Planning Commission Votes on RTC West Wednesday

Update, Wednesday, 1:25 p.m.: The Wednesday, Feb 18 meeting has been canceled due to weather. Reston Now will apprise of the rescheduled vote date.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission will revisit and take action on Wednesday regarding the new retail and restaurant destination at Sunset Hills Road and Town Center Parkway known as RTC West

There was a public hearing held on the new development two weeks ago. The planning commission then deferred action on the plan for RTC West until Feb. 18, mostly to give time for transportation improvements to be formalized.

A staff report recommends approval, provided transportation improvements are met.

Developer JBG Companies is seeking a special exception from the planning commission in order to add retail, restaurant and food stores to the 13-acre site that currently houses three office buildings. Much of the development will convert the first two floors of the office buildings into restaurant and retail space.

JBG’s application says it plans to convert 15,100 square feet of office space to retail/restaurant space and add 25,000 square feet of new retail/restaurant space (on the southwest corner of the site) within an existing office campus on three parcels.

Some of the transportation logistics that need to be worked out:

Connecting an existing walkway to the adjacent trails along the public roadways and adding two new crosswalks across Town Center Parkway.

Connecting the development to the W & OD trail, which runs on the northern part of the property. One development condition for JBG is working with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) and Dominion Virginia Power to establish an easement for a pedestrian connection between the site and the W&OD trail.

Closing the existing exit-only driveway on Town Center Parkway and to construct new signalized access point about 440 feet north of the intersection at Sunset Hills Road. Constructing an entrance in this location will require the relocation or closure of an existing entrance for the property across Town Center Parkway to avoid an unsafe intersection, JBG says. JBG will have to work out an agreement with Boston Properties, which owns that parcel, as a condition of development.

Two new crosswalks across Town Center Parkway at a new access point.

A new turning lane on Reston Parkway.

See the entire staff report on the Fairfax County Planning website.

The planning commission meets at 8:15 p.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center.