Bus Loop Dropped in Plan to Expand Mount Daniel School

The Falls Church School Board announced a major concession last week in its plans to renovate and expand the Mt. Daniel Elementary School, abandoning a proposed bus loop in favor of an alternate second vehicular access to the school grounds. The bus loop was the major bone of contention for neighbors to the campus, located just outside the Falls Church city limits in Fairfax County.

The School Board also announced it would set back the proposed new building an additional five feet from the southern property line to a length of 35 feet.

A School Board statement said the changes came in response to “indications from the Fairfax County Planning Commission staff that it would not be recommending approval of the project.”

However, Falls Church School Superintendent Lois Berlin told a work session of the Falls Church City Council this Monday that the changes still may not have assuaged the neighbors and, in turn, Fairfax County officials.

She said that County planners indicated they may require a further setback of the new building to 39 feet, and that the alternate vehicular access to the campus be off Woodland rather than Highland Street.

If Fairfax insists on Woodland, then it may also insist that the City of Falls Church bear the cost of construction of a new turn-around at the top of that street, if a survey by the Virginia Department of Transportation determines the need for it.

Dr. Berlin said the further changes will cut deeply into playground space for the students and could present serious safety issues. The need for the alternate vehicular access is based on the fact that presently there is only one access from Oak Street. She said that Fairfax and Arlington fire marshals told her that their fire and rescue equipment needs sufficient alternate space to move in and out of the campus were Oak Street blocked and that the equipment would not drive off paved surfaces.

The School Board plan to use Highland Avenue as an alternate access has run afoul of neighbor complaints that it would negatively impact sight lines.

The key date for the resolution of any outstanding issues is Dec. 9, when the Fairfax Planning Commission will consider a formal ruling on the development request. Beyond that, Falls Church City Attorney Roy Thorpe said, the most important Fairfax figures in the ultimate disposition of the project are County Board chair Gerry Connolly and Providence District supervisor Joan DuBois. “The negotiating process is not entirely broken,” Thorpe said, noting that “cumbersome” issues were worked out successfully between Falls Church and Fairfax County on the construction of a new Falls Church middle school also on Fairfax County land. He recommended that lines of communication remain open in the period leading up to the Dec. 9 meeting.

Falls Church School Board member Jay Grusin noted that most of the neighbors protesting aspects of the Mt. Daniel project “are on record saying they don’t oppose the expansion, just aspects of it.” The Falls Church officials said they will attempt to identify “definitive, quantifiable safety issues” that might arise from further demands to narrow access or to increase building setbacks.

Meanwhile, Mt. Daniel, which serves Falls Church’s kindergarten and first grade population, remains overcrowded. By a wide margin, Falls Church voters approved a bond referendum last year that provided funding for both the construction of a new middle school and the expansion and renovation of Mt. Daniel.