Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-13
Foirfox Zoninq

Fairfax Zoning
Press accounts of the Fair
fax County Board Of Super
visors' meeting Of December 7
did not do justice to one aspect
which deserves scrutiny of the
closest sort.
At its December 7 meeting.
the board considered three
coming applications brought up
as special exceptions to the
boards decision Of November
8 to postpone all coming &C
lions for six months, These
cases brought to seventeen the
number of such hardship ex-
ceptionS" that the board has
granted since its moratorium
decision was announced. The
granting of these exceptions
led Supervisor Maurice Fox to
move that If the board was
going to continue to grant
exceptions so freely. 1t might
as well rescind its coming NOR
atorium. The vote on M. Fox's
motion to rescind was 3 to 3.
and the commemorative at
torney advised that this tie
vote would have to be carried
over until the next meetings
Of the full board.
The seriousness OF this move
cannot be underestimate. nor
should it be passed over in the
cross-currents OF tension aris-
ing out of other issues now be-
fore the citizens Of Fairfax
County. The original purpose
of the boards coming mora
torium was to give the County
Planning Commission and its
professional staff a breathing
spell to finish up their work on
the proposed master plan for
Fairfax County. 1t was a deci-
sion which the board came to
after a month Of argument.
It was a decision made IN re-
Spouse to the strongest type
of mandate that the citizens
of Fairfax County could issue.
Yet now the same man who
led in proposing a coming
moratorium last month rises
to move that this action be
rescinded.
Mr.. Fox is a conscientious
man one of the best that
the present Fairfax County
Board OF Supervisors has. He
is absolutely right when he
states that if the board is not
going to live up to the spirit
OF it's effort to expedite work
on the master plan. 1t should
not continue to deceive the
public. His motion to rescind
the NOR torium shows how
far this deception has already
gone.
One example will suffice to
illustrate the recent trend.
Some months ago application
was made to rezone SIS acres
of the Mace Tract Park
Lawn. Columbia pike and
Braddock road from residen-
tial to commercial purposes.
The application was granted by
a 4-3 vote. over the objection
of 95 per cent of the local resi-
dents that they didn't want a
shopping center there, and
they didn't need one. Actually,
the area is served by adequate
community shopping centers
at Annandale (25 acres Oh
commercial zone) 3 miles west,
and another at Lincolnia zap
proximo tely 20 acres> 2 miles
south. and Baileys Crossroads.
mile east. The Mace Tract
application was therefore sub
ject to criticism from its in
ception. However, subsequent
to announcement of the zon-
ing moratorium, application
was filed to increase the COM
mercial zone to approximately
IL acres. In seeking an eXcep-
ton to the county policy, APP
plicants cited no change In
population. land use pattern or
highway pattern. Indeed. no
change has occurred. The fact
was that the applicants had
merely discovered that. with
more commercial land, they
could draw business away
from the other three major
shopping centers located with
in 4 miles of their new COM
munity! Their application was
granted under the hardship"
clause of the boards coming
moratorium.
The real answer to this sit
uation is not to adopt Mr..
Fox's motion to rescind. All
the Fairfax supervisors need
to do is to inform themselves
of the true definition Of a
hardship case" and apply
that definition as their policy
in granting exceptions. When
change of circumstances" is
used as the basis for granting
an exception, 1t should not be