Adding Flexibility to Fairfax County's Public Facilities Manual (PFM)

1. Adding Flexibility to Fairfax County’s
Public Facilities Manual (PFM)
Setting a new standard
Presented to NVBIA/NAIOP September 14, 2017
9/26/2017 Fairfax County PFM Flexibility 1

2. WHY ARE WE UPDATING THE PFM?
Goal Three of the Strategic Plan for the Economic Success of Fairfax County:
“Improve the Speed, Consistency and Predictability of the Land Development Review Process
Gartner Study Finding:
“Complexities and inconsistencies with land use and development policies and regulations hamper
predictability and efficiency of service delivery.”
 Changing nature of development - more intense land development
 More redevelopment/infill development vs. greenfield development
 New technology
 More environmental regulations
In short, a more flexible PFM will allow staff to utilize good engineering judgment to
approve context sensitive solutions.

3. • Incorporating Flexibility:
• Minimize mandatory requirements by changing “Shall” to
“Should”, where appropriate.
• Expand the use of urban standards and practices.
• Allow for innovative practices
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Adding Flexibility to the PFM

4. • Incorporating Clarity:
• Identifying sore spots.
• Using the clearest words possible.
• Removing outdated provisions.
• Adding tables to simplify complicated information.
• Deleting unnecessary plates and drawings.
• Remaining relevant by incorporating information by reference
and links to other resources.
• Updating definitions (chapter 13) and index.
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Adding Flexibility to the PFM

5. • Greeley and Hansen hired to perform a gap analysis
consisting of:
• Assessment of the current state of the PFM.
• Determine what the future state of the PFM should be.
• Develop a roadmap to show how we get from the current state
to the future state of the PFM.
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Adding Flexibility to the PFM

6. • Where does the information for the existing and future state
come from?
• Stakeholder Committee – Industry representatives to offer insight
on the current and future state of the PFM.
• County Advisory Committees – TAC, Policy, Innovative and Steering
• Industry Partners (e.g. ESRC, NVBIA/NAIOP, ESI)
• Public Feedback Form - *coming soon*
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Stakeholder Engagement Process

7. Steps to align PFM with Goal 3
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Existing State of PFM Future State of PFM
Future State PFM
Roadmap
Municipal Survey
Annotated PFM Chapters
External Stakeholders
Input/Perceptions on
PFM
Workshop – 9/18/17
Engage External
Stakeholders
Set Goals
Engage Steering
Committee
Comparison of Existing
and Future States
Create Roadmap
Identification of
Prioritized Sectors

8. Next Steps Forward
• Feedback Form: Feedback form will be made available to give input
on what needs to be added, updated, and deleted from the PFM.
• Public Website: A website will be made available, approximately
December 2017, to inform the public of proposed changes.
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9. Summary
• Fairfax First recommends adding flexibility into the PFM.
• Consultant will provide a gap analysis comparing current and
future PFM states.
• Objectives: Incorporate Flexibility and Clarity.
• Stakeholder Engagement:
• Created committees to provide current state and future state
evaluations.
• Stakeholder feedback form.
• Public website.
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10. Questions?
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