Planning Commission Approves Willow Run Housing Development

Despite opposition from the community, the Fairfax County Planning Commission approved the RZ/FDP 2011-MA-029 rezoning request on Thursday to develop 29 single-family style homes on 8.79 acres of property currently occupied by Campbell & Ferrara Nursery off of Little River Turnpike.

The application, which asks to rezone the property from R-2 and HC (Highway Corridor Overlay) to PDH-4 (Planned Development at 4 du/ac) and HC, proposes to add the 29 single-family homes, preserve trees and other vegetation and create a Homeowners Association to help with stormwater management.

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Back in February, Annandale residents and civic associations spoke out in opposition of the plan at a Mason District Land Use Committee meeting. The committee voted to urge the Planning Commission to reject the application.

Some residents feel that the homes will not fit in with the existing community on Willow Run Drive and will create problems with the community’s current stormwater management system.

“When a developer puts a large number of homes on a relatively small parcel of land as is the case here, they are also inviting environmental problems. They are ripping out the existing eco system and replacing it with a vast amount of impermeable space which will cause significant stormwater runoff,” one community member prior to the vote.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will now vote on the plan, to be determined at a later date.