Storck will recommend deferring vote on Bock Farm rezoning

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck will recommend that the Board of Supervisors defer its scheduled vote tomorrow on the Bock Farm rezoning request.

Citing continued disagreements in the community on the best path forward, Storck said more time is needed to come up with a solution that is acceptable to the parties involved.

“I’m going to be deferring tomorrow any vote on the Bock Farm,” Storck said Monday afternoon. “We’ll be meeting with the covenant holders and community members in the coming weeks to address this issue in the longer term.”

The Bock Farm issue involves a request for rezoning of 4.38 aces of a portion of Justice Snowden Farm on Parkers Lane, adjacent to the Inova Mount Vernon Hospital property and Williamsburg Manor neighborhood.

The horse farm is owned by the Bock family, who along with a developer applied for higher density zoning for the northwest portion of their 11-acre farm. If approved, the developer plans to build four four-story buildings for a total of 128 units of independent living housing for residents 55 or older.

Opponents of the plan have mounted a campaign to get the board to reject the proposal as it currently stands, saying that the community was not fully aware of the project before it was recommended for approval by the county’s planning and zoning department.

Storck’s motion doesn’t mean the deferment will automatically happen. Fellow Supervisor Pat Herrity was critical of Storck’s deferment recommendation at the Sept. 20 BOS hearing, saying that the county’s need for senior housing needed to be addressed sooner than later. However, the Oct. 18 motion was unanimously approved and Storck said he expects supervisors to respect his view on the issue since it involves Mount Vernon district.

“They have to vote on it, it’s not a slam dunk or guarantee,” Storck said. “But] typically if you have some controversy on issue the board is willing to be patient for awhile.”