With a final decision scheduled within the next few weeks on a redevelopment plan for Seven Corners that would allow 5,000 new housing units, an ad hoc group of community leaders is hoping to build support for an alternative proposal.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission already held a public hearing on a Seven Corners amendment to the county's Comprehensive Plan and is scheduled to vote July 15 on a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The BoS is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the plan July 28.
The ad hoc group has posted a petition, “Seven for Seven,” on Change.org outlining seven recommendations to revise the proposed plan amendment under consideration:
- Reduce residential development by 25 percent and overall development by 20 percent in the Willston and Seven Corners Shopping Center areas.
- Preserve affordable housing.
- Transfer the Willston site to the Fairfax County school board for a new school and county services.
- Ensure that transportation improvements for Seven Corners will be funded and implemented along with new development.
- Increase parkland and open space requirements.
- Fully support county requirements for barriers and screening.
- Add community representatives to the permanent Seven Corners Working Group.
The group hopes that if enough people sign the petition, they will be able to persuade the Board of Supervisors to scale back the density in the the proposed redevelopment plan and make other improvements to “help achieve the vibrant redevelopment of Seven Corners, creating a neighborhood where people and families want to live, play, learn, and work.”