HomeFairfax General ForumArrest/Ticket SearchWiki newPictures/VideosChatArticlesLinksAbout
Fairfax County General :  Fairfax Underground fairfax underground logo
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: Brownie ()
Date: August 15, 2013 07:27AM

Residents seeing red over Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Neighbors say proposed building too intense for quiet residential neighborhood
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20130814/NEWS/130819626/1117/residents-seeing-red-over-girl-scouts-x2019-storage-facility&template=fairfaxTimes

The normally cooperative, neighborly relationship between the Girl Scouts and the neighbors of one of their camps in Oakton has become strained over a proposed storage facility on the camp property.

Residents of Justin Knoll Road, which has 10 homes and is also the main entrance to the Girl Scouts’ Camp Crowell, are fighting the proposed facility because they say it belongs in an industrial or business district, not a residential community.

“This is a fairly quiet, bucolic area. People ride their horses back here,” said Justin Knoll resident Tom Davis. “It’s going to fundamentally change the character of the neighborhood.”

Lidia Soto-Harmon, CEO of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, doesn’t see it that way. The facility will be a low-key site that will have little impact on the neighbors, she said.

“It’s not that we’re a warehouse distribution center with 18-wheelers coming in and out all day and night,” she said.

The facility, which is now located in rented space in Merrifield, is primarily used to store tents and other camping equipment that Girl Scouts troops can rent. There are also bins with program materials that troop leaders can borrow to do certain activities or lessons and a collection of old uniforms and Girl Scout memorabilia that girls can borrow for projects and activities.

They need to move to a new facility because the site in Merrifield is going to be redeveloped, Soto-Harmon said, and she believes it is more fiscally prudent to build a building on property they own, rather than continuing to lease space.

Soto-Harmon also said the council has already made multiple changes to its plan in an effort to appease concerns from the neighbors, such as changing the color of the building, agreeing not to build a new road on the property and not requesting an increase in the number of campers it can accommodate at the site.

They also agreed not to allow troop leaders to come to the site to pick up materials. Instead, there will be a van on site that will deliver requested materials to other offices and locations around the region.

Despite the changes, Justin Knoll residents don’t believe the facility belongs there, said resident Kathy Whitcraft.

Because it will serve the entire Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, which includes Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland and West Virginia, Whitcraft views it as a regional distribution center, rather than something serving Camp Crowell. Therefore, Justin Knoll residents don’t believe it is in line with county zoning rules.

The proposed new 6,000 square foot building will have a visual impact on surrounding homes because it sits on the outer edge of the 68-acre property and will require trees to be removed, Whitcraft said.

The camp does have another entrance from Vale Road, and the community would have preferred the building to be located on that side of the property.

Soto-Harmon said the Vale entrance currently is a gravel road and it would be prohibitively expensive to make it suitable for this use. There are also a number of restrictions on the property due to environmental regulations, she said.

Neighbors are also concerned about an increase in commercial traffic from UPS and FedEx trucks they believe would be delivering materials to the site, as well as the Girl Scouts’ van that will be making deliveries around the region each day.

Soto-Harmon said that they have submitted the plan to the Virginia Department of Transportation and that VDOT found a negligible impact from the facility.

Another concern is the precedent it sets, Davis said.

“If you can do this here, what stops someone else” from putting other industrial uses in residential neighborhoods, he said.

After a handful of meetings between the community and representatives of the Girl Scouts, the two sides still appear unlikely to reach a consensus solution.

The next meeting on the proposed facility will be at the Aug. 21 meeting of the Sully District Council of Citizens Associations Land Use and Transportation Committee. It will go before the Planning Commission in September and the Board of Supervisors in October.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: lolwtf2 ()
Date: August 15, 2013 08:23AM

Unexpected story of the day I suppose.

It seems there would be no real way to know which side is correct until the facility was in place and operational. Either it really will result in no discernible changed and the concerns are unfounded or it's going to be a high traffic/busy/lots of activity in & out as a result and it'd be too late.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: Take another look... ()
Date: August 15, 2013 08:26AM

Well here's a map of the area and the road. It looks like only one way in and one way out.
Attachments:
Justin Knoll Rd.png

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Date: August 15, 2013 03:21PM

"People ride their horses back here" - where, on camp property? Trespassing? Or do they mean around Justin Knoll in general?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2013 03:21PM by longtime NoVA res.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: Neo ()
Date: August 15, 2013 03:51PM

Why do we need to store girl scouts? Can they generate some kind of energy to help power the Toyota Matrix?

Mr Anderson

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: A better location ()
Date: August 15, 2013 04:01PM

They should build this next to or onto the existing Lamb Center. That way the Girls could be good role models to the sad souls that are there today.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: Meade Skelton fan ()
Date: August 15, 2013 04:02PM

When they have the grand opening I hope they have Meade there.

Fat No More: Official Music Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJUEGjUuG3Q
Attachments:
Meade.bmp

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: Boy Scout ()
Date: August 18, 2013 12:10AM

Hmmm, I wonder if those horses are stabled on properties zoned appropriately, with feed, tack and services only brought in on small cars. Probably should ban all UPS and FedEx deliveries on Justin Knoll too.

Geez, what a bunch of winers!

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: Capt.20 ()
Date: August 18, 2013 12:41AM

Dear Justin Knoll Road residents,

Look people, there's a fucking process here. There's a meeting on 8/21. If you don't want this, then go to the meeting and make your case for preventing this from being built. Don't be a tool, respect the process, respect the result and consider moving if things don't go your way. Yes, you were there first but, life is too short to live down the street from a "massive industrial complex".

Dear Girl Scouts,
Sorry about the closing of your current facility. Have you done your due diligence here? How much cubic footage of storage space do you need? Are you building a new structure on the Justin Knoll Road property? If so, is that less expensive then say...renting space at one of those Storage Center facilities? I don't know the parameters...I don't know the finances...hopefully, you do.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: ***Updates*** ()
Date: September 01, 2013 08:06PM

Oakton Residents Form Group Opposing Proposed Girl Scout Facility
http://oakton.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/oakton-residents-form-group-opposing-proposed-girl-scout-facility

Oakton residents are at odds with the local Girl Scouts over a proposed warehouse the organization wants to build in the neighborhood.

The Washington Post reports that the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital has approached Fairfax County officials about building a storage facility on its 68-acre Camp Crowell in Oakton.

The proposed 6,000-square-foot facility has riled neighbors concerned over an “Industrialized Oakton” and a subsequent decrease in property values, the Post reports. The group has started a website and Facebook page with 87 supporters.

On the “Stop Industrialized Oakton” website, the group’s note explaining their position reads:

“The Girl Scout organization has now set about changing the residential zoning status shared by their neighbors without regard to the impact on them.”

It continues:

“The surrounding neighborhood would suffer a real blow to its residential character, safety, and peace and quiet resulting in significant property de-valuation if a regional warehouse operated here and accessed the local no outlet streets.”

The Girl Scouts have argued that the building will be barely visible from neighboring homes and that the Resource Center would be used to house camping material and other equipment, according to a recent presentation made to Fairfax County officials that has been posted online.

Fairfax County supervisors will have the final say on the project in the next few months.
Attachments:
ae3b90e3c0f392a6c00728b1c2b6adef.png

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: lolwtf2 ()
Date: September 01, 2013 08:14PM

***Updates*** Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oakton Residents Form Group Opposing Proposed Girl
> Scout Facility
> http://oakton.patch.com/groups/politics-and-electi
> ons/p/oakton-residents-form-group-opposing-propose
> d-girl-scout-facility
>
> Oakton residents are at odds with the local Girl
> Scouts over a proposed warehouse the organization
> wants to build in the neighborhood.
>
> The Washington Post reports that the Girl Scout
> Council of the Nation’s Capital has approached
> Fairfax County officials about building a storage
> facility on its 68-acre Camp Crowell in Oakton.
>
> The proposed 6,000-square-foot facility has riled
> neighbors concerned over an “Industrialized
> Oakton” and a subsequent decrease in property
> values, the Post reports. The group has started a
> website and Facebook page with 87 supporters.
>
> On the “Stop Industrialized Oakton” website,
> the group’s note explaining their position
> reads:
>
> “The Girl Scout organization has now set about
> changing the residential zoning status shared by
> their neighbors without regard to the impact on
> them.”
>
> It continues:
>
> “The surrounding neighborhood would suffer a
> real blow to its residential character, safety,
> and peace and quiet resulting in significant
> property de-valuation if a regional warehouse
> operated here and accessed the local no outlet
> streets.”
>
> The Girl Scouts have argued that the building will
> be barely visible from neighboring homes and that
> the Resource Center would be used to house camping
> material and other equipment, according to a
> recent presentation made to Fairfax County
> officials that has been posted online.
>
> Fairfax County supervisors will have the final say
> on the project in the next few months.


I've seen the Stop Industrialization signs on Waples Mill recently. I was wondering if it was related to this thread. FFXU keepin me informed since 2012.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: usual suspects ()
Date: September 01, 2013 08:29PM

Nimby liberals.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Oakton VA residents seeing red over proposed Girl Scouts’ storage facility
Posted by: KeepOnTruckin ()
Date: September 01, 2013 09:17PM

Patch article of course does not mention the Girl Scouts side very much, why they want to build it there, or what the Girl Scouts have done to assauage the resident's concerns. Only that the neighbors are opposed. At least patch is shutting down soon.

As the county is constantly restricting the areas where we can park our motorhomes, boat trailers, and broken down cars, I suggest that anyone who is able should park all such vehicles on Justin Knoll road. Since the residents of Burke are offended about their parking situation anyway, might as well move them somewhere the neighbors haven't complained yet.

It sure must be nice to have nothing to do all day so that you have time to complain about what your neighbors are doing on their own 68 acres of land.

Options: ReplyQuote


Your Name: 
Your Email (Optional): 
Subject: 
Attach a file
  • No file can be larger than 75 MB
  • All files together cannot be larger than 300 MB
  • 30 more file(s) can be attached to this message
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically.
 ********  **     **  **     **  **    **  **     ** 
 **        **     **   **   **   **   **    **   **  
 **        **     **    ** **    **  **      ** **   
 ******    **     **     ***     *****        ***    
 **        **     **    ** **    **  **      ** **   
 **        **     **   **   **   **   **    **   **  
 **         *******   **     **  **    **  **     ** 
This forum powered by Phorum.