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Enforcement is key
For thousands of Fairfax residents, the most critical variable in the “quality of life” equation has little to do with crime rates, test scores or access to swimming pools.
While those things have their place, none means much when your next-door neighbor levels his charming little rambler and erects an 8,000-square-foot monstrosity with three front doors and a six-car garage.
Over the past decade, just about every corner of Fairfax County has become inundated by infill housing, with many of our older, more established communities taking the biggest hit.
The latest example of bad taste, poor planning and lax enforcement can be found in central Springfield, where a mansion bordering three roads – Backlick Road, Amherst Avenue and Highland Street – is going up. The house sits a little more than 10 feet from the sidewalk and is simply impossible for passers-by to ignore.
The central question is how this house – and many others like it – ever make it from the planning stage to reality.
There's little doubt that our current system has some holes. For starters, the planning and zoning process needs to better reflect an ever-growing county that has a lot more people than available land.
It isn't a stretch to say there will be more infill-style development here over the next 10 years than there has been in the previous five decades combined.
So what can be done to prepare ourselves?
Step one has to involve tightening up the plan review process. Inspectors can't just give zoning applications a passing glance and sign off on them. These applications need to be thoroughly vetted. Questions need to be asked. On-site visits need to be made with some degree of regularity. Rejection letters need to go out – early and often.
To be clear, we understand the zoning challenges that accompany a wealthy county that is understaffed and overdeveloped.
We also understand the expectations homeowners have after plunking down a half-million dollars for a home in a quiet, tree-lined Fairfax neighborhood.
We're fairly certain they don't involve the Taj Mahal.
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