Alexandria Living Magazine
On Tuesday, a representative of the owners of the Belle View Shopping Center withdrew their proposal from the Fairfax County Site-Specific Plan Amendment Process (SSPA), which invites individuals and companies to nominate sections of the county for redevelopment.
“Given COVID and the recovery from the recent fire, we are focused on ensuring that the shopping center and our tenants are able to recover as soon as possible. Our focus on these efforts, and, frankly, the feedback from both Staff and the Community, made us realize that continuing to pursue the SSPA at this time does not make sense,” the representative said in the letter. “[We] look forward to future discussions as the future of retail and its impact on the shopping center becomes more clear,” he concluded.
Earlier this summer, the nominators proposed buildings nearly 900 residential units above and around a revitalized retail shopping center at the site. Following feedback from staff of the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development and the public, the original proposal for the shopping center was significantly reduced. A revised proposal decreased the number of residential units from 900 to 300 and brought retail space down to 90,000 to 110,000 square feet from the initial 182,000 square feet.
Despite these changes, community opposition to the new Belle View Shopping Center proposal remained strong. The Mount Vernon Task Force reviewing SSPA nominations received 58 pages of comments from members of the surrounding neighborhood, most of whom argued that the changes proposed to the Belle View Shopping center were not appropriate for the area and could have negative effects on traffic and flooding, which is already a concern around the shopping center.
Fairfax County staff echoed public concerns and concluded that the nomination should not be added to the Comprehensive Plan Amendment Work Program.
“The revised nomination remains problematic when evaluated against Plan goals regarding neighborhood compatibility, buffering, and transitions to the surrounding suburban neighborhood, as well as goals seeking to achieve environmental benefits,” staff said in their report.
See more about development projects in the SSPA pipeline here.
