Supervisors Considering Less Parking for Lake Anne Project

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors are considering a request from Lake Anne Development Partners to reduce by nearly 500 the number of parking spots that will be available in the area after the redevelopment of the 24.3 acres of Crescent Apartments and the surrounding area is completed.

The county has parking standards for suburban development, but since the Crescent redevelopment is being planned in a more urban style, the developers have asked for the reduction.

A reduction in parking will have a positive impact on traffic levels and walkability, among other reasons. Some of the reasons, according to county documents:

The project has proffered a comprehensive transportation plan with specific goals and strategies targeted to reduce auto‐ownership among future residents as well as reducing parking supply.

The project has proffered an overall 25-percent trip reduction goal for the resident and office users, which corresponds to a strategy that reduces the parking supply.

Managing parking by reducing supply helps to reduce the undesirable impacts of parking demand on local and regional traffic levels and the resulting impacts on community livability.

The project seeks to promote a vibrant community where people can live, play and work providing opportunities to limit auto‐ownership among residents; single occupancy vehicle trips.

This site is served by existing established Fairfax Connector and RIBs bus routes along North Shore Drive.

The site is located entirely within 1.65 miles of the Wiehle‐Reston East Silver Line Metro station providing a mass transit commuter option in the nearby proximity.

Most importantly, the project has proffered a comprehensive TDM and Parking Management Plan that will monitor and measure the project’s traffic and parking reduction goals. If the parking reductions are not achieved in the East Side, a plan to provide additional spaces has been proffered.

It has been requested that 477 fewer parking spaces serve the project. That is a parking reduction of 18 percent. A minimum total 2,167 spaces is proposed at full build-out to serve the East and West Sides of the project.

When it is completed, the project will have 1,037 new residential units (including replacement of the 181 affordable units at Crescent); 60,000 square feet of retail; a 15,800-square-foot grocery store; and 78,000 square feet of office space. 

“We worked with the County developing features insuring the walkability of the Lake Anne redevelopment,” said Stacy Hornstein, Senior Vice President and Director of Acquisition and Development for Republic, the parent company of Lake Anne Development Partners.

“In the area around Lake Anne commercial center we developed shared parking program that is based upon the model developed by Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). Parking in a mixed use environment has peaks and valleys and the ITE model creates a balance of parking needs at various times during the day and night. On the Crescent property we have requested a parking reduction due partly from the walkability of the community but also the efforts we have proffered to reduce the reliance on automobiles.“

The County Executive recommends that the Board approve the 18 percent parking reduction. The county also says parking should include at least 1,031 parking spaces on the west side of the development and a minimum of 1,136 parking spaces on the east side for a total of 2,167 total spaces when the project is fully developed.

At full build-out, a minimum of 388 garage parking spaces shall be maintained to serve the West Side residential dwelling units, the county executive said.

The project also calls for a 120-space parking garage to be built on a parcel of land adjacent to the current Lake Anne Plaza. That land, formerly owned by Reston Association, was the subject of a controversial land swap in late 2o13.

The board will also conduct public hearings on several Lake Anne-area topics. The public hearings were deferred from the Supervisors’ Jan. 27 meeting. The three separate topics all have to due with density and development conditions, as well as stormwater management, to allow the project to finally proceed.

The Supervisors will vote on the issue at their Feb. 17 meeting. The Supervisors will also conduct a public hearing and vote on Feb. 17 whether to move the entire Lake Anne-area plan forward.

The project was recommended for approval by the Fairfax County Planning Commission last week.

Rendering of Lake Anne/Crescent project/Credit: Lake Anne Development Partners