Tysons’ Future Density Debated
Planning Commissioners conduct last meeting before creating Tysons Corner draft plan.
By Mike DiCicco
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/...per=68&cat=104
At its final meeting on Wednesday, May 12, the Tysons Corner Committee of the county Planning Commission prepared to hammer out a draft plan that would set an interim vision for the redevelopment of the world’s largest "edge city" for the year 2030.
Previously, a Tysons Task Force appointed by the county had created a plan that looked well beyond 2050, but Planning Commissioner Walter Alcorn (At-large), chairman of the commission’s Tysons Committee, proposed in March that the "planning horizon" be reduced to two decades from now, an idea that gained some favor among residents and developers alike.
Tysons Corner could be home to another 18 million square feet of office space and thousands more residential units by 2030.
"One reason is, I have a hard time seeing beyond 20 years," Alcorn said at the May 12 meeting. Also, he said, many of the regional transportation improvements that would be needed to support development beyond levels anticipated by 2030, such as high-speed transit corridors, remained unfunded and unplanned. "Several of these items are really just place-holders at this point," Alcorn said, adding that projects like the proposed Metro Purple Line would need to be fleshed out while Tysons Corner was undergoing its initial 20 years of redevelopment....