Great Falls Citizens Association

Long Range Planning Committee

The Long-Range Planning & Development Committee is charged with developing a vision, long-range plan and development strategy for Great Falls which will provide guidance to local district and county officials as they make and apply policies with regard to our community. All citizens of Great Falls are invited to participate.

the building where we meet

Great Falls – Treasuring Heritage, Home and Habitat.
- Click here for the Value Survey Results -
- IQ Research Report - 2020 Vision Survey Results -

Our goal is to architect a Master Plan for Great Falls. How will we get from our reality today (AS IS) to our vision for our community in the year 2020 (TO BE)? It is very clear that our vision perfectly aligns with the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan -- as does GFCA's mission "to preserve and protect the historic, low-density, semi-rural character of Great Falls and its natural resources." However there are clear disconnects between the Comprehensive Plan and the goals mapped out by other organizations and public authorities (such as Zoning, VDOT, etc.). We will examine these disconnects and work through a reconciliation to align the commitment to achieving the same long-term outcome for Great Falls.
We will work closely with community organizations and agency officials to assist with this audit and reconciliation. Simultaneously, we will be conducting an audit of community spaces to accurately define the AS IS and to explore specific potential actions for the TO BE. We will call on our community of real estate agents, neighborhood associations, park officials, etc. to assist us with this audit and brainstorm creative solutions that will serve to advance us toward the full realization of our 2020 vision.

Current News and Activities

We are so grateful for the 2020 Vision Survey respondents who wrote in to describe what their vision for Great Falls in 2020 was in their own words. We used their wording to come up with 60 possible taglines, which we submitted to the community for votes, comments, and new submissions. Our gratitude extends to the many residents – GFCA members and GF-Neighbors members - who voted on the tagline and contributed new tagline submissions.

 

The winning tagline is

Great Falls – Treasuring Heritage, Home and Habitat.

In addition to the regulations and functional uses of land in Great Falls, there is a cultural component of life in Great Falls that was revealed in the 2020 Vision Survey. Under GFCA's charter to "promote all aspects of community interest accruing to a common good" we will examine other aspects of our community that are pivotal to the 2020 we envision. We will examine ways that the community can support the realization of a vibrant small-town village center, for example; We applaud the opening of Katie’s coffee shop and the sense of place in the heart of the village center that this new coffee shop provides. As the price of gasoline remains high, we ask you to give particular consideration to your local shopkeepers. “Buying local” is a pivotal part of keeping Great Falls semi-rural. The first step in buying local is “browsing local.”

The Long-Range Planning & Development Committee began the 2020 Vision process in September, 2006 and reported the results in May, 2007. This project was launched in response to a suggestion by Joan DuBois, Dranesville District Superintendent at that time.

Kathleen Murphy - kathleenjm@aol.com - 759-6509
Sue Bennett - homeomom@aol.com -

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