Survey Says...

The results of the survey taken at the Oct. 3 Town Hall meeting have been tabulated. A majority of the roughly 250 citizens who attended the meeting filled out the survey form on the proposed 12-Point Citizens Agenda for Responsible Growth, which appears in sections below.

The results for each individual point is displayed. Click here for the full survey results in .pdf format - a link to the full results is also provided under each point.

Overall, the results indicate that the majority of attendees were mainly highly supportive of the proposed 12-point agenda. What do you think? Your comments on the survey and on all the points are encouraged.

Coverage of the Town Hall Meeting

Local newspapers' coverage of the Oct. 3 Town Hall Meeting on responsible development includes:

- "Work on Citizens' Agenda Begins," Fairfax/Vienna Times, 10/4/06;

- "Setting Growth Agenda - Citizens meet to develop new growth management strategy,"Fairfax Connection, 10/6/06;

-"Civic Groups Put Forward Citizens' Agenda," Sun Gazette, 10/6/06

The community's efforts are gaining traction and attention; it's important to stay engaged.

Share your thoughts here!

Welcome to the Fairfax Citizen's Agenda blog! Feel free to share your input.

The proposed 12-point draft Citizen's Agenda reflecting the concerns of a wide variety of Fairfax County citizens is reprinted in four segments below:

• Protect Public Resources
• Enforce Developer Promises
• Quality of Life Strategies
• Involve the Public to Ensure Community Support

The document is intended to serve as a starting point for discussions at the October 3 "Town Hall" meeting and has yet to be endorsed by any group.

What are your thoughts? You may post any comments here - thoughts, experiences, suggestions, etc., or choose a segment to discuss (by either clicking on a segment above or scrolling down) to address specific points within each segment.

We only request that you keep things civil; debate and differening views are welcome, but please no profanity, insults or name-calling. An open, collaborative effort will achieve positive results.

Let YOUR voice be heard!

Protect Public Resources

1) Infrastructure capacity. Development plans should include independent, objective estimates of impacts on roads, schools, parks, fields, streams and transit, including the financial cost of offsetting the impact. Developer contributions should be maximized.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 80%; Agree: 19%; Disagree 1%; Strongly Disagree: 0%; Not sure: 1%

2) Use all powers available under state law, especially when changes are sought to the land use plan, to ensure that development will not seriously degrade public resources.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 76%; Agree: 18%; Disagree: 0%; Strongly Disagree 2%; Not sure: 5%

3) Stormwater, Streams and Watershed. Consider the regional watershed implications of all development projects. Broaden notification to downstream residents. Increase protections for intermittent streams. Strengthen requirements to reduce impervious surfaces, increase tree cover, and enhance water absorption. Improve streams for recreational uses.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 73%; Agree: 26%; Disagree: 0%; Strongly Disagree 0%; Not sure: 2%

Enforce Developer Promises

4) Require developers to pay into an enforcement fund until 3-5 years after construction is completed, to ensure adequate county staff to enforce proffers and building codes.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 80%; Agree: 15%; Disagree: 2%; Strongly Disagree 2%; Not sure: 2%

5) Establish serious penalties for failing to meet commitments, including blocking completion of projects that do not fulfill key targets, such as traffic control and retail. Establish accountability for enforcement of all zoning requirements and proffers.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 83%; Agree: 15%; Disagree: 1%; Strongly Disagree 1%; Not sure: 1%

Quality of Life Strategies

6) Transportation. Establish a countywide network rapid transit solution that will begin serving Route 1, Route 95, Route 66 to Centreville, as well as the Dulles Toll Road, in 7-10 years.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 66%; Agree: 20%; Disagree: 3%; Strongly Disagree 0%; Not sure: 10%

7) Reevaluate Tysons Corner strategy, before committing to elevated rail, and before approving major redevelopment. Examine whether an aggressive internal circulation system, such as dedicated bus lanes or monorail, can allow the main transit line to bypass Tysons.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 55%; Agree: 29%; Disagree: 4%; Strongly Disagree 2%; Not sure: 11%

8) Schools. Strengthen quality of life standards for schools, requiring later lunch hours, adequate play areas, and replacing all individual trailers with units connected to school.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 57%; Agree: 33%; Disagree: 4%; Strongly Disagree 2%; Not sure: 5%

9) Parks, playing fields, trails, athletic needs. Cut playing field shortage by opening up underutilized school fields to community. Make trails and indoor athletic facilities a priority in park bonds. Require "real" ground-level green space in new development.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 69%; Agree: 25%; Disagree: 2%; Strongly Disagree 0%; Not sure: 4%

Involve the Public to Ensure Community Support

10) "Community-first" planning. Major redevelopments — including urban-zone and transit station redevelopment — should begin with fully inclusive visioning processes aided by 3-D modeling. All land-use proposals should undergo grass-roots citizens’ review.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 82%; Agree: 15%; Disagree: 2%; Strongly Disagree 0%; Not sure: 2%

11) Reform public hearing procedures. On disputed projects, wait until staff can prepare written answers to concerns raised by citizens. Do not vote immediately after hearings. Enable citizens to testify by teleconference from home districts to increase accessibility.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 80%; Agree: 16%; Disagree: 2%; Strongly Disagree 0%; Not sure: 2%

12) Improve Community Outreach. Hire a community outreach staff to empower citizen involvement in land use cases. Hold periodic outreach hearings by supervisors in different parts of the county to discuss key long-term concerns: Examples include affordable and workforce housing, transportation funding, BRAC, Tysons, transit-oriented development, HOT lanes, "green" construction/sustainability, relations with neighboring counties.

Survey results: Strongly Agree: 73%; Agree: 21%; Disagree: 4%; Strongly Disagree 0%; Not sure: 2%

Come to the Town Hall Meeting Oct. 3!

Roads, Transit, Classrooms, Ballfields, Parks and Trails - All are reaching the breaking point.

Come to the Citizen's Town Hall Meeting, Tues. Oct 3rd to help craft a 12-point Citizens' Agenda.

For details visit http://www.fairfaxcitizensagenda.org/