tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post761215234477348903..comments2023-09-16T04:58:07.261-04:00Comments on the Annandale Blog: Gross supports community school conceptAnnandale Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07543558586252790593noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-47385499514917639282015-02-23T18:13:11.503-05:002015-02-23T18:13:11.503-05:00Penny's general plan to construct the ECOB at ...Penny's general plan to construct the ECOB at Baileys Crossroads was not a secret. What was kept a secret by the supervisor and OCR was their on-going extensive efforts, starting as early as the beginning of 2013, to relocate the ECOB away from Baileys Crossroads to the former Willston School site. Also kept secret was the anticipated $120M price tag of the building and its massive 180,000 square foot size. Another important piece of information withheld from the general public involved OCR land purchase/exchange negotiations with affiliates of Task Force members. These negotiations took place prior to the Task Force's conclusion of its work. One set of negotiations would have displaced 27 families from their apartments with those lessees having no say in the matter. Concerned citizens would have commented on these matters assuming the information had been freely shared by the supervisor and OCR. <br /><br />If these types of political actions play to the supervisor’s base then job well done, mission accomplished.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-90086874969813424862015-02-23T12:53:14.045-05:002015-02-23T12:53:14.045-05:00But Supervisor Gross did keep it a secret. Gross ...But Supervisor Gross did keep it a secret. Gross ignored repeated requests and refused to give Willston school back to FCPS and never gave a reason. She was along working closely behind the scenes work with 7 Corners Revitalization Task Force honcho John Thillman to make sure that Willston would not be a school in that plan. It in FOIA docs. That TF did not vote for to have the ECGC put on Willston. That committee did not vote to put a school there. The TF did not specify anything. The ECGC was inserted by county staff into the TF plan AFTER its final vote. Wonder who gave that order?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-24340916890129975382015-02-23T00:50:16.218-05:002015-02-23T00:50:16.218-05:00I'm no Penny Gross fan, but she hasn't exa...I'm no Penny Gross fan, but she hasn't exactly kept her plans for the construction of the ECOB a secret. From what I can deduce, the idea is popular with a segment of her supporters. If that's the case, then building the the ECOB is a good political move because it plays to her base. So, don't impute sinister motives to the ECOB simply because you don't like the project. I oppose the idea as well, but to me it's just another of Penny Gross' wasteful capital spending projects.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-70555978363444804832015-02-21T23:48:58.434-05:002015-02-21T23:48:58.434-05:00You're analysis is well thought out, but it...You're analysis is well thought out, but it's too short term. Once development takes hold at either end of the Seven Corners - Bailey's corridor, it's going to expand up and down Route 7. Those immigrant tenements in the Patrick Henry and Culmore areas will go the way of Arna Valley. That's the way development works. So, some school boundaries will inevitably have to be moved anyway. Moreover, to prevent the need for quick fixes like Upper Bailey's, it's best to anticipate the need for schools in advance. Moncure will benefit the Bailey's area in the long run, so it's best to build it now while developers are around to pay a big chunk of the construction costs. <br /><br />BTW, Penny Gross stated last week that the ECOB is a priority among some of her constituents. I take that to mean the same bunch who want to implement their utopian vision of Fairfax on the backs of taxpayers. So, good luck getting these guys to sign off on cancelling the ECOB.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-23004125208884191202015-02-21T22:55:55.796-05:002015-02-21T22:55:55.796-05:00The reason the focus is on Willston is that it ser...The reason the focus is on Willston is that it serves the Bailey's and Glen Forest Schools. Willston was and has been always available, but Penny kept the Bailey’s students in trailers for 7 years until she found a way to circumvent returning the Willston property to the schools. Hence, Upper Bailey’s, which is subpar. Now Glen Forest Elementary is suffering from overcrowding and a part of that student population could easily access Willston much better than Columbia Pike at Moncure. The students in the Bailey's Community Center area attend Parklawn and it would mean a boundary change to put them in the Columbia Pike school even though it is in their neighborhood. Supposedly the Columbia Pike School would alleviate the overcrowded conditions at Glen Forest, but it is not a walkable or safe route for the students.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-57257025143700853652015-02-21T22:31:49.358-05:002015-02-21T22:31:49.358-05:00It's viable because Penny says so? The mall co...It's viable because Penny says so? The mall consists of a Home Depot and a supermarket. Unless you're into loitering at Borders, there's no other reason to go there. The good news is that most of the low end stores will disappear once development take hold. Moreover, after decades, the county also stands to finally receive some value from the highly underutilized Sears site. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-80934547012471379252015-02-21T21:03:00.616-05:002015-02-21T21:03:00.616-05:00It’s time to call out the supervisor’s supporting ...It’s time to call out the supervisor’s supporting cast.<br /><br />Supervisor Gross couldn’t have pull off her Seven Corners parlor tricks without the active support of the Office of Community Revitalization (OCR). With an annual payroll in excess of a million dollars spread over only twelve people, OCR staffers have been actively working since 2013 to move the East County Government Center (ECGC) to the Willston school site. Despite assisting at Task Force meeting after Task Force meeting the OCR saw no need to publicly disclose this secret agenda. How is it that the supervisor and the OCR knew a year in advance the outcome of the Task Force’s October 2014 vote? <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-38710079822423299492015-02-21T19:17:16.245-05:002015-02-21T19:17:16.245-05:00"It's slummy and underutilized." Th..."It's slummy and underutilized." That is so elitist. The Seven Corners shopping centers are fully leased and serve the needs of the community.<br /><br />Anyway, Penny Gross describes things this way in a Feb 6th piece in the Washington Business Journal about Seven Corners:<br /><br />As for the shopping center, Gross said, it has changed from its original form, an enclosed mall. "But I would say it has not ever been a derelict property, ever," she said. "It has needed to be upgraded, and they've done the upgrades.<br /><br />"Seven Corners," Gross said, "to its credit has maintained its viability."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-66584516967789801922015-02-21T15:06:32.972-05:002015-02-21T15:06:32.972-05:00"Why are high rise schools being forced upon ..."Why are high rise schools being forced upon us by Penny and the Board of Supervisors." The Upper Bailey's school was a well executed quick fix to accommodate up to 900 students. The proposed Moncure school has over $10 MM in proffers tied to it. This inevitable pointless criticism of both projects and virtually everything else that's being proposed in the Seven Corners - Bailey's corridor reflect a mindset that any project not containing every imaginable amenity is somehow deficient. Development in Mason requires fitting living, working and commercial dwellings into a pre-existing urban setting. There's nothing pastoral about the area. It's slummy and underutilized. The County is aware that private development requires compromise and that no one will ever be completely satisfied with the eventual outcome. So, it's no wonder that many of the persistent complaints are being ignored. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-77507889100358000082015-02-21T14:07:28.805-05:002015-02-21T14:07:28.805-05:00Seven Corners is a traffic disaster with no metro....Seven Corners is a traffic disaster with no metro. It is the absolute worst place to put 1000's of new apartments.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-44173768989368130812015-02-21T11:50:06.885-05:002015-02-21T11:50:06.885-05:00How about checking out the 2 community centers in ...How about checking out the 2 community centers in our area, Baileys, and James Lee, for putting in place the community school and getting it going, independent of this new building initiative? James Lee is a very nice facility and at one time was underutilized, maybe not today, but why no mention of these 2 sites in this discussion of a community school? I know JL is in Providence but so what?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-37849334094809542752015-02-21T00:07:07.122-05:002015-02-21T00:07:07.122-05:00What is wanted and much needed is an elementary sc...What is wanted and much needed is an elementary school with a campus on the Willston site. Why are high rise schools being forced upon us by Penny and the Board of Supervisors (SE Quadrant at Columbia Pike) when we still have an opportunity for a real campus; real greenspace. As far as the moniker “community school”, I have no objection as long as it is an elementary school, not a preschool. <br /><br />On the issue of density: It boggles the mind that Penny gets away with loading 7 Corners and Bailey's Crossroads with a total of 15,000 new dwellings (9,000 already set for Bailey’s Crossroads and 6,000 for 7 Corners if the current special working group (SWG) adopts what was discussed at their last meeting). <br /><br />The planning task forces Penny appoints are heavily weighted with developers and third party interests. Amendments are made after the TF votes that change the intent. Staff interpretations of charrettes and TF deliberations also change the meaning of well-meaning original intentions. The density numbers left hanging at the last SWG are higher than those determined by any of the three charrette groups. How did this happen? <br /><br />Another huge example of interpretation and add-on is the East County Government Center that was inserted into the 7 Corners plan. The TF did not vote for an ECGC. I witnessed the TF vote that evening. Rather, there are documents that confirm our Supervisor started planning her ECGC in 2013 and language was inserted into the plan after the September 2014 vote. So much for transparency and community involvement. <br /><br />And, so much for fiscal responsibility. Fairfax County has a $179M shortfall and Penny wants an ECGC palace built for $125M. While she now flirts with the idea of a community school, she is spending $3.625M on ECGC design development in 2015 and has 22 staff working on it. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-22240032095316085372015-02-20T20:55:05.479-05:002015-02-20T20:55:05.479-05:00I asked that and was told by Penny that there is a...I asked that and was told by Penny that there is a waiting list for preschool and she was talking to fcps on that.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-62307391447283064352015-02-20T16:41:04.844-05:002015-02-20T16:41:04.844-05:00Vintage Penny Gross. Turning a straightforward sch...Vintage Penny Gross. Turning a straightforward school construction proposal into yet another bloated capital spending project. Your ECOB project is fading so you rename it a community school and dump the cost onto an already strained school budget. Then you bury the cost by funding it with yet another multi-million dollar bond issue. There's enough vacant office space in the county to preclude the necessity for cluttering the Willston site with expensive new construction that's likely to add appreciably to traffic in that area.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-75674008707026718382015-02-20T15:43:09.217-05:002015-02-20T15:43:09.217-05:00You put your palace in, you pull your palace out, ...You put your palace in, you pull your palace out, you put your palace in, then you move it all about. Maybe the county should have just agreed to a long term lease at 6245 Leesburg Pike.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-3343941922919460162015-02-20T15:30:50.961-05:002015-02-20T15:30:50.961-05:00Which will all, of course, be inhabited by milleni...Which will all, of course, be inhabited by millenials and DINKS. Build it, and they will come! /sAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-11415996080882399432015-02-20T15:24:26.478-05:002015-02-20T15:24:26.478-05:00I'm sorry I could not make the meeting last ni...I'm sorry I could not make the meeting last night. I find it funny that Penny Gross is now seeing the light that Willston Center could include a school, but the article only mentions "preschool". Was anyone there that can clarify what level of school would be included? Simply adding a preschool is not much of a concession in my opinion.Matt Dillardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12913845407574176466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-86036203283052266352015-02-20T14:28:48.309-05:002015-02-20T14:28:48.309-05:00Great reporting, Ellie. It's worth noting tha...Great reporting, Ellie. It's worth noting that the Task Force plan calls for nearly 6,000 new apartments at 7 Corners.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com