Fairfax Planning Commission urges council to prioritize Fire Station 3, property yard and Willard Sherwood projects

The City of Fairfax Planning Commission on Jan. 12 pressed City Council to keep three large, interconnected capital projects on track as it prepared recommendations on the FY2027–2031 Capital Improvement Program.

Commissioners singled out replacement of Fire Station 3, continued investment in the Willard Sherwood community center and redevelopment or acquisition of the West Drive property yard as priorities that merit clear sequencing and dedicated funding. Staff said the meeting’s goal was to produce draft language for a Jan. 26 public hearing and to present recommendations to the council at a Feb. 3 work session.

“Van Dyke master plan has been pushed back a little,” Stacy Summerfield, the city’s parks director, told the commission, citing the need to coordinate Van Dyke park design with the Willard Sherwood building, which will house the senior center and other programs now at Greenacres. Summerfield said the Sherwood project affects parking, traffic and pedestrian connections and that the parks department plans to restart a full master‑planning process to reflect current community needs.

Summerfield described a separate, sizable school‑adjacent project at Katherine Johnson/Kutner Park with an estimated cost of about $10,000,000 for two lit youth turf fields, a perimeter walking track, permanent restrooms and additional parking; she said much of that estimate pays for extensive site work to address legacy fill and stormwater problems.

On public safety, staff and fire department representatives said the 2022 feasibility study and conceptual design for Fire Station 3 are complete and that city leaders purchased an adjacent building to allow the department to remain operational while a replacement is built. Commissioners and staff emphasized the complexity of sequencing the build so the station can stay fully operational during construction; one commissioner said the CIP shows a forecasted cost in the tens of millions.

“We can’t afford to not have Station 3 100% operational,” Commissioner Rice said, urging staff to clarify construction sequencing and contingency plans. Commissioners also noted that accreditation and insurance concerns factor into the urgency of replacing aging station infrastructure.

Several commissioners urged the commission to frame its recommendations to City Council not merely as project approvals but as a set of coordinated, interdependent investments. “When considering large‑scale projects, do not look at them in a vacuum,” one commissioner said, calling for cross‑department concept‑of‑operations planning so facilities aren’t designed in isolation.

Staff said the commission’s chair and vice chair will work with planning staff to draft recommendations over the coming week and circulate them to commissioners for review, with the intent to finalize language before the Jan. 26 public hearing.

Next steps: the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the CIP at its Jan. 26 meeting and is scheduled to present recommendations to City Council at the Feb. 3 work session.