INVENTORY NARRATIVE BUILDING AND COMMON AREA LANDSCAPING

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1 INVENTORY NARRATIVE BUILDING AND The information within these Inventories was gathered between of March and August, Many aspects of the Inventories will be on-going as major features and minor elements of the landscape are changed through the enactment of planning. All areas covered by these inventories will be at least partially re-surveyed on an annual basis. The term survey typically refers to a non-instrument pedestrian review of site features. The common area landscaping is shown in its location relative to existing buildings and hardscape. Any associated playground equipment or other smaller site amenities are shown along with the landscaping. The same two letter symbol used in the building landscaping survey is used for the common area landscaping. The amenities are shown based on available GIS mapping and in context of the common areas in which they exist. The woodlands are typically shown en masse unless there are particular trees that require discussion. Everything has been mapped using available GIS information based on the VA Data Plane. There should be enough cross-referencing and overlap for anyone using any individual map to understand or at least perceive the effect of any project on the surrounding areas and nearby site features. Within the map sets, the sheets are arranged as the buildings are laid out geographically, and not according to their numerical sequence. That is, in the 100s, 103 follows 101, then comes 105, then 107 and so forth with the odd-numbered buildings until 117; then comes 116, 114, and so forth counting down in the even-numbered buildings until 102. This was done to better show the relationships between buildings that are next to one another, and to allow for the arrangement of planning sequencing. The first sheet is the lowest numbered building in each numerical sequence. A review of the general map will show these relationships. 100s The 100s are comprised of seventeen buildings in the extreme southeastern area of Parkfairfax. The block is somewhat triangular in shape and bordered by Gunston Road, Wellington Road, Beverley Drive and Valley Drive. Except for three of the buildings which are center passage style buildings facing Valley and Gunston Road, the buildings are all linear with four units facing the road or front court, and additional units with entrances on the building end(s). The 100s area is just under 7 acres in size and slopes fairly uniformly from Wellington Road towards Valley Drive, dropping approximately 52 vertical feet from elevation 203 at the intersection of Wellington Road and Enderby Drive in front of Buildings 105 and 107 to elevation 151 at the intersection of Gunston Road and Valley Drive in front of Building 110. The steepest areas are between Buildings 102 and 103 and the area along the backs of Buildings 104, 110, and

2 The landscaped areas in front of most of the 100s buildings is not consistent building to building. There are several different takes on private perennial gardens, small rose shrubs (tea and field roses), azaleas, small crapemyrtles, unkempt rows of shrubs and shrub masses. Some of the building corners have upright shrubs or small trees, and a few of the buildings such as 104 have space defining hedges along their lead walks. There is quite a bit of variety in the rear gardens as well, with some of the residents growing perennials in large masses, some people relying on container gardening while covering 300 to 400 square feet in pavers, and others growing vegetables. Some of the residents do not appear to have any interest in gardening, and such is reflected in the unkempt weed patches stretching from the building face to the nearest common area. COMMON AREA LANDSCAPE The common area landscaping within the 100s block is a mix of large overstory trees and scattered native and non-native understory trees and shrubs. There is very little what we are terming wooded area, but there is a band of naturalized area between the uphill buildings and the downhill buildings. There is one large playground which has serviceable play equipment in a mulch and wood chipped area bounded by a wooden timber curb. Although access is available through the open area from the north and between some of the buildings, there is one pathway between Buildings 106 and 109 leading toward the playground, and no other direct access from any of the perimeter sidewalks. 200s The 200s are comprised of 30 buildings, all of which are linear in shape with the exception of Buildings 201 and 208, which are center passage, front court style buildings. Approximately half the buildings face the street by which they are addressed, while the other half are oriented to courtyards or green spaces. The 200s area runs along Martha Custis Drive from Valley Drive to Preston Road at the southern end of Parkfairfax, and borders single-family development facing Crestwood Drive and Kenwood Avenue. The 200s is a little over 12.6 acres in area and slopes from a high point of elevation between Buildings 228 and 230 down uniformly approximately 40 vertical feet to the intersection of Martha Custis Drive and Valley Drive, and down uniformly approximately 26 vertical feet to the intersection of Martha Custis Dive and Preston Road. The most severe elevation change is near Buildings 202, 204 and 206, and most of the elevation change is enhanced around the buildings by grading, walls, and steps. The buildings in the 200 series seem to have significantly high amounts of area dedicated to perennial gardens when compared to other building series. Building 201, very near one of the main community entrances on Preston Road, has a unique front building entrance, and represents the community well. The shade and understory trees between Building 201 and Preston Road are in fair condition, and may require pruning to allow them better form. Buildings 203 and 211 are interesting in that they are the only buildings that truly front onto Quaker Lane. 219 faces Quaker Lane but is well-removed from the 2

3 street, practically in the rear yard of one of the houses in the neighboring community, and somewhat hidden from view by larger trees. All three have direct access to Quaker Lane by way of sidewalks. The longer courts between Buildings 207 and 209 and between Buildings 215 and 217 present underutilized opportunities. They both have small parking courts onto which they open. There is a direct sidewalk connection between Quaker Lane and the courtyard between Buildings 207 and 209. There is a bit of a sudden elevation change between Buildings 219 and 223. This could be managed as a wild flower or ground cover planting area. The area between Buildings 230 and 228 has several perennial beds which have a variety of plant material. This idea could be applied elsewhere throughout the community, and once a maintenance regimen is established, it should be fairly straightforward to manage. Buildings back up to a wooded area that is part of a public park that has a trail and some playground equipment in it, but does not appear to be heavily used. There is a large wooded area adjoining this park within the Parkfairfax property. Buildings back up to a narrow but fairly dense wooded area that is coincidental to the rear yards of houses along Crestwood Drive in a neighboring single family development. These woods appear fairly stable. Buildings have access to Quaker lane by way of sidewalks and gateways. There is a 33.5 rise in the topography from the area near the intersection of Valley Drive and Martha Custis Drive to the area between Buildings 228 and 230; then a 20 drop from to the area between Buildings 228 and 230 to the area near the intersection of Martha Custis Drive and Preston Road. The grade is largely made up through the buildings that are perpendicular to Martha Custis and by way of steps leading from the street to the buildings. 300s The 300s are comprised of 16 buildings, all but one of which are linear in shape. Building 302 is a center passage, front court yard style building. Approximately half the buildings face the street by which they are addressed, while the other half are oriented to courtyards or green spaces. The green spaces behind the buildings that do not face the street are not really wooded, but have trees and shrubs of various types, and are fairly-well maintained. The 300s are bound by Martha Custis Drive and Quaker Lane east and west, and by Gunston Road and Preston Road north and south. Due to the extremes in grade between Quaker Lane and the grounds behind the 300s buildings, however, there are no sidewalk connections between the common area of the 300s and Quaker Lane. 400s The 400s is the smallest group of buildings in Parkfairfax, tucked into the northwestern-most area of the community. The five buildings are all of the same type, with two facing Martha Custis Drive, two facing each 3

4 other in a courtyard situation, and one facing a parking court and pool area for the neighboring high rise community. The grade drops continuously through the 400s from the south toward the north, with the highest point being approximately 70 and the lowest point - in the front of Building being approximately 46. There is a narrow band of older maturing trees along the property line shared with the I-395 right-of-way, although there are few if any high quality trees within this area. The building landscaping appears to be fairly well maintained by the residents within the 400s. There is not as dense landscaping as in some of the other areas, and therefore fewer non-natives. The area between 404 and 403 could be a little denser to create a more inviting courtyard. Building 401 could stand to have some visual relief from the parking court and pool. The narrow band of trees along 395 does not do a great job of deadening the noise generated by the high volumes of traffic. The volley ball courts could be separated from the buildings with some sort of space-defining plantings. 500s The 500s include 49 buildings facing main roads and smaller courts toward the northern end of Parkfairfax. There are several types of buildings, and several types of architectural fascia represented. There is approximately 65 feet of grade through the 500s, from a high point of approximately 104 near the intersection of Greenway Place and Gunston Road to a low point of approximately 39 near buildings 515 and 519 along Martha Custis Drive. The centerlines of the roads themselves are at 10% or less, and there is a severe drop from building 536 to buildings 508 and 517 and from building 546 to the 500s pool. This steeper area is wooded, but not densely. There is a wide variety of landscape situations within the 500s, including pedestrian courts, motor courts, wooded rear yard areas, narrow streetscapes, and public/private area interfaces. The unit owners apparently have a similarly varied interest in gardening, as the quality of the landscape maintenance ranges from unkempt to manicured. The landscape around the pool and the adjacent gazebo court is sparse, scattered, and in fair to poor condition. The wooded area/maintained area interfaces are not well-kept. There are many invasives and non-natives. 600s The 600s are a unique arrangement of seven buildings between the Glebe Road/Valley Drive intersection and the Valley Drive/Martha Custis Drive intersection. Although the 200s, 300s, and even the 400s are linear to some degree, the 600s are a single row of buildings on one side of Valley Drive and represent the most linear of building arrangements. 4

5 Through the building footprint area there is barely 10 feet of elevation change, from a high point near building 602 of 62 behind building 602 to a low of 52 near building 608. There is a narrow rise behind building 602, but it is wooded and does not affect the line of buildings. The buildings seem exposed to the street more so than in any other area of Parkfairfax, and in fact are closer in general overall than the other areas. The landscaping around the buildings in the 600s appears to be older in spite of its age consistency with the rest of the buildings in Parkfairfax. It has an almost rustic look to it, actually. And the larger trees are spread evenly along the row of buildings. There are few rear patios in the 600s, and few of the unit owners have extensive gardens. There are a number of large, specimen-quality trees in the 600s. A 30 Red Oak in front of building 603 is out done only by the 40 Red Oak in front of building 603. Both have wide-spreading crowns and appear to be in decent health. A 32 Southern Red Oak near building 607 is also in great condition, and a 36 Red Oak in front of building 608 looks to have a crown spread. There is not a great density of landscaping in the common areas of the 600s beyond the individual trees. The 600s area includes the oldest stand of trees within Parkfairfax. It is in a steep area that is low along Valley Drive and high along the community boundary to the east. The community tennis courts are also in this area. 700s There are 39 buildings in the 700s, two basic architectural types, and several different building arrangement situations. All the buildings have addresses on Gunston Road or Valley Drive. Twenty of the buildings physically face pedestrian courts or green space while the rest face the street. Eight of the buildings that face the street do so directly while the others sit at a slight angle to the street creating slightly more green space in front of them. Six of the buildings sit at the top of a very steep wooded area between Gunston Road and Valley Drive. The community office is housed in building 738. There is over 100 vertical feet of grade between the high point of 184 near building 730 on Gunston Road to a low point of 81 near building 711 where Gunston Road meets Valley Drive. The northern-most section of Gunston Road within the 700s has a centerline grade that approaches 10%. There is a great variety of landscaping styles represented in the building landscaping, and the unit owners seem very invested in their personal landscapes. The court yard areas between the likes of buildings , while not completely landscaped, do have some character and interest. There does seem to be an over-use of nonnatives, and replacements, when necessary or just when done, have not always been in-kind replacements. The buildings 713 through 725 are perched high above the street, some with large retaining walls between them and Gunston Road in the area where Gunston Road is at its steepest. These walls and the associated steps walkways, and sloped areas have presented challenges to landscaping. Some of the courts, such as the one in front of building 723 are very shady, and therefore have limited palettes plant-wise. Buildings 717, 723 and 729 step down the slope parallel to Gunston Road, with over 15 vertical feet of grade change. 5

6 The common areas associated with the buildings in the 700s are as varied as the buildings in terms of their landscapes. The common areas nearer the southern end of the 700s are slightly more open, with the mature trees being slightly further apart from one another in general, and with there being less topo side to side. The steep sloped area between buildings and buildings is almost completely wooded, although the woods is in questionable health overall. The wider common area in front of the buildings facing Valley Drive has fairly decent shade, but there are few open area shrubs. 800s There are 50 buildings in the 800s. Of these, 18 face courtyards or motor courts while the others face the street. There are three smaller side streets within the 800s Ripon Place, Ravensworth Place and Coryell Lane and the buildings are arranged along these similarly to how they are arranged on the major streets, Martha Custis, Valley Drive, and Preston Road. There is dedicated space parking on the smaller side streets. There is over 75 vertical feet of grade change between the high point along Martha Custis Drive near buildings 847 and 848 of 185 to the low point near the intersection of Valley Drive and Preston Road near building 804 of 84. The grade is made up most severely along Preston Road. Ripon Place and Ravensworth Place are both fairly flat, with less than 5 feet of change along the length of Ripon Place. As with the 700s, there is a wide variety of landscaping styles and levels of resident involvement in the 800s. The pedestrian courts are well-landscaped for the most part, and many of the residents have extensive private gardens. The common area landscaping includes that associated with the pool, although there are few extensive plantings of shrubs in the common area. The landscaping around and within the fenced area of the pool itself appears to be unkempt and aging poorly. There is no pattern to the plantings around the perimeter of the pool, and no real stand-out plantings away from the pool. The most orderly landscaping is the simple plantings near the fence-like entry feature between 824 and s With 71 buildings, the 900s is the largest of the areas within the Parkfairfax community. Twenty of the buildings face pedestrian courts, while the other buildings face either the larger roads or the side streets, Mount Eagle Place and Fitzgerald Lane. The 900s are bounded by Martha Custis, Preston Drive, Valley Drive and Gunston Road, counter clockwise from the western side. Buildings 938, 940, 942, 944, and 946 are angled slightly similar to the 700s along Valley Drive, and these have larger common areas in front of them. Some of the buildings that face the streets have very little front common area, and in some cases, the front area is extremely steep, either with the street higher than the building or the building higher than the street. 6

7 There is nearly 100 vertical feet of grade change from the high point of 171 on Mount Eagle Place to a low point of 72 near the intersection of Gunston Road and Martha Custis Drive. The section of Martha Custis within the 900s is very steep, and the building grades reflect the centerline grade change. With the higher number of buildings, there is a greater variety of building landscaping in the 900s. The residents exhibit a similarly wide variety of landscaping styles. Some of the pedestrian courts have some potential for additional landscaping, and the courts that are fully landscaped could likely use some improvement. The Preston Road corridor is well-shaded, and shrubs like Azaleas and Holly are common around the buildings and in the residents private gardens. The fronts of the buildings along Mount Eagle Place of more open, but the landscaping is a bit more sparse. There is a wide band of trees forming a steep wooded area that stretches around the point made by Mount Eagle Place. Along they are likely not indigenous, the trees within this woods appears to be maturing, and there appear to be a number of health issues within the woods. The motor courts have very poor quality landscaping I general, although the motor court near the intersection of Valley Drive and Gunston Road is minimally dense and fairly healthy. Several of the private gardens at the top of Mount Eagle and along the bottom of the wooded area extend into the woods and in all directions away from the buildings. There appear to be major drainage issues. 7