Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan

Summary

The Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan is a land use and urban design planning document for the Fairfax Circle area of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, developed beginning in Spring 2023. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on July 8, 2024, unanimously adopted Resolution PC-24-02 (5-0), and recommended City Council adopt 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 and 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 the updated July 11, 2024 draft — on a 4-2 vote, with Councilmembers Doyle Feingold and Greenfield opposed. Since adoption, the plan has been referenced as a guiding framework across multiple City initiatives, including intersection safety evaluation at Fairfax Circle, stream restoration prioritization along the Accotink Creek corridor, Blenheim Boulevard multimodal improvement extensions, floodplain and building height coordination, frontage type standards in zoning work, and stormwater/nature-based solutions studies. As of late 2025 and into 2026, staff and departments continue to implement and reference the plan in ongoing transportation, infrastructure, and planning efforts.

Open questions & options on the table

• The Fairfax Circle intersection evaluation (a more in-depth study of intersection options to best serve vehicles, pedestrians, and other users) was initiated as a follow-up to the plan and remains ongoing, with flexibility in the analytical process still being discussed as of January 2025.
• Follow-up meetings with local homeowner associations around the Fairfax Circle area were anticipated following a October 2025 transportation department community meeting.
• A future stream restoration project adjacent to Fairfax Circle (along the Accotink Creek corridor) requires further study and design coordination with the pending Gateway Regional Park redevelopment; a nature-based solutions study was underway as of Spring 2026.
• Extensions of Blenheim Boulevard multimodal improvements through Fairfax Circle (beyond the approved segment ending at Ridge Avenue) and a Main Street bicycle facility study are anticipated future CIP/budget requests with no funding action recorded yet.

What members have said

Positions as recorded in meeting minutes; votes without recorded comment aren’t summarized.

Discussion time

Minutes of named discussion per transcribed meeting.