Dear Neighbors,

I'm very happy to report that the Mount Air Historic site is NOT going to be developed and has not been sold off.  I apologize for the false alarm, yet I'm heartened to have heard from many members of the community who expressed concern and alarm.  Many of you sprang to action in order to protect Mount Air and that's commendable.  

According to Kelly Goddard-Sobers with of the Fairfax County Zoning Board, the property has not been sold, nor is this a zoning change to permit further development.  There are no plans for any significant changes to the site and the entire site will remain protected as a Fairfax County Park Authority asset.

The purpose of this hearing is to allow the county to demolish a structure from the site which is of no historical value.  The structure needs to be removed because of it's condition and because it has become an attractive nuisance.  This is not the barn nor the remains of the estate house.  I'm still unsure as to whether the structure involved is the caretaker's house or one of the smaller structures.  I'm checking further.

Again, I apologize for not waiting for complete information before raising the alarm.  If the site were truly threatened, there was little time to organize opposition.

I appreciate everyone's concern and willingness to come together to address a situation that could have been very important to our community and county.

Very best regards,
Rob Butler