Foreword
The preservation of viable urban neighborhoods is the major goal of the federal Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. The Act encourages the conservation of established neighborhoods as resources of moderately priced housing. In response to the challenge issued by that Act, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted the Community Development Plan and Program for Fairfax County on February 26, 1975. This action established a new program in the County to provide grants of federal money for the elimination of blight and the improvement of community services and public facilities, principally in areas of low and moderate income. Huntington is such an area.

The Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development, under the auspice of the Redevelopment and Housing Authority, undertook a study of existing conditions in the Huntington area in the Fall of 1975 and concluded that the neighborhood was appropriate for preservation. Although the basic stock of duplex housing and apartment units in Huntington is sound, the community has deteriorated during recent years. A combination of economic, environmental, and transportation problems has caused the community to decline, and the Metro station that will be located immediately adjacent to Huntington poses a threat to neighborhood stability.

In order to reverse the trend toward deterioration and to preserve the assets of the Huntington neighborhood, the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority approved the proposed Neighborhood Improvement Program and Conservation Plan for Huntington and forwarded it to the Board of Supervisors. At the conclusion of a public hearing on March 30, 1976, the Board adopted the Program and Plan.

The Program and Plan that are presented in the following pages were developed with valuable assistance from the people who live in Huntington and from Mount Vernon Supervisor, Warren Cikins. Without their continued support and interest in the future of the neighborhood, the conservation of Huntington would not be possible.




Summary
Huntington, a community composed primarily of duplex and low-rise apartment units, lies between U.S. Route 1 and Telegraph Road, just south of the Beltway. The community is immediately adjacent to a future Metro station and the northern portion of the community falls within the 100-year floodplain of Cameron Run. In September, 1975, a questionnaire was distributed to residents of Huntington to elicit their evaluation of the problems in the community. Forty percent of the residents of the 578 duplex and single-family units responded and identified their concerns as follows:

• Insufficient parking and congested streets are serious problems in Huntington.
• Drainage problems are also considered serious, especially by residents of Lower Huntington. Sixty-four percent of these residents experience poor drainage on their property and occasional flooding in their houses.
• A number of residents feel that homes in Huntington are in need of repair, and nearly three quarters of the resident homeowners indicated interest in improving their dwellings if low-interest financing were available.
• Seventy-eight percent of the residents own their homes. Of those who do not, about 60 percent would be interested in buying if a low-interest loan were available.
• A number of Huntington residents are retired, living on a fixed income.
• Forty-four percent of the children are six years old or under, and yet there are only limited tot lot facilities in Lower Huntington and none in Upper Huntington.
• Eighty-two percent of the residents would like to see improvements to the community building. The center is so poorly marked that some of the respondents did not know where the building is located.

In addition to the questionnaire, extensive meetings were held during the Fall and Winter of 1975 with committees of the citizens Association. Frequently citizens mentioned the impact that the planned Metro station has had, and will continue to have, on their lives. they also demonstrated concern about the proposed widening of Huntington Avenue because it will further divide the community and increase the danger for children crossing the avenue. Environmental problems, especially the slippage soils which cause cracked foundations and twisted sidewalks, were identified by residents as being serious problems.

These conditions justify the establishment of a comprehensive Neighborhood Improvement Program and Conservation Plan to direct both public and private resources towards the improvement of the Huntington area. Huntington is not appropriate for the traditional type of urban renewal or redevelopment actions, but would best be served by the establishment of the area as a "Conservation Project" as defined by Virginia state law, and the preparation of a "Conservation Plan" within this framework. With guidance from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the Department of Housing and Community Development prepared a Neighborhood Improvement Program and Conservation Plan. The Redevelopment and Housing Authority approved the Program and Plan on March 1, 1976, and forwarded it to the Board. After public hearing the Board adopted the Neighborhood Improvement Program and Conservation Plan for Huntington on March 30, 1976.

The basic goal of the Huntington Neighborhood Improvement Program is the conservation and development of a viable and sound residential community.

To realize this goal, it will be necessary for Huntington residents to undertake the upgrading of their own neighborhood concurrent with public improvement projects. Public activities will be designed to be supportive of these individual actions, and will include:

• implementing systematic improvements to the public facilities of the area;
• assisting property owners in improving the housing conditions through such tools as a Home Improvement Loan and Grant Program;
• implementing a home purchase program for residents who now rent but would like to buy their homes; and
• improving the delivery of the many public and social services available to the area.

Specifically, the Neighborhood Improvement Program lists a series of public improvement projects that will be necessary to improve the livability of Huntington. As a first priority, citizens have called for improvements to the outmoded community center. Other projects include updating the storm drainage system; making environmental improvements such as street lighting; street planting and park development; and improving pedestrian and vehicular circulation. Some of the projects included in the Neighborhood Improvement Program have been funded out of 1976 Community Development Block Grant monies, some will be funded from other governmental revenues, and still others will have to wait for future funding. Another major component of the Neighborhood Improvement Program is the Home Improvement Loan and Grant Program. Under this program homeowners in Huntington will be eligible for low-interest loans and grants to carry out improvements and repairs to their homes including modernization of heating systems; painting and papering; and insulation. In the future another type of housing program will be initiated to assist renters in purchasing the home they are living in.

The Conservation Plan, the second part of the following document, provides the legal mechanisms for carrying out the activities of the Neighborhood Improvement Program; firmly establishes land use densities for the Conservation Area; and sets standards for future development and rehabilitation in the community. Many of the objectives of the Neighborhood Improvement Program can be achieved through the County's existing authority to provide public facilities. However, since the Board of Supervisors has adopted a Conservation Plan under Title 36 of the Code of Virginia, the Redevelopment and Housing Authority can now assist in financing and granting home improvement loans and grants, financing a home purchase assistance plan, and providing public facilities not ordinarily the responsibility of the County, such as the provision of traffic signals. The Conservation Plan went into effect on March 30, 1976, when it was adopted by the Board of Supervisors. It will remain in effect for twenty-five years to guide conservation and rehabilitation in Huntington.

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