One University Project: Too Dense, Too Close, and Unsafe?
Fairfax City Council expresses deep concerns about One University’s 580-unit project set for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors vote on Sept. 24, 2019.
On September 11, 2019, the members of the Fairfax City Council sent a letter to Fairfax County Supervisor John Cook of the Braddock District reiterating and supplementing concerns about the proposed One University project. This project would be built on County-owned property, which abuts the City of Fairfax’s shared boundary with the County.
The extreme density of the project and inadequate buffers between the project and residential homes in the City of Fairfax may pose dangers to people, properties, and the natural environment in the City. The current proposal for One University could create a population density exceeding that of Manhattan in New York, the most populous borough in the Nation’s most populated city.
The proposed project includes 240 affordable housing units and 340 “purpose-built” student housing. The project will also likely generate the concentration of more than 1,000 cars in an already congested area with inadequate pedestrian safety features, potentially cause environmental damage, and introduce a development with a size and scope incompatible with immediately surrounding residential properties.
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Notably, another private student tenant housing project is being built near the geographic center of the City by a different development company, Capstone Collegiate Communities, LLC. Approximately 1.5 miles away from the One University site, the Capstone project is expected to produce more than 700 cars and house 825 student tenants. I also expressed various concerns about that project prior to and at the City Council vote nine months ago. Combined, the Capstone project and One University project will create an unprecedented level of vehicular use on Chain Bridge Road to access George Mason University and surrounding areas.
More detailed information about the One University project can be found here. Additionally, if you have concerns, please voice them to the County Board of Supervisors at ClerkToTheBOS@fairfaxcounty.gov with a request to have your message addressed to all Board members, and/or request to speak before the Board by filling out this form.
Below is the full text of my letter to Supervisor Cook signed by fellow City councilmembers. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at sang.yi@fairfaxva.gov.
