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Tysons density dispute
Leaders of the Tysons Land Use Task Force and the county staff planners who assist them are at odds over the proposed developmental densities for Tysons Corner, it was revealed at Monday's Board of Supervisors meeting.
"I wish staff would not put out these figures," said Task Force Chair Clarke Tyler, referring to estimates that the task force's recommendations would lead to more than 200 million square feet of density. Currently, Tysons Corner encompasses 40 million square feet of development.
"You can't hide from [the projections]," said Dranesville Supervisor John Foust (D). "The task force needs to deal with the densities they're proposing."
At the meeting, Fairfax Planning Director Jim Zook recommended that the board use far lower densities more in line with the numbers presented at the task force's round of public meetings, to avoid "exceeding the threshold that has been vetted in the community."
Zook's comment echoes the complaint of community organizations that border Tysons Corner.
"Their preferred alternative is far higher than anything that was ever presented to the public," said Mark Zetts of the Greater Tysons Citizen Coalition.
According to task force member and Fairfax Chamber President Bill Lecos, the split with county staff started this past spring, when staff and task force consultants PB Placemaking presented their initial density recommendations of 114 million square feet of development for Tysons Corner.
"Those numbers would have been an embarrassment, a ridiculously indefensible missed opportunity," said Lecos.
According to Tyler and Lecos, an extremely high level of development is necessary before developers will pay for amenities that the public wants for the redesigned Tysons Corner.
"County staff is extremely technically skilled at urban planning, but they have no experience creating an urban center," said a frustrated Lecos.
Monday's board meeting leaves the future of the task force's recommendations murky. The board has set a Sept. 22 deadline for the task force to present its finished overall plan, complete with planning language. The Fairfax board traditionally sets a lot of stock by county staff recommendations. If that recommendation is to ignore the task force's numbers, the plan for Tysons Corner could be crippled before it's approved.
"After 3 1/2 years, it's frustrating to have staff so thoroughly disconnected from the consensus of the task force," Lecos said.
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