March 10, 2026 Land Use Policy Committee - Mar 10, 2026
meeting
Fairfax County Board Committees
45 min
5 speakers
8 agenda items
transcribed 2 days ago
official recording ↗
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the purpose of the Land Use Policy Committee meeting and who are the key presenters?
Okay, good morning everybody. I am going to call the land use policy committee meeting to order. Um we have our meeting summary. Does anyone have any additions or corrections to that? Okay, seeing none, we are going to get right to it. Um and I am just gonna turn right to Drew.
All right, great. Uh thank you. I'm uh Andrew Hushauer, the Assistant Zoning Administrator uh in the Department of Planning and Development. And I have uh also tra Tracy Strunk, Director of Planning Development, and then Jennifer Tran, a planner uh in the zoning administration division. She and I have been working on this project together. So we'll get right into it. All right, so this is uh related to um l a proposal to modify the definition of building height. Um and I can't stress that enough that we're really looking at one piece um of of of uh issue that really spans and in and kind of tentacles into lots of other issues, compatibility, infill development, things like that. But we really are just focusing on the building height definition uh because this is a logical first step.
Um we're bringing this to you because uh as you all know, there there's been a trend probably the last 12 to 15 years in Fairfax County with a lot of infill development where you see a lot of newer homes that are being built in older established neighborhoods. So a lot of teardown of older homes, um, the the units that are being constructed on on a lot of the infill lots um significantly bigger than the neighboring properties. Uh just for a little bit of context, the the average home size in the U.S. In 2024, I believe was around 2,400 square feet. Regionally, sort of Northern Virginia, it's slightly higher, probably, you know, around 3,000, maybe a little bit over 3,000 square feet. When you start getting into custom homes, which we do see a lot in infill development, you know, the the goal really for I think the builders in the market is really delivering a home even bigger than that, maybe uh on the lines of 4,000 square feet.
Then you also have areas of the county, uh State Falls is an example, where it's not uncommon to see homes that are, you know, eight, ten, even twelve thousand square feet. So all of these, you know, this effort and this desire, you know, for the bigger homes, you know, working up against setbacks, and then you know, the bulk requirements, which will often include the height, have really pushed, you know, the limits of the existing definition of building height, which we haven't really uh, you know really looked at too much, certainly not amended it um in in nearly 50 years. Um and so as a result of all this, there was a January 2025 uh joint board matter by supervisors Stork and Beerman that really specifically addressed uh in field development.
And you know we staff was directed to uh staff with multiple agencies was you know directed to look at maybe some different opportunities and tools, you know, to to you know look at to possibly deal with the infill issue. The building height was one of them that that DPD staff have identified and that's why we're bringing forward the matter today. There's another related item that I'll just quickly mention. um based on um uh a new home that's under construction uh in the county that's made the national news. Everybody's aware of it. I won't say the street name of it. But there was another joint uh board matter uh by supervisors uh Smith and Herity um that was done back in December that also w directed staff to look at that issue.
Uh that one's a little more complex because we really were tasked at looking at um the full bulk requirements as it relates to to compatibility and infill development, which would include setbacks, not just the height. So this again is really it's this first step, it's a logical first step. It's a building block and I think it helps us get better to the other amendment which will come later on, actually. And you'll be talking about that specific amendment as it on the work program when you review that in a couple months.
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Agenda
8 items
1
What is the purpose of the Land Use Policy Committee meeting and who are the key presenters?
0:05–6:28
2
Why is the current 35‑foot building‑height definition being reconsidered?
6:28–13:12
3
How have historical trends in infill development affected home sizes and setbacks?
13:12–19:15
4
What are the three proposed options for amending the building‑height ordinance?
19:15–24:37
5
How do the case‑study homes illustrate the challenges of the current height rules?
24:37–30:15
6
What concerns did supervisors and community members raise about the proposed changes?
30:15–36:43
7
How will Fairfax County engage the public and industry on the amendment proposals?
36:43–41:53
8
What are the next steps and timeline for finalizing the amendment?
41:53–45:43
Speakers
5 identified
Pat Herrity 4 min
Jeffrey C. McKay 4 min
Kathy L. Smith 2 min
Rachna Sizemore Heizer 2 min
Rodney L. Lusk 1 min
Officials recognised by voice; public commenters shown as “Speaker N” unless they state their name.
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