 |
| Six houses were demolished to make for an assisted living facility on Gallows Road. |
The property has been cleared to prepare for construction of a three-story 95-unit building developed by the Shelter Group to house elderly people who can no longer take care of themselves in their own homes. The Board of Supervisors approved the project in April 2013.
The staff report by the Fairfax County Planning and Zoning Department required the developer to submit a tree preservation plan calling for as many trees as possible to be saved.
Actually, the developers preserved more trees than needed, says Fairfax County Urban Forester Nicholas Drunasky. The developers are using innovative techniques to save two of the best trees along Gallows – a large oak and a large American holly, he says. Some of the large trees closest to the remaining houses have also been saved.
The county would have liked to preserve more trees, but trees on the areas where the building and parking lot will be sited had to go, Drunasky says. Unfortunately, some of the nicest trees were along Gallows Road, and they had to come down because they were in the VDOT right of way.
“Definitely a lot of nice trees were lost,” Drunasky says, but the developers have been cooperative and were able to preserve many of the better trees. “They worked with us as much as they could. I feel pretty good about the project. This is one of better tree preservation sites we’ve worked with. When the building and landscaping are all done, it should look nice.”