The first denial, in a 7-1 vote, came for the Maple Valley Grove development, which would’ve had 274 units on nearly 24 acres of land. The proposal had 242 multi-family stacked units and 32 multi-family traditional units.
The second denial was for the Hoadly Square rezoning and Comprehensive Plan Amendment, which would’ve changed the land-use designation for about 48 acres from the Occoquan Reservoir Protection Area (ORPA) to a mixed-use neighborhood. The total area was 58 acres for 279 units, 265 of which were single-family attached homes and 14 single-family detached.
The ORPA was implemented in 2022 with the idea of protecting the Reservoir — which provides drinking water across Northern Virginia — from silt, sedimentation, nutrients and other pollutants. The ORPA would limit development in the area to protect the watershed. The comprehensive plan limits one dwelling unit per five acres in areas with “sensitive environmental features.”
Delton Nichols, Hunter’s Ridge Homeowners Association president, said he couldn’t support the plan because of the ORPA.
“ORPA originated from sound scientific principles and is grounded in prudent concerns to protect one of our county’s most precious resources, our drinking water, and to enable it to be sustainable far into our county’s future, for our posterity and the county’s future prosperity,” Nichols said. “It (ORPA) has only been standing and codified [for] approximately three years, and now a developer wants the county to approve a plan to start undoing ORPA and to end the good work that has been done.”
This is also the fourth time this area of land has been considered by the Planning Office. The first proposal came in February 2024 for a 432-unit development. It was then reduced to 370 units in December 2024, brought back in June 2025 and reduced again to 279 units this fall.
Planning Office staff recommended this version of the proposal for approval because it met the open-space requirements in the ORPA.
The staff recommended approval for this request because … the proposal provides a mix of residential housing, including affordable housing. They propose 28 affordable housing in their development,” staffer Reza Ramyar said at the Nov. 19 Commission meeting. “Their request promotes [a] walkable community and support[s a] mix of uses in the adjoining mixed-use area. Also, the applicant commits to provide a minimum of 60% open space in ORPA area and keep 60% of the [the] provided open space undisturbed on that area.”
Connie Christopher, owner of Criswood Farm, said she wanted the proposal to be approved so she could retire. Christopher’s property is part of the Hoadly Square proposal. She told the Commission that her family purchased the property in 1976 and began providing riding lessons and training horses.
“I need to sell my place. … I’ve been doing this for 50 years for one thing. It’s a lot of work. … It is expensive to keep horses in this area. … I need to sell because I have a lot of health problems,” Christopher said, often through tears. “… I also cannot keep up. We have a lot of older horses. I would need to basically restart and I just can’t do it. It takes a full-time person to run this type of business [who] is motivated and will work for next to no money and will work seven days a week, 365 days a year. And that person has been myself.”
Other neighbors lauded the decision because it would add to existing traffic issues and add density.
“The development of these two large communities in numbers creates a dramatic change in the quality of life, the expectation of our one-acre-plus neighborhood, which was our main reason to move here from Fairfax County,” Andrew Dowdy said. “We’re pretty much moving from what we were living in right into the same predicament.”
The Commission ultimately denied the proposal in a 6-2 decision. Commissioner Raheel Sheikh of the Occoquan District voted in favor, alongside Chair Juan McPhail.
