Dominion Hills and Boulevard Manor residents may get an upgrade to their water tower sooner rather than later.
Fairfax County supervisors have agreed to fast-track consideration of a new water tower serving a multi-jurisdictional region in the broader Seven Corners area, which also includes parts of the city of Falls Church.
Fairfax Water, which operates the tower, has proposed replacing the existing 72-year-old structure with a significantly larger one on the grounds of Seven Corners Apartments at Patrick Henry Drive near the Fairfax-Arlington border.
When the new tank is operational, the old one nearby will be removed. The result will be infrastructure capable of holding about one million gallons of water, roughly five times the amount in the existing tank, Fairfax Water officials said.
The new tank will consist of a steel bowl with a diameter of 74 feet. It will sit atop a concrete pedestal 70 feet high and 40 feet in diameter.
Although the tower provides water service to several jurisdictions, it is located within Fairfax County and falls within that locality’s zoning-review process.
To expedite the review, Fairfax County leaders voted unanimously on Tuesday to consider a site plan for the project concurrently with other zoning changes. The county’s Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors will take on the topics in October.
Fairfax Supervisor Andres Jimenez (D-Mason), whose district includes the water tank, said that a simultaneous consideration of all zoning changes would benefit the community.
“The proposed tank will significantly improve service reliability within the existing distribution system, provide more consistent water pressure, and increase available fire flow for customers in Fairfax Water’s Willston Pressure Zone, which includes residents and businesses in Fairfax County, the city of Falls Church and Arlington County,” Jimenez told Board of Supervisors members.
The matter had a degree of urgency, Jimenez said.
“The existing tank has reached the end of its useful life and is undersized to meet current and planned needs in the area,” Jimenez said. “It needs to be replaced as soon as reasonably possible.”
His colleagues approved the request without comment.
Because it is a public-works project, the proposal is moving through what county officials call a “2232 review,” based on a section of the Code of Virginia. A 2232 review requires the Planning Commission to determine whether the project is compatible with the county’s comprehensive plan.
In addition to making that determination, Planning Commission members will make recommendations to supervisors on the site-plan submission and zoning variances required for the project to move forward.
Arlington County purchases and distributes water from the Willston Tower. In June, County Board members approved a resolution in support of Fairfax Water’s proposal.
