Some News to Share

Since being elected to the Fairfax City Council in 2008 I have had the distinct honor of working together with my colleagues to make the City of Fairfax the best place to live, work and raise a family.

Our next election is May 1, 2012 and I want to continue these efforts and serve my community and that is why I've decided to run for re-election to the City Council.

Living in a City that celebrated its 50th birthday in 2011 we've continued the success story of our City even with a challenging economy. Since I began serving on Council, the City of Fairfax:

• Was named by Forbes as the third best place to live in the country
• Has obtained a AAA bond rating
• Won the Gold Medal Award from the National Recreation and Park Association for the best parks and recreation system in the country with a population of less than 25,000
• Has seen our schools and students win numerous awards and honors

However, our work is not complete - we need to encourage responsible economic growth, especially along Fairfax Boulevard and in our downtown, continue making our City "green" and we must remain diligent about retaining the special "sense of place" that the City is known for by preserving our neighborhoods and supporting our special events, our historic resources and our arts and culture.

One of the great things about our City is the special pride we take in our local businesses.

By visiting your hometown shops or restaurants you are making an investment in the future of the City as your tax dollars come right back to support our schools, transportation projects, and other services that make our City great.

Click here to find a list of City businesses you can visit today!

We are very fortunate to live in such a wonderful place where community matters, where elected officials are accessible and where everyone feels that their voice is heard. I look forward to hearing from you at dan@danforfairfax.com or 703-268-0541.

Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to seeing you around town.

Latest Concept for George Mason Square/Kitty Pozer Park

After hearing from almost two dozen residents and business representatives at last week's public outreach meeting on the Kitty Pozer Park/George Mason Square redevelopment, the City Council directed staff to draft a new concept for the area that would expand the park, have no net loss of parking for the small businesses and help pay down some of the $2.3 million debt that the City and Economic Development Authority holds on the property.

The latest concept, which can be seen in this rendering, and above to the right. Specifics of the plan include:

• The 16,000 square-foot open space at Pozer Park would be more than doubled to approximately 32,200 square feet.
• The 39 temporary parking spaces would be replaced with 12 permanent parking spaces next to Old Town Hall and 27 spaces near the library to assure no net loss of that temporary parking.
• The Surf Shop building would be retained on a 6,900 square-foot lot (with the 10 required parking spaces remaining on-site) and could be sold for either private commercial use or redevelopment.
• The existing debt on the George Mason Square property ($2.3M) would be reduced to approximately $1M.

There is still more to be done on this, but generally I think we are going in the right direction with the overall plan as we expand our open space, create a destination area for events (which will certainly help the downtown businesses), maintain parking for our small businesses and keep the iconic "Surf Shop" where it is.

The Council be holding a public hearing on January 24 at 7 p.m. in City Hall to get feedback from the community and come to a consensus on moving the project forward. I look forward to hearing people's views.

The Future of Kitty Pozer Park/George Mason Square

Tomorrow night (January 10, 7 p.m., City Hall) the City Council will be holding a public outreach meeting and later a work session on the future of the property known as George Mason Square and Kitty Pozer Garden/Pozer Park (between Old Lee Highway and University/by Old Town Hall). More information about the outreach meeting and work session, including documents and renderings can be found here. Note that there are multiple concept renderings in addition to background information.

The reason for this meeting is that the Council has to make a decision soon about how to dispense with $2.4 million in funds that remain from the bond sales that supported construction of the Fairfax City Regional Library.

From the City website:

The City of Fairfax and Fairfax County entered into an agreement in August 2005 to finance, design and construct a new regional library (library) in the City's downtown area through the sale of bonds. Upon completion of construction in January 2009, $2.39M remained unspent. City and County staff, and legal counsel have reviewed the agreement and have determined the unspent available funds of $2,397,587 should be allotted to the City.

Though the unspent funds are available for City use, the bond financing documents and federal tax laws also set restrictions on the use of the unspent bond funds. See June 6, 2011 memo (PDF Format) for more information on bond restrictions. City staff has prepared several concepts for the area known as George Mason Square and Pozer Park that are achievable with the remaining $2.39M plus an additional $400,000 in grant money.

Late last summer the Council directed staff to look at ways we could expand the Kitty Pozer property and redevelop George Mason Square. As part of that, we also directed staff to look into options for what to do with the property formerly known as the "Weight Watchers" building, which is now a parking lot right next to Old Town Hall on University Drive. Many will recall that the City paid $2.75 million for the property as part of the City's open space initiative.

Since last summer, we have had several work sessions and and a public outreach meeting to get feedback from the community on how to best proceed. We have received many good ideas, concepts and comments from a variety of interests. I find it refreshing that we have so much engagement on this because this block of property in Old Town is truly a gem and we need to take great care in listening to - and incorporating - people's opinions before rendering a final decision.

Personally I have had many discussions with people in the community, listening to their ideas about what to do with the property. I have also spent time researching the options, the history of the space and reading concerned residents and business owners emails and letters. And over the weekend I walked the property, carrying with me the various drawings I've received, all while trying to visualize the many approaches we could take.

This is an important decision the Council must make. And it's one that I will not take lightly. I am looking forward to tomorrow night's public outreach meeting where I am sure we will hear more ideas and opinions. That to me is a good thing as I believe the decision concerning the future use of this property needs to be representative of our community's collective input.