Fairfax Forward



Fairfax Forward is an ongoing effort by Fairfax County to improve the way it manages and updates its comprehensive plan. The new system would replace the Area Plans Review process, which is how the comprehensive plan had been amended since the 1970s.Planning for "Fairfax Forward" began after an APR retrospective, whereby the county and the community held a series of meetings and studies to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the APR process. In the Spring of 2012, the planning commission and Board of Supervisors met to discuss preliminary recommendations for a new system for amending the comprehensive plan.

Public meeting presentation
Public outreach meetings were held later in the summer of 2012, where they showed a presentation outlining the goals of Fairfax Forward.

Recommendations
On Dec. 12, 2012, planning staff made two recommendations for public comment.

===Comprehensive Plan Amendment Work Program === The first recommendation is to create a work program schedule, where the county would review all aspects of the comprehensive plan, including how they define the characteristics of communities, environmental regulations, and land use and transportation policies. County staff has agreed to work with a set of guidelines for determining which areas and subjects would be studied when and to what depth.

During these area reviews, the county hopes to advance major policy objectives, such as "promoting environmental protection, fostering revitalization of designated areas, supporting economic development, preserving open space, providing affordable housing, or balancing transportation infrastructure and public facilities services with growth and development." Countywide policy plans that are slated to be reviewed first include defining "suburban centers," community improvement areas, public schools, and building height limits.

In activity areas, county staff recommend areas such as Fairfax Center Area, the Dulles, and Tysons to be reviewed. Over the next two years, staff recommends that Lincolnia and Pohick areas be reviewed, with many more to come in years following.

===New approaches to conducting planning studies ===

Apart from the comprehensive plan review schedule, staff also proposed a separate recommendation on how to improve the planning studies that are being proposed over the next several years.

"Once an individual study has been authorized for review on the work program, action would be taken to finalize the scope through a public input process and develop the remaining steps and timeline for review (including public engagement), recommendation, and action."

"Engaging the public throughout the process would increase awareness of the study, provide an educational component, verify that the scope of work includes community issues, and allow for public input on decisions. Suggestions, such as density or intensity changes, made during the public input process on the scope of work should be included within the study, if they meet the work program criteria."

==Differences with Area Plan Review ==


 * How does public education on planning fit into the process?
 * APR: Planning education was offered to the citizen task force at the start of the task force meetings during the review process.
 * FFX FWD: General education opportunities will be available, in addition to opportunities during specific studies.  General education opportunities will generally take the form of a land use college.  Further, planning education will be conducted as part of the public outreach strategy during individual studies.


 * How will public outreach occur during an amendment or planning study?
 * APR: Public outreach occurred through a variety of means. Nominators were required to send certified letters to the owners of the nominated property as part of the nomination requirements.  As a courtesy, staff also sent letters to the immediate neighbors of nominated properties prior to the task force review and public hearings. In addition to notification letters, Comprehensive Plan listserv announcements were sent out periodically throughout the process announcing milestones, and the guidelines, forms, nominations, staff reports (preliminary and final) were published  online.  Supervisors’ offices may also have published announcements or articles in newsletters.
 * FFX FWD: Public outreach will occur through a variety of means. At the beginning of a study, staff will work with the Supervisor’s office to develop a strategy for public outreach, based on the nature of the study.  Further guidance about options for outreach can be found in the draft Public Participation Guidelines.


 * What parts of the Comprehensive Plan are eligible for review?
 * APR: Site-specific land use recommendations were eligible for review. Land areas that were the subject of any pending Plan amendment or special studies, land areas with recently amended recommendations, and amendments affecting countywide systems and the Policy Plan were excluded.
 * FFX FWD: All parts of the Plan (Area Plans, Policy Plan, and maps) will be eligible for review. The work program will be based on larger geographic areas such as activity centers studies and neighborhood planning studies, as well as Policy Plan and countywide amendments.