Subject:
Title
Comprehensive Plan: Review of Future Land Use Map
Body
BACKGROUND SUMMARY:
The Commonwealth of Virginia, similar to all states, requires that jurisdictions approve and update a Comprehensive Plan, as a policy document. The Land Use Chapter is perhaps the section that is most core to a Comprehensive Plan, as it sets the policy framework for the zoning regulations that follow. State law and Supreme Court decisions have established that zoning should be in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan.
The Land Use Chapter in Vienna, and in many (or even most) jurisdictions, consists of the text description of the goals, policies and strategies; and the map that expresses the land use policies in pictorial form. Vienna’s the Future Land Use Map is that map, and it is shown in the 2016-adopted current Comprehensive Plan on page 38.
On May 28, 2025, the Planning Commission reviewed and provided comments on an updated draft of the text of the Land Use Chapter. The focus of the discussion on June 11, 2025, is the Future Land Use Map.
OVERVIEW:
Attachment 1 is the Future Land Use Map from the current Comprehensive Plan. The only change is in the name of one Land Use category - Industrial to Industrial/Flex, as discussed in the draft text of the Land Use Chapter.
Attachment 2 is the draft text for the updated Land Use chapter. This text has not yet been updated since the May 28, 2025, work session and therefore does not reflect the Planning Commission’s comments. It is provided as a reference for reviewing the map.
The purpose of this discussion is for the Planning Commission to review the map and determine whether any changes should be made or discuss any relevant topic.
Topics and sites that staff have identified that the Commission may wish to discuss include the following:
1) Does the Planning Commission wish to keep the Office category as it currently is, make a change, or eliminate it? The current map shows only one small area in the entire town in the Office category. It has the color orange and is located along Church Street NW near the intersection with Pleasant Street NW.
2) How does the Planning Commission wish to designate the Town-owned sites for which a future plan has not yet been developed? Those sites include:
o Maude Robinson property, located behind the Vienna Shopping Center rear parking lot, between Cottage Street SW and Courthouse Road SW.
o 301 Center Street S, known as the annex property.
o Former Beulah Road mulch yard.
Options include designating them as Governmental or Parks, Recreation and Open Space. Another option would be to designate one or more in accordance with the underlying zoning, which, for all three, would make them Low Density Residential.
3) Properties bounded by Courthouse Road SW, Locust Street SW and Cherry Street SW should be changed from the Institutional designation to Low Density Residential. The daycare facility that was in that location for years has, since 2016, closed and new homes have been developed.
4) Does the Planning Commission wish to make any changes regarding the location of the border between the Mixed-Use area that defines the Maple Avenue corridor and the neighboring properties? Neighboring properties are designated as Low Density Residential, Moderate Density Residential (which consists of townhomes, duplexes, and moderate-density apartments), and Governmental. Does the Planning Commission wish for any of those properties to change?
o A recent rezoning application in front of the Planning Commission, regarding 128 Nutley Street NW, confronted a mixed message from the current Comprehensive Plan, as was noted in the staff report. Whereas the current Comprehensive Plan language endorsed finding locations for a greater variety of housing types, which this proposal offered, the Future Land Use Map designated the specific property as Low Density Residential. How does the Commission wish to treat this property in the updated Future Land Use Map?
o Are there any other sites that merit such discussion, where the Commission would support a change in land use, either in terms of the types of uses or the density?
SUMMARY/STAFF IMPRESSIONS:
Staff looks forward to this discussion and, once receiving direction from the Planning Commission, will bring an updated draft of the Future Land Use Map.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission review the Future Land Use Map from the prior Comprehensive Plan and provide comments to staff on any updates it may wish to make, for review by the public.