Lorton Core Study
The County is undertaking the Lorton Visioning 2040 study to bolster the sense of place within the Lorton community over the next 20 years. The study will identify and analyze existing and future assets and resources within the Lorton area, and evaluate and recommend revisions to the Comprehensive Plan for land use, placemaking, parks and recreational areas, environmental corridors, historic resources, public facilities, multi-modal transportation infrastructure, and other supporting infrastructure that reflects the community’s future vision.
On January 26, 2021, the Board of Supervisors authorized the consideration of a Comprehensive Plan amendment for the Lorton area, in the Lower Potomac Planning District, LP2 Lorton-South Route 1 Suburban Center of the Comprehensive Plan, and the Mount Vernon Supervisor District. The focus will be placed on the Lorton Road area east of Silverbrook Road including the Lorton Town Center, and the Route 1 corridor from Fort Belvoir to the Occoquan River.
The adopted Comprehensive Plan for land use in the Lorton-South Route 1 Suburban Center area recommends a “town center” concept near the Virginia Railway Express station and includes "gateway" locations, high quality building design, residential areas at a variety of densities, and park spaces that are balanced with the legacy industrial areas, public facility use, recreational area, and environmentally sensitive areas. The adopted Plan envisions that these uses should work in concert to create a comprehensive and interrelated community.
Commissioned by Mount Vernon Supervisor Dan Storck, a community task force has engaged the larger community, with assistance from staff, to begin work on study.
Work to Date
Deliverables from the work to-date are available on the Documents and Resources webpage:
- Initial 2019 community survey conducted to identify goals and priorities
- Identified existing conditions and assets
- Community open house held to share existing conditions and hear community feedback
- Defined the study area
- Adopted a set of guiding visioning principles
- Curated visual examples of design characteristics, density, building scales, and mass - referenced on April 24, 2023, Task Force memorandum.
- Lorton Market Assessment completed by consultants on January 24, 2022
- 2022 community survey results
- Areawide Framework Plans drafted by staff and the task force
- Initial set of framework maps created by the consultant and presented at the May 23, 2022 Task Force meeting.
- Adoption of the Community Vision Statement and Planning Principles at the May 8, 2023 Task Force meeting.
This work represents the foundation upon which the vision for Lorton will be built, but the work is far from done. Community input is vital to the continued development of the vision.
Next Steps
- Engage a consultant to provide expertise on of the current and future retail market and to further develop the vision
- Schedule additional community engagement opportunities to gather community input on the ideas developed to date and help shape the vision moving forward
- Draft a comprehensive plan amendment