Public Hearing Set For Salona's Front Yard

The citizens' task force charged with creating a plan for the front yard of Salona, McLean's most historic address, will hold a public meeting in the fall.

Salona Task Force member Mark Turner updated about 30 members of the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce about the task force's progress Wednesday morning.

How the public will use the 41 acres of fields in front of Salona, located on Dolley Madison Boulevard at Buchanan Street, has become a nearly two-year contest between supporters of soccer fields and supporters of more passive recreational and educational uses.

"Salona is a special place and we don't want to mess it up," Turner told chamber members.

A Long History

Salona, the reported refuge of U.S. President James Madison when he fled Washington before the British invasion of 1814, consists of 51 acres, located at Dolley Madison Boulevard and Buchanan Street just east of downtown McLean. In the early 1950s, Clive and Susan Dual bought the neglected property and restored it.

In 1971, the house, built in the early 1800′s with about 10 acres surrounding it, were declared an historic preservation area.

In 2005  Fairfax County negotiated a conservation agreement with Dan DuVal, son of Clive and Susan DuVal, and his wife Karen  to turn the remaining 41 acres into parkland with 10 acres designated for active recreation use. Fairfax County paid $16 million for the 41 acres— a price well below its market value.

The easement agreement called for no synthetic turf, lights, cutting of major trees or non-agricultural buildings. The easement also required buffers between the two-story brick house built in the early 1800's and the fields.

In November 2010, the Fairfax County Park Authority held a public meeting on its proposal for building two playing fields and a 100-space parking lot in front of Salona. McLean residents’ told the Park Authority they wanted no athletic, no parking lot and no dog park in the front yard of the community's most historic home.

About 200 McLean residents packed the cafeteria of the Franklin Sherman Elementary School for that public meeting. Of the 27 people who spoke, only one supported any part of the Park Authority plan.

Reaching Out To The Community

Afterward, Dranesville Supervisor John Foust created the Salona Task Force to bring together historians, environmentalists, athletic field supporters and the owners of Salona to hammer out a new plan.

The task force is now studying the three major issues surrounding any plan for Salona: its historical importance, traffic, and the impact of any development or paving on the Pimmit Run watershed. It's also conducting an archeology study of Salona.

A public meeting is planned for October, Turner said. The task force hopes to recommend a plan to Foust and the Park Authority in December.

Turner urged McLean residents to share their ideas with the task force. The task force has its own website.

"Salona could be a gateway to many things," Turner concluded. "It's an important legacy for everyone."

Salona owner Karen DuVal, who attended the Chamber breakfast session Wednesday, said "I'm very grateful to the people on the task force who will develop an appropriate vision" for Salona.

"The Salona task force has a difficult job and I believe they are doing it well," Foust said.