Westfields Pursuit of Future Land Use Flexibility with Westfields Task Force
Westfields Business Owners Association (WBOA) continues its effort to pursue land use flexibility for planning alternative in the Westfields campus. As we have shared with the community, the WBOA Board of Directors has pursued approval of amenity-rich and appropriate residential mixes for Westfields through the approval of the “Preserve at Westfields” and “The Field at Westfield”(Wegman’s Retail Area) in 2015. The WBOA Board also engaged independent external studies via the Urban Land Institute “What’s Next for Westfields” report in 2016, Participated in the Dulles Suburban Center Study (2016-2018) as well as embarked on an updated draft Conceptual Master Plan for Westfields (2018) to hone in and refine the recommendations of the ULI and to identify the unique challenges at Westfields. Westfields will continue to be supportive of smart land use planning to improve the future success of Westfields for all owners and tenants.
In the next chapter in this effort, The WBOA was successful in asking Fairfax County to look at and explore Westfields in its entirety as a planned community. “Upon completion of the Dulles Suburban Center Study, the Board of Supervisors authorized consideration of a new plan amendment for Land Unit J of the Dulles Suburban Center (the Westfields area), to consider new land uses for this area. A community task force has been convened to review these potential land use changes.”
Westfields would like this task force to consider an updated conceptual master plan that introduces residential and retail in appropriate areas throughout the park while keeping the existing and planned commercial development. Westfields is like a small town, we are aware that each area of the park is unique and has its unique requirements and challenges that will need to be addressed. What Westfields seeks is flexibility in planning throughout the entirety of Westfields as we reimage and build out a more vibrant place where people want to work, live, stay and play. Not every location will be ideal for a change of use but we hope by providing the flexibility in land use planning we collectively make Westfields a unique and special community attracting, and retaining the very best companies, employees, and residents.
We welcome your input and comments and certainly welcome the property owners and community to participate in this public meeting. For more information about the plan amendment and the task force meeting schedule, please visit the project website at https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/planning-zoning/plan-amendments/dsc-land-unit-j
-WBOA
Update October 29th, 2018: WBOA presents to the “Land Unit J (Westfields) Task Force. Presentation Link: WBOA Presentation to Fairfax County Land Unit J (Westfields) Task Force, October 29th, 2018
Other articles of interest “What’s next for Westfields”