West Virginia daily

It was that field, and that use, that prompted Dranesville Supervisor Joan DuBois' Sept. 26 proposal to change the zoning ordinance after three years of public struggle over whether it allows colleges such as Marymount, located in a separate jurisdiction, to use public fields in Fairfax County.

"There needs to be a lot more thought going into how this amendment, if there is to be one, will be worded, and what is its real intent," said Wilson, the lead commissioner on the case.

"By proposing an amendment that allows more by-right uses, we would reduce the opportunity for public input," Wilson said. "I am a supporter of more public input, not less. I would rather see more opportunities for public input, and not less."

Wilson said the new wording "could allow a lot more uses to go in by right without a public hearing than what I would be comfortable with. I think the more important thing is to go back to square one and start all over," she said.

Fairfax County has had no complaints about one-time public uses of public parks, such as for weddings, farmer's markets and picnics, to which the MYS-Marymount arrangement had been compared.

"I don't know if I would agree that those single-event opportunities are really endangering" the public availability of parks, Wilson said. "It was long-term use by private entities that could go in by right under the currently proposed language."

"If you take out 'exclusively' and substitute 'primarily,' then the question is, what do you mean by 'primarily'?" Wilson asked. "If you are going to change words like that, people need to have an understanding how the words will be interpreted."

"We don't have definitions for 'youth club' and 'educational institution,'" she said. "Could that be a karate school? A day care program? Could it go in by right as long as the School Board and the Park Authority agreed?

"There were some new key terms that were undefined, and I think we could do a better job of specifying what the board means," said at-large commissioner Jim Hart, also a member of the BZA.

"As I understood it, any further clarification or definition would require re-advertising" the public hearing scheduled before the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 21, according to Hart.

"The other concern I had is the idea we are not allowing a public hearing on certain things the community probably wants a public hearing on," he said. "I hope now there is time to let some of the civic associations spend a little more time with the wording, if this ever comes back."

A Sept. 16, 2005, Supreme Court ruling had returned the status of the Lewinsville Park field to its status two years prior, on Sept. 16, 2003, when the BZA ruled Marymount's use illegal under the zoning ordinance.

The Board of Supervisors had scheduled a hearing on Nov. 21, but, without the proposal going forward, citizens were canceling plans to attend and speak.

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