MetroWest Development Is Approved In Fairfax

But disappointed civic activists who fought the project's scale said their elected leaders betrayed them.

"I think there's been a breach of trust with the community," said Will Elliott, a neighboring homeowner and founder of FairGrowth, which formed largely to fight for fewer homes in MetroWest. "This is a project that has very little acceptance in the community. This isn't transit-oriented development."

At last night's hearing, critics alternated with supporters, including business leaders and environmental groups. Others said new shops will be a boon to the residential neighborhoods around the Vienna Station, the last at that end of the Orange Line.

"The inescapable and inevitable fact is that we will continue to grow," said William Lecos, president of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce. "But the county must grow differently than it has." He called MetroWest "the right project in the right place at the right time, built to the right scale."

But other speakers argued that MetroWest will lack sufficient incentives to encourage its residents to use Metro because the Orange Line cannot ferry them to every job, soccer game or errand. They questioned whether Pulte will build and open enough stores and offices as quickly as homes to discourage residents from driving. And they called on the supervisors to demand more open space from the developer for athletic fields and parks.

Pulte will address some of those concerns with an unusual agreement that it can be fined up to $500,000 if it cannot reduce car use by about half the number of new trips MetroWest is expected to generate.

The builder also agreed to construct more of the up to 300,000 square feet of office space and 100,000 square feet of retail space earlier in the construction process. Pulte pledged $750,000 to lay turf on an athletic field and to improve roads leading in and out of the Metro station. The development also will include 400 condominiums for retirees who, in theory, use their cars less.

But opponents said last night that the efforts fall short.

"You're ignoring the public's pleas for caution," Mark Tipton, a neighboring homeowner, told the supervisors. He called Pulte's pledge to accept fines "an excuse to grant the outrageous density in MetroWest. . . . It's like buying the right to create traffic congestion."

The MetroWest proposal, by its sheer size, generated fierce opposition from neighbors in leafy subdivisions. Town of Vienna officials down the street opposed it from the start.

The debate turned partisan last year, when Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), who lives in Vienna with his wife, state Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-Fairfax), threatened to hold up federal Metro funding if the project was not scaled down.