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Project · on the record since 2024 · discussed in 18 transcribed meetings

Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan

The Fairfax Circle Small Area Plan is one of four Activity Center Small Area Plans adopted by the City of Fairfax. 9 separate matters touch this project; each has its own status.

approved

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.

  • Jul 8, 2024Planning Commission · item 6aapproved
    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
    Watch this momentminutesagenda
  • Mar 3, 2026Housing and Healthy Communities Advisory Board · item 3completed
    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.

    minutesagenda
in progress

The Willard-Sherwood Health and Community Center is a joint City of Fairfax and Fairfax County project to redevelop the Willard Health Center and Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center sites at 3740 and 3750 Blenheim Boulevard into a new shared health, wellness, and recreation facility.

Private Development · Under Review

Courthouse Plaza

in progress

Courthouse Plaza (10300 Willard Way, with associated parcel at 3922 Blenheim Boulevard) is a shopping center redevelopment proposal in the City of Fairfax, pursued by Combined Courthouse, LLC. The project has gone through two distinct application cycles.

denied

The George Snyder Trail was a planned shared-use trail project (VDOT UPC 112816) in the City of Fairfax intended to improve multimodal connectivity. The project drew sustained and significant public opposition throughout 2025 and into 2026.

approved

The City of Fairfax's Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) 5-Year Update is a long-term planning document covering a twenty-year horizon, required by state code to be updated every five years; the previous update was completed in 2021. Work on the update was underway by at least July 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.

in progress
approved
approved

The Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) is the City of Fairfax's first-ever 20-year roadmap for stewardship of its urban forest, developed beginning in May 2024. The planning process included two Steering Committee meetings, multiple public meetings and open houses (July 2024, October 2024, October 2025), a public survey, stakeholder interviews, and presentations to the Planning Commission, City Council, PRAB, and the Environmental Sustainability Committee.

Other mentions
  • Jul 23, 2024City Council · item 9aapproved
    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
    minutesagenda
  • Jun 12, 2025Parks and Recreation Advisory Board · item 4a
    Future 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.

    minutesagenda

In full

Plan development began in Spring 2023. On July 8, 2024, the Planning Commission unanimously approved Resolution PC-24-02 (5-0, with two members absent) recommending 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/shared use paths, and three textual edits. City Council held a public hearing on July 23, 2024 — at which no public testimony was given — and adopted the plan (draft dated July 11, 2024) on a 4-2 vote, with Councilmembers Doyle Feingold and Greenfield opposed.

As the last of the four Activity Center Small Area Plans completed, it was noted as the most recently adopted of that group as of March 2026. Post-adoption, the plan continues to inform transportation planning, stream restoration priorities, stormwater and flood mitigation efforts, zoning/frontage standards development, and individual redevelopment cases in the Fairfax Circle area.