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Staff outlines zoning amendment for substations, flags visual and noise impacts and new review options
Summary
County planners proposed changes to zoning permissions and standards for electrical substations, including limiting by-right locations, potential setbacks and screening standards and a consistent alternative-site review radius; staff and supervisors discussed how expansions of existing substations would be treated.
Fairfax County planning staff briefed the Land Use Policy Committee on a proposed zoning ordinance amendment for electrical substations that would revise where substations are permitted by right and add standards to mitigate visual and noise impacts.
Carmen Bishop of the Zoning Administration Division told the committee staff began working on the amendment after the Board's data-center discussion and a 2018 priority listing. "Based on a review of previous applications and other information, two main review topics have been identified: visual impacts and potentially noise," Bishop said. She described proposed changes to permissions and standards and said staff had met with Dominion Energy, NOVEC and other stakeholders.
Staff reported Dominion has about 76 substations in Fairfax County and NOVEC has eight. Substation parcel sizes vary widely: some are less than 5 acres, Dominion said they sometimes occupy 15'16 acres and can reach 30—0 acres in…
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