February 2025 Civic Affairs Committee Report

by | Feb 13, 2025 | Civic Affairs

If you’d like to join the Chantilly Highlands Civic Affairs Committee please contact Jeff Parnes at chhacivicaffairs@chha.org

Previous Month Report Next Month Report (when available)

 

Sully District Council of Citizens Associations

  • Sully District Council is Social!
  • The tentative Sully District Council of Citizens Associations schedule for the remainder of 2025 (subject to change) (agendas may not be available until the week/day of the meeting):
      • The SDCCA meets the fourth Wednesday of the month starting at 7 pm at the Sully Government Facility unless otherwise indicated. You may choose to join us virtually.
      The agenda will have the necessary details:

    • 26 February: Police and Safety
    • 10 March: FY 2024 budgets for FCPS and Fairfax County (in person only – Rocky Run Middle School)
    • 23 April: FCDOT/VDOT
    • 28 May: General Assembly Report by Delegates and Senators representing Sully in Richmond
    • 25 June: General impacts of Data Centers — air, JLARC, water, land combined discussion with JLARC Study Presentation by one of our representatives familiar with the study
    • 26 July and 23 August — No Summer meetings currently scheduled
    • 24 September: Joint with the LWVFA – State legislative candidates night
    • 22 October: Sully BRAC appointees report
    • 19 November: Affordable Housing
    • 17 December: Economic Development Authority
  • The Joint Sully District Land Use and Transportation Committee meets the third Monday of each month starting at 7 pm at the Sully Government Facility unless otherwise indicated. Topics posted the week of the meeting, agenda available late on the day of the meeting
    • 17 February 2025:
      • 7:00 — SE 2022-SU-00004 (congregate living facility at 12250 Brim Lane)
      • 7:45 — RZ 2020-SU-005 — Concurrent rezoning and Plan Amendment (RZ 2020-SU-005 / SSPA 2023-III-2BR) for A&A Contracting, Inc., to develop warehouse, parking or similar industrial uses at their property at the terminus of Dulles S. Court [Tax Map 33-2 ((1)) 1]. This was initially presented before the Joint Committee on February 20, 2023.

Fairfax Federation

    • Fairfax Federation 27 February Meeting
      • County and School FY 2026 Budget7 pm at the Mason District Governmental Facility

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    • Fairfax Federation Citizen of the Year Honors Banquet
      • 2023 & 2024 Years Citizens of the Year Honorees and Banquet informationThe Fairfax County Citizens of the Year Seventy-First Annual Awards Banquet is scheduled for Saturday, the Seventeenth of May, 2025 at the Springfield Golf & Country Club

        COY: 2023, Jay Johnston and 2024, TBD

        Citation of Merit: 2023, Karen Corbett Sanders and 2024 TBD

        For more information click here

 

  • Fairfax Federation Seeks Nominations for Fairfax County 2024 Citizen of the Year
    • The Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations is soliciting nominations for its 2023 Fairfax County Citizen of the Year.
      Each year, a selection committee of county-wide organizations meets to
      review nominations for the Federation’s “Citizen of the Year” and merit
      awards. The winners are honored at our annual banquet, planned for Spring 2024
    • Both the Citizen of the Year Award and the Citation of
      Merit recognize and honor those citizens whose voluntary contributions
      of time and talent resulted in major accomplishments that have enhanced
      the quality of life for citizens of Fairfax County.
    • Eligibility:
      • Nominees must be current residents of Fairfax County.
      • Elected officials and full-time county or commonwealth
        employees are ineligible for consideration if their contributions are
        related to their full-time positions.
      • The Citizen of the Year is recognized for voluntary acts that are not related to employment.
    • Criteria:
      • Contributions and accomplishments must have countywide rather than local significance.
      • The nominee’s achievements can be either:
        • General, such as multi-year community service with one or more
          organizations or activities with cumulative impact over the years of
          current importance or with positive implications for the future, or
        • Specific, including intense efforts as the major promoter of a single program or project completed in a finite period of time.
    • Persons whose contributions of time and talent resulted in
      major accomplishments that have enhanced the quality of life for
      citizens of Fairfax County, who do not meet the published eligibility
      standards for the Citizen of the Year consideration, may still be
      honored by the Federation. Please submit information about these
      nominees on the nomination form, indicating that this is an alternative
      nomination.
    • Nominations will be accepted until 28 Febuary 2025. The nomination form is available online from the
      Federation’s website, http://www.fcfca.org/coy1.htm.
    • The Federation, established in 1940, is the countywide voice
      for homeowner, civic, and community associations. An all-volunteer
      organization, the Federation works on issues that impact Fairfax County
      residents, including education, transportation, environment, human
      services, land use, county budget, and county, state and federal
      legislation.
    • For more information please contact Bill Barfield, Awards Committee Chair.

Education

  • Reassessment of School Boundaries
    • FCPS is conducting a comprehensive reassessment of school boundaries for the first time in 40 years.
    • Themes:
      • Boundary Stability
      • Community Engagement
      • Fixing the Problems
      • Moving 6th Grade to Middle School
    • What to Expect:
      • Limited, if any, boundary revisions for most schools.
      • Attendance islands will be eliminated.
      • Split feeders will be reduced or eliminated.
      • More children biking or walking to school.
      • Shorter bus rides.
      • Middle schools will transition to Grades 6-8
    • For more information see FCPS’s website


Housing and Community Development

    • Public Comment Opportunity: Draft FY2026 One-Year Action Plan
        Starting February 5 through March 18, the County is seeking

public comment on the Draft FY 2026 One-Year Action Plan

    • , which describes the specific activities for which federal funds received annually will be applied to achieve the overall goals and strategies contained in the Five-Year Consolidated Plan for FY 2022 – FY 2026 (the Consolidated Plan).


Planning and Zoning

  • Casino Update – The Bill is Dead!
      Hunter Mill Supervisor Walter Alcorn reported:

    • Late breaking news from Richmond. Following the Virginia Senate’s vote last week to approve a proposed casino in Tysons, the bill was sent to the House of Delegates and then the House Appropriations Committee, where on 12 February 2025 the bill was “passed by” which in this context effectively kills the legislation for 2025.
    • Thanks are due to House Speaker Don Scott for listening to citizen concerns, to Delegate David Bulova who chaired the subcommittee that killed the bill, to Delegate Karen Keys-Gamarra who worked so effectively to point out the flaws in the casino bill, to state senator Jennifer Boysko who fought hard in the Senate and showed up uninvited to the subcommittee hearing late the day was considered to encourage the bill’s demise, to Delegate Holly Seibold who made a strong statement on 11 February in the General Law Committee that she opposes a casino, to Delegate Irene Shin who has long opposed this legislation, and to state Senator Sadaam Salim for fighting the good fight in the Senate. And to all the senators and delegates who voted against SB 982.
    • More locally, thank you to my colleague Supervisor Rodney Lusk (Franconia District) who contacted Speaker Scott last Friday and voiced his opposition to the casino legislation — along with Dranesville Supervisor Jimmy Bierman who has long opposed the casino legislation. The Hunter Mill District very much appreciates both your engagements against the bill.
    • Finally thank you to all of you who have made your voice heard, whether through a phone call or an email or taking the long bus ride to Richmond. We hear a lot about private interests throwing around millions of dollars to trample over community concerns. But that did not happen this year, at least not in Virginia on this casino bill. Thanks to all who helped make that happen.

Public Safety

    • Community Police Academy Accepting Applications for Spring 2025
        Interested in learning more about local law enforcement? The Community Police Academy is

now accepting applications

      • for the Spring 2025 session that will meet from

March 13 to May 17, 2025

      • . The Community Police Academy is designed to give participants a glimpse behind the badge and to provide information about training, policies, and the many units and divisions within the Fairfax County Police Department.

 

    • Announcing the Connect Fairfax County Program
        FCPD is launching

Connect Fairfax

      • , a

free

      • program aimed at improving public safety by allowing County residents and businesses to register their security cameras with FCPD’s Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC). This

valuable crime-fighting tool

      • helps them quickly reference a map of relevant cameras that may contain actionable evidence for our detectives to review.

Registering your camera does not grant FCPD access to your footage

      • —it simply lets FCPD know where cameras are located so they can request footage if needed. Learn more

here.

Public Works and Environmental Services

    • Save the Date for Green Breakfast Event on Climate Action and Community Resilience

Come learn more about climate action in Fairfax County

      • and the county’s work to “Sustain Fairfax”. The event is on

March 8 from 9 to 11 a.m. at Ornery Brewery, 3950 University Drive in Fairfax

      • . Sara Girello with Fairfax County Government’s Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination will highlight the county’s climate plans, programs, and progress and what you can do to save money, reduce your emissions, build resilience, and help our community.

Register here.

 

    • ‘Sustain Fairfax’ Campaign Promotes Collective Action to Address Climate Change
        A new county-sponsored

public awareness campaign

      • draws attention to actions that residents can take to foster environmental stewardship and promote sustainable practices that will ensure a greener, healthier future. The “

Sustain Fairfax

    • ” campaign makes it easy for residents to get involved. It lists actionable steps, as well as resources, information and opportunities to participate in various climate action programs and initiatives.

Sully District

    • Sully District Office is Updating its HOA List


The Sully District Supervisor’s Office is updating its community HOA/Civic Association list. They use this list to conduct community outreach for land use applications and other important events in Sully. If you are the contact for your HOA or Civic Association, please send an email to sully@fairfaxcounty.gov

      • with the following information: Association Name, Association Website URL, Contact Person, Contact Email, Contact Phone Number, HOA Mailing Address,

would you like to subscribe to Supervisor Smith’s weekly Sully newsletter?

    • and would you be interested in having Supervisor Smith attend one of your HOA/Community meetings?

Transportation

    • APPLY NOW!: 2025 Walking College Fellowship!
        America Walks is excited to announce that applications to join this year’s Walking College fellowship class are open now through the end of February. Now in its tenth year, the Walking College is America Walks’ signature training program aimed at strengthening our grassroots partnerships to achieve safer, healthier, more accessible streets and communities.

 

      • The six-month, online program is open to those interested in honing their skills and understanding around improving community design to achieve greater livability and access. Participants are paired with Walking College alumni and experienced leaders and peers working across the country. They learn the history of America’s transportation landscape, the basics of people-first design and policy, and fundamental leadership skills. Over the course of the program, fellows also identify an opportunity they hope to tackle in their communities and develop a blueprint for taking meaningful action to make a difference.

 

      • We welcome all candidates demonstrating a general understanding of and interest in the importance of walkability and a desire to become more effective to improve walkability. There are no restrictions on age or professional background, but we prioritize those applying in teams of 2-3 people and, this year, those representing rural communities that lack access to places to walk.

 

      • The fellowship begins in early May and ends in September. Participants are expected to:

        • attend a one-hour online discussion forum meeting with their assigned group once every three weeks
        • participate in a virtual coaching session with their mentor once every three weeks
        • complete an action plan that outlines a problem and series of steps for improving walkability in their community by the end of the term

If interested, see their website

 

    • WMATA’s Riders’ Advisory Council annual report to the WMATA Board of Directors
        The Board asks WMATA’s Riders’ Advisory Council each year to highlight some of the challenges in the rider experience and solicit solutions from riders. While WMATA’s team does an incredible job with their scientific surveys, this report is intended to be a more qualitative product directly from riders.

 

      • If you are a WMATA Rider, please fill out this feedback form and distribute it to other WMATA riders in your organization. This is an incredible opportunity for you and your members to share your thoughts about how to improve the system and better serve our community. It is only a few questions and should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.

Survey link

Last year’s annual report

More about the Riders’ Advisory Council

Enjoy,

Jeffrey M. Parnes

Civic Affairs Committee Chair

Chantilly Highlands Homes Association

703.424.2956 (P)

484.307.2552 (F)

chhacivicaffairs@chha.org

Chantilly Highlands

@chhaweb

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