Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals,
I am Chris Smith and I live on Park Road, the dead end spur at the tip of the horseshoe shaped street, Springfield Dr. I am writing to oppose the the approval of the SP2017 MV-088 by highlighting my family's draw to the neighborhood, pointing out several inconsistencies with the applicants proposal as well as concerns adhering to the General Standards.
Part of the draw to the neighborhood when we purchased our house in July 2015, was the out of the way low density atmosphere, protected by Fairfax county's zoning regulations. All the houses in the neighborhood were single family dwellings and some even backing on to the State Park. Had I known about the temple at the end of the street disguised as a single family residence, it may have adversely impacted my decision to purchase our house.
Inconsistencies with the applicants proposal:
"Establishing Wat Lao Virginia in Lorton will bring nothing but a positive presence to its surrounding neighborhoods and community as well as the citizens of Fairfax County." Traffic exceeds the 50 car estimates and is closer to 75-100. When patrons have and tendency to fail to look both are departing the property. Even knowing this tendency, and slowing down I have have several close calls. Neighbors immediately adjacent have other concerns such as, noise, water run off, and septic concerns. The entire neighborhood shares the traffic issue, which is counter to being a "positive presence."
"Buddhists are taught to be good, responsible and law-biding citizens to society." By misrepresenting the actual number of visitors to the property as well as only filing the appropriate paperwork AFTER being cited for a violation, Wat Lao Virginia is establishing a pattern of irresponsibility that if the trend continues will lead to future violations as well as environmental concerns due to the over use of the septic system only designed for a 4 bedroom single family dwelling.
"The building will remain the same with no modification to the exterior. The roof will be decorated with spired style which has tiers of squares diminishing in size as they rise towards a thin conical tip. Each tier is decorated with rows...." The first sentence describes "no modification" while the rest of the paragraph describes the proposed modifications in great detail. The opening sentence is not congruent with the rest of the paragraph.
Concerns with the General Standards
General Standard 1 - The 50 congregant estimate on page 10 is not aligned with the Fairfax County Staff Estimate on page 5 which indicates 50 cars. Having observed multiple occupants in the vehicles, simple math far exceeds the proposed 50 congregants.
General Standard 2 - While R-E Zoning allows for a place of worship, Springfield Farms is a named and planed subdivision on Mason Neck. Repurposing a single family dwelling into a temple is counter to the purpose, intent and design of the neighborhood.
General Standard 3- "The property as currently developed does not adequately accommodate this level of activity. The applicant proposes several upgrades to the parking area and access driveway to accommodate the proposal." One such proposal includes widening the drive way to 24' wide. Springfield Dr is only 16' wide.
General Standard 4 - While I agree with the Staff Estimate that the increased traffic "should not" interfere with the other traffic on Springfield Drive, several near missed indicate otherwise. Wishful thinking is not an effective risk mitigation standard and additional study of General Standard 4 is required.
General Standard 5 - "...staff has determined that the applicant is close enough to the intent of the standards to support." Given the pattern of irresponsibility established above "close enough" requires additional scrutiny.
General Standard 8 - Based upon the 'actual' Staff Estimate of 50 cars, but it appears that the the septic numbers were calculated off of the applicant's estimate of 50 people, the septic calculations need to be re-done to ensure that the original system will be able to accommodate this increased capacity.
At the very least, recommend the Board delay the decision until the discrepancy between page 5 "cars" estimate and page 10 "congregants" estimate can be resolved.
Chris Smith
10802 Park Road
Lorton, VA 22079
