Vote scheduled for Tuesday on divisive Mount Vernon-area rezoning proposal
A last-minute surge of opposition has put the proposed rezoning of a portion of land near Inova Mount Vernon Hospital into question and divided a local community. And with the Board of Supervisors set to vote on the issue Tuesday, it remains to be seen how the issue will be resolved.
The rezoning request asks that a 4.38-acre plot of land bordering Hinson Farm Road be allowed a higher density (R8, in zoning parlance). The applicant, L&F Bock Farm LLC, would then construct four four-story buildings comprising a total of 128 independent living units for residents 55 and older. The remaining portion of the 11-acre property would remain zoned as PD-5 (planned development, five dwellings per acre), with plans to build three single-family detached homes.
Those opposed to the zoning change say they are concerned about the impact the development would have on traffic and home values, and are worried the high-density development would change the character of the neighborhood. There is also concern that the proposed development could end up being opened up to residents younger than 55.
Supporters say the proposal fills a gaping need for independent living housing for seniors in the Mount Vernon area. Those in favor of the rezoning say impact on traffic will be minimal, and believe many of the concerns raised by the opposition are based on misinformation.
The piece of land involved is in the northwest corner of Justice Snowden Farm, located at 2405 Parkers Lane. The property is bordered by the hospital, medical offices, and the Williamsburg Manor neighborhood of single-family houses. The farm is the last link to the rural past of the area, which has otherwise become completely developed.
William and Valerie Bock own Justice Snowden Farm and have run a horse farm there since 1998. The Bocks worked with a developer to apply for the zoning change last year, and the proposal moved through the county’s rezoning process — which included public hearings and the unanimous approval of the Mount Vernon Council of Civic Associations (MVCCA) — with little controversy. The Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning recommended in July that the Board of Supervisors approve the proposal.
But before the measure could be voted on, residents opposed to the changes began making their voices heard.
Residents Against Rezoning
Prior to September, there was virtually no opposition registered to the rezoning proposal. The last step in the process was to be a public comment and yes or no vote at the Sept. 20 Board of Supervisors meeting. Only one person spoke against the zoning change at the meeting, but Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck cited new community uncertainty about the proposed senior housing and asked that a vote on the measure be deferred until the Oct. 18 BOS meeting.
Meanwhile, in early October a Change.org petition launched calling for the board of supervisors to vote “no” on the rezoning. The petition struck a chord with community members, and has garnered more than 560 signatures to date. Then a group called Residents Against Rezoning started a blog and a Facebook group to communicate their opposition to the farm rezoning.
The first blog post the group wrote, titled “The Process is Broken,” said the MVCCA vote was not representative of the community, and that the Fairfax County rezoning process was flawed and didn’t take the entire community’s opinions into account.
“As for hearings in front of the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors: hearings were held at inconvenient times, far away from impacted communities, and were not well publicized or attended,” the post says. “The clear opposition that has emerged since those hearings should tell our elected officials that the process isn’t working, or has been manipulated.”
Those opposed to the rezoning won more time when Storck again deferred a vote on the rezoning proposal at the Board of Supervisors’ Oct. 18 meeting. The opposition then scored another victory last Wednesday when the MVCCA voted 10-6 to rescind its support for the Bock Farm rezonng plan.
Storck talked with the Williamsburg Manor neighborhood at a meeting last week, and sent a letter addressing some of the opposition’s concerns, particularly the worry that the high-density development could be opened to residents younger than 55.
“Over the past week, a new concern, circulated via emails, petitions and social media represented that this market rate senior housing, where school-aged children are prohibited, could be converted to general housing,” Storck wrote. “This is false because the county requirements do not permit this. There are no state or federal provisions which override this.”
The letter and meeting, however, seemed to do little to assuage the concerns of the opposition. A new blog post by the RAR stated a listed of reasons why the board should vote no, and implied that BOS support for the move might be a political favor for former Mount Vernon Supervisor Gerry Hyland, who is friends with the Bock family and held events at their farm.
” … [W]hat possible reasons could the BoS have for supporting this unprecedented and nonsensical proposal?” the post stated. ” Could it be they feel they owe something special to this particular landowner, and their mutual friend retired Supervisor Gerry Hyland?”
End of the farm
Whatever happens at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, one thing is certain: The horse farm on the disputed property will close in the near future.
Along with his wife Valerie, Bill Bock has spent the last 18 years raising and caring for horses at Justice Snowden Farm. The Bocks have welcomed various groups onto the farm for riding lessons and tours, and Bill Bock says his wife has not missed a single feeding in all that time.
But now Bock and his wife are in their 70s, and the physical demands of running a horse farm are catching up with them.
“Between the two of us, we almost have 150 years on this earth,” Bock said. “We just are physically getting to the point where we can’t do it.”
Bock believes the Mount Vernon area, with a large aging population, will benefit from more senior housing. He says he’s spoken with older residents in the area who’ve indicated they are interested in the new housing. Bock also says that none of the protesters have contacted him directly, or responded to letters he distributed prior to the rezoning process.
“My wife and I wrote a three-and-a-half page letter, went door-to-door. We asked for input and received not one email, and not one phone call,” Bock said. “When I grew up, if you had disagreements with people, you talked to them.“
Other residents in the area have stepped up to say they support the rezoning plan. Mimi Friedman, who lives in the River Farm neighborhood not far from the farm, says Residents Against Rezoning has put together a savvy online campaign, but that does not mean they speak for most residents.
“They’re very organized and they’re very vocal, but I don’t think they speak for the majority of the community,” Friedman said. “I feel like the Bocks have gone through the process. They went through the proper channels. There was nothing under the table.”
Several people in an adjoining neighborhood responded directly to Mr. Bock’s three and half page letter in which he introduced the option of a modern, updated equine center, inquiring about that option. They were summarily told that they were not going to get any more information.
Also, there was dialogue with the community and the Bocks regarding an existing covenant on the Farm that restricts it use to an equine center and three single family homes, a covenant that would not allow the current development. When several covenant holders requested any other option besides a full release of the covenant as proposed by Mr. Bock, all dialogue ceased.
This is an accurate comment. My husband and I both had conversations with Mr. Bock where he revealed himself to be unwilling to consider any option for development other than the one described in the rezoning application. In light of the one option presented to residents, the WMNCA voted not to release its covenant to allow the proposed development. We never heard from Mr. Bock after our vote. Within a month of that vote, the Planning Commission held its hearing. I think people were waiting to hear back from Mr. Bock to continue negotiations and were not expecting the developer to proceed with this rezoning request. That’s one explanation for why this flew under the radar for so many people, who only realized what was going on when it reached the Board of Supervisors.
It is not accurate to say that neighbors were not communicating with the Bock family, since we have an elected President of the Williamsburg Manor North association, who was communicating with the Bock family and trying to find a compromise. Individual residents were not directly communicating with the Bock family, because they most likely thought, like I, that it made more sense and would avoid confusion, if we had one representative trying to communicate and negotiate with them.
I appreciate that the Bock family would like to sell their property. No one is preventing them from selling their property. They are unfortunately not willing to sell their property, while respecting the current zoning requirements.
The need for independent living facilities has not been documented as well. When WMN residents asked Supervisor Storck for statistics of this need just last week, he was not able to provide any and explained he was relying on the developers claims for the need.
Also, here is more information questioning the need for the independent living developments: https://residentsagainstrezoningsite.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/a-note-from-a-rar-supporter/
There is a new independent living center entering the market nearby: http://www.crestofalexandria.com/ and when I called the Paul Springs Independent facility nearby, they explained that they had openings.
There is a petition with over 500 signatures opposed to this development and no petition in support of the proposal. There is clearly a community position against the building of a large four story building next to single family homes that will bring with it more than 200 cars and more clogged roads that will be more dangerous and difficult for our children, firefighters, police and commuters to navigate.
Both comments are accurate as far as the extremely limited communication between the Bocks and WMN. Let the record also show that the MVCCA has revoked its approval for the zoning plan. Gerry Hyland showing up at the September meeting and saying he just can’t understand why the residents have “changed their minds” borders on willful blindness.
Agreed with all of the above. My family received the 3 1/2 page letter and were very excited for the equine center option over the 4 story tall senior community. We have many senior options within 5-10 minutes away but this is the last equine center in a 30 minute radius. We relied on the WMN president and covenant holders to make our community’s overwhelming disapproval known to the Bocks. And like Kate, we were waiting for more info only to find out it already made it’s way to the BOS. Feel it was for filling the pockets of a few over the benefit of the larger community. As one of our WMN youth said, “Keep the farm and keep the beauty”!