Two studies integral to the planning of Tysons Corner’s overhaul aren’t scheduled to be complete until just days before a task force offers its vision of the area’s future next month. A third won’t be finished for months afterward.
The Tysons Land Use Task Force, a group of residents, developers, activists and planners charged with mapping out the redevelopment of Fairfax County’s “downtown,” faces a swiftly approaching deadline of Sept. 22 to deliver its recommendations to the county Board of Supervisors. That date will be the first step in a long pipeline of planning and approval by county officials.
Those recommendations could pave the way for a Tysons Corner with three or even four times its existing development, much of it new residential space closely tied to a Metrorail line that will run along Routes 123 and 7.
The task force still has a wealth of information from consultants to pull together, however. PB Placemaking, the main consultant backing up the task force, has spent months formulating development scenarios for Tysons and is expected to issue a report by Sept. 15, according to information provided by Fairfax County.
Task force Chairman Clark Tyler said the tight timing won’t cause a problem.
“This is a report that started way back in February, which we’ve been constantly revising since then as some of our committees have finished what they’re doing,” he said.
The task force recently retained George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis to create growth forecasts through 2050, the preliminary findings of which will be delivered to the task force Sept. 9, according to Stephen Fuller, the center’s director.
Traffic modeling based on the GMU report by Cambridge Systematics won’t be done for three or four months afterward, county officials said.
Tysons planning has been marked with a distinct sense of urgency recently, though supervisors have vowed to closely scrutinize any proposal that comes before them.
“I can only speak for myself — I’m not going to substitute expediency for doing a job right,” said Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust. “We’ll move as fast as we possibly can, while making certain that we’re not committing to something that is the wrong way to go.”
At the same time, community groups have grown restless at what they say is a lack of disclosure about the task force’s direction.
“There are a lot of bold conclusions, and some incredibly high numbers,” said Rob Jackson, president of the McLean Citizens Association. “And that’s what’s very frustrating, unless you can look at the same types of materials and say ‘OK, we see how they got there, or no, we disagree very strongly.’ ”
