The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved an out-of-turn Plan Amendment clearing the way for an office complex and possibly a hotel on property along Telegraph Road near Route 1 following a public hearing last month. The 69-acre property is currently zoned industrial and is home to several small businesses. It would require a consolidated purchase of businesses currently on the property, some of which have already been purchased and others with sale pending. The site also abuts public parkland and a portion of Southgate Woods community.
In July, the county planning commission recommended approval of the plan with several changes including adding an option for a mix of office with limited hotel, light industrial and civic uses at an intensity up to 0.65 Floor Area Ratio with several conditions, such as reducing peak hour trips to a level that is 20 percent below that which would be generated by office development at an intensity of 0.50 FAR. Other conditions related to site design include the tapering of density and building heights, impacts to the viewshed of Pohick Church and environmental considerations. The adoption of the plan at 0.65 FAR results in a development potential of approximately two million square feet.
Cindy Smith of Newington expressed concern at the public hearing. Smith worried that traffic, in an effort to circumvent the numerous backups already experienced by commuters, would cut through her residential community. Telegraph Road is currently scheduled to be widened to four lanes from Route 1 to the Fairfax County Parkway however the Transportation Plan Map would be modified to show that segment of Telegraph Road to be widened to six lanes.
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Supervisor Gerry Hyland said he liked the idea of having a hotel included in the development since the Army Museum will be located nearby and it will encourage visitors to that site to stay in the Lorton area. BRAC support services, possible tenants in the development, will help create well-paying jobs for people in the Lorton community.
Rezoning, site plan development and approval are the next steps in the process of bringing the project into being. No time schedule has been established at this point.
