It was obvious to anyone watching the April 22 Fairfax City Council meeting and work session that two of the new Councilmembers had worked behind the scenes to drastically change a major trail the City had already approved. And what came later on was equally stunning. 

In a move catching most residents by surprise, Councilmember Tom Peterson added a new item about that trail and two others to the regular meeting’s agenda, at the last minute. Then – rapidly and without further Council comment or a public hearing – he and his colleagues paused two trail projects and killed another in matter of minutes.

In short, they halted the George Snyder and Pickett Road Connector trails and terminated the Country Club Commons Connector Trail. All three projects have been in the works for years, were adopted by previous Councils and have received funding from outside sources.   

This Council had recently requested an update on these projects. So during the evening’s initial work session preceding the regular meeting, Transportation Director Wendy Sanford and Urban Forester Anna Safford did so. Sanford said all three trails had moved from Parks and Rec to Fairfax’s CIP (Capital Improvement Program) and then to its Comprehensive Plan.

* The Pickett Connector Trail would complete an off-road, 1,260-foot, missing link of trail between Thaiss Park and Fairfax Boulevard. It’s funded by FY18 Smart Scale money, and construction is expected to start this year or next.

The City’s Parks and Rec Advisory Board (PRAB) called it an opportunity to improve City/Fairfax County connectivity. It also offers a safer alternative to walking/biking on busy Pickett Road. “There’s overlap with the county’s waterline-replacement project, so some trees are being removed because of it,” said Safford. “And it would allow easier access to remove invasives.” 

* The Country Club Commons Connector Trail would build 650 feet of trail between Country Club Hills Commons and Fairfax Boulevard. Its purpose is to improve access to Old Town and Fairfax Boulevard for residents north and south of the boulevard. Without that connection, it would be a 1.4-mile drive. Pedestrians could use the existing traffic signal at Fairfax Boulevard/Fair Woods Parkway to cross the boulevard. It would also connect to existing bike facilities on Fair Woods Parkway, George Snyder Trail and Blenheim Boulevard. Some $5 million from FY20 Smart Scale funding was already received.

* The fully funded, $20 million George Snyder Trail has been in Fairfax City’s plans for more than a decade. Spanning almost two miles – and including asphalt and concrete boardwalks – this ADA-compliant, shared-use path would join Chain Bridge Road to the Wilcoxon Trail at Draper Drive, south of Fairfax Boulevard.

Although many residents like this plan, many others don’t because of the hundreds of trees that would be removed to construct the trail. VDOT must receive the City’s 100-percent-completed design by Dec. 31.

After the presentation, Peterson said a revised alignment of the Snyder Trail had been drawn, and he wanted it presented to VDOT as a possible alternative to the City’s already-approved trail plan. Acting City Manager Bryan Foster then showed a sketch of this alternative that he said he’d received the day before. (See photo).

Peterson said this route (in green) would connect to other existing or approved bike paths (in red and blue) for a “continuous connection from Eaton Place/University Drive into Fairfax Boulevard, past Fairfax High and along Fairfax Boulevard’s entire length.” He also said the sketch was “the product of community input and consideration from Council members.” 

However – in a departure from normal Council protocol – this action was taken without the prior knowledge or approval of Fairfax Mayor Catherine Read. And when she then asked, “So who, exactly, on the dais was involved with input” into the sketch, only Councilmember Stacy Hall raised her hand. 

Read then said, “This doesn’t seem like a shared-use path – it looks like a bike path using existing sidewalks and already-paved paths. This seems like a totally different project to me.”

Hall said the route would be accessible day and night, well lit and “wouldn’t have tree devastation, unlike the trail in the woods. This would encourage people to stop and shop, would be safer for children to use and would bring people to where they need to be.”

But Sanford saw huge problems with this proposal. “This involves a significant amount of right-of-way acquisition and evaluation – which we probably couldn’t do within the time limit,” she said. “And it would entail overcoming a lot of difficult engineering issues to build it.”

Such a major change from the project Fairfax originally submitted to VDOT for funding also could cause it to be rejected altogether, leaving the City on its own to build it. As a result, Sanford said she didn’t know if this proposal would be acceptable to VDOT in this altered form. 

She explained that the funding Fairfax already received for the Snyder trail project might not be applicable to this new alignment. And placing it further in jeopardy, she added, is the fact that the new route would be “an on-road vs. an off-road trail – which is what VDOT approved.”

Later, when Council moved into its regular meeting and was about to adopt its agenda, Peterson made his motion to add a trails action item to it, seconded by Hall, and approved by their colleagues. He then made three motions. The first was to submit the new sketch of the Snyder Trail concept to VDOT to consider as a substitute for the one it already approved. It passed unanimously.

The second was to pause and do no further work on the Pickett Road Connector Trail so alternatives could be examined. It passed 4-2, with Councilmembers Anthony Amos and Stacey Hardy-Chandler voting no. The third was to cancel the Country Club Hills Trail, and this motion passed unanimously.

Then during the meeting’s public-comment time – after these votes were taken – some residents spoke about what had happened. Former National Park Service employee and past Council member Tom Ross said he was “deeply disappointed” by Council’s action on the trails.

“It was done at the last minute – and without public comment or the opportunity for a public hearing,” he said. “I believe in trails’ availability to all people of all ages and abilities. I encourage you to reconsider the actions you took tonight. You have an obligation to consider why previous decisions were made to support these projects and the benefits they’ll bring to our community in the long run.”

But Phil Latasa, representing the Friends of Accotink Creek, said he approved of Council’s votes “pausing [both] the George Snyder Trail for reconsideration and the Pickett Road Connector Trail – a redundant duplication of existing connections.” Likewise, Kate Johnson of Country Club Hills said she, too, was pleased with Council’s trail actions.

Neighbor Patrick Walker said he initially liked the idea of a paved trail through the forest so Country Club Hills residents could use it to reach Fairfax Boulevard. But, he added, “Four years ago, I found someone passed out on my sidewalk, and police told me it was a normal occurrence because ‘people come through the woods.’

“Two years later, I get home to find that my wife was on a walk along Spring Lake Terrace, paralleling the woods where this trail would be paved. Someone had followed, sexually harassed and scared her until she ran home, and she said he’d come through the woods where the trail would have ended up. Such people would have a much easier time going through there if the trail were paved, so I’m against this trail.”

However, another City resident, Mike Fabio, also asked Council to reconsider its trail decisions. “Trails are treasures to be passed down from generation to generation,” he said. “Our Councils and PRAB have recognized this for years. I was looking forward to walking with my grandchildren from Old Town, through Van Dyck Park and Country Club Hills, to the George Snyder Trail. That dream seems to be coming to an end.”

“How did these good ideas get so bad so quickly?” asked Fabio. “Getting from Point A to Point B is only half the equation. The journey must be safe, accessible for all and pleasant – and not thrust us into busy highways. The vision has always been to have these trails off-road. A trail is a walk in the woods; a trail along a major highway is a sidewalk. 

“We need recreational trails. These trails were planned, approved and funded – get them done. In these times of raising taxes, it seems unreasonable to give back any of the $41 million of hard-won funding that’s been awarded to these trails.”