Planning Commission Regular Meeting/Work Session

James FeatherGood evening. Welcome to the regularly scheduled meeting of the City of Fairfax Planning Commission for Monday, October 27th, 2025. We are a small group tonight, but we do have a quorum, so we will meet as scheduled. Our first order of business is the Pledge of Allegiance. Please join me. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Next order of business is discussion and adoption of the agenda. We have a relatively light agenda this evening, but we have an important topic on it related to our capital improvement program. Are there any comments on the agenda?

James FeatherI'll entertain a motion to adopt the agenda. Ms. Briggs?

Betsy BriggsMotion to adopt the agenda. Second.

James FeatherIt's been moved and seconded to adopt the agenda as presented. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes unanimously. Thank you. next order of business is presentation by the public on any matter not calling for a public hearing we have no public hearings this evening and i see no one else in the room so i believe we have no comments but from the public so we will move on to consideration of the october 13th 2025 meeting minutes they as well were issued prior to the meeting

Matthew Ricemr

James Featherrice

Matthew RiceMr. Chair, I'd like to propose that we approve the meeting minutes as distributed and presented to us. Second?

Speaker 3I second the motion.

James FeatherMoved and seconded to adopt the minutes of the October 13th meeting as issued. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? None. Abstentions?

Speaker 3Passed unanimously. of sleep.

James FeatherNext order of business is items not requiring a public hearing. The only item for this evening is appointment of a planning commission representative to the Board of Architectural Review. Mr. Napty, would you like to make a report? Yes. Thank you, members of

Naptystaffthe planning commission. As the commission is aware, the board of architectural review is one of the other boards that the planning commission has a representative of those appointments are typically made in January the commissioner who filled this role in the early part of the year stepped down in March and this position has been vacant since then leaving a empty seat at the Board of Architecture Review meetings and so the the goal for tonight is for the planning commission to nominate and vote on somebody to fill this role through the end of the year this would just be through the end of December and then in January we would have the vote again as we typically do as with the other Board of Commissions, and at

that time it would be for the full year. And so we're seeking for a nomination and a vote from the Planning Commission.

James FeatherThank you. For what it's worth, I'd volunteer to fill that role for the rest of the year. I'd served on the Board previously as the Planning Commission rep, but I'm willing to do that again now that I'm back in the city for an extended period of time.

Matthew RiceOkay, to make that formal, Chair Feather, I propose that Jim Feather be our representative to the Board of Architectural Review for the next two months until the new year starts. Second?

Speaker 3I second the motion. Moved

James Featherand seconded. All those in favor, say aye.

Speaker 3Aye.

James FeatherOpposed? Passes unanimously. Thank you. I look forward to serving on that board again. I enjoyed my time on it. when I was able to serve previously. Next order of business, public hearings. We have none this evening, so we will recess our regular meeting, go into a work session, and this is a presentation to introduce to us the proposed capital improvement program review of the planning commission for the upcoming five-year period, FY 2027 to 2031. Mr. Napty has a report to bring us up to speed. Those of us who have been through it before, it's always good to have a refresher. And we have a new member, so we'll get you introduced to him. We have a short discussion about if and how we will want to approach the CIP.

James FeatherMr. Naphti, thank you.

NaptystaffThank you, Chair Feather and members of the Planning Commission. Each year, the Planning Commission reviews the Capital Improvement Program as presented in the City Code and makes a recommendation to City Council. This process typically occurs from November until January, and the presentation of recommendations is made to City Council in early February. And so the purpose of tonight's work session is to introduce you to the process. We do not have a draft capital improvement program yet that will be presented to you by the city's chief financial officer at your next meeting on November 10. But we don't believe that you will receive a copy of the capital improvement program before that. You will be the first ones to see it publicly.

so you won't have a chance to review it and so in advance of that we wanted to give you an outline of what is typically done so you can be thinking about what you should be looking for and considering as you as you hear that presentation next time and also in advance of that be thinking about the process you want to go through again we have a limited time frame to to review it and make your recommendations so be thinking about how we want to go about doing that and we'll give some examples of what we've done in the past there. So to start off, the first question is why the Planning Commission is involved in this review. And essentially, the way the Capital Improvement Program is set up is that it's a three-phase element

with the longest-term phase being the comprehensive plan, which the Planning Commission is responsible for, which typically has a 25- to 30-year time frame on it. Then at a slightly shorter period within the Capital Improvement Program, everything included is a five-year time period and then within that there is a one-year annual capital budget and that is what actually is adopted by the City Council in June with the rest of the budget and becomes the spending plan for the coming year on capital items. So you can see the Planning Commission rule is very important for your relationship to the comprehensive plan which is why we seek your thoughts to be presented to the city council i won't go over this in detail but this is

what you typically included in the in the capital improvement program report and it shows that the cycle for a capital project from initiation until construction and so some of the key things to to point out is that you'll notice in the top left where it says how a project is initiated One of the main items is the comprehensive plan. Essentially, everything that goes into the capital improvement program should either be specifically mentioned in the comprehensive plan or should be incorporated by reference in that a new capital project is seeking to achieve a more general goal of the comprehensive plan. And then, once those projects are initiated, the department who is responsible for it determines whether how to proceed, and that typically involves some kind of evaluation.

feasibility study, other analysis, and those types of things. And then through that, it's determined whether to propose it going forward to be included in the capital improvement program. And that's where the Planning Commission's role becomes involved, along with the City Council and the City Manager, in that we always have limited resources and we have to determine where our priorities are. And so the Planning Commission, again, looking through the lens of the comprehensive plan, can help identify what those priorities should be and help the City Council make those final decisions in the capital improvement program. I won't go through the rest of the items there. I'll get into more detail about what happens after.

It's really later in the process and not necessarily applicable to this discussion. So what you will see when you receive the capital improvement program, the way it used to be laid out is, for those who have been here in the past, is that the actual capital projects should be things that are focused on actual facilities, investments in physical infrastructure and those types of things. What has previously been included has also been things like repair and maintenance, vehicles, equipment, and those types of things. And they were broken up into separate sections. And so the Planning Commission really was told to just focus on certain items. But going into this year, the idea is that all of those other items will be removed and included just in the budget because they are not actual capital items.

And so you will only receive the actual capital project proposals, which means the whole book is yours to review. It all applies to you. And so something to keep in mind. Each capital project has a page dedicated to it that has information about the anticipated costs, where the funding comes from, a description. But a couple of items to particularly pay attention to for the Planning Commission are that each item also has to have a reference to how it relates to the comprehensive plan. This usually involves tying it to one of the actions in the comprehensive plan. It also will have a reference to the timeframe that's in the implementation guides that we update twice per year. You last received an update on this in July.

and the intent there is to show or help guide the priority of each project as defined in the comprehensive plan so those are all tools or resources for you to think about with the review of the capital improvement program we also identify public facilities reviews as required by the code of Virginia so the The Code of Virginia says that any public facility before it is constructed should be demonstrated to be in conformance with the comprehensive plan or specifically identified in the comprehensive plan. And if not, the planning commission has to take a separate action to determine whether the planning commission believes that project is in conformance with the general nature of the comprehensive plan.

A couple of years ago, we started doing these to kind of catch up on some projects that came after the comprehensive plan was developed. We had a few to go through. But more recently, the city has been much more strict about aligning our project with the capital improvement program. Also, we just updated the comprehensive plan last year. And so I don't think there will be any of these this year, but we'll still keep our eye out for them. These can be identified by city staff or planning commissioners can identify them as well and request that we do a public facilities review. If we do a public facilities review of any particular project, our goal is to do that along the same schedule as a capital improvement program and hold a separate public hearing on that project at the same day that we hold a public hearing on the capital improvement program and do it just before.

The reason for that is if the Planning Commission is going to support the Capital Improvement Program, we need to show that the Planning Commission can support the projects that are in there. And if there are any projects that aren't, we need to take that action to show that we support them separately before we include it. Or that we don't, and then we make a recommendation not to include them. So it's a tight schedule. They're pretty high-level reviews, so it's not as intense as going through a land-use case or something like that. We try to identify them, and as soon as we get the Capital Improvement Program, and then we'll introduce them to you and decide if we want to go through the review or not.

So our schedule for this year, as I mentioned, we typically go from November through January. So tonight you're receiving your introduction to the process. We have no content to share on the capital improvement program tonight. That will come at your next meeting on November 10th when this will be presented by the city's chief financial officer. And then the draft CIP will be immediately posted the following day for the public to view. And people can start considering it. Council will also receive a presentation later that week. So then what happens from November 10 until January is largely up to the planning commission on how you want to determine the types of recommendations that you want to make to City

Council. We have this as a standing agenda item on all of your meetings between November and January, which isn't that many because of all the holidays. So we essentially have November 24th if we meet that day, December 8th, and then January 12th. January 26th is when we have to have the public hearing in order to be ready to make a presentation to City Council this year that's tentatively scheduled for February 3rd. In addition, though, you can also hold additional special meetings if you feel like you need additional time to discuss. And in the past, we have also scheduled joint meetings with other boards and commissions when they've had specific projects we want to talk about, priorities to think about over

the coming years, and those types of things. So that's something else to consider. And when thinking about that, although we don't have the capital improvement program yet, we do know some of the larger projects that will be in there because they have been in there in past years. So the ones listed here should all be in the five-year cycle. Some will be in the coming year, the actual capital budget for next year, but some will be in the out years. So those will be less of a concern. But some of the big projects that we're aware of are renovations to the two elementary schools and a new roof at Fairfax High School. These are fairly new into the Kaplan Improvement Program and they are funded through a or approved through a bond after random that was voted on at the last election by city residents.

The Willow Sherwood Community Center has been underway for quite some time. This just received approval for special use permits, the zoning action at the recent city council meeting. The final funding has not been allocated yet though. So fire station three replacement has been in the capital improvement program for a while because, well, through a feasibility study of that station. So we've known it's out there, but now it's at the point where there are recommendations. And now the funding request is for the actual project to redevelop that fire station as opposed to just a study. It's similar to the property yard redevelopment that has been in the feasibility study phase for a couple of years.

is now at the point where they're starting to estimate how much it will cost to implement the recommendations of that study, so that will be showing up in the capital improvement program with

Matthew Ricethe bigger construction type numbers. So

Naptystaffagain, those are four big ones that we know of just because of their longer term history. There may be some others that pop up, but when we think about if there are other groups that we want to meet with or get in touch with or invite to our meetings, then these are some of the things to think about. So we want to provide also an example of what the Planning Commission's resolution to City Council was last year, just to give you an idea of the types of recommendations that were provided. And as a quick reminder, at this time, or in January of last year, it was acknowledged that we were facing some budget challenges, that there was going to be some competition for the resources, limited resources to fund the projects in the capital improvement program

that will likely continue this year. Some of the statements that the Planning Commission made was that City Council should focus on establishing priorities or follow through on plans and investments in design that had already been made to date on existing projects rather than back off of them. Improve or expand existing facilities, put a priority on the types of projects that accomplish that. that, to continue to seek external funding to supplement where we were lacking resources in-house. A lot of our transportation projects we received external funding for. We have a process for that, but the thought was that we should try to apply that to other projects as well. Planning Commission specifically said that they were supportive of delaying the Van Dyke

Master Plan implementation project. This is a project that the Planning Commission has been very supportive of over the years, but there was some recognition that we had not invested so much into their project at this point that it would be a hindrance to delay it and so that was a statement that was made for that and in general the Planning Commission stated support for public safety projects schools parks pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements and generally environmental projects so that's that's That's it for the introduction presentation tonight. As I mentioned, the purpose of this is just to get you mentally prepared for the presentation you'll get at our next meeting from the Chief Financial Officer and also start to thinking

about how we want to go about determining what their recommendations should be in terms of is there any outreach we want to do, are there other groups that we want to meet with or staff that we want to invite. and as I mentioned I don't think that you'll be receiving a copy of the CIP before before your meeting on November 10th and so when it's presented to you will be the first time you will see it so you you probably won't have a lot of time to absorb information and provide recommendations at that time so I want to give you a heads up about that but you will have time over the next couple of months to start thinking about those questions and we can certainly circle back with the CFO on those if needed.

So thank you for your time on this. I'm happy to answer any questions.

James FeatherAre there any questions for Mr. Napty at this point? Otherwise we can have some discussion.

Matthew RiceMr.

James FeatherRice.

Matthew RiceCould you just briefly describe the context behind limiting the things which we will be providing impact on out of the four areas just have us review the capital projects items in blue. If I'm misunderstanding it, just a little bit about the scope. Yeah.

NaptystaffSure, yeah. So essentially, a capital improvement program or capital projects typically are facilities, construction-type projects, things that change the physical nature of the city. and historically our capital improvement program has bled into other things where there's more gray area for a variety of reasons and so these other sections have been included there historically but the Planning Commission has really tried to focus just on what we call the blue sections at that time because those are the actual capital projects those are the types of things that the comprehensive plan deals with the comprehensive plan doesn't get into maintenance vehicles and those types of things. And so that's really been the genesis of it. The city as a whole now is trying to

move into having the capital improvement program only focus on those capital projects and those other types of things now will be pushed into the general budget just as a general matter of practice. And I'm not an expert in finance, but we've been told that that's the preferred way of doing things, not necessarily dealing directly with the Planning Commission. yeah

Matthew Ricegreat that makes sense um my only cautionary thought is that um um back in probably 2021 there was an item in the second section that involves repair and maintenance that involved a an effort to surveil the utility system the stormwater infrastructure and um Since that time, there's been, and I strongly advocated for that, the technology used within that program, something that I think is a good idea and I advocated strongly for. And since that time, I think that the city has been able to prioritize some repair and some project related things with the stormwater system that have ended up saving a lot of money. and so I think that there may be some benefit in in including things that have to do with infrastructure is that if we can advocate for and suggest to city

council that these items may be important in that case it was something that seemed a little obscure but can be incredibly costly if if those items have to be repaired while they're falling apart and so there may be some things orange area that may be critical enough with regard to the infrastructure the city depends on that it may be important to review however I think focusing mostly on the large capital projects is probably a good idea so I think I'll just leave it at that

James Featheryeah when I came into the Planning Commission I saw some of the things that were in the CIP, from my industry experience, I question why some of the things were capital. I think we're getting to the point where the focus will be on truly new facilities. What you're talking about are some additional capabilities, which may involve true capital investment. So we shouldn't be blind to the opportunity, but we shouldn't get too far into the how to do some of these maintenance items or better improve the facilities. But I think we just have to sort of play the balancing act, be very selective as we go outside the bounds of the true facilities and things that may be in the capital projects. But the expertise we have on the commission is very vast and we may see opportunities

and reasons to do some things to support things that will be effective and have a strong cost benefit from the city. We have other opportunities, of course, to provide input to the city council through public hearing testimony on the budget and so forth as well. But important to keep our eyes open. But yeah, we don't need to get bogged down on when we should replace a police car either. But

Speaker 3yeah, that's

James Feathera good point. I think the list that you reviewed from our 2026 resolution just keeps our eyes focused on some of the things we should be looking out for. The original CIP proposal we got last year was huge. It was not at all feasible to do all of it. City Council recognized that through the process, but we flagged it early on, and we expressed some serious concerns about the ability to do some of the things as they were And that's the kind of input that the city council looks for from us as well. They do respect and covet our perspectives. One of the hard things for us to do is to identify potential needs in the city from the C. Things that are identified in the comprehensive plan that don't show up as capital items.

It's easy to look at something that's already on the page. to try to do a mapping between what's proposed and the comp plan. But it's harder to determine if there are things in the comp plan that may need capital investment that haven't already been proposed. I'm not sure I can think of a specific example, of the specific example, but in the conversation I had with Mr. Sutphin at one point, he said, you know, if the Planning Commission thinks this is important, that's something that probably should be in the comprehensive plan or in the CIP. I'll have to reconstruct that conversation with him now, and it probably was around pedestrian safety or transportation safety or something like that. Now, I know we have a study going on now that's maybe addressing some of those things,

but we need to be thinking as we review the CIP when it comes to us, think of it in the context of the comp plan.

Matthew RiceAnd if there's something that

James Featherhas jumped out to you in the comp plan, that may warrant capital investment that we identify that to be considered. The staff is excellent at making those connections. They really are. To

Speaker 3that end, it's as much about looking at what's proposed and commenting on it in addition to looking around the bend, right? Like what might be needed that isn't there. That's right. Got you.

James FeatherStaff is generally excellent at identifying these things. We're really blessed with a terrific staff here. It's okay for us to at least ask. One of the things that we should spend a little time talking about is how we want to approach this. Last year was relatively straightforward. The Planning Commission had a lot of its own discussions within our meetings, but in previous years, as Mr. Napty pointed out, we've asked others to come into our meetings so that we can have a conversation about the things that are in the program, if we need clarity of what those are, if there are things that we don't see. It's a fair question to ask. What isn't in this program now that you think maybe should be?

Even if it doesn't show up for the next immediate next fiscal year, if it's something that should be contemplated for initiation or study within the upcoming five-year period, we should make sure it's in there. So we've had the opportunity in the past to sit down and speak with the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, which has a city board like our own, for example, Environmental Sustainability Committee. But there are important parts of the program that don't have advisory boards. no city board or commission on transportation or

Matthew Ricepublic safety per se.

James FeatherSo if we think we want to use this year, we haven't done it for a couple of years, to have those kind of discussions, we should be thinking about that. And maybe we need to see the CIP first. I'm not sure if that's the right way to do it. But to get on the agendas of some of these other boards can be a bit of a challenge. So the sooner we act, the better in that respect. So as soon as we get the CIP and the presentation and maybe have the discussion when Mr. Martinez is here to present it to us at our next meeting, we should be prepared to think about and develop our plan or our request to engage some or all of some of these other bodies. So we don't know what it's going to look like yet. But if you can go back to the current proposal, and you'll see many of those items will be continuing, expect to be continuing.

There will be some new ones in there that require particular scrutiny on our part.

Matthew RiceBut

James Featherbe thinking about what you see around the city. You know, put your own spin or bring your own take to what's in the comprehensive plan as well. So.

Matthew RiceMr. Naphti.

NaptystaffFor those items where there isn't a representative board, we could still send an invitation to city staff to come and describe, you know, whatever the basis is for it. That's

James Featherright. We can engage the board. We can engage the staff. We can engage some of the boards, some of the staff. We've gone to the other board meetings in the past. We've had city staff come to our meeting. So we have various ways we can do this. The timeline's a little crunched. I think the year that we spent a lot of time on boards and commissions, we had a little more time. We may have kicked it off sooner. I don't recall now. But we already had a little more time on the back end. But it's important what we do. I mean, it's one of the key things when you look at the charter of the planning commission is to take a serious look at the CIP. It's not perfunctory by any means. and in many situations we convey to city council as they're deliberating decisions

reemphasizing the importance that this body has placed on some of the projects. I think the Willard Sherwood Center is probably a good example where there have been some discussions and some concern about whether the city should proceed with the project. and we can be in a position to speak at those meetings publicly and provide, reassert the Planning Commission's sense of the importance of this in the context of the comprehensive plan and all the other objectives that a facility like that can bring. It's not just about the dollars and cents. It's about the capability. It's about the future of the city. So it's important what we do. It's important that we do this right. and I think we're respected for the perspective we bring.

So, any other thoughts or questions? Again, this is just an intro. It'll be a while before we get to see the program, but when we get it, spend some time in it. And I'm happy to take the time, and I know Mr. Napty will be as well if you want to meet and discuss it privately or separately to provide a little more background. Happy to do that as well.

Speaker 3To the point on the time crunch, is it typical that we wouldn't get to see it prior to the finance director presenting it?

NaptystaffIs there any way we could get it beforehand? It has varied in the past. What it really comes down to is the time that the finance department is taking to put it together. I think they're on their own time crunch. And so discussing our timeframe and getting in front of you with your staff report, they they could do it. So in the past, there have been times where the first time you saw it was when it was being presented. There have been other times where they were able to get to us ahead of time. But it's just, I think it's varied based on everything else that's going on. And seeing that we're expecting some bigger changes to the document this year doesn't surprise me that it won't be ready until the last minute.

James FeatherI wouldn't be too optimistic because the city's going through other changes right now. As you may know, the interim city manager is stepping down at the end of the month and we'll be relatively short-staffed anyway. Normally it's the city manager that presents it to us, but until the interim acting city manager gets on board and so forth, we'll be relying on the finance director. So we just have to grant them a little grace as well through the transition. any other questions concerns about the process it's the crunch time for us it will be alright I'm counting on you to step up to it it's always an interesting time it really provides interesting discussion it gives us the opportunity again to step back

and think in the context of the comp plan where we should about investing in the city. There's huge demands right now for some improvements in the city, and there's a counterbalancing concern on the part of the city council and the residents about what we can afford. We also need to be thinking about what we cannot afford not to do for the long-term benefit. Some of these are rare opportunities that may come up, particularly in the context of some external funding sources as well. So that's not our primary focus is the funding, but the benefit to the city and the fidelity to the comp plan certainly are. So I'm looking forward. I always look forward to this time of year. So if nothing else, prepare to put your seatbelts on and get ready for the ride.

It's always fun. Okay, thank you.

Betsy BriggsThank

James Featheryou. All right, we will reconvene our regular meeting and go to the staff report.

NaptystaffThank you again, Chair Feather, members of the Planning Commission. At the October 14 City Council meeting, City Council approved a special use permit for the Boulder Shore Road Community Center. This project was not directly reviewed by the Planning Commission because it was only for a special use permit, did not require a rezoning. However, the Planning Commission did conduct a public facilities review or a 2022 review in 2022 on this project as part of the FY23 to FY27 CIP review. That, again, was a higher level review and it happened fairly early in the process. This approval did not necessarily approve all the funding. It was just approval for the special use permit. Final approval of the funding is still yet to come.

for tomorrow's city council meeting october 28 a couple items of interest city council will be continuing their discussion on or will be taking action on the courthouse plaza redevelopment proposal as you may recall this one also did not require planning commission review because it only required a special use permit not a rezoning in addition when the city council heard this back in July they made a decision to defer to October 28th however the public hearing had already been closed so at the meeting tomorrow City Council or for the meeting tomorrow City staff was not able to accept any changes on the proposal so the City Council will see the same proposal that they saw back in July and there will be no public hearing no opportunity to speak except at the

beginning of the meeting not during an actual public hearing time but just to There's no new staff report. Staff will just explain what the situation is and why we couldn't receive new changes to design. However, if the city council chooses to approve it, they can approve it with conditions, which could suggest changes to design that might address some of the changes they had back in July. So that's to be seen. But just so you're aware, if anybody asks or if you're watching, that's the reason there won't be any changes to that proposal and why there won't be a public hearing. They will also be receiving the same work session on the accessory dwelling units discussion that you had at your last meeting.

And they'll be receiving an update on the George Snyder Trail project. The bids that have come in on that have exceeded the remaining fund balance for that. And so City Council will be asked to discuss how to proceed. They're basically being given four options. One is to bridge the funding gap with funds from the general fund. for additional concessionaire funding through VDOT. Another is to make changes to the project to reduce the cost, and then lastly to cancel the project. At your next meeting, the only thing we have in the agenda at this time is that presentation from the CFO on the CIP. It's November 10th. And then getting to a couple of other random items, the Solid Waste Management Plan,

plan is being updated this is updated every five years we typically don't bring this before the Planning Commission because it largely focuses on operational issues and not so much things that would affect the built environment but if you are interested there'll be a public meeting on November 20 and we'll get you more information on that the city attorney is working on potential changes to the city's noise ordinance this ordinance a lot largely relies in planning commission however it could include recommendations that would necessitate changes to the city zoning ordinance and so I just want to give you a heads up on that we don't have any dates or time frames but that is something that might be coming before you in the next couple of months as some

of you heard Commissioner Coleman resigned resigned as of last Friday this was due to conflicts with work he warned this this might be coming for a while Mr. Coleman served the Planning Commission dual role on the facade improvement grant committee. This is the committee that reviews applications for facade improvements along with economic development. And so at the next meeting, we will be asking if there's anybody who's interested in filling that role. They meet irregularly. It's only as they have applications. And my understanding is that the meetings are virtual. So if you have any questions or thoughts about that, in the meantime, let me know. and we'll reach out through an email so all the commissioners are aware as well lastly at the

last meeting i asked you to look at your schedules for november 24th to see if everyone's available to meet on that day we do have some agenda items we'd like to get in front of you but nothing that can't wait if it doesn't work but that's that is thanksgiving week so we just wanted to make sure this is okay with everyone before we schedule it and again i'll have to reach out to the commissioners who aren't here but for those who are here i want to see if you're aware if available on Monday, November 24th.

Speaker 3Commissioners?

James FeatherGood. I am. I am.

Speaker 3I'm available. I

James Featherthink I am.

NaptystaffOkay.

Speaker 3Good. Thank you.

James FeatherThere will be an opportunity to start our CIP, continue our CIP discussions. Yes.

NaptystaffThat's all I have for the staff report tonight.

James FeatherLet me just add one thing about the facade improvement program. I participate in that for a little bit as well. It's a relatively light lift. the economic development group. And it's got a representative from the economic developments, planning commission and the board of architectural review just to help the economic development office allocate funding for improvements of buildings in the city to dress them up. So it's relatively light lift. So I think it's relatively easy. It should be easy to get somebody to participate in that. But give it a thought for next time. And Mr. Napty will Send something out in writing I guess a little more description, but they are sometimes pretty active so Thank you,

Naptystaffthank you

James Featheranything any questions for mr. Napty Okay Commission comments Mr. Rice to start with you anything from the Parks and Rec

Matthew RiceYeah Parks and Rec had a meeting on October 9th in the work session room and we mostly talked about the urban forestry master plan and we've had presentations also about the same topic and there may be nothing significantly new to present or to discuss with any of you but that's moving forward and there were a couple of minor things the parks and Recreation Department in the city has a large portfolio of projects that are always ongoing, and it's just always surprising, even after years, to see how many things they do and how many significant projects they're involved in. And if anyone would like to attend the meetings to see that, you can let me know, and we'll go together. and I represent the Planning Commission to the Parks and Rec Advisory Board.

Their meetings are typically on the second Thursday of each month. That's it. Oh, I'm sorry. There is a, there will be some participation by city staff at George Mason's GIS Day. And there may be some ways that we kind of talk a little bit about, not CIP directly, but certainly things that stemmed from past discussions during CIP that involved stormwater. So we'll have some presentations on the city's enterprise GIS and a couple other fun things. So that event, which we typically have Mr. Feather helping us run, will be on November 20th, Thursday, November 20th, at George Mason University in the Exploratory Hall on the second floor. And anyone that wants to attend that is welcome to do so.

James FeatherOkay. Ms. Briggs, anything for the commission?

Betsy BriggsNo. No questions or comments.

Speaker 3Mr. McCarthy. I look forward to digging into the CIP.

James FeatherGood for you. From my perspective, last week I attended three meetings in the evenings. One was the budget open house, which felt a little early in the season. The budget open house that was held last year was after there was a budget kind of on the table and anticipated tax rates and things, so there was a lot of energy around it. the budget open house this time was intended to gather some preliminary input, I think, for city council and staff. I'm not sure how successful it was, but it was last Tuesday evening at the Sherwood Community Center. I attended for a while. And on Wednesday, which reminds me, if you have anything to say about the meeting you attended on Wednesday, Wednesday I attended the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce

held an event at the Sherwood Center. which was what they called a community engagement. They called it an expo, I guess. So various bodies were represented there, some not-for-profits in the city and in the surrounding area were there, people looking for opportunities to engage. The planning commission was represented there. We had some interesting discussions at our table. and Mr. Hardin there as well to engage some of the community. Some interest in what the Planning Commission work is at the time. We didn't have an opening available. Now we do. So hopefully some of the folks who expressed interest in the commission will be paying attention and may express interest in participating. But it was reasonably well attended, I thought.

Parks and Rec Advisory Board, the parks were represented. the Parks Foundation were represented there. It's a new body in the city. The Volunteer Fire Department, just for some examples of folks that were there. So that was kind of a fun event to engage with the community. And then on Thursday evening, also at the Sherwood Center, was a presentation on the Urban Forest Master Plan. I believe we'll get an update or briefing at some point in the future about that. But it was another opportunity for the community to engage with the urban forester and the consultants engaged in that study. So the draft master plan is out and available for review and comment. I think the formal comment period on the engage page closes in a couple days.

This week, I think the 29th. It's certainly an interesting thing to read. It's a very big document. They've done a lot. They've covered, they've hit a lot of important parts in the needs of the city related to this. So they've got something that looks like our comprehensive plan with an action plan. And the only thing I caution them is what I cautioned us about is, you know, too many objectives can be hard to steward, but I think they've done a pretty good job at prioritizing timelines and so forth. So that was a great piece of work as well. meetings you attended also maybe you want to comment on on Wednesday

Naptystaffyes thank you I'm sorry I forgot to mention that and also thank you chair Feather for representing the planning commission at the community corrections event so another event that I attended was managed by our transportation department focusing on the Fairfax circle area the idea was to invite residents of some of the immediate communities around there I attended to kind of focus on the Fairfax Circle small area plan to make sure people who attended were aware of how all the transportation projects fit into the context of that vision and and the most of people we talked to were familiar with the smaller plan which was what's good to see there were some various thoughts and comments and then I do anticipate having some follow-up meetings with some of the local homeowners

associations to kind of explain that in the next couple of months. I also let some of them know that we are going to hopefully soon begin the process of reviewing all of our small area plans, including Fairfax Circle, and we'll have a presentation to the Planning Commission on that hopefully in the next couple of months as well. And the Urban Forest Master Plan will be before you for a work session. Right now you're scheduled for December 8th on that.

James FeatherAnd I guess Ms. Jillian sent out to the commission an email from a resident about the Fairfax Circle area as well. So there is a lot of interest. There was some discussion specifically about Fairfax Circle at the community engagement event as well.

Matthew RiceSo that may be the place to start. Please. Before you adjourn, I just want to thank Chairman Feather for his service and wish him a happy birthday today. He's attending a public meeting instead of home celebrating, and it's representative of his selflessness as a person and his years and years and years of volunteer activity in the city. So thank you for your example.

James FeatherThank you. We celebrated last night, and I'm just recovering from that. We had a nice affair with some friends and family. So thank you very much. Nothing else for the good of the body. We are adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.