Relief Coming to the Fairfax County Parkway

Your Voice in Fairfax County

April 16th, 2020

In This Issue...

Relief Coming to the Fairfax County Parkway- On Tuesday the Board approved the design plans for the Fairfax County Parkway widening including the grade separated interchange at Popes Head Road. After an extensive community engagement period, relief is finally on the way for this congested and dangerous interchange.
Board Approves $2.5M Microloan Program for Small Businesses- On Tuesday, the Board unanimously approved a $2.5M microloan program that will provide loans up to $20,000 at a zero percent interest rate for qualifying small businesses who have faced hardship due to COVID-19. This program will be even more important for small businesses in Fairfax County as the Small Business Administration (SBA) released this morning that its $350 billion relief fund ran out, pending additional funding from Congress.
More Changes to the FY 2021 Budget- In my last newsletter, I shared the significant adjustments made to the FY 2021 Advertised Budget. On Tuesday the Board made additional changes and formally rejected the Admissions Tax for FY 2021.
Reducing the Impact of Some Parks Closures- I am continuing to work with the Park Authority to re-evaluate some of its decisions that limits opportunities for our residents to exercise and get fresh air.
COVID- 19 Update- We still have not seen the peak of COVID-19 cases in Fairfax County. More on wearing a mask in public to protect others, on taking your shoes off when you enter your home to prevent the spread and other COVID19 updates below.
Office Retirement- It's a bittersweet moment for me to share that after almost 20 years of dedication to the people of Fairfax County, Marlae Schnare, who serves as a Senior Legislative Aide, will be retiring from my office.
Additional Density Could be Coming to Your Neighborhood- As part of its Zoning Ordinance Modernization (zMOD) project, Fairfax County is looking for feedback on two zoning uses that are allowed in a dwelling - accessory dwelling units (ADU) and home-based businesses. As I stated in prior newsletters, I have concerns with the lifting of restrictions on ADUs and the resulting impact on increased density our neighborhoods.
Other Helpful News and Information

Passport Program
On the Lighter Side

Relief Coming to the Fairfax County Parkway

On Tuesday the Board approved the design plans for the Fairfax County Parkway widening including the grade separated interchange at Popes Head Road. After an extensive community engagement period, relief is finally on the way for this congested and dangerous interchange. This important project will:

Construct the interchange at Popes Head Road and the Fairfax County Parkway and allow for the future construction of the long-planned extension of Shirley Gate Road from Braddock Road to the Parkway.
Widen the Parkway to three lanes in each direction from Route 29 to Route 123.
Make Improvements at the Burke Centre Parkway/Fairfax County Parkway intersection as well as the 123 interchange.
Provide a continuous shared-use path along the Parkway by building the missing piece of trail between 123 and Burke Centre Parkway

This project has been one of my priorities since joining the Board. The public process for the project has been underway since 2017 - since 2015 for the Shirley Gate Extension. Over that period, we have made significant improvements to the design to address community concerns. These include:

The community desire to keep the feel and aesthetics of a parkway for the Popes Head Interchange rather than a "concrete canyon" design like the interchange at Fair Lakes Parkway - this was accomplished but at a cost of additional right of way at the Popes Head interchange. The bulk of the Fairfax County Parkway in this section will have grass medians except where barriers are needed to improve safety and prevent crossover accidents.
The community desire to have roundabouts rather than traffic lights at the new Popes Head Road grade separate interchange - this was accomplished but at a cost of additional right of way
The community desire to keep the Shirley Gate Extension traffic from mixing with Popes Head Road traffic - accomplished but will require Popes Head traffic to go through Shirley Gate roundabouts - still a significant time savings from today's conditions.
The community desire to keep full access at the Burke Centre Parkway as opposed to the right in, right out originally proposed - accomplished in the short term with an AM left turn restriction to allow free flowing traffic northbound on the parkway in the AM. The Board approved Supervisor Cook's and my request to look at an interchange in the long term - this is considered important by Burke Centre merchants and residents and also has the support of Supervisor Walkinshaw.
The desire for Laudes End Lane residents to have access to the Parkway north - accomplished with a link to the Popes Head interchange
The desire to limit the impact to a planned church in the northeast corner of the Popes Head and Fairfax County Parkway intersection - accomplished.

As expected with any project of this magnitude, there were a few issues that we were not able to address. The most impactful and noticeable of these was inability to get sound walls for many of the residents in the lower density and rural areas along the parkway due to federal and state regulations.

I was not in favor of some resident s' request to remove a key transportation link from our transportation map. The Shirley Gate extension is projected to handle over 12,000 vehicles per day and provides critical relief to Braddock Road and 123. It also provides access to Patriot Park which is currently accessed through a neighborhood with inadequate roads. The Shirley Gate Extension project is currently funded at $14 Million (funded through design and partial right of way) and is a county priority because of the congestion relief it provides.

The level of citizen engagement on this project has been unprecedented. Valuable feedback from the community has been provided to VDOT and the County throughout this process and as I noted earlier, lead to the complete redesign of the proposed interchange to include roundabouts rather than traffic signals.While no transportation project will ever please everyone - especially for those directly impacted by the project, VDOT, FCDOT, many residents and my team have done their best to reduce impacts and cost while providing much needed traffic congestion relief and safety improvements. I am glad the Board unanimously approved my motion to move this project into construction and provide safety and congestion relief for the over 115,000 trips that will be carried by this section of the parkway.

Land acquisition for the Popes Head Road interchange should start later this year. For more information on the designs and project timelines, visit VDOT's project website.

Board Approves $2.5M Microloan Program to Help Small Businesses

At Tuesday's Board meeting, the Board unanimously approved a $2.5M microloan program that will provide loans up to $20,000 at a zero percent interest rate for qualifying small businesses who have faced hardship due to COVID-19.This program will be even more important for small businesses in Fairfax County as the Small Business Administration (SBA) released this morning that its $350 billion relief fund ran out. I was happy to vote in support of this motion in order to help our struggling small businesses, and even more so today as federal funding has halted. But as a CFO I felt that I would be remiss if I did not share some of my concerns. My concerns included not requiring microloan applicants to first apply for the significant benefits available funds through the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the CARES Act and being prepared for oversubscribing to this program due to the exceptional need in our community. Many of our area banks, especially the large ones, have struggled to keep up with the SBA CARES Act loan applications.

The program, set to be operational on May 1^st with applications opening April 28th, will distribute $2.5M in loans to eligible businesses through the Community Business Partnership (CBP). Loans up to $20,000 will be available to small businesses of 50 employees or less located in Fairfax County, with deferred payment for six months and a zero percent interest rate. To apply, businesses are required to participate in pre-counseling to evaluate if there is other financial assistance they may be eligible for, such as SBA loans and grants. For more details on the microloan program and to apply, see the Fairfax County COVID-19 Business page.

While I've been looking into everything the County can do to help our struggling small businesses, I've also done extensive research on federal funding available to our small businesses. Prior to funding running out this morning, the federal assistance program provided good support for small businesses. My expectation is that a second phase of funding will be passed by Congress soon. Federal loans and grants under the CARES Act are easy to apply for, provide larger quantities of aid than the County can offer, are designed to reach businesses quickly, and in many cases will be converted to grants. While our larger banks have been struggling with the SBA loan process, the County's smaller banks have been much more efficient at processing the CARES Act loan requests - even for non-customers. The SBA was offering Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) up to $2M and relief grants of $10,000 within three days. The SBA was also providing a Payroll Protection Program to cover payroll for businesses and nonprofits up to two- and one-half months of payroll cost, with the loan becoming a grant if the business doesn't lay off employees. The application for the CARES Act PPP loan was simple and once approved, funds were available within 10 days.

If you are a struggling small business owner, I strongly encourage you to apply for support through SBA Disaster Assistance as soon as they are open again.

At Tuesday's Board meeting I asked the Board to require microloan applicants first apply for this significant federal aid first because that's how I believe most small businesses will receive the best support. This still may be true once the SBA loans are refunded by Congress, depending on how quickly they reach a deal. Although my request was not supported, the Board clarified that the CBP pre-counseling will include strongly encouraging small businesses to look at federal financial assistance. Based on the experience of our local banks in dealing with the flood of applications for the CARES Act loans I am not sure how the CBP will be able to counsel all of the applicants for this program. Now that the SBA has temporarily closed its applications, I'm concerned there will be an overwhelming demand for this County program, and we need to be strategic in helping as many businesses as possible.

In the end I was happy to support this attempt to help the County's small businesses at this critical time and I hope it will make a difference for some of them. There are over 34,000 small businesses in Fairfax County that make up 94 percent of all businesses. This program is estimated to help roughly 125 small businesses, which is a start, but we need to continue to look at ways to help more. The need is significant for owners to make rent, pay employees, and make it through the foreseeable future. I look forward to providing you with an update on this program in the coming weeks and share what the County is doing to offer financial support to local nonprofits as well.

More Changes to the FY 2021 Budget

In my last newsletter, I shared the significant adjustments made to the FY 2021 Advertised Budget. On Tuesday the Board made additional changes and formally rejected the Admissions Tax for FY 2021.

The most significant change Tuesday was the Board's vote to reject the Admissions Tax for the FY 2021 fiscal year as I called for them to do over the last several months. I was the only Board member to vote against advertising the tax for public hearing.

For information on the updated FY 2021 budget, Third Quarter Review, and the FY 2021-2025 Capital Improvement Program, see my last newsletter or visit here. Please note that the budget public hearings have been pushed back to April 28-30th to allow more time for residents to review the revised budget.

Unfortunately, the decision has been made to not allow in-person testimony from residents. However, you can provide feedback online with written testimony, by phone, and through video submissions. For more information on how you can participate, you can visit here.

The Board will vote to adopt a budget on May 12th and will adopt the FY 2021-2025 Capital Improvement Program in June. You can view the full budget timeline here.

Parks Closures

Many of you have contacted my office to share your concerns and disappointment about the Fairfax County Park Authority decision to close parking lots and other aspects of our parks system where social distancing can be practices. I am continuing to work with the Park Authority to re-evaluate the decisions that limit the opportunity of our residents to exercise and get fresh air while maintaining social distancing.

I am encouraging the Park Authority to re-open garden beds, parking lots at parks, and golf courses (pre-pay, walkers only, no clubhouse) to help relieve the mental health side effects of staying at home. The County (including Fairfax County Public Schools and Park Authority) must give our residents as many opportunities as possible to safely get outside. Our Governors in Maryland and Virginia have stressed that safely practiced outdoor recreation time is essential to health and well-being and I agree.

The following is quote for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the use of parks, trails, and open spaces that I wholeheartedly agree with: "Staying physically active is one of the best ways to keep your mind and body healthy. In many areas, people can visit parks, trails, and open spaces as a way to relieve stress, get some fresh air and vitamin D, stay active, and safely connect with others."

Unfortunately, the Park Authority's decision to close parking lots has created additional safety concerns countywide. The decision to close the parking lots has resulted in unsafe conditions along many county roads and has caused congestion in neighborhoods.

COVID- 19 Update

As of 12:30 pm on Thursday, April 15, 2020, 77 new positive cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in the Fairfax County Health District. As of that time, there had been 1,375 total confirmed cases and 30 total deaths in the Fairfax County Health District.

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention now recommends wearing a mask or cloth over your mouth when you are in public or working at an essential business. Lighter masks or bandannas will not prevent you from catching COVID-19 but will help prevent individuals who are sick and asymptomatic not spread the virus.

A new CDC study is reporting that the virus may be spread via the soles of your shoes. It is now recommended you take off your shoes and leave them near your door instead of wearing them around the house.

Office Retirement

It's a bittersweet moment for me to share that after almost 20 years of dedication to the people of Fairfax County, Marlae Schnare, who serves the Springfield District as a Senior Legislative Aide, will be retiring from my office.

Marlae has worked for the people of Fairfax County during our lowest points in recent memory. She first joined County staff in the days following 9/11 and has helped residents through that, the great recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marlae is a strong advocate for a more effective government that serves the people of Fairfax County. She is best known for her strong understanding of the land use process and storm water issues, patience and willingness to help others, and for her margarita cupcakes. She is also a talented photographer and her photos of various Springfield District locations have and will continue to grace the walls of our office.

Marlae's retirement is well-deserved, but she will be deeply missed by myself, my staff, and the people of Fairfax County who she has worked with over the years.

Additional Density Could be Coming to Your Neighborhood

As part of its Zoning Ordinance Modernization (zMOD) project, Fairfax County is looking for feedback on two zoning uses that are allowed in a dwelling - accessory dwelling units (ADU) and home-based businesses. The proposed ADU regulations would eliminate the current restrictions on the number of ADUs in our neighborhoods. The County is also looking at ways to consolidate the different types of home-based businesses. Under current regulations, processes and regulations vary by business type. You can learn more about both of proposals here .

As I stated in my February 6^th Herrity Report, while I support easing the requirements for ADUs with the current age and disability restrictions, I oppose eliminating these restrictions. Removal of these restrictions would give most residential housing the ability to add an additional dwelling unit and has the potential to significantly increase the density in our residential neighborhoods.

Other Helpful News and Information

Mobile Passport Program

Order up: Visit Fairfax launched a mobile program to connect people to local restaurants, breweries and wineries offering takeout during the pandemic. The free "Take Out Trail" mobile passport program, which can be used on phones or computers, has a long menu of local businesses that are participating. Click here to learn how you can participate.

On the Lighter Side

Have you ever wondered what the view from inside one of your Hot Wheels cars would look like? You can find out for yourself here.
Police officers around the country are continuing to step up and go above and beyond the call of duty. That includes Sergeant Engelhart of Houston PD who helped these ducklings find their way back to mom.