Urgent! Morning Slugging at Bob's May Be Stopped

This is urgent and requires immediate action (see What To Do at end of Post). Unfortunately, the story is long and complicated, so please bear with me.

The signs up at the entrance to the Circuit City lot announcing public hearings on a rezoning application for Jennings Motors involve a request which, if not properly handled, might result in the end of slug line access to that property. Unfortunately, we do not have any right to use the property, so if we are not careful in how we proceed, someone with rights might decide to just fence off the whole thing and leave us high and dry.

Currently the property is owned by a family in Richmond who entered into a long term lease with Circuit City which doesn't expire for another five years. For the past five years, they have been happy to let the property stand idle and continue collecting rent from Circuit City rather than finding a new tenant or new use for the property. Recently, Kay Jennings Toyota was informed by Toyota that they would have to increase the size of their servicing operation or risk losing their license. They have enough room on their lot to provide that capacity. However, while the new area is being built, they need another location to do servicing. The Circuit City lot is a convenient place for that. Circuit City is happy to sublet the property, and Jennings has made an offer to the property owner that makes them happy even though he will be converting the interior of their building. The final approval they need is for the county to change the zoning designation of the lot to allow car servicing operations to take place there (there may be some other technical issues that need formal waiver/approval from the county).

A couple of months ago I heard a preliminary presentation of the proposal by Jennings' attorney. She claimed that one community benefit of their application is that, if the county agreed to assume legal liability for anything bad that happened during slug-line use, they would allow slugs to use the property from 6:00 AM to 7:30 or 8:00 AM. I pointed out that the HOV restrictions are not lifted until 9:00 AM and that slugs will want to be forming carpools until then. She replied that the community would have to meet them halfway. There were other serious issues involving this proposal, and I didn't think it would make sense to arouse the slug community until it looked like this was in fact moving forward. Well, it looks like it's moving forward on a fast track.

I have been told that some time in the next couple of days the applicant will be meeting with Lee District Supervisor Dana Kaufman to describe his plans. He will then appear before the Lee District Land Use Committee Monday 9/12. Meetings of this group take place in the Franconia Government Center (Franconia Police Station) and begin at 7:00. The meeting is open to the public, and anyone in attendance is allowed to ask questions or make very brief statements about any application before the group. Voting members of the committee are the official Land Use representatives of every duly constituted homeowners association or civic association in Lee District. The next step in the approval process is the County Planning Commission. That meeting, which will take place at 8:15 PM on Thursday, 9/15, is announced on the large public notice signs at the lot. The Planning Commission meets at the County Government Building. This meeting is also open to the public, and anyone in attendance may make a statement concerning a proposal before the Commission votes on it. Finally, the full Board of Supervisors will have to approve any zoning changes. Generally, the Board will follow the wishes of the Supervisor in whose district the proposed development will take place, and Supervisor Kaufman has pledged that he will always follow the wishes of the Land Use Committee. The proposal is on the agenda for the Board's 9/25 meeting (also posted on the pubic signs on the lot).

To summarize, the threat comes from three possible outcomes:

1) Someone with rights to the property gets upset and decides to fence off the property or use some other method to restrict our access to it.

2) The Jennings use is permitted and the county does not agree to assume liability for anything bad that happens to the slugs. In that case, Jennings will deny slugs access to the property.

3) The Jennings use is permitted and the county agrees to assume liability, but the new lease holder decides to cut off the slug line at 7:30 or 8:00 AM as they originally planned. In such an event, it is difficult to figure out where the slug activity would take place for the rest of the morning, and how the transition from one location to another each day would transpire.

What to Do:

1: Immediately contact your Supervisor and let him/her know how important the slug system at downtown Springfield is to you. Tell him/her not to agree to anything that would prevent slugging from Circuit City until an acceptable alternative site is determined. Be sure to include your snail mail address so that the Supervisor knows that you are a constituent. To contact Dana Kaufman's office, email leedist@fairfaxcounty.gov or call (703) 971-6262.

2. If you live in a development in Lee District and have an active homeowners association or civic association, find out who your Land Use Representative is and let him/her know how important it is to you to maintain the slug system.

3. Save the dates for the upcoming public forums: Land Use Committee 9/12, 7:00 PM; Planning Commission 9/15 8:15 PM; and Board of Supervisors, 9/25. Be prepared to make a brief statement about how important the slug line system is, or just show your support for the system with your presence.

Thank you for taking the time to read this long post - I'm sorry that I couldn't describe it in fewer words. I will post on this message board any new information I learn.

6121 Franconia Road
Franconia, Virginia 22310

From Springfield Plaza (Bob's) go east (left) on Old Keane Mill Road. Stay in the left lane. Take the flyover across 395 and past the Springfield Mall. You are now on Franconia. Continue for about half a mile. The Government Center / police station will be on the right.

Thanks for asking.

quote:

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Originally posted by Bobs Ghost
[br]Might want to contact the Washington Post. Any plans to get the word out on Sept 6-9 (e.g., fliers)? Start a grass roots movement. Thanks for the information you posted!!!

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This morning, (Friday) I was at the lot from 6:10 - 9:00 passing out flyers with this same information on it (and a link to this message board to get updates). Fridays are always slow, and I suppose that the Friday before Labor Day is even slower than most. Never-the-less I had printed 700 flyers and distributed all but a small handful. In fact, I would have been hard pressed to handle a heavier volume. Most people were reading the flyer while they were waiting and many thanked me for providing the information. So I think that the news has been disseminated and word of mouth can carry it even further next week.

I don't know who at the Washington Post would be interested, or what angle they would want to play. However, if you think that you can interest any reporters into writing about the topic: Go for it! Same for the Washington Times, and any other local media.

I'm going to continue communicating with my contacts in the local civic community to find out if there are any developments to report. In the meantime, it can only help if everyone else continues spreading the word (through all available channels) and encouraging everyone who will be affected to let their County Supervisor know about their concern.

Thanks.

I doubt the lot closure would end slugging at Bob's. The line could move across the street to Springfield Plaza where the majority of slugs park anyway.

This would be the safer alternative since slugs wouldn't have to cross Old Keene Mill. It would, however, be more inconvenient for drivers since they'd have to pull into the shopping center and the light at Spring Street takes 3 minutes to change.