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The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has adopted a long-range framework intended to guide land use, transportation and community design in Lorton over the coming decades.
The board approved the Lorton Visioning 2040 Comprehensive Plan Amendment on July 14, completing the Lorton Core Study that began in 2019. The amendment is guidance for future decisions, not approval of a specific development or construction project. FFXnow described the framework as shaping development over the next 20 to 50 years.
“For the first time in years, Lorton has a clear vision,” said Nick Firth, co-chair of the Lorton Visioning 2040 Task Force.
The previous areawide plan for Lorton was last updated in 1992. The Board of Supervisors authorized county staff to prepare the comprehensive plan amendment in January 2021, about two years after the study began.
The adopted framework calls for a walkable, mixed-use core east of Interstate 95. Four primary activity nodes would focus future growth, community activity, urban design and placemaking: Gunston Plaza, Lorton Marketplace, Lorton Station Town Center, and the Lorton Library and Community Center. Two additional nodes south of the core are recommended for increased employment activity, bringing the total to six.
The plan also revises the planned local street network and incorporates a proposed extension of Richmond Highway’s The One bus rapid transit system from Fort Belvoir to the Occoquan River, including new stations. The supplied sources do not identify funding, construction schedules or implementation commitments for those transportation changes.
Lorton Road is envisioned as Lorton’s main street, with wide, lighted and landscaped buffers, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and a tree-lined median. The Fairfax County Planning Commission supported the proposal while recommending further consideration of ways to reduce the road’s physical footprint through the community.
“This isn’t a revolutionary change. I view this as more incremental changes … to further move us along,” said Dan Storck, the Mount Vernon District supervisor. In a county announcement, Storck said, “Together, we have created a shared vision that preserves Lorton’s unique character while providing a roadmap for thoughtful growth, new transportation options and vibrant community spaces.”
The 12-member, supervisor-appointed task force held more than 45 public meetings over seven years. The county said outreach included bilingual surveys, stakeholder interviews, open houses, a virtual planning workshop, event pop-ups and two additional meetings after the Planning Commission hearing.
The task force unanimously supported the proposal, as did the South County Federation. Some residents objected to elements of the framework. Wildwood subdivision residents said a future connector road could bisect their neighborhood and raised concerns about increased density.
“Every Fairfax homeowner needs to know this could happen to their community, as well,” said Kenneth Russell, a Wildwood resident.
The framework’s guiding principles include placemaking; housing and neighborhood stability; economic development; health and recreation; accessibility and connectivity; heritage resources and the environment; and equity and access.
“It is not perfect, [but] it is what Lorton could be, and what we will work for in the future,” said Keith Shovlin, head of the South County Federation.
“This has been a long, long process. I think all of us would confess too long,” Board Chair Jeff McKay said.