City approves new strip mall
By James Cullum
The Fairfax City council passed a measure Tuesday night allowing a developer to build a strip mall on one of the last parcels of open space in the city, which is also along a traffic-choked roadway.
More than 700 additional daily car trips will be expected along Fairfax Boulevard when three new buildings and a parking lot are built by developer JDC Fairfax.
The entire 3.5-mile stretch of Fairfax Boulevard is currently packed with aging strip malls and walls of traffic. A number of businesses have closed over the years, leaving many to complain of blighted properties, while other shops have remained closed after a fire at another strip mall along the roadway.
The property that will be developed, named Rocky Gorge, is a 13-acre parcel of largely unused land, the only such piece of property in the 5-mile stretch of Lee Highway from Fairfax Circle to Centreville.
The destiny of Rocky Gorge was been left undetermined for decades. In 2006, the council narrowly voted against developing 123 condominiums on the site. Previously, a 1994 rezoning to allow an amusement park at the site never resulted in construction.
Two retail buildings and a bank with a drive-through will be built on site, totaling 21,600 square feet with buildings no more than 36 feet tall. The city will receive an estimated $272,000 in annual tax revenue from the property.
Only five acres of the parcel will be developed, while the remaining northern end with a floodplain, stream and hundreds of trees will remain untouched.
"I cannot think of one valid reason for building on one of the last parcels of open space in our city when there are ample stores and malls to serve this community, some in desperate need of repair or replacement," city resident Spencer Cake told the council.
Councilman Scott Silverthorne expressed his regard of the developer, John Donegan. Donegan's developments are not "just strip malls. They're works of art," Silverthorne said.
Councilwoman Gail Lyon then said the tax revenue would be good for the city.
Mayor Robert Lederer acknowledged environmental concerns, but said the development was the best compromise possible, since a council vote in 2006 defeated a proposal to turn the land parcel into open space, while another defeated the plan for the condominiums.