Fairfax County’s plan to reshape Tysons Corner is nearing completion, with planning officials approving a comprehensive “vision” for the urban center and the County Board of Supervisors planning to sign off on it this summer.
The county plans to reshape Tysons Corner from the economically thriving, automobile-centric business center it is today into a pedestrian-friendly “urban community” where people not only work but also live, shop and dine.
About 112,000 jobs and 18,500 residents are in Tysons Corner. The Fairfax County Planning Commission hopes by 2050 to nearly double the number of jobs to 200,000 and more than quadruple the number of residents to 100,000.
“It’s time for us to begin the transformation of Tysons Corner,” said Tysons COrner Planning Committee Chairman Walter Alcorn, at large, just hours before the comprehensive plan was approved.
The Planning Commission agreed to uncap residential development and placed a 45 million-square-foot initial target on office use development, with more expected once transportation and infrastructure improvements are in place. Office developments would be concentrated within a quarter-mile of Metrorail stations.
A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for June 22, when the supervisors could approve it.
“The Planning Commission works very hard to pull things into shape prior to their sending a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors,” board Chairman Sharon Bulova said, adding that significant changes to the plan at this point are unlikely.
Bulova said she supports the commission’s decision to tighten the scope of the plan to 20 years, rather than attempting to sketch out a broader plan stretching to 2050.
“I think that the 20-year horizon is realistic,” Bulova said.
Alcorn argued successfully that more transit and transportation planning was necessary before the county could consider development plans for 2030 through 2050.
Commissioner Frank de la Fe, Hunter Mill, backed the 20-year proposal, which he said scaled back the scope of the plan, not the scope of development at Tysons Corner.
Bulova said the Board of Supervisors would vote on the comprehensive plan before the August recess.
