Fairfax City Planning Commission urges Council to finish Station 3, property‑yard and Willard Sherwood projects as CIP priorities

At a Jan. 12 work session, the Fairfax City Planning Commission concentrated its Capital Improvement Program discussion on a short list of high‑priority projects and on coordinating sequencing across public facilities.

Planning staff framed the commission’s role and asked commissioners to produce draft recommendations for a Jan. 26 public hearing and a Feb. 3 City Council work session. Commissioners repeatedly highlighted three projects they said merit continued investment: replacement of Fire Station 3, acquisition and redevelopment planning for the West Drive property yard, and continued investment in the Willard Sherwood Community Center and related Van Dyke Park improvements.

Parks Director Stacy Summerfield told commissioners the Willard Sherwood project will house the senior center and that the city has “about 1,500 members” in its senior program and is “gaining about 40 members a month,” a dynamic she said influenced Van Dyke timing and site design. Summerfield described the proposed Katherine Johnson site as a complex, $10,000,000‑class project requiring substantial site work for fill and stormwater mitigation and including two lit youth turf fields, a perimeter walking track, a paved multipurpose area, permanent restrooms at Kutner Park and additional parking.

A fire department representative, introduced in staff remarks as Sean Dustin, said the Station 3 feasibility study (2022) and conceptual design are complete and that the city bought an adjacent building to enable an on‑site transition. Dustin said the conceptual design accounts for increased call loads and that the department plans to remain in the existing station until the new facility is ready. Several commissioners said the project’s CIP figure—cited in meeting discussion as roughly $53–57 million—reflects escalating construction costs and that temporarily relocating operations would be expensive; one commissioner said an alternate relocation could cost about $2,000,000 and another cited a $5,000,000 temporary‑housing figure.

Commission discussion centered on sequencing and cross‑department coordination. Commissioners asked staff to consult the city attorney about bylaw wording, to circulate the Station 3 feasibility study, and to refine CIP recommendation language. Staff said a level‑of‑service study is underway to help coordinate impacts from development on city services. Chair Feather and Vice Chair Lockhart will lead final edits this week; the commission will review the draft recommendations before the Jan. 26 public hearing.

Next steps: staff will circulate revised recommendation language for commissioner review over the weekend, and the commission will present its CIP recommendations to City Council at a Feb. 3 work session.