The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors could approve a broad set of guidelines for new development around mass transit Monday,laying the groundwork for new dense, urbanized growth throughout the county.
The board will hold a public hearing, and possibly vote, on adding new definitions for “transit-oriented development” in the county’s comprehensive plan. The plan is a document that guides land-use policy and plays a large role in how the county directs development.
The county already allows higher-density development in a quarter-mile radius around transit stations, but the proposed plan allows greater flexibility in where the increased density is permitted, among other changes. Transit-Oriented Development Committee Chairman Walter Alcorn, also a member of the county’s Planning Commission, said changes would be examined station by station.
The committee spent months cementing the new policy, which comes at a time when the commonwealth is orchestrating a gargantuan rail expansion in Northern Virginia. The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project could reshape communities from West Falls Church to Loudoun County. Eight of the 11 new stations planned for the project are in Fairfax County, including four throughout Tysons Corner.
