substantial side design and improvements to the current open space and pedestrian access, which according to the staff report, which we've read in detail, We'll be providing different sitting areas, benches, lounges, and also modern places for community art, outdoor movies, volleyball court, and ping-pong areas, among others.

[05:07:04] Now, most importantly, however, the members of the Skyline community, we welcome this new development on Skyline 4 and 5 and 5111 Leesburg, which, along with the ongoing development of Skyline 1-3, will help advance economic development here and spur good new businesses.

[05:07:24] And finally, help re-establish Bailey's Crossroads as an innovation corridor for Fairfax County. I want to also congratulate the staff for putting together a very well-documented staff report, which was presented and approved by the Planning Commission on February 8.

[05:07:42] We are also very pleased to note the importance that the staff report gives to meeting the requirements of the noise ordinance and protecting the peace of our community. Now, the staff report rightly indicates that any new development should not expose people in their home or in outdoor recreation areas to excessive noise levels.

[05:08:05] They also recommend the commitment from the builder to provide a noise study at the time of site plan submission. We therefore would like to commend the builder for taking those actions in achieving these standards for the new residential development and mitigate any issues.

[05:08:21] And finally, for providing the positive influence in our neighborhood. Now, the following comment, which I'll be concluding with, is to the county of Fairfax leadership, to all of you present today. Why not take this step further and build on this positive development and great influence brought by this project and undertake a noise study of the skyline community neighborhood to also include well-known problematic areas in this study.

[05:08:53] We had numerous occasions where we shared the results of a survey on safety, security, excessive noise levels in our community, which summarized the results of over 400 residents. So, again, the problem is well known. It still exists, and we really hope that this new development will spur new action to remedy these existing noise problems.

[05:09:14] We strongly believe that undertaking such a noise study of the neighborhood should be given high priority. It will also send a clear message to the residents in our Skyline community that the SIP and its representatives truly care, can hear our complaints, and can also take positive actions to remedy the situation and finally welcome new development.

[05:09:37] We would like that the county take this opportunity and come together with the builders, the residents, to optimize the business opportunities in our neighborhood. We look forward, again, to this new development to help advance economic development in our area. for new businesses to help reestablish Bailey's Crossroads as an innovation corridor for Fairfax County. Thank you again for your consideration. This concludes my testimony this afternoon.

[05:10:04] Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. And let me, that brings me to the end of my speakers who have signed up in advance. Let me ask if the clerk has anyone who has called in. No one has called in. And let me verify that there's nobody else present who would like to speak on this matter, on this particular case. No one else present in the auditorium. This is public hearing seeing and hearing no one i assume the applicant waves rebuttal closing comments and a recommendation from county staff sure on february 8th the planning commission recommend recommended

[05:10:37] or excuse me the planning commission approved fdpa c-052-15 and also recommended approval of pca c-052-10 and its associated development plan subject to the proffers the planning commission also recommended approval of the requested waivers and modifications as contained in the handout dated february 8th 2023 which was distributed to you uh staff concurs with these recommendations thank you thank you very much uh final call any questions from board members seeing and hearing none i will now close the public hearing and recognize supervisor gross for a motion thank

[05:11:13] thank you mr chairman um just a comment before i make some motions on the um caller that we just had um what she is describing is something that has happened in the skyline area probably since It was built in the early 70s and probably is not replicated in too many places in Fairfax County because most of our buildings are not as tall as the ones in Skyline, which are 26 stories.

[05:11:46] And because of the way they are positioned and because of the especially automobile noise and some of the outdoor restaurant noise, those 26-story buildings act as a drum and a reverberation.

[05:12:03] on sound back and forth back and forth back and forth so it exacerbates the problem with with sounds especially the um the loud mufflers um this proposal um to um redevelop these units these buildings into live work units um is not you know from the ground up it is it's not new construction. These buildings actually provide because of the height and the sort of the mass of these these four and five actually provide

[05:12:43] a sort of protection for some of those taller buildings because the the sound can be absorbed at the lower levels. But at any rate what she has raised is an issue for Skyline and for I think any other part of the county, Tysons and maybe Reston, that are going to have taller buildings with vehicular noise.

[05:13:10] It is a fact of life and something that I doubt was actually anticipated by Charles E. Smith when he built Skyline, but it certainly has happened now. So we are sort of stuck with it and need to do whatever we can in mitigating that sound by additional things on buildings.

[05:13:32] Mr. Chairman, I moved that the Board of Supervisors, well, first of all, this is a very exciting piece. And this morning we approved an EIP application for this site. And I said at the time, if this does not get approved and the EIP application is moot, I don't think it's going to be moot.

[05:13:52] But Mr. Seldon and his team have really been remarkable in repurposing existing buildings. We have the very successful 5,600 Columbia Pike known as Mission Lofts, which is just the coolest building to go and look at.

[05:14:10] And then he is working on the three buildings in Skyline, and now he is doing another two buildings. This is the wave of the future, and I really appreciate the fact that he has had the vision and the ability to put that vision into reality and not make it a nightmare, but actually be a vision and a wonderful dream to be achieved.

[05:14:33] I move that the Board of Supervisors approve PCA C-052-10 and its Associated Conceptual Development Plan CDPA C-052-03, subject to the proffers, dated January 24, 2023.

[05:14:51] I move that the Board of Supervisors approve the waivers and modifications contained in the handout dated February 8, 2023, which will be made a part of the record. I further moved that the Board approve a waiver of Section 5107.3A3 to allow private streets and standard garage aisles less than 23 feet in width and compact drive aisles less than 20 feet in width.

[05:15:16] And as such, for the existing parking spaces, including existing compact spaces, to be considered compliant and count for required and provided parking. These private streets, parking spaces, and garage aisles already exist and generally will not be changed with this application.

[05:15:36] Finally, I further move that the Board direct the Director to modify Zoning Sections 5108.3 and 5108.8 and the applicable Fairfax County Public Facilities Manual Section 12-300 as it relates to tree conservation and preservation in Section 12-0308 and the 10-year tree canopy requirements contained in 12-0310 in favor of the commitments described on the CDPA-FDPA to retain and count the existing trees on site and provide supplemental landscaping.

[05:16:11] In support of this motion, I would note that the outcome here is a significant increase in landscaping relative to the existing condition. My motion is intended to allow the applicant to receive the benefit of its commitment to preserve the healthy and high quality existing trees on the site but don't strictly qualify for credit to our tree preservation and 10-year tree canopy requirements based on unavoidable constraints regarding the soil depth that is available on the top of a parking garage. Making the best use of additional vegetation clearly meets the

[05:16:47] intent of our tree canopy requirements and similarly making strategic use of existing resources is the essence of the benefits of effective building repositioning i'm happy to second that long motion uh is there any discussion on the motion any discussion let let me just um thank the applicant um and you supervisor gross for getting this to this point uh some of us are very familiar with with skyline and probably no none more than you um but you know it's amazing when you think back that we added the land use element to the policy plan to allow building

[05:17:25] repurposing December 5th of 2017. So, you know, as people have scurried to respond to the pandemic and the office vacancies back in 2017, we started this process to allow the exact, this type of exact thing to occur. And so it's good to see, and this is not your first one, but it's good to see another one of these come forward and to see that repurposing working and adding vitality to a part of the county that's in one of our revitalization districts and frankly will benefit tremendously from the investment that you're making here and so I appreciate all the work

[05:18:02] the applicant has done to get it to this point and absolutely support it and if I could add yes supervisor gross the building repositioning program has been very effective but it is also very difficult sometimes because some of our requirements are better for you know really applied to what we would call greenfield sites where you're starting from scratch so when you're actually trying to repurpose a building for instance that has a parking garage and you're trying to deal with what can go on top of the parking garage that parking garage was not intended

[05:18:35] to have trees on it when it was built in the 70s and so i really appreciate the fact that mr selden and his um and his team have been able to address those issues not been easy but really has been able to to bring those forward and and make it work and show that it can be done i think what you just heard is a defense of the long motion that had to be made to make it work uh probably is the best exhibit to show how how complicated these can be but also how valuable they can be to the community uh with that i think we're ready to vote uh all those in favor of the motion please

[05:19:14] say aye aye any opposed any abstentions and that motion carries thank you very much our next public hearing is a public hearing on rz 2022-pr-00011 carter v bohm trustee providence district and as soon as they're ready if we could have the applicant please reaffirm the

[05:19:39] affidavit good afternoon per last hearing there was only a small change to the affidavit that was required and that was adding the EV charge station and the 10-year tree canopy requirement that was going to be on the grading plan approval process anyway but it was you know I expected to be added to the to

[05:20:16] the proper and with that I believe all of the sir if you could just introduce yourself what I'm looking for is just for you to reaffirm the affidavit associated with the case and the date and staff may be able to help you with that but we want to make sure that we're reaffirming the date of the affidavit yeah my name is Pedron Fushanji I'm representing mr. Boehm on this case okay and you're reaffirming the affidavit associated with the case that should have a certain date on it? August 17th? February 8th. I'm sorry. That's okay. No problem. February 8th,

[05:20:56] 2023. Correct? Yes. Okay. Excellent. Are there any disclosures from board members? Any disclosures? Sir, you can have a seat. We'll get a short presentation from you in just a moment. Thank you. Any disclosures from board members? Seeing and hearing none. I will now recognize county staff for a staff presentation. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. My name is Curtis roulette with the department of planning and development rz 2022-pr-0011 is a proposed

[05:21:31] rezoning requesting for a reversion to the r1 zoning district the property is located at 7727 helen drive the site is approximately one acre and has this has an existing single family home in the southeastern corner of the property.

[05:21:49] The site was previously rezoned to the R2 district back in 2007 to allow two single-family residential lots with a density of two dwelling units per acre. The applicant seeks to demolish the existing dwelling and replace it with a new two-story dwelling.

[05:22:09] It's proper for a dedication of a right-of-way for a future paved FC dot trail along the Otterwood road frontage. The applicant is also seeking approval for a six-foot-high board-on-board fence along the site's out of wood road frontage to mitigate traffic noise.

[05:22:26] If approved, the applicant will meet the R1 zoning district requirements and the 10-year tree canopy requirement per the public facilities manual and will submit an infield-like grading plan to LDS for review and approval.

[05:22:44] Staff finds a proposal to meet in conformance with the comprehensive plan and applicable zoning ordinance provisions. staff recommends approval of this application this concludes my presentation thank you so much thank you very much at this time not necessary but if the applicant would like to present anything okay let me ask if there are any questions of staff or the applicant from the board any questions seeing and hearing none this is a public hearing and i have no speakers who have signed up in advance to testify on this matter is there anyone present in the auditorium that

[05:23:20] would like to speak on this case anyone present who would like to testify seeing and hearing no one let me ask the clerk if anyone has called in no one has called in i assume the applicant waves rebuttal closing comments and a recommendation from staff i know we just heard it but if you could repeat uh your staff recommendation uh yes sir again for the recommenders curtis roulette Yes, on January 11th, 2023, the Planning Commission recommended approval of RZ 2022-PR-00011,

[05:24:00] subject to the execution of proffers dated January 31st, 2023. The Planning Commission also recommended approval of a six-foot-high fence along Idlewood Road. Staff incurs with these recommendations. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you very much. Any final questions from board members?

[05:24:16] Last call. Seeing and hearing none, I will now close the public hearing. turn to Supervisor Palczyk for a motion. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman. First of all I just I want to thank Mr. Rowlett and all staff who have worked on this application. I want to thank all of the neighbors who testified at public hearings as well as those of those two who wrote to us for their concerns and I want to thank the applicant for your work with our office and with the staff in the community on this project. As you heard this is a pretty straightforward one we will now I'll be down zoning the one acre parcel from R2 back to the R1 zoning district

[05:24:54] and they will be addressing many concerns some of the some concerns that were raised there weren't many including on the stormwater as well as the 10-year tree canopy requirements the electric vehicle charging panels and I will be making two motions one to prove the six-foot high fence as I believe this technically would be normally a four foot high fence so to that i have just two motions to move forward i move that the board of supervisors approve rz 2022-pr-00011 subject to the executed

[05:25:34] proffers dated january 31st 2023 and i move that the board of supervisors approve a six foot high fence along the idylwood road frontage pursuant to subsection 4102.7.8.8.7.c of the zoning ordinance you've heard the motion and the second is there discussion on the motion seeing and hearing none all those in favor of the motion please say aye aye any opposed any abstentions that motion carries

[05:26:08] Thank you very much. Our next public hearing is a public hearing on PCA 86-W-001-14, CDPA 86-W-001-05, RZPA 2022-BR-00086, LACMVA, LLC in the Braddock District.

[05:26:35] and as soon as you are ready, we would welcome a reaffirmation of the affidavit. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. I'm Brian Winterhalter with DLA Piper. I reaffirmed the affidavit dated February 9th, 2023. Thank you very much.

[05:26:52] Disclosures from board members. I think we have two voluntary disclosures. Supervisor Smith. In an abundance of caution, I want to say that Lenore Kelly, Vice Chair of FCRHA, donated in excess of $100 to me. Thank you, Supervisor Smith. Supervisor Lusk?

[05:27:08] Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I will also disclose that the Friends of Rodney Lusk received a contribution in excess of $100 from Nicholas McCoy. Thank you, Supervisor Lusk. Supervisor Herity? Yes, that Ken Fang donated in excess of $100 to Friends of Pat Herity.

[05:27:24] Thank you, Supervisor Herity. Are there any other disclosures? Any other disclosures? Seeing and hearing none, I will now recognize county staff for a staff presentation. Good evening and thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm Emma Estes from the Department of Planning and Development. The applicant Lincoln Avenue Capital is requesting approval of a proper condition amendment and conceptual development plan amendment to permit the construction of an affordable multifamily residential development, also known as the Residences at the Government Center 2, within the Fairfax County Government Center campus.

[05:27:58] The development site is located at 12,000 Government Center Parkway in the Fairfax Center area of the Braddock District and zoned to the Planned Development Commercial Zoning District. The PCA CDPA site, parcels 14A, 14B, and 5B, is the core portion of the Government Center campus.

[05:28:16] The overall site is 90.39 acres and includes the Government Center office building and 16 acres of surface parking as approved in 1986, as well as an affordable multifamily building with 270 dwelling units known as the Residences at the Government Center 1 as approved in 2011.

[05:28:34] A concurrent plan amendment was approved on January 24, 2023, to modify plan text to facilitate the proposed development. And the modified text envisions redevelopment of the government center parking lot and includes several provisions related to high-quality design, environmental standards, and transit and pedestrian-oriented development.

[05:28:54] The FDPA development site is 4.53 acres of land at the northwest corner of the main government center campus, bounded by Government Center Parkway to the west, North Entrance Road to the north, and North Mall Drive to the south, and is currently developed with surface parking and some landscaping.

[05:29:11] The current proposal consists of two mid-rise multifamily buildings with 279 affordable dwelling units provided predominantly at an area median income of 60% or less. On the FDPA land area, the development will have a gross floor area of 307,167 square feet and a floor area ratio of 1.56, excluding bonus density associated with affordable housing.

[05:29:37] The development also includes 15,500 square feet of accessory community-serving facilities, including an affordable child care center and a community and resident serving space. The layout includes two 75-foot-tall, five-story, multifamily buildings.

[05:29:53] The footprints are strategically arranged around an east-west public urban park area with a pedestrian promenade that bisects the site. The buildings and parks sit atop a common one-level parking podium accessed from North Entrance Road, which contains 333 parking spaces for the residential and child care uses.

[05:30:12] A new north-south private grid street is provided on the east side of the site, connecting between North Entrance Road and North Mall Drive. The main building and child care center pedestrian entrances would be oriented towards this grid street. The site also includes 0.83 acres of park space to include the proposed urban park and pedestrian promenade, which serves as a focal point of the development and contains play areas, game areas, seating, and a planned art element, among other amenities.

[05:30:39] The applicant is proposing to exceed tree canopy and preservation requirements, obtain earthcraft, gold, green building certification, provide solar panels on the roof, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure to exceed environmental policies. The proposal also includes several measures to improve pedestrian connectivity, safety, and accessibility as coordinated with FCDOT and VDOT, including ADA-compliant curb and crosswalk improvements at the intersection of Government Center Parkway and North Entrance Road, parallel parking on North Entrance Road, and striping off the right-turn lane on Government Center Parkway into North Entrance Road.

[05:31:16] The intersection issues noted in the staff report have been resolved with VDOT through the current development plan. The applicant has also requested a parking reduction of 30%, which staff supports based on the abundant bus service within the proximity of the site, including nine bus stops and the new Monument Drive commuter garage and transit center within a quarter mile, as well as possible future metro station planned within a half mile.

[05:31:38] The reduction, which is for the residential use only, would allow a rate of 1.12 spaces per dwelling unit, or 313 spaces, which is reduced from the zoning ordinance requirement for 1.6 spaces per dwelling unit, or 447 spaces. The parking study conducted by the applicant demonstrates that residential parking demand for this building will be less than the proposed spaces, and notably, observed parking at the Residences 1 is far less than the parking provided there and less than the rate proposed with this application, which supports the current request.

[05:32:12] Staff finds the proposal meets or exceeds the goals for high-quality design, environmental standards, and pedestrian-friendly development described in the recent plan amendment. And the proposed PCA, FDPA, and associated waivers and modifications are in conformance with the applicable zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan provisions.

[05:32:34] This concludes my presentation. Thank you. Thank you very much. At this time, we'd welcome an applicant's presentation. The floor is yours.

[05:32:52] I have a presentation that I'll be sharing any second now. Okay. Technology. Here we go. It's coming into the screen. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Brian Winterhalter again with DLA Piper on behalf of the applicant.

[05:33:07] We are absolutely delighted to be here. It's been a long process, but a good one. And we are very excited to be here before you today with this affordable housing development project. Next slide, please. Before we launch into some of the details, I just wanted to pause for a moment and note the importance of why we're here today with this application.

[05:33:25] And I'm not going to read the details on the slide, but you all know that there is a critical need for more affordable housing in Fairfax and in our community. And so we wanted to highlight that as we proceed with the rest of the presentation. Next slide, please. So, like I mentioned, we've been at this for quite a while, as you also know, and your authorization of the project and the original transfer of the surface parking lot from the Board of Supervisors to the Fairfax County Redevelopment Housing Authority. Most recently we were at the Planning Commission on February 1st where we received a unanimous recommendation of approval and we are glad to be before you here today.

[05:33:58] Next slide please. The developer that's partnered with the Housing Authority here is Lincoln Avenue Capital. They're a nationwide developer and operator of high quality affordable housing developments. They have tremendous experience with these types of projects and do a really good job managing and operating them. Next slide. Here's an above view of the proposed development.

[05:34:18] again 279 affordable units all affordable on this project there will be two non-residential spaces in the proposed development one is a approximately 10 250 square foot space which will be a child care center which will have an affordability component to it as well there will be an approximately 5 250 square foot space for additional programming and services to support the residents of the building and folks in the community as well and i'll talk about that in a bit in a couple of slides this development has underground parking so it is podium with residential above the podium but it will read essentially as underground parking from the exterior of the

[05:34:54] building and we have obviously have enhanced pedestrian connectivity with the public promenade space through the center of the site to give you some views of the high quality architecture and attractive features of the proposed development just want to walk around it so this is the view from the northwest corner you see at the corner there that there is a small plaza area that we are creating. We've tried really hard to preserve all of the mature trees around the perimeter of the property. This corner is one small exception where we're opening it up a bit so you can see the building and have access to the building and in this view. Next slide please. This wraps around to the northeast corner. The area where the red and blue are toward the center is where the opening is to the

[05:35:32] government center site and access into the pedestrian promenade. Next slide please. This is the southeast corner. This is the entrance in the middle again into that pedestrian promenade area. You can just see the high quality of the architectural design here. This is a quality of architectural design that you would find in any market rate building across the county, and in fact, will probably exceed many market rate buildings.

[05:35:54] Next slide, please. And this is the entrance at the, or the view at the main entrance to the government center campus. Next slide, please. There is a range of affordability from 30 to 70% of AMI, with the average being predominantly below 60% of AMI. 15% of the units will meet ADA standards, and all of the units, 100% of the units, will meet universal design standards.

[05:36:18] With respect to the two non-residential spaces, you see in pink the child care center area. That's the approximately 10,000 square foot space. That's on the first floor. The second level of that space is a 5,000 square foot space. That's a mezzanine type of space, which will be the area for the supportive programming and services for residents and for the community.

[05:36:38] Those spaces are shown in more detail here. The supportive services will include things like employment counseling, financial literacy, life skills, homework and tutoring assistance, other things for the benefit of the community and the residents of the building. Next slide, please.

[05:36:53] And we're very excited to be partnering with Cornerstones, Carrie Wilson and her group to operate the childcare and supportive services component. It's a really wonderful partnership for this project with Lincoln Avenue Capital, Cornerstones and the Housing Authority. So we're really excited about it. going to be tremendous programming and everybody knows that kerry wilson and her team at cornerstones just do a phenomenal job so we're so excited to have them to be part of this project with respect to the open space and amenities you see some of the depictions here on the screen and some of those amenities both public and private there is an outdoor daycare play area space dedicated just

[05:37:29] for the daycare there are outdoor spaces children's play areas for different ages that are dedicated for the residents of the building and then there are some public gathering areas in the public promenade through the center of the building here are the views along government center parkway and as i noted the the building will read as having only underground parking from the outside and you can see that demonstrated in this view here the opening in the middle as we get closer and the next slide is where you see the access into the courtyard area next slide please and here's a view of what that looks like from the interior with some of the children's play areas some nice sort of mural art type features that we'll have inside and the the amenity space for the residents

[05:38:09] of the building there with a lot of glass with respect to the environmental features you've heard some of these already but just to reiterate and emphasize the significance for this project we will be achieving lead i'm sorry earthcraft gold certification we will have electric vehicle charging for two percent of the spaces and we will have ev readiness for the entire garage which exceeds county policy we will have a rooftop solar array the important thing to note with respect to the rooftop solar is that it's not just solar ready but it is the actual implementation of solar to be having a renewal energy component with this building which is in excess of county policy

[05:38:44] we're exceeding the county storm water quality requirements by 25 percent and clearly with the redevelopment of a surface parking lot we are significantly reducing the impervious surface of the overall site next slide please we focused a lot on tree preservation throughout the discussions in the design of this project.

[05:39:01] The darker green areas that you see here are the mature trees that we propose to preserve with this project. We have strict limits of clearing and grading and tree protection measures in our proffers. The lighter green trees on the screen are the ones that we will be planning to supplement the trees that we are preserving.

[05:39:18] That's all I have for my presentation, but as I conclude, I did want to say that in addition to being very excited about this project, it's been a great process. We really appreciate the work from Ms. Estes, Mr. O'Donnell, others at the county staff who've been very cooperative and helpful to work with and supportive as we've moved through this project. We really tried hard to come forward with a project and to work with the county on a set of design criteria and commitments for the project that will, we hope, make the county and the community and the board and everyone proud to have this project at the front door of the government center. Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any questions of

[05:39:56] staff or the applicant any questions Supervisor Walkinshaw thank you mr. chairman and thank you both for the presentations and your work on this two questions first for staff one of the concerns that we heard in the community surrounded impact on schools and school capacity and I know that it's in the staff report but could you just talk us through the the current capacity at the schools that will be served by this community?

[05:40:29] Sure. Yeah, so there is excess capacity for the lower, middle, and high schools serving this site already, and Fairfax County Public Schools has taken a look at this application and has determined that the capacity will be acceptable with these additional units.

[05:40:49] The applicant is providing all of the regular contributions to Fairfax County Public Schools to offset the additional children as well, consistent with all other rezonings for residential units. So Fairfax County Public Schools has no outstanding issues, and we think that their contribution is acceptable at this time.

[05:41:11] Thank you. With respect to traffic and transportation, could you talk us through the transportation analysis and the projected additional trips that this community will create? Sure. So they have conducted an operational analysis, which looked at the impact of these additional units on the surrounding area and found that the levels of service for the intersections that were studied would be acceptable with this additional traffic.

[05:41:45] Generally, Government Center Parkway is very overbuilt, so it has the ability to handle those additional trips. We actually looked very closely with FCDOT at the design of Government Center Parkway and of North Entrance Road, and FCDOT and VDOT and the applicant came up with a host of measures to do some traffic calming and enhance the pedestrian connectivity, including crosswalks, curb improvements, some parallel parking along North Entrance Road just to provide some narrowing of the road and make it more of a pedestrian-friendly area.

[05:42:22] So FCDOT and VDOT are both comfortable with the project, and we think that, as proposed, they've provided a series of robust commitments to address pedestrian friendliness and make sure that the planned text is met.

[05:42:39] So we're satisfied at this time with all of the transportation comments. Okay. And, you know, one thing that occurred to me recently, my colleagues know that this section of the parking lot currently houses the Fast Trans buses, but there's also the park and ride section of the parking lot that's there now.

[05:42:57] And I've noticed in the last weeks or months that people are now returning to that park and ride lot. They're going back into the office. But it's important to note that that park and ride lot will be relocated to the Monument Drive multimodal parking transit center before this project is built.

[05:43:19] So we're going to actually have a net reduction in the number of cars headed to this exact spot. A couple of questions for the applicant. One, you said that the child care would have an affordability component.

[05:43:35] Maybe you can just expand on that because proffer six is a little bit more explicit than that. Yes, we have proffered that the majority of the slots, if you will, for the child care would be affordable and that we would coordinate with the county and HCD on the affordability levels.

[05:43:52] Great. And can you speak to the prioritization or the preference for the users of that child care? Yes. We anticipate that the child care would include children of residents of the building, children of county staff, and children of other folks in the community as well.

[05:44:10] And that will all be coordinated with HCD as well, along with Cornerstone's, our partner for that space. Okay. You spoke to the unit mix by AMI, and I apologize if I missed it in the presentation. Can you speak to the unit mix by size or by bedroom?

[05:44:29] Sure. Let me get you that information, though. 96 one-bedroom units, 137 two-bedroom units, and 46 three-bedroom units. Okay. Thank you.

[05:44:46] Let's see here. There's a more question that I want to ask. Can you speak to the provision of sufficient accessible parking? And especially, as we noted with the parking reduction in our experiences at residences at Government Center 1, Fewer people driving vehicles in this type of building.

[05:45:09] Can you speak to access for FastTran or Metro access buses for folks who have mobility issues specifically? Sure. So a couple of things to note with respect to accessibility and accessible parking. So we have spent some time looking at the parking garage and having an accessible path within the garage for folks to come in and park close to the elevators and to have a drop-off loop within the garage where folks could also be dropped off if they're not parking and staying but need the accessibility component and to go to the elevator quickly.

[05:45:43] So we have that built into the plans for the parking garage. With respect to the number of accessible parking spaces in the garage, we have, based on the commentary from the Planning Commission, we took another look at the interior layout of the garage, Given that the Planning Commission had already approved the FTP component of the project, we can't change the development plan.

[05:46:06] However, we have taken another look at the interior of the garage and its layout. And we have been able to confirm that we will have the required amount of ADA parking spaces within the garage. We -- that number is eight by our count based on what we understand the regulations to be.

[05:46:24] We will have nine spaces that are ADA accessible in the garage. And we also have the accessible surface space that we added leading up to the Planning Commission meeting as well. Okay, thank you. And last question, Proffer 53 on the construction hours.

[05:46:40] And we talked about this in great detail, but can you just share with us your commitment with respect to construction hours and notification? Sure, absolutely. So we have commitments for construction hours for Monday through Saturday. And they are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, and 12 to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

[05:47:05] We also have notification requirements in the proffers that if there is any construction later than 7 p.m. from Monday through Saturday, there will be notification to the Braddock District Supervisor's Office. And if there is any construction at all on Sunday, there will be advanced notification to the Supervisor's Office.

[05:47:23] Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Supervisor Walkinshaw. This, I would suggest, be the last place someone would want to violate the noise ordinance, just in case. But I appreciate that commitment. Are there other questions of staff or the applicant?

[05:47:43] Okay. Seeing and hearing none, this is a public hearing. And I have three speakers who have signed up in advance to testify, one in person and two calling. And our first speaker is Michael Finkel. And, of course, Mike is here. And our next two will be callers.

[05:48:00] Is there anyone else here who's wishing to testify on this matter? You are, sir. If you could come down and sign in with this gentleman down here on the corner with the clerk so that we can have your name and address for the record. Mike, welcome back. It's nice. Excuse me.

[05:48:15] It's nice to be here again. Kind of old school actually coming here to testify in person. I realize there are some other options now, but I'm here. Good afternoon, Chairman McKay and fellow supervisors.

[05:48:31] My name is Mike Finkel. I'm here to speak in support of the planned development residents at Government Center 2. I speak from the perspective of a neighbor and as an individual who had a long career in managing and creating affordable housing programs and opportunities for low-income households in Fairfax County.

[05:48:47] The need for this development is clear and ongoing. If you are aware of homeless shelters that are filled, of waiting lists for affordable housing programs that are long or frequently closed, we know that health, well-being, and educational outcomes are far worse for those who are homeless or poorly housed.

[05:49:03] This development of 279 units targeted to those with incomes between 30% and 70% of the median income will help a lot of families and individuals who are poorly housed and have excessive rent burdens. The income limits for these households will be in the range of $29,900 to $63,000 for one person and $42,700 to $90,000 for a family of four.

[05:49:26] Most families and individuals being served in the planned development will be in the lower portions of those ranges. While housing, this population is important, I must also ask you to consider the fact that homeless families and individuals almost always have incomes beneath 30% of the median income, and most would not be assisted by this development.

[05:49:46] For example, the residents of a supported housing program for homeless individuals in the county have an average income of $3,706 per year. There's another homeless provider who reported to me that the working families who enter their shelter program have an average income of $15,240 a year.

[05:50:02] Both these numbers show how incomes for homeless individuals and families far beneath the incomes will be served by this development. These are households with incomes under 30% of the area median, and they're labeled by HUD as being extremely low income. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition estimates that 72% of extremely low-income households in Virginia have rent burdens in excess of 50%.

[05:50:27] The National Low-Income Housing Coalition also estimates that Virginia is short of more than 152,000 housing opportunities for this population. So I and other advocates for homeless individuals are asking the board, the Redevelopment Housing Authority, and the property developer to find ways to make at least 5% of the units in the development affordable to those at or below 15% of the median income.

[05:50:51] This could be done with providing some additional project-based subsidies to the unit on top of the 16 that are already allocated for it, or by agreement with the owner to accept lower rents for some units, or by some other creative means. Perhaps the 16 units could be prioritized, the 16 vouchers could be prioritized for those single and family households under 15% of the median, and an additional 5% or 14 units could be set aside with rents affordable for those between 15% and 30% of the median income.

[05:51:22] Thank you for this opportunity to speak. Thank you, Mr. Finkel. Our next speaker is Jill Norcross, who has called in. Is Ms. Norcross on the phone? Ms. Norcross? Hi, can you hear me?

[05:51:38] Yes, we can hear you. Go ahead. You have five minutes. Thank you. I am Jill Norcross, again, representing the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance. I live at 11956 Great Squirrel Lane in Ruston. And since I introduced myself and my organization earlier, I will just jump into my support for the Residence at Government Center 2, which is being developed by Lincoln Avenue Capital.

[05:52:02] We see this project as another example of a best practice and sound policy and award-winning innovative efforts launched by Fairfax County itself, which is using public land for public good. And in this case, an underutilized surface parking lot at the government center, which was transferred to the FCRHA for the purpose of building affordable housing.

[05:52:22] The Residence at Government Center 2 follows on the success of the initial residences at Government Center and will include two five-story buildings with 275 apartment homes, serving residents from 30% to 70% of the area median income.

[05:52:39] And just want to echo Mr. Finkel's comments of just the great need to serve those lower incomes and how difficult and challenging it can be. So the fact that we can get any units there is also a best practice. The development will also contain the 15,000 square foot community space to be used to provide a daycare facility and other resident and community-based services.

[05:53:01] So this project really has everything that our organization typically advocates for, affordable housing development in a transit-rich community on public property being transformed as a true asset to this community. The fact that the development plans to include the daycare operated by longtime trusted community partner Cornerstones is just another example of the best practice to locate affordable housing with community-serving uses.

[05:53:27] The on-site child care will be a vital amenity for the working families living in the property. And finally, the utilization of public-private partnerships will enable Fairfax County to get closer to meeting our county's goal of 10,000 new affordable homes by the year 2034.

[05:53:44] In our estimation, this project is an easy one to approve. We are behind in our affordable housing production goals, and we support this innovative use of county-owned land in partnership with a respected developer and trusted community service provider. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Thank you, Ms. Norcross.

[05:54:01] our next speaker is roberta gosling and she is on the phone miss gosling go ahead all right can you hear me yes we can hear you okay terrific um good evening my name is roberta gosling and i reside at 10813 cross school road in reston and i serve as the chair of the board of directors of cornerstones inc i want to thank you for the opportunity to speak today and i also want to echo Ms. Norcross's comments right on point.

[05:54:35] And I also want to say that I was listening earlier today to the Wesley process, to the Wesley House approval, and I was and I really do appreciate what the county is doing in terms of really supporting our seniors and putting forth a very, very collaborative process around land use. So thank you for that.

[05:54:55] I am speaking today in support of the Partnership for the Affordable Housing development at Lincoln Avenue Capital at the government center. As background, Cornerstones has worked for more than 50 years in partnership with Fairfax County to build opportunities that strengthen families and our community and county as a whole. We were founded by members of the first faith communities in Reston to ensure that Reston founder Robert E. Simon's vision for a planned and inclusive community would include those things that every family needs to be successful, housing that is safe and affordable, quality developmental child care, and access to other services and amenities that support a strong quality of life. Since that time,

[05:55:35] Cornerstones has evolved into a respected, impactful, multi-service housing and human service not-for-profit, and also a back home partner for Fairfax County. We currently own and operate 106 affordable rental homes and provide continuing case care, case management for families and individuals leaving homelessness. Cornerstones and its subsidiary, Cornerstones Housing Corporation will be coming before you soon on a project in Supervisor Smith District to develop permanent supportive housing for people who are disabled and experiencing chronic

[05:56:12] homelessness, another priority for this board. In addition to its work in providing emergency shelter and affordable housing, Cornerstones offers a comprehensive array of services that provide stability, empowerment, and hope for people in need. Our assistance services and pantry program addresses student security and financial assistance we operate a licensed child care facility for working families at out of school time programs and resident services at the site of four fairfax county affordable housing communities cornerstones also establish a

[05:56:47] non-profit center in herndon uh collated as a federally qualified health care center and encompassing the county's herndon neighborhood resource center as a trusted community resource for residents in a high-need census tract area.

[05:57:03] With that as background, Cornerstones was pleased to review the plans and be invited to participate with the developer in this proposal for your approval today. With a specific focus on the critically needed affordable housing it will create and for its plan for on-site child care and other resident-driven services, Cornerstones Chief Executive Officer Carrie Wilson has spoken before the Planning Commission and this board previously about the documented need for housing and the impact for families when other services and amenities are co-located near housing.

[05:57:35] Cornerstones is pleased to see the transformation of this space into a thriving residential community. We will be honored to work with the developer, Fairfax County, residents and partners to plan child care and community service programs that will be anchored in the community space at the entrance to this complex.

[05:57:54] Our experience in housing and human services and our commitment to work in purposeful and targeted partnerships results in strong and thriving families and communities. We urge your final approval of this development, along with the required financial investments for housing and resident services that will be required.

[05:58:13] With that, I thank you for your time. Thank you very much for your testimony. And that brings us to the end of our speakers who have signed up in advance to testify. Let me ask again if there's anyone here who would like to testify on this matter. Sir, if you could come on down.

[05:58:31] Here comes the rest of the list. Okay, and you are Nathan Haslam. Yes, sir. Is that right? Yes. Welcome, the floor is yours. Good morning, afternoon, Chair. I'm on board. If I could just ask the board and the audience, how many people own a plug-in electric vehicle?

[05:58:50] One. Oh, that's surprising. I honestly was going to say, I thought a lot of you guys would have it. How many would buy one in the next five to ten years? right we're all wanting to get there and if we don't want to get there there's laws that are going to make us get there anyways if i heard you correctly did you say that two percent of the spots are going to be that i'm not sure and then i haven't brought my data i actually didn't come here to speak on this point um i'm speaking in the general audience but as a uh new electric vehicle plug-in person i have a hard time finding finding a spot to charge my vehicle in all counties in the United States, Fairfax County.

[05:59:29] I'm not sure if 2% is going to be a wise minimum or target that we want to search for. What is also the diversity on the type of charging stations that are there between like Tesla? There's different charging stations, so I'm not sure what's going to be available or be required, but if they're Tesla stations, anyone who's got a Toyota is in trouble and vice versa.

[05:59:50] So Iowa just has the county, not just in this place, I don't even know where it is, but not just in this location, but through all of Fairfax County, and maybe out in a minute in front of your building here, look into getting some increased expanded uses of charging stations as a charge user. Thank you.

[06:00:06] Thank you very much. Is there anyone else who would like to testify on this matter? Is there anyone who has called in? We do have someone who has called in, so this will be speaker number five, and who do we have? Jerry Pogue.

[06:00:23] Jerry, welcome. The floor is yours. Thank you very much. I'm Jerry Poggi, grateful for your leadership towards supporting affordable homes for all. I live at Rambling Court in Vienna. My fellow congregants live throughout the county.

[06:00:40] Closing our pre-pandemic deficit of 31,000 affordable rental homes and our coming need for 15,000 new homes is essential for the future human and economic development of our county. Please confirm the judgment of the Planning Commission staff and many other testifiers and ultimately approve this request to amend the proper development plan for this important multipurpose housing project.

[06:01:09] helped grow and communicate a 2023 visionary approach to parking requirements. Many younger adults, older adults, people with disabilities, other people in urgent need of affordable homes diverged greatly from an antiquated suburban parking model developed many decades ago.

[06:01:29] Earlier this month, our interfaith partnership completed our 19th year of hypothermia sheltering, having helped hundreds of neighbors in need. Late next month, when hypothermia sheltering ends, too many of our unsheltered neighbors again will become homeless.

[06:01:48] Once again, I'm called beyond acts of mercy towards acts of justice. May my faith community, our business communities, our nonprofit communities, magisterial district leaders, our county, and our commonwealth be called likewise.

[06:02:07] Explore more aggressive options to ensure housing for the least among us. May Residence 2 exceed the completion date of its predecessor. Help us chart a better, organized, and more collaborative future where one Fairfax is closer to reality for the least enabled among us.

[06:02:28] Thank you for my opportunity to offer testimony. Thank you very much, Jerry. Is there anyone else who has called in to testify? No other callers have called in to testify. Would the applicant like any time for rebuttal?

[06:02:44] No need. Closing comments and a recommendation from staff. On February 8th, 2023, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the PCA and CDPA and approved the associated FDPA. The Planning Commission also recommended approval of waivers and modifications consistent with those provided to you in a memo dated February 21st, 2023.

[06:03:08] Staff concurs with this recommendation, subject to the signed proffers dated February 16th, 2023. Thank you. Thank you very much. Last call. Any questions from board members? Yes, Supervisor Faust. Thank you. First of all, it's an awesome project.

[06:03:27] I'm not questioning that at all. But on the issue of the electric chargers, I just have a question. You had two, right? 2%. 2%, but you said 100% was preliminarily established for electrical charging.

[06:03:51] What's that mean? Yeah, so 2% of the spaces from the opening of the development will be EV charging station spaces. The remainder of all of the rest of the spaces in the parking garage will be EV ready, meaning that the conduit banks will be available so that in the future the number of EV spaces could be expanded.

[06:04:13] Okay, so you'd have to pull the wiring and install the actual station. Okay, thank you. Yes, sir. I appreciate that. Okay. Supervisor Palchik. Sorry, Supervisor Falstor did it. Just wondering, have you looked at, I know there are now possibilities to share spaces, so EV charging could be shared between two or sometimes three spaces?

[06:04:37] Or is that something you'd look into? We're certainly happy to look into it. Quite honestly, we haven't gotten that far yet, but yes, we're certainly happy to look into it. I just heard about it recently, so if you would look at it, that would be great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, Supervisor Alcorn. Got to pile in. So, you know, this is why we're doing Charge Up Fairfax, and thank you to the county executive for putting in your proposed budget, the advertised budget position for that, Because, you know, let's face it, half of us don't live in homes that have garages with indoor plugs and parking.

[06:05:10] So, thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Alcorn. Let me see. Make sure there's no other questions. I will now close the public hearing and turn to Supervisor Walkinshaw for a motion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's not often, but there was a question that I was actually well qualified to answer on the EVs.

[06:05:35] But it's a great question, and I do appreciate the applicant because that was a priority for me from the beginning. You know, I think the number of EV charging stations right now is important, but more important is recognizing the reality that in the not-too-distant future, everybody's going to expect to have one at their space in the garage, and being prepared to do that is really important.

[06:05:56] I want to thank all of those who came out to participate in this process and speak to this process. You know, I think if you look at this project, it's a win-win-win-win in a lot of different ways. It's a win for the 279 individuals or families who will have an affordable home.

[06:06:17] It's a win for the children and families of low and moderate income who will be served by the child care, which is a desperate, desperate need in our community, in this part of the county and throughout the county. As we've heard, it's a win from an environmental perspective, exceeding the environmental standards, and frankly, doing a lot more than I thought we would be able to do at the beginning of this process.

[06:06:43] Not solar-ready, but solar panels. Not just EV-ready, but EV chargers. A win in terms of stormwater for our complex here, replacing impervious surface and exceeding the stormwater requirements by 25%.

[06:06:58] I think it's a win for the broader community in this part of the county also, because what's now a surface parking lot with buses and park and ride cars will be replaced by a very attractive community with a pedestrian promenade and urban park space that will be open to everyone to to enjoy.

[06:07:20] So, you know, I want to, before I forget, because I forgot to do this at the plan amendment, just thank a lot of folks who have been involved. And this has been a heavy lift to get this right over the last two plus years. But Tracy Strunk, Billy O'Donnell, Emma Estes, Kelly Atkinson, Sophia Fisher, and DPD, Hugh Whitehead, Urban Forest Management, Michael Davis, and Julianne Moyer, LDS.

[06:07:45] On the planning side, Megan Van Dam, who is now at HCD, Ryan Stewart, Michael Lenski, and Leanna O'Donnell. At HCD, Tom Fleetwood, Anna Shapira, Anwar Iqbal. In the Braddock District, our Planning Commissioner, Mary Cortina, put a lot of time and effort into this.

[06:08:01] Our Braddock Land Use and Environment Committee citizen members, they also support this project. I have to specifically call out Marsha Pape in my office, who has put hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours into this and making sure that the community was engaged and had a voice and that we got it right.

[06:08:20] And with that, Mr. Chairman, I move that the Board of Supervisors approve PCA 86W-001-14 and CDPA 86-W-001-05, subject to the signed proffers dated February 16, 2023.

[06:08:39] I further move that the Board of Supervisors approve the requested waivers and modifications contained in the memo dated February 21st, 2023. I'm happy to second that, along with Supervisors Alcorn and Supervisor Palchuk. Any further discussion on the motion?

[06:08:57] Any further discussion? I'll just briefly say ditto to everything you said, Supervisor Walkinshaw. I would just add there's another win component of this, and this also is, of course, us leading by example on a piece of property that is at the heart of civic engagement in Fairfax County and to be able to put this in a location where we don't just talk about affordable housing, but we're willing to put it literally on the grounds of the government center in this particular high-profile location.

[06:09:27] I think we'll speak volumes to how this community feels about affordable housing. And lastly, it would be awkward if you thanked yourself, but I'll do that. I will do that because I know you have personally put in a ton of hours in this land use case to make sure that we get it right, both in the plan amendment and in the rezoning.

[06:09:49] And so congratulations to you as well. I think we can all see that the final product is one of very high quality. And certainly we heard that from the testimony, and certainly we can see that from the visuals. And I also want to thank the applicant because quality was paramount for us in this location.

[06:10:08] And I think can set a bar, frankly, for an evolving and higher, even higher quality affordable housing throughout the county. And you all have set the bar in the right place. So thank you. With that, I think we're ready to vote. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye.

[06:10:24] Any opposed? Parity, nay. Any abstentions? And that passes 9 to 1. Thank you very much. And our next public hearing is a public hearing. Our last public hearing before public comment is a public hearing to consider an ordinance to establish the Covington Community Parking District in the Providence District.

[06:10:46] And there is no affidavit for this item, so I will recognize county staff as soon as they're ready for a staff presentation. Good evening, Chairman McKay, members of the board.

[06:11:04] Henry Stein-McCartney, Fairfax County Department of Transportation. This is a public hearing to consider establishing the Covington Community Parking District on Ellenwood Drive in the Providence District, as shown on Attachment 2. A community parking district is established to prohibit the parking of watercraft, recreational vehicles, and all trailers on designated public roads and residential areas within the county.

[06:11:31] requirements for this cpd including submission of a verified petition and associated fee have been satisfied and staff recommends approval as proposed thank you very much are there any questions for staff any questions for staff seeing and hearing none uh this is a public hearing and i have one speaker who has signed up in advance to testify and that is kate schwarz is kate here kate is here um if you could come on down and is there anyone after kate who's here to testify on this matter okay if you all can come down I need you all to sign in here with the clerk if this gentleman on the corner here if you can

[06:12:09] give us your name and address welcome the floor is yours okay great these are my words they were not generated by chat GPT I'm a 20 plus year resident of the Covington subdivision that will be most impacted by this proposed community parking district here are three reason why I urge the boards of supervisors to not approve this community parking district number one it contradicts two of the county board of supervisors priorities very specifically efficient transportation network and livable caring and

[06:12:43] affordable communities if the intent of a community parking district is to supply more street parking that aspect simply does not apply to this road there are no supply and demand conflicts on parking i asked if the county staff went out and really looked at the real life object to confirm that there is plenty of parking every day every hour of the day on ellenwood drive the county staff recommended approving but they didn't really say why and i think that there's more to

[06:13:16] this kind of land use decision than just having a petition petition signed and having the fee this proposal constrains residents freedoms to enjoy their personal property and we pay personal property tax to the county so I don't really grasp what is livable or caring about that the second reason is that Ellenwood Drive is a public street it belongs to the Commonwealth of Virginia and public means something that's open to all this proposal defies the very definition and spirit of a state-owned

[06:13:54] and maintained resource that again should serve everyone I've heard a lot I've been here for about two hours I've heard a lot about serving everyone and just in the theme of some of this meeting tonight so I again I think this road needs to serve everyone and not be constrained the third reason is that I fear unintended consequences most of all there's one boat that's been parked there there could be future person large personal vehicles watercraft things that are legally registered they can this is really the only street in this subdivision where those kinds of large vehicles can be unobtrusively parked

[06:14:33] and if this constraint goes in place I don't know where they're gonna go they might go to other narrower private streets or public streets and then they're gonna be a safety hazard they're gonna obstruct sight lines I'm just real nervous about the unintended consequences of constraining the parking on Elinwood Drive for these three reasons I urge the Board of Supervisors to not prove this proposed community parking district thank you for listening

[06:15:00] Thank you very much. And we have the rest of the speakers list here. Our next speaker is Stephen Moore. Stephen will be followed by Mina Shinoda and Phil Crack in that order. Okay. Welcome, Mr. Moore.

[06:15:30] All right, Mr. Chairman and the board. I have also been in a Covenant residence for over 25 years. And one of the issues that the Covenant Home Association has is they have a small parking area only can house 10 vehicles or RVs or recreational devices in that location.

[06:16:03] So by enforcing what they would like to have would be devastating to others that love the outdoor activities in the enjoyment of riding the boat or having other watercraft things that they can do during the summer.

[06:16:25] The other thing is that there's actually approximately 170 members or more. And so the 10 parking spots doesn't really accommodate for that massive amount of members that's there in the home association.

[06:16:48] And this does not even include other people that may have trailers or other devices that is restricted by the 82-5B.

[06:17:06] So I oppose to that suggestion of eliminating RVs or other devices for Allenwood, because it's pretty much the only area there that people in that area, in that neighborhood, can use for parking.

[06:17:30] I conclude this. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Moore. Our next speaker is Mr. Shinoda. You will be speaker number three. Welcome. The floor is yours. Thank you so much. Good evening. My first time to speak in public.

[06:17:48] My name is Mina Shunui. I live in 3009 Silent Valley Drive of Ellenwood. I've been living there since 2013, basically almost 10 years. I never, ever see any problem with parking. We have plenty of parking spots, and we don't have any...

[06:18:08] I never, like, through 10 years, I never heard of any traffic or any accident or even speeding ticket in this area. So, and as a business owner, I have a small commercial van. I used to park it in Silent Valley Drive for several years.

[06:18:27] And last year, they towed, and they said you are not allowed to park in Silent Valley Drive, park on Ellenwood. So basically, I paid like almost $300 to return it back. As a business owner, we give back to the community. So basically, $300 is going to help.

[06:18:43] Basically, our business help sponsor one homeless in Fairfax area here. So $300 is enough for like six nights to help someone like this. So we don't have any issue in Ellenwood, so please do ask to not approve this.

[06:19:00] We have plenty of parking there. Thank you. Thank you so much. Appreciate your testimony. Thank you. Speaker number four is Phil Kreck. And after Mr. Kreck, is there anyone else here who would like to testify on this matter? Okay. Welcome. The floor is yours.

[06:19:16] Hello. Ladies and gentlemen, I was also, as some other people, not prepared to speak, but I'm going to do my best. I know I'm the last speaker, I believe, of the day, so I'll try to stick to my three minutes. The issue at hand is actually not about parking. It's about safety. Ellen Wood Drive routinely sees street racing and cars racing up and down the road.

[06:19:36] I work 24 hours a day. I travel all the time, so I'm awake. My employees work all over the world, so I'm awake all times. I can tell you at 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning, we have vehicles driving upwards of 60, 70 miles an hour on L1 Drive. I see we have law enforcement in the room. We cannot expect them to be everywhere all the time.

[06:19:53] Right now, we have broken down buses in the past. We had a decommissioned fire truck that was in horrible shape that was there for a couple days. We've had a boat that hasn't moved for five years. We have other stuff that stays there. It hinders visibility. And you combine that with the street racing, which I know this is not going to solve that problem.

[06:20:11] But by having the streets clear of very large vehicles, you reduce the probability of accidents. Right now, we would love a speed bump, two speed bumps, but that's not what this meeting is about. This is about safety, and the first step in the process is removing the oversized vehicles from the side of the road so we have good visibility.

[06:20:30] When I make the left turn off, or no, off two different roads and making a left turn, the view is very hard to see around things like construction, what's the right word, dumpsters. we have items which are placed on the street routinely some items have been there for a long time some of there for a short period of time but they are always hindering the visibility and again when you combine that with the very rapid drives or speeds there it is a safety concern and I don't think we want to be back here in a couple months or years after as an accident because we had these visibility problems with Ellenwood Drive my last quick comment and I'll let everyone go home for dinner is that the speed bumps the speeding

[06:21:08] enforcement all of that I understand that's a separate issue this is nothing more than the last step or excuse me the first step of a process finally I was one of the volunteers who collected a lot of the signatures in my visiting 36 different homes only one person a single person was against this idea out of the 36 homes I visited several people didn't answer their doors or they went home but of all the homes we visited we had one person who opposed this idea so I know there's some people here have spoken against this, but I can tell you there are also a lot of people who support this.

[06:21:41] I'd like you to take that into consideration. Thank you, and have a good dinner. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for that, and I'm not seeing or hearing anyone else present who would like to testify. Do we have anyone who has called in? No additional people have called in.

[06:21:57] Any closing comments and recommendations from county staff? Staff recommends approval of this community parking district. Thank you. Last call for questions from board members. Supervisor Palchuk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And first of all, I want to thank all the community members who came tonight and also who have worked with us through the process and have sent in comments.

[06:22:18] Before we move forward, Ms. Ty McCartney, sorry, I'm used to calling you Henry, would you mind just letting us know exactly how many ballots were sent out, how many were received, and what the response rate, what responses were with those ballots?

[06:22:33] The community petition included 128 addresses in the Covington community. We received 85 signatures supporting establishment of this district.

[06:22:51] 43 addresses did not provide a signature. An address may not sign because they don't support it, maybe they're just unable to reach them as the last speaker had mentioned uh there was a 66 percent demonstration of support on the community petition i appreciate that um and just wondering i know we have these across the county and some districts have district-wide parking districts can you just let me know how does this compare the response that you received on this compared

[06:23:28] to some of the others you've worked through just so i understand um i would say that this response is typical of the response that we get from most communities the minimum threshold to is 60 support on the entire petition i would say that we normally get between 60 and 70 percent in support on most of our petitions perfect i appreciate that and last question because i know uh my understanding is this was brought for specific reasons uh i know

[06:24:05] we've heard some feedback on uh reasons for opposing it um do you recall or was it under your purview um henry of why this was brought to the community and why this was considered kind of a first step of a process i unfortunately cannot answer that this particular district was initiated under another staff person who is no longer with our department so i stepped in to work on covington when the petition was returned from the community thank you and just so i understand

[06:24:40] to that do you uh because i don't have it with me i know it's been a process do you know when it was process began for this petition I believe that the process for this petition initially began in 2021 okay thank you okay thank you very much we'll now close the public hearing and recognize you again Supervisor Palchuk for a motion thank you mr. chairman before I make that motion again I want to thank the community for their work on this I know that especially you've worked with

[06:25:19] Patricia Leslie my office to help address concerns what we heard was around safety around what seemed to be abandoned vehicles of some type and trying to find what are the existing processes that we have in the county in order to address those so I understand it may not be to everyone's liking I it does appear that 66% support is pretty significant for this type of parking district and that we will continue to work with you in the community if there

[06:25:54] are any unintended impacts or consequences of this district my other understanding is that the community came forward only with Ellen Wood understanding that that would be an easier first step to help address some of the ongoing concerns if others are interested in including their streets I know those can still be considered as well as the ability to look at traffic calming measures and other ways to improve Ellenwood and the surrounding districts and so with that said I'm sorry I have lost my motion all of a

[06:26:33] sudden in a long evening can I just move approval of the parking district may I just move approval of it okay i move it here we go approval of the establishment here we go of a covington community parking district been moved and seconded uh any further discussion seeing and hearing no none all those in favor of the motion please say aye aye any opposed any abstentions and that motion carries we now are going to move on to public comment

[06:27:14] and the board will hear public comment on any issue except issues under litigation issues that have been scheduled for public hearing before the board and personnel and or comments regarding specific individuals speakers must register in advance supervisor palchek i think your mic is on oh okay i'm sorry speakers must register in advance and each speaker is given three minutes for his or her remarks a maximum of 10 speakers may address the board during any public comment period and speakers may address the board once during a six-month period of time i have three

[06:27:49] speakers who have signed up to testify this evening and they are avril garland who is testifying in person uh welcome and nathan haslam who i know is here will be speaker number two miss garland welcome thank you my name my name is avril garland i live in 917 hillcrest drive vienna i was very happy to hear about the evs being promoted um if we can electrify as much as possible um one thing that seems to have fallen through the cracks is the landscaping industry look i i oh i'm sorry

[06:28:24] there you go much better okay uh you hear a lot about people encouragement for people to buy evs and get ev charging stations but the landscape industry actually uses um in in 2018 it used 3 billion gallons of gas. That was a statistic I found in the US Highway Department, the statistical office. And the other thing about the lawn equipment is that it's extremely dirty. Cars have catalytic converters. The gas-powered leaf blowers, 30% of the fuel

[06:29:02] is actually unburned because combustion should just produce carbon dioxide and water. Well, in real life, it doesn't work like that, but at least for the cars. Cars are a lot cleaner. The gas-powered leaf blowers, I mean, they emit volatile organic compounds, actually carcinogenic like butadiene, benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, also smog-forming components like NOx.

[06:29:32] In fact, according to the California Air Resources Board, driving a new Toyota Camry for four hours is the same as using a gas-powered leaf blower. One hour of gas-powered leaf blower use is equivalent to 1,100 miles of Toyota Camry driving.

[06:29:55] They're absolutely filthy. If you could do the education outreach again, do a second round, You did a round in the fall. Could you remind homeowners to maybe ask their landscapers to use electric? There's one company that does that called Littlefoot, and his waiting list is so long, he's just not taking any more customers.

[06:30:16] There is a huge demand for this. My neighbours have said, well, I'm very sorry, you don't like the 100 decibel noise coming to your bedroom at 8, 8 a.m. because I work at night, this wakes me up, but we cannot find anyone. The people that offer this service are booked up.

[06:30:35] They're in D.C. and they won't come out. And if you could also give some outreach to the landscapers. Our group is going around and we're saying, hi, you need to protect yourselves. We're giving these Protegitus Pulmonis, it is Systema Cardiovascular.

[06:30:52] And they don't understand that you have to wear a mask that will protect them from particulate pollution. Not the little masks you wear to the supermarket. They need an N95, that's NIOSH certified. Whoops. You need to give them this information in your education outreach.

[06:31:11] I mean, we're not a public education. We're not a public health agency, our little group. We can't do it. Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. Our second speaker is Nathan Haslam. I promise no more surveys.

[06:31:28] First of all, let me apologize. With three minutes, one can be candid and say things pretty fast and maybe a little too emotional. I apologize to the board and boards prior. I know Fairfax County is one of the leading counties as far as EV adoption. So the applique is not here, but I would apologize to him as well.

[06:31:45] I come today on another reason. I am a member of the Virginia Defense Force, a.k.a. the Virginia State Guard, not the National Guard, but State Guard. It's the one that is, you're shaking your head, you know all about it, yes. We are the volunteers of the volunteers. We don't get paid, well, peanuts.

[06:32:02] Unless we get activated by our commander-in-chief, which is the governor of the state. I come because, and also I'm in uniform, I came from Arlington. I have no way trying to advocate on behalf of the VDF. I come as an individual, but I will say that other individuals in the VDF feel exactly the way I do. Vehicle tax exemptions.

[06:32:19] There are many other counties in the state that are pre-approved through Virginia State Code 58.13506, which permits counties to do separate levies, whether it's a variable or a complete exemption for vehicles, lease or owned, for certain individuals.

[06:32:38] Most of the time, it's emergency response personnel, Army, active guard, or even reserve in some areas. We're no different. Anything, we're probably more in need of potential exemptions because we do it all for free. We drive, we drill once a month in various locations where we can try to get a National Guard base near us.

[06:33:01] And four times a year, we drive all the way down to Fort Pickett, where we drill four times a year, all on our dime, all on our gas or electric car charging. So with that in mind, I would just say if we could consider the inclusion for Fairfax County, as our neighbors have, Loudon and Manassas to some degree, the inclusion of Virginia State Guard, Virginia National Guard individuals as part of the vehicle tax exemption. That's all I have. I've got 50 seconds, unless anybody else has questions.

[06:33:39] I think we're good. Okay. Thank you very much for your consideration. Appreciate your testimony. Our third speaker is Diana Hashemi. Is Diana on the line? Diana, can you hear me okay? Yes. Good evening. I live in McLean, And at the top of my list to speak about is the increase in crime.

[06:33:59] My neighborhood is fed up with all the crime occurring. Amongst other crime, there's an increase in stolen auto parts, such as catalytic converters. Ours was stolen just last month in January. The thieves are even brazening up to come into your driveway and use a saw to remove it, which can cost up to $3,000 for a repair, depending on where they cut it off.

[06:34:17] Tires are being taken by jacking up the car and removing them. Cars are being rummaged through in search of keys and any potential profit. McLean Police Station is short about 40 police officers. There used to be more police patrolling in the neighborhoods, and now we don't see any. Instead of three shifts of officers in McLean, there are only two shifts of officers, and these officers are working 12-hour shifts.

[06:34:39] Last year in November, Arlington Police tracked down and arrested a group from Chicago for sealing catalytic converters. We would like to know what the Board of Supervisors are doing to support the police department. Are they being supported by the Board of Supervisors with funds such as pay increases in an amount that reflects the high inflation we are seeing?

[06:34:59] A pay increase in benefits in an amount that would make individuals want to become a police officer and be able to afford to live in the county? The 2% inflation adjustment I just heard about for police is not enough for working and living in this county. And with the crime the way it is, why are we spending almost $200,000, which does include benefits, on a new director of Divergent Equity and Inclusion?

[06:35:22] We need money to go towards benefits and pay increases for our police officers. Citizens of this county who pay a high amount of taxes to live here need the Board of Supervisors to support the police so that crime will stop in our neighborhoods or residents will leave.

[06:35:38] Secondly, I speak about a much-needed sidewalk on Birch Road in McLean. Birch Road is a very dangerous road for pedestrians in McLean. There's a short stretch of Birch Road that's missing a sidewalk on both sides, beginning near the Birch Grove Court going towards Kirby Road.

[06:35:54] For years, I've sent in pictures of this very narrow, dangerous two-lane road that is in a very populated subdivision with many young school-aged children. It is also a cut-through from Old Dominion Road to Kirby Road and vice versa. The pictures show moms pushing baby strollers on this very narrow two-lane road, Mothers holding their young child's hand as they walk along the road.

[06:36:14] School-aged children crossing the road to reach the bus stop. Pedestrians trying to find room on the road as traffic tries to pass going in each direction. Often we see people trying to run across to one side of Birch Road in fear of getting hit if they don't make it. As Land Development Services wrote in a letter on July 21, 2016, constructing a sidewalk at this location will improve pedestrian safety in the area.

[06:36:36] The majority of Birch Road has sidewalks on at least one side, There's an important stretch of Birch Road, which is missing a sidewalk on both sides to the detriment of pedestrian safety of those seeking to walk to and from Kirby Road along Birch Road. As contemplated in the trails plan, there's no visible hardship that would make it difficult to build a trailer sidewalk along Birch Road.

[06:36:57] Money from a $1.4 billion package in 2015 was spent on a Kirby Road project that gave both sides of Kirby Road a sidewalk when there was already a sidewalk on one side. this project and sidewalk was completed just this past summer i sent in a picture of a mom walking with her child safely on the one side of kirby road where a sidewalk has been for decades while construction workers were constructing a sidewalk for the other side of kirby road i was recently told that the estimated cost for the birch road sidewalk project back in 2017 was approximately seven hundred thousand dollars i'm sure this figure has increased but surely if money could

[06:37:35] be spent on a project to include a sidewalk for a road that already had a sidewalk on one side, the money can be found for this dangerous short stretch of Birch Road to get a sidewalk on at least one side. I understand the Board of Supervisors recently approved the $25 million for new transportation projects. It is our neighborhood's request that the Board of Supervisors approve monies for a long overdue sidewalk on this stretch of Birch Road in the interest of public safety. The fact that a much-needed sidewalk for Birch Road is on a list really is not good enough, as it is only a matter of time before someone is hurt.

[06:38:08] The question really is whether the sidewalk gets done before it happens. We hope this sidewalk project makes it into the budget. And lastly, after we do 20 years. Diana, your time expired quite a while ago, but we thank you for your testimony. And if there is an additional item, we'd certainly welcome receiving an email about that for your third item.

[06:38:29] But I appreciate your testimony. It has to do with VDUP and the potholes and the poor road conditions. Well, in that case, I would strongly encourage you to contact your state delegate and state senator as they have direct oversight over the Virginia Department of Transportation and the county does not.

[06:38:48] And so if you have not already done that, definitely encourage you to do that. But thank you. Thank you for your testimony. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. And with that that brings us to the end of our board meeting of February 21st 2023 and the board is adjourned.

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