Letter to the Editor

To: The Falls Church New Press

From: George Lamb
President, Fairfax League of Conservation Voters
Vice Chair / At Large Appointee Fairfax County Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC)
Providence District Appointee, Tysons Corner Coordinating Committee

(703) 538-6065
3060 Cedarwood Lane
Falls Church VA, 22042

Dear Editor,

Fairfax County’s Providence district surrounds Falls Church to the south and west and stretches across Fairfax County. It includes most of Tysons Corner, part of Seven Corners, all of Merrifield, and the Vienna Metro Station. On Tuesday Providence district voters will elect the Democratic nominee for Supervisor. Supervisor Linda Smyth has led the District and County through several tumultuous changes. She has encouraged public participation, built consensus between organizations, and focused on smart growth principles such as concentrating development near transportation and building sidewalks. Her opponent has portrayed development as the problem and wants to implement policies, such as adequate public facilities, that the County has repeatedly requested and been denied by the Virginia legislature.

Linda Smyth has represented the district for 4 years as Supervisor and prior as Planning Commissioner. She has shepherded the district through the Metro West plan amendment around the Vienna Metro and the Merrifield redevelopment. She instituted Transportation Demand Management with associated penalties to make sure traffic at Metro West matches projections. She also has regular community workshops on topics such as Planning, Transportation, and the Environment. She had the foresight to create the Tysons Corner Coordinating Committee to make sure the community has insight and input into planning the future of Tysons Corner as a transit oriented urban community.

Anyone who has driven through Merrifield recently can see change happening. There are new citizens moving into the area, the town center is under construction, and if you look carefully there are future green roofs, sidewalks connecting people and places, and a new street grid that will help alleviate traffic congestion at Gallows and Lee Highway. Supervisor Smyth has been a champion of solutions that make a difference. When developers complained that green roofs and pervious parking areas were too difficult and expensive to build she said “Let me show you how” and built an award winning rain garden and green roof at her County office. She then pushed the County to incorporate these practices into the Public Facilities Manual.

Linda also demonstrated foresight into protecting our streams. During her tenure the County remapped all perennial streams and protected 330 miles of new streams. Linda then faced the first Developer challenge to the new streams. Instead of going into a battle over procedures, Linda seized the initiative and set a precedent to protect intermittent streams. The developer reclassification was approved, with a precedent for 50’ buffers (versus 100’ for perennial) and to provide remediation above and below the stream. She is now working on protecting all intermittent streams, not just down-zoned ones.

We’ve seen four years of progressive leadership. Linda makes Fairfax work, she does what others say is too hard, and she builds consensus around great projects. If we don’t get out and vote on Tuesday, then we’ll lose that leadership. In a primary, a few voters have inordinate say over a content electorate. Please encourage your neighbors to vote for Linda Smyth to continue the progress in Providence district.