June 2024 Civic Affairs Committee Report

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

Sully District Council of Citizens Associations

Sully District Council is Social!
- Sully District Council Tweets! — Follow them at @SullyDistrict!
- Sully District Council is on Facebook! — Like them at @SullyDistrictCouncil!
- Sully District Council is on YouTube! Subscribe to their channel at Sully District Council! Videos of the meetings are available on its Channel
The tentative Sully District Council of Citizens Associations schedule for the remainder of 2024 (subject to change) (agendas may not be available until the week/day of the meeting):
- 26 June: State of Sully from Supervisor Smith
- July and August — No Summer meetings currently scheduled
- 25 September: Joint Candidates night with the League of Woman Voters of the Fairfax Area (Congressional candidates: 10 & 11th districts)
- 23 October: TBD
- 15 November: TBD
- 20 December: TBD
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 June:
  - 7:00 — Chick-fil-A in a FDPA application for its existing Historic Sully Way site
- 15 July:
  - 7:00 — Centreville Study Task Force

Fairfax Federation

20 June — Join the Federation for its Annual Summer Solstice Picnic on 20 June 2024 at Mason District Park with special guest BOS Chair, Jeff McKay, who will present the State of Fairfax and swear in their 2024-2025 Federation Officers
July and August — No Summer meetings currently scheduled
26 Sep — TBD
24 Oct — TBD
21 Nov — TBD
19 Dec — TBD

Fairfax County Courts

Circuit Court Offers Satellite Services on June 11 in Reston
- Get court services at the Cathy Hudgins Community Center at Southgate on Tuesday, June 11 from 9 a.m. to noon. Bring documents to be notarized for free, get certified copies of select court documents or apply for a marriage license. This satellite location is open every second Tuesday of the month. Details.

Education

Free FAFSA Student Aide Application Clinic
- The Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) is available to all college students and is the first step toward receiving Pell Grants and other need-based assistance for pursuing a college degree. In the 2023–2024 school year, the Department of Education rolled out a revised FAFSA form with the intent of simplifying the process. However, thousands of students who should have filed the FAFSA were unable to do so because of issues with the form, especially the online version.
- College Access Fairfax is a local non-profit that assists Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students with completing the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) application. The group will hold a series of free clinics this summer to help FCPS Seniors and their parents complete FAFSA applications. Please visit the College Access Fairfax website for a complete schedule of the clinics. One of the clinics will take place at the Sully District Governmental Center (4900 Stonecroft Blvd. in Chantilly) in the Richard Frank Room on Wednesday, June 26, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
  - This event is open to all FCPS Seniors regardless of which school they attend.
  - Both the student and guardian must each have an FSA ID prior to attending. An FSA ID can be obtained by applying through the FSA website, and the process can take up to three days.
  - Please bring your own devices – computers will not be provided.
  - Questions can be emailed to questions@collegeaccessfairfax.org.
Free GMU Courses for Seniors
- Seniors can take free classes at George Mason University. If you’re 60 or older, you can audit up to three classes per semester for free. Seniors who meet income limits may also enroll in classes for academic credit without paying tuition. Learn how.

Neighborhood and Community Services

How Grass Height is Regulated in Fairfax County
- Chapter 119 of the Fairfax County Code requires that grass be no taller than 12 inches on:
  - residential property that is developed (has a house) and is less than a half-acre (21,780 square feet);
  - undeveloped residential property less than one-half acre, if 90% of the lots in the subdivision have houses; and
  - commercial and industrial properties of any size that are developed but unoccupied (have a building but no tenants).
  Managed landscaping is not subject to enforcement, which includes trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses, and flowers. Fairfax County’s Department of Code Compliance (DCC) facilitates a seasonal grass compliance program from April through October each year. Community members can report concerns about grass height to DCC via the online form, by email to codecompliance@fairfaxcounty.gov or by calling 703-324-1300 (TTY 711). The DCC’s grass height website also provides more details about the regulations and enforcement process.

Planning and Zoning

- Plan Forward: Help Shape Policy to Guide Land Use and Development Decisions
  - Plan Forward is Fairfax County’s new, multi-year project to update the policies governing land use decisions and potential development. These policies are listed in the Policy Plan section of the county’s Comprehensive Plan, which contains recommendations of how certain land areas should be utilized for balanced growth. Every locality in Virginia relies on its own Comprehensive Plan to guide its development decisions.
  - The Policy Plan has not been holistically updated since its adoption in 1990, and Plan Forward will look to ensure that future changes are informed by an extensive public engagement process. Initial community engagement opportunities include in-person and virtual meetings that are scheduled in May and June. In addition to attending a meeting, county residents can get involved by taking an online survey and signing up for email updates via the project outreach webpage. Details about the project and its upcoming meetings are available on the Plan Forward homepage.
  - To launch Plan Forward, county staff are hosting several community meetings that all include the same information, so residents can join when the time and location are most suitable. The in-person community meetings are a flexible format where guests can arrive at any time within the two-hour timeframe and stay as long as they’d like.
    - Community Kick-Off Meeting
      Thursday, June 6, 2024, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Mott Community Center, 12111 Braddock Rd, Fairfax, VA 22030

Community Kick-Off Meeting
Saturday, June 8, 2024, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Gerry Hyland Government Center, 8350 Richmond Hwy, Alexandria, VA 22309
Virtual Community Kick-Off Meeting
Tuesday, June 11, 2024, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Virtual Meeting – MS Teams
Call-In Number: 571-429-5982
Access Code: 784436702#
Community Kick-Off Meeting
Monday, June 24, 2024, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
James Lee Community Center, 2855 Annandale Rd, Falls Church, VA 22042
Virtual Community Kick-Off Meeting
Thursday, June 27, 2024, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Virtual Meeting – MS Teams
Call-In Number: 571-429-5982
Access Code: 354532148#

Public Hearings on Potential Changes to Data Center Regulations
- The Fairfax County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, June 5, at 7 p.m. regarding the proposed changes to the review process for future data centers. The meeting will be held in the Board Auditorium of the Fairfax County Government Center (12000 Government Center Pkwy), broadcast live on Channel 16, and streamed live online. Live audio of the meeting may also be accessed by dialing 703-324-7700. A video recording of the meeting will be made available afterwards on the Meeting Archives webpage. Various public testimony options are available to community members looking to provide comments to the Commission. The Board of Supervisors will hold its own public hearing about this topic on Tuesday, July 16, at 4 p.m.
- County staff held four virtual community meetings earlier this month to share information about this topic. Video recordings and presentation slides from these meetings can be accessed by clicking the “Past Meetings & Materials” tab on the Data Centers webpage. Any questions or comments about this item can be shared with county staff by email at ffx-data-centers@PublicInput.com.
- The Joint Sully District Land Use and Transportation Committee has issued a resolution recommending that all data center applications require a special exception and public hearing, and none should remain as a by right use. The Joint Committee recognized the significant impacts of the data center use on adjacent residential districts, even on sites zoned industrial. If the Joint Committee’s request is deemed “outside the scope of the advertising,” then the Joint Committee requests that the proposed amendment be denied, and readvertised, to allow consideration of that option.

Public Safety

- Donate Used Cars to the Fairfax County Police Department

Michael.Schmeltz@FairfaxCounty.gov

Transportation

- Virginia GrandDriver Survey 2024
  - You are invited to take a survey about driving safely as we age. By participating, you will make your voice heard and help to keep Virginia a great place to live!
    The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete. Please do not exit the survey until you have completed it. After the survey, you can share your name and email address for a chance to win one of five $100 gift cards. Your information is confidential.
  - The last day to complete the survey is June 30th, 2024.
- Join NVTA’s effort to improve NoVA’s transportation network by completing a quick survey
  - You can help shape the future of transportation in Northern Virginia! What if you could glide past traffic? Or you could read, relax, or catch up on emails during your commute? Join NVTA’s effort to improve NoVA’s transportation network by completing a quick survey before June 14th and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $50 gift card!
- Amendments to the Fairfax County Code Relating to the Right-of-Way Afforded to Pedestrians
  - Fairfax County Code Sections 82-9-2 and 82-9-7 were amended following a public hearing on May 7 to:
    - authorize the Fairfax County Department of Transportation to install signs at marked crosswalks requiring drivers to stop for pedestrians; and
    - prohibit the overtaking of vehicles that are stopped for pedestrians.
  - The Code of Virginia was changed last year to require drivers to stop for pedestrians crossing within their lane or within an adjacent lane and to allow localities to install stop-for-pedestrian signs at marked crosswalks. The May 7 public hearing and adoption of amendments ensure that these state-level changes are reflected in the corresponding parts of the Fairfax County Code.
- Second Virtual Community Meeting for the Route 29 Study Set for June 5
  Wednesday, June 5, at 7 p.m.

Route 29 Study webpage
.

Coming Soon: Monument Drive Commuter Parking Garage and Transit Center
- The Monument Parking Garage is expected to be completed this summer at 12113 Government Center Parkway. This new commuter garage will provide easy access to the I-66 Express Lanes and pedestrian / bicycle paths including the 66 Parallel Trail.
- The garage will provide connections to Fairfax Connector and Metrobus routes via the 8 bus bays along with 820 spaces of free parking. The site will also offer handicapped parking spaces, EV charging stations, secure bicycle parking / storage, parking area for pickup / drop off, and solar energy panels.

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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