Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan
The Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan is one of four Activity Center Small Area Plans developed by the City of Fairfax. 9 separate matters touch this project; each has its own status.
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.
- Public hearing and recommendation to City Council on the proposed Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan
The Planning Commission approved the plan via Resolution PC-24-02 and recommended City Council adopt the June 24, 2024 draft, subject to Comprehensive Plan amendment approval and Commission-specified modifications; a City Council public hearing is scheduled for July 23, 2024.
passedMotion to adopt Resolution PC-24-02 approving the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan and recommending approval and adoption to City Council in the draft dated June 24, 2024, subject to final approval of associated amendments in the update to the City of Fairfax 2035 Comprehensive Plan, and specified modifications including property access preservation, a transportation safety study, analysis of widening walkways/shared use paths, and three textual edits to the plan document.✓ Feather✓ Briggs✓ Coleman✓ Rice✓ Cunningham· Denton· Lockhart - Discussion of Next Steps
Referenced as approved July 23, 2024, the most recently adopted of the four Activity Center Small Area Plans in the City of Fairfax.
Willard-Sherwood Community Center
The Willard-Sherwood Health and Community Center is a joint City of Fairfax and Fairfax County redevelopment project at 3740 and 3750 Blenheim Boulevard, replacing existing facilities with a new health, wellness, and recreation center featuring an underground parking garage, rooftop amenity space, fenced outdoor playgrounds, and a bridge connection to the existing Stacey C. Sherwood Community Center.
- Staff Report
City Council adopted the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan at its July 23, 2024 meeting, as reported by staff.
- Oct 27, 2025Planning Commission · item 10Staff Report
Staff discussed the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan at a transportation department meeting focused on the Fairfax Circle area, with follow-up meetings with local homeowner associations anticipated.
Courthouse Plaza
Courthouse Plaza (10300 Willard Way and 3922 Blenheim Boulevard) is a shopping center redevelopment project in the CR Commercial Retail/Old Town Fairfax Transition Overlay District, proposed by Combined Courthouse, LLC. The project has proceeded through two distinct application cycles.
- Oct 27, 2025Planning Commission · item 10Staff Report
Staff discussed the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan at a transportation department meeting focused on the Fairfax Circle area, with follow-up meetings with local homeowner associations anticipated.
George Snyder Trail
The George Snyder Trail was a planned off-street shared-use path project (VDOT UPC 112816) intended to improve multimodal connectivity along Fairfax Boulevard in the City of Fairfax. The project drew sustained and significant public opposition throughout its consideration.
- Oct 27, 2025Planning Commission · item 10Staff Report
Staff discussed the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan at a transportation department meeting focused on the Fairfax Circle area, with follow-up meetings with local homeowner associations anticipated.
The City of Fairfax's Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) 5-Year Update is a long-term planning document required by Virginia state code to be updated every five years, covering a twenty-year planning horizon. The plan was last updated in 2021 and the update process was underway as of mid-2025, with a public meeting held on November 20, 2025, at Katherine Johnson Middle School Library and a community survey open through the end of 2025.
- Oct 27, 2025Planning Commission · item 10Staff Report
Staff discussed the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan at a transportation department meeting focused on the Fairfax Circle area, with follow-up meetings with local homeowner associations anticipated.
GMU Commerce Center site
- Staff Report
City Council adopted the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan at its July 23, 2024 meeting, as reported by staff.
WillowWood project
- Jul 22, 2024Planning Commission · item 10Staff Report
Staff noted that a public hearing on the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan was scheduled for the upcoming July 23, 2024 City Council meeting.
- Jul 22, 2024Planning Commission · item 10Staff Report
Staff noted that a public hearing on the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan was scheduled for the upcoming July 23, 2024 City Council meeting.
Urban Forest Master Plan
The Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) is the City of Fairfax's first comprehensive, 20-year roadmap for stewardship of its urban forest. Development began in May 2024 and proceeded through two Steering Committee meetings, two public open houses (July and October 2024, with a third in October 2025), stakeholder interviews, a public survey, and ongoing presentations to the Planning Commission, PRAB, Environmental Sustainability Committee, and City Council.
- Jul 22, 2024Planning Commission · item 10Staff Report
Staff noted that a public hearing on the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan was scheduled for the upcoming July 23, 2024 City Council meeting.
- Public hearing and Council action on adoption of the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan
The Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan (draft dated July 11, 2024) was adopted by City Council on a 4-2 vote, with Councilmembers Doyle Feingold and Greenfield opposed. The plan had been in development since Spring 2023 and previously recommended by the Planning Commission on July 8, 2024.
passedAdopt resolution approving and adopting the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan in the draft dated July 11, 2024, together with any changes made through the meeting.✓ Bates✕ Doyle Feingold✕ Greenfield✓ Lim✓ Ross✓ Stehle - Jun 12, 2025Parks and Recreation Advisory Board · item 4aFuture Stream Restoration Projects – Satoshi Eto, Storm Water Manager
Staff noted that completing stream restoration in the Accotink Creek corridor from Fairfax Blvd to Pickett Rd would allow components of the Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan to move forward.
In full
Planning began in Spring 2023. On July 8, 2024, the Planning Commission unanimously adopted Resolution PC-24-02 (5-0, with two members absent) recommending City Council approve the June 24, 2024 draft, subject to Comprehensive Plan amendment approval and specified modifications including property access preservation, a transportation safety study, analysis of widening walkways/shared use paths, and three textual edits. City Council held a public hearing on July 23, 2024 — with no public testimony — and adopted the plan (in its July 11, 2024 draft form) on a 4-2 vote, with Councilmembers Doyle Feingold and Greenfield opposed; it is the most recently adopted of the four Activity Center Small Area Plans.
Post-adoption, the plan has served as a framework for a range of downstream efforts: stream restoration work along the Accotink Creek corridor (segments 5 and 6, from Fairfax Blvd to Pickett Rd) is a prerequisite for certain plan components to advance; transportation and multimodal improvements in the Fairfax Circle area reference the plan's vision; and a nature-based solutions study along the Accotink Creek corridor adjacent to the plan area was completed in FY26 through a Community Flood Preparedness Fund grant. The plan also informed the city's broader urban design and zoning work, including the introduction of an open space frontage type first developed for this plan and subsequently applied to other activity centers.