Skip to content
CouncilHound
← Projects & topics
Plan or program · on the record since 2025 · discussed in 2 transcribed meetings

Communications Plan

The Communications Plan is a strategic initiative that has been tracked across two separate municipal bodies. 7 separate matters touch this plan or program; each has its own status.

in progress

Beacon Landing is a 54-unit supportive affordable housing development co-developed by Wesley Housing and Lamb Center, located within the city. The project drew on 23 separate financing sources, including a $700,000 gap financing investment from the city's Housing Trust Fund in February 2023 — a sum that had accumulated over roughly seven years from cash-in-lieu payments made by developers prior to the city's 2020 Affordable Dwelling Unit ordinance.

Pathway Homes is a nonprofit organization that relocated its headquarters to Fairfax City and redeveloped a building at 4010 University Drive in the Old Town Fairfax Historic Overlay District into a mixed-use facility providing 15 units of supportive affordable housing targeted at low-income older adults, along with ground-floor commercial space. A special exception was approved by City Council on or around February 25, 2025, permitting a maximum density of 28 dwelling units per acre in the CR Commercial Retail zoning district.

Private Development · Under Construction

The Botanist

under construction
Private Development · Approved

Davies Property

approved

The Davies Property project is a mixed-use redevelopment of 4131 Chain Bridge Road (2.69 acres) in Fairfax City, proposed by The Hill, A Davies Family, LLC. The application sought to rezone the site from RM (Residential Medium) to CU (Commercial Urban), retaining the Old Town Fairfax Transition Overlay District (TOD overlay), with a General Development Plan for a building of up to 276 multifamily apartments, approximately 10,796 sq ft of ground-floor commercial space (retail and office), and a 3-level below-grade parking garage.

Private Development · Under Review

Fairfax Square

proposed

Fairfax Square Professional Center (9840–9946 Main Street) is a ~10.4-acre commercial site on the north side of Main Street, adjacent to the Fairfax Square garden-style apartment complex. The property owner (Van Meter Companies) is proposing a phased mixed-use redevelopment that would demolish most of the existing low-slung commercial buildings while retaining the five-story office building and an existing bank; the concept calls for roughly 300 new apartment units in two or three buildings, along with some ground-floor retail (~10,000 sq. ft.).

The City of Fairfax 2035 Comprehensive Plan is the city's primary long-range land use and policy document, guiding development, housing, transportation, and related decisions. A five-year review process culminated on October 8, 2024, when City Council unanimously adopted Resolution R-24-30 approving the updated plan dated September 27, 2024.

The Affordable Housing and Homelessness Strategic Plan is a City of Fairfax initiative developed in partnership with consultant firm Thomas P. Miller and Associates (TPMA) to address affordable housing needs and homelessness, building on a prior Homelessness Task Force report that produced 38 recommendations (10 prioritized).

  • Developing HHCAB's Workplan

    A recommendation was made to develop a communications framework (rather than a full plan) early, outlining a messaging approach applicable to each strategy; Judith Cabelli was named champion of the Communications/Awareness Strategy Team.

Other mentions

In full

It first appeared on January 27, 2025, when Ms. Pitches added it as an item to the February School Board retreat agenda.

Separately, within the Housing and Human Concerns Advisory Board (HHCAB), the concept evolved during workplan development: at the July 7, 2025 meeting, a recommendation was made to develop a communications framework (rather than a full plan) early on, to outline a messaging approach applicable to each of HHCAB's strategies, with Judith Cabelli named as champion of the Communications/Awareness Strategy Team. By December 1, 2025, the Communications Plan was formally embedded in HHCAB's workplan as strategy 3a under the "Build Public Awareness and Strategic Partnerships" goal. A December 2, 2025 Council presentation reflected this placement, with board members noting that communications and partnership outreach would support and connect the other workplan strategies, and that the workplan was kept in alignment with the broader Housing Strategic Plan.