Herndon permit easement and Centerville FAR dispute stall school projects; CPDC asks school board to raise facilities matters with supervisors

Fairfax County Public Schools staff told the Comprehensive Planning and Development Committee that permitting and zoning complications are delaying two school renovation projects — Herndon Elementary and Centerville High — and the CPDC voted unanimously to ask the school board to raise facilities and zoning collaboration with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Janice Szymanski (FCPS facilities staff) told CPDC that the Herndon Elementary School renovation permit was submitted in March 2023 and has been through multiple rounds of review with the Town of Herndon. The project is already out to bid, she said, but one remaining component — an off-site easement on a neighboring homeowner’s property for a utility-related access — has slowed final permit clearance. Szymanski said two of three required easements have been obtained; the remaining off-site easement initially conflicted with a mortgage restriction on the homeowner’s title that prevented granting the easement in the first year of their mortgage. "We're working with them now," Szymanski said, and she reported the project’s bids are due in early March and that project approval would go to the school board in March. She described securing a Dominion Energy easement for FCPS property as already completed.

On Centerville High School, Szymanski said the existing building as designed exceeds the allowable floor-area ratio (FAR) for its zoning. A prior land lease with the Fairfax County Park Authority had supported earlier FAR accommodations but that lease expired in February 2018. Szymanski said FCPS and the Park Authority were not in agreement about how to proceed; she described the parties as at an impasse and said staff were preparing options and a memorandum for the superintendent and board with potential next steps. "At some point, I think we've taken this project as far as it can without some other resolution," she told the committee.

Following the updates, Dr. Anderson moved that CPDC request the school board place facilities matters on the agenda for the upcoming joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors to discuss zoning, land-use and interagency coordination for school projects. Miss Dixit seconded the motion; the committee voted unanimously in favor. Members said a formal, board-level approach would allow staff-to-staff and board-to-board conversations with county supervision and park authority leadership to address recurring zoning and FAR issues across multiple schools.

CPDC members also discussed broader remedies such as asking the Board of Supervisors to consider zoning ordinance changes or a narrowly tailored FAR adjustment for public schools, to avoid repeated one-off negotiations and lease attempts with adjoining landholders or agencies.

FCPS staff reported two elementary projects (Herndon and Armstrong) were out to bid during the current cycle and said resolving the easement at Herndon would allow the project to stay on schedule for construction this summer. Staff said they will continue to work with legal counsel, the Town of Herndon and the homeowner to finalize the easement paperwork.