Fairfax planning staff propose new land-use structure, suburban village centers and stricter guidance for data center rezonings

Fairfax County planning staff presented a reorganized land use element that folds former appendices into the main policy text, introduces a new "suburban village centers" classification, strengthens urban-design and equity objectives, and proposes criteria for data centers that would apply to rezoning and special-exception cases.

Michael Burton, a co-lead on the land use element, told the Land Use Policy Committee that the draft collapses earlier structure into eight broad categories and integrates 14 previously separate appendices into the element as policies and development criteria. "Where appropriate, appendix content was incorporated into policies or use specific guidance," Burton said.

Staff described the new suburban village centers concept as a classification for commercial nodes that serve adjacent lower-density neighborhoods and that could be appropriate for mixed uses including multifamily or townhouses; staff cited Graham Park Plaza, the…