Montessori School of McLean will be able to maintain continuity of operations if Chesterbrook United Methodist Church sells its facility to the school, Fairfax County supervisors decided May 23.
Supervisors granted a special exception to permit the existing private school and childcare center to remain if the sale occurs. Such an exception is required under county code if there is no associated religious use of the site in the R-2 residential zone.
The 3.87-acre site, located at 1711 Kirby Road, is surrounded by single-family residential neighborhoods to the north, east and west; to the south lies Chesterbrook Shopping Center. It now is occupied by the church building and school building.
The church was built in 1920 and the school building in 1963, although no educational facility or childcare center operated there at the time. The school has operated at the site since 1973 and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
The last zoning decision related to the site was in December 2005, when the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals approved an amendment allowing the church to build an 18,030-square-foot addition to the 10,870-square-foot school building. This allowed the school to boost its enrollment from 165 students to 225, add a childcare center capable of serving up to 40 students and reconfigure the parking lot to obtain 20 more spaces.
Operating hours for the school and childcare center will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, plus some occasional school-related activities on weekends.
Apart from the replacement of some dead trees, the supervisors’ decision will not result in any physical changes to the site.
“It’s a simple application . . . to allow the status quo to remain,” said applicant’s attorney David Schneider.
Chesterbrook United Methodist Church leadership approached the Montessori school because the larger Methodist conference was seeking to consolidate and move the church to another site, Schneider said. But to do so, the church would need to sell its Kirby Road site first.
“This school has more than 25 years left on its lease, so it was the only logical purchaser,” Schneider said. “They’ve been a tenant for a long time. They have a great relationship with the church and they were able to come to terms.”
The issue was time-sensitive because the church needed to close the deals on the Kirby Road site and its future home and the school had to lock in loan financing for the purchase, at a time when interest rates are skyrocketing, Schneider said.
Supervisor John Foust (D-Dranesville) said he and his board colleagues had received a seven-page, single-spaced letter from someone purportedly with the Franklin Area Citizens Association, who stated that the school’s application posed a clear and present danger in terms of traffic safety, especially for children.
Schneider responded that vehicle queuing on the site already works and will become better after the church leaves and 24 more parking spaces open up.
“This is not a green field site that we’re asking to put a new school on,” Schneider said. “This is by definition a reduction in the traffic that’s going to be on the site.”
Foust agreed and, in moving for approval of the application, said Montessori School of McLean had been a valued community member for many years and that the vast majority of public comments he had received had been positive.
“We’re lucky to have you and we’re glad that you’ll be able to stay in that space,” Foust said.
