The meeting was called to order by Council President Mark McConn at 7:00 PM.

Council Members:

Priscilla Knight – Secretary, Sully Station II

Mark McConn – President, Bull Run

Jeff Parnes – 1st Vice President, Chantilly Highlands

Rick Vaughan – Dartmoor Woods HOA

Presenters/Guests:

Raquel Boone, Braddock Ridge

Matt Burger, Bryarton

Chris Caperton, Fairfax County DPZ

Bob Carlson, FCRHA

Kimberly Currin, Bryarton

Pete Dunn, The Peterson Companies

Robert Easley, Fairfax County

Tom Fleetwood, Fairfax County

Len Furkas, Milestone Communications

Jim Hart, Board of Zoning Appeals, Planning Commission

Debbie Lesko Pemberton, Fairfax County DPZ

Tony Manson, Braddock Ridge HOA

Frank McDermott, Hunton & Williams

Joseph Oline, Stonehenge

Wayne Picks, Braddock Ridge

Kim Rybold, Fairfax County Department of Public Zoning

William C. Smith, The Peterson Companies

Mary Stachyra, Centreville Patch

Adam Steiner, KHA

Frank Stearns, Donahue Stearns

Chris Tacinem, Gorours/Slade (can’t write handwriting)

Meghan Van Dam, Fairfax County Department of Public Zoning

Eric and Lynn Wassyhg, Braddock Ridge

Three gentlemen from the department presented a report on housing. Mr. Robert Carlson said sequestration has affected the department because the majority of their funding comes from the federal government.
Tom Fleetwood, deputy director, Department of Housing and Community Development, went over the “Draft Housing Blueprint: At a Glance – FY 2014, Rev. 3/25/13.” The blueprint guides what HCD does.

• Goals:
  • Prevent homelessness
  • Meet special housing needs – converting housing to meet this population
  • Meet needs of low-income, working families – A family of four having $55K or less. The average household income is $27K for these families
  • Increase workforce housing – units gained through new developments where developers dedicate a portion of their units for workforce housing. These workers earn more than $55K, but not enough to live in Fairfax County. The Department hopes to have these units near public transportation.
  FY 2014 is fully funded, but all of this funding depends on sequestration.
  As of February, Bridging Affordability was serving 173 families. About 21 percent of these families have average household income of $20K. Bridging has committed to help them pay rent for three years.
  Northern Virginia Family Services also provides supportive services to these 173 families.
  The Progress Center, along with schools and other agencies, provides crisis intervention. The goal is to help people in need achieve the greatest success they can with their housing. Progress Center helps them gain skills and employment. The center provides a wide range of services, including case workers.
  Most of the people in the housing programs work, but not the elderly. With the downturn in the economy, there hasn’t been as much turnaround in housing.
  The good news: The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has called the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) a “Moving to Work” (MTW) agency. FCRHA applied for this designation and came up with the THRIVE program to help people become more self-sufficient. This MTW is an “elite” designation. Few local government departments in the nation have it.
  MTW will require people to work. There will be less paperwork. MTW will connect people to people and services that will help them. The goal is to get people into a housing program or market housing – maybe even home ownership.
  Access to transportation and childcare are biggest challenges. Financial literacy is needed.
  Jeff Parnes asked about the percentage of affordable housing in the redevelopment projects in the Tysons Corner area. Mr. Carlson said part of the agreement for allowing high-density development is developers must set aside a portion of their units for low-income housing. He notes that the area along Rt. 123 near the new subway is ideal for low-income and elderly people and families.

  Funding

  Mr. Robert Easley went over the FY 2014 Proposed Revenue Budget of $112,265,083. He showed a pie graph of income and another for expenditures. The federal government supplies 52% of FCRHA’s income.

  Mr. Carlson said HUD has changed its rules: They can no long carry over budget money. Therefore, the numbers are worse than they appear. Sequestration has taken $2.2 million from their budget just in Fairfax.

1. 8:30
   • Proponent: Meghan Van Dam, Fairfax County
   • Action: Fairfax Forward
   • Location: County wide
     Meghan Van Dam discussed Fairfax Forward, the County’s program that will replace Area Plans Review (APR). The old APR process was based on supervisors’ districts, etc. They started it in 2012. In the retrospectives, people who participated in the process liked it, liked having the community involved, but felt that it was no longer community-driven and more reactive. Instead of looking at the big picture, the County was planning by specific applications. They found that many nominations were deferred or withdrawn – they went nowhere. Fairfax Forward is allowing a significant change.
     Mr. Parnes noted that because citizens didn’t support some nominations doesn’t mean that was a bad outcome. The nomination may have had a negative effect for some citizens.
     New nominations must pass a threshold before they are considered. Fairfax County Department of Transportation may make that call along with County Staff.
     Ms. Van Dam said the County wants citizens to be involved in planning.
     She said they set up goals for a new planning process. She said they want to use the task-force model. They want to bring the community into the process at the beginning.
     The third goal is to allow for deep discussions about nominations.
     With goals in mind, they put together a list of ongoing plan amendments and Proposed New Planning Studies. The chart she distributed to Council members listed projects.
     Mr. Parnes said the Fairfax County Parkway at Reston Avenue needs to be revised because it’s failing now and won’t get better when the Silver Line opens. The Transportation committee he serves on doesn’t get involved in specific projects.
     For Centreville planning, for example, they will start with an open dialogue about vision for the area: what’s on the ground right now, what are recent zoning actions, what’s planned, etc. This dialogue would set a foundation for planning.
     Mr. Parnes said the County should plan today for where transit stations should be built. Ms. Van Dam said I-66, Route 1, and Route 28 corridors are being studied for improved transit.
     As they move through the study, they will have more interaction with the communities, such as the SDC and WFCCA. They will work through the specifics of plans. Mr. Parnes said citizen task forces need Staff assistance because citizens don’t have all the information.
     Jim Hart noted that the Board of Supervisors will not review Fairfax Forward this month. It’s been postponed until June 11. He said that if a nomination is not on the FF work program, citizens have to get supervisors to add them to the list. They will go to the bottom of the list. “We’re going from open season for nominations” to a planned list.
     The public hearing on Fairfax Forward will be on July 9, 2013, before the Board of Supervisors at the Government Center at 4 p.m.

2. 9:00
   • Proponent: Frank W. Stearns, Donohue & Stearns, PLC for Verizon Wireless and Milestone Communications
   • Action: Wireless telecommunications facility
   • Location: London Towne Elementary School, 6100 Stone Road, Centreville, Virginia 20120
     Proposed Telecommunications Tower
     Mr. Frank W. Stearns, from Donohue & Stearns, PLC, for Verizon Wireless and Milestone Communications, presented plans for a 115-foot tree pole cellphone tower at Stone Middle School. County Staff has recommended approval.
     Mr. Stearns said wireless demand is increasing. The Verizon pole would improve service in the Sully Station II area. He said having adequate communications is a public safety issue since 70% of emergency calls are made on cellphones today. Many more homes depend on wireless vs. landline phones. Smart phones, tablets, laptops, computers, etc. are putting demand on wireless communications. Furthermore, Mr. Stearns said hospitals and doctors can monitor patients wirelessly.
     Mr. Stearns showed photos of what the tree pole would look like from various streets within the area. Milestone sent notification to 620 homeowners in the immediate area about the plans and the balloon test.

     Homeowners Statements:

     Tony Manson, president of Braddock Ridge HOA, said he and members of his HOA are against the application. He doesn’t want any space at the school used for commercial purposes. (The pole will be placed behind a baseball field at Stone Middle School.) He said the Fairfax County School Board approves these towers, but the homeowners do not. He said the information and statistics are not complete and accurate.

     Matthew Burger, Bryarton HOA, which is off of Stone Road, said there are “a lot of inaccuracies in the applications.” He said the wireless industry is split between a tower developer and the carriers. The height is being pushed by the carriers. The carriers will give rental money to the school system. He says the information is “dishonest.” He said there’s a moral and community aspect to the application. It will go to a private-equity partnership. They only have to pay based on the use and not the land used.

     The Land Use Commission meeting on April 25, 2013, will review one site and one pole and will not consider the economics of the pole and the companies involved. It will be covered on Channel 16.

     The homeowners said their main complaint is the height of the pole. Verizon has told Milestone the height they need. The Comprehensive Plan says poles have to be tall enough to hold equipment from at least three carriers.

     Mr. Parnes says it’s part of the 21st Century to have wireless infrastructure. He said we usually approve the poles because we don’t know of any alternatives for 4-G and 5-G communications -- not because the SDC likes them.

     Len Furkess, president of Milestone Communication, said he has agreements with Fairfax County and a dozen other schools and NOVEC. He said his company has worked very closely with homeowners. They’ve been very open. They’ve held community meetings, but only Mr. Manson has appeared. They had a balloon test to show what the height would be. There was no objection at the time. “The door has been open.” They sent packets of information to every HOA. They’ve been transparent in every way they can. The economic relationship is identical to the relationship the company has with all groups.”

3. 9:30
   • Proponent: Frank McDermott and Susan Yantis, Hunton & Williams LLP for Dulles Discovery
   • Action: FDPA on Dulles Discovery South (FDPA 2009-SU-024) and PCA on Dulles Discovery North (PCA-2005-SU-026)
   • Location: Parcels on both sides of the Air And Space Museum Parkway east of Rt 28
   • Concurrent FDPA on Dulles Discovery South (FDPA 2009-SU-024), whose purpose is:
     1. To memorialize the various intervening changes approved for DDS by Interpretation, and
     2. To add a one-story auditorium and a one-story cafeteria to the approved, low rise Building 5, both internal to the site; and the possibility of a second water storage tank adjacent to, and the same height as, the Campus Loading Dock and a relocated water storage tank, also internal to the site.
     No increase in the already approved FAR or number of office buildings is proposed.
   • Application by Dulles Discovery North 3 LC, a PCA to revise proffers on I-5 parcels on the north side of Air & Space Museum Parkway, south of Wall Rd, west of Centreville Rd, east of Rt. 28, 13.44 acres, for office and accessory uses. It has been accepted and will be PCA 2005-SU-026. Joe Gorney will be staff coordinator. The site was approved already but for security reasons for the tenant they need to construct a privately owned and maintained overpass over Air and Space Museum Parkway, with minor modifications to parking, landscaping, sidewalk/trail system and security fencing, and all of that requires a PCA.
     Mr. Frank McDermott presented a proposal for the Dulles Discovery road overpass to connect the north and south campuses and avoid drivers from having to go through security each time. The improvement will save millions of dollars over time and take vehicle trips off public roads. It will allow employees at the unidentified government agency (UGA) sites to travel to the North side of the Air and Space Museum Highway. To the south, the road improvement will facilitate deliveries to the complex. The application includes a cafeteria and an auditorium on the south side. The north campus is 1.2 million square feet and the south campus is 1.3 million square feet.

• The May meeting will take place on May 22^nd and will feature the annual report from Richmond by the Sully District State Assembly delegation
• The June meeting will take place on June 26^th and will feature the annual State of Sully by Sully Supervisor Michael Frey

The meeting adjourned at 10:20 p.m.

Respectively submitted by,

Priscilla Knight

Secretary
Sully District Council