Maya Huber

MCA Tribute to Maya Huber

Longtime McLean resident Maya Huber died on Friday, April 11, at the age of 96. Born in 1929 and educated in Switzerland, Maya and her husband John moved to McLean with three small sons in 1964. Her long-time interest in land use and environmental issues and her influence in both county and local issues were activated when, as president of the Bryn Mawr Homeowners association, she worked to oppose construction of a shopping center near the neighborhood. She joined the McLean Citizens Association (MCA) in 1973, becoming a life-long member and serving as vice president and Planning and Zoning Committee chair, and became Land Use chairman for the county-wide Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations (FCFCA) that same year. The McLean Planning Committee (MPC) had been established in 1967 by MCA and the business community and others to review land use applications for McLean’s Central Business District (CBD) and she became an early member in 1973 and later president and continuing participant of that organization.

She served as chair of the Occoquan Basin Study Citizens Task Force in 1982, the accomplishment of which she said she was most proud, that resulted in the downzoning of 42,000 acres in the Occoquan Watershed in the western part of the county, an effort that protected the county’s drinking water supply. The efforts survived a developers’ court challenge and was implemented in 1985. Along with a small group of women in McLean, her concern for the protection of the County’s agricultural heritage and disappearing open space resulted in approval of a county survey of remaining land in the county and then enactment of legislation in Richmond allowing the county to create the special Agricultural and Forestal District zoning in 1983. Through her efforts the McLean Farmer’s Market was established in 1980, the first in the county.

In those early years, her local accomplishments were prodigious. When the county updated its comprehensive plan in 1975, Maya was appointed chair of the McLean PLUS Plan Task Force for McLean’s Central Business District. She was a long-time advocate for design standards that would ensure street trees, drainage, sidewalks, setbacks and architectural design suggestions for new construction. After an unsuccessful bid to become Dranesville District Supervisor in 1979, she was elected to the Mclean Community Center (MCC) Board in 1981 where she focused on building and grounds issues. In 1981 when the County tried to absorb control of the Center, Maya led the fight to keep the center under McLean control. In 1981, the Park Authority, under her advocacy, acquired 5 acres of land on Tennyson Drive that had been used as a neighborhood dumping ground, creating the Bryn Mawr Stream Valley Park.

In the mid-1980’s she served as land use staff for Supervisor Audrey Moore in the former Annandale (now Braddock) District, and became staff aide in her office when Ms. Moore won a landslide election in 1987 for Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. She was appointed At-Large County Planning Commissioner where she served until 1993, coordinating citizen organizations with the County’s now Planning and Development division, and helped draft the County’s Chesapeake Bay Regulations.

After leaving the Planning Commission, Maya turned her attention to continuing her interest towards planned walkable, bikeable, and transit friendly communities. She continued active participation in the MPC and the MCA, and was appointed to the McLean Pedestrian Task Force created by Supervisor John Foust in 2010 that made recommendations for bikeways, pedestrian access, safe intersection crossings, and bus routes. In 2011, as secretary of the MPC, she was described in a local newspaper article as “a walking encyclopedia of McLean zoning law and history.” She lived to see the recent implementation of some of these projects including Fairfax Connector Bus and pedestrian connections from the McLean CBD to the McLean Silver Line Metro Station, bike lane designations, bus shelters along Elm Street, Beverly and Fleetwood Roads, a long sought-after pedestrian connection from Fleetwood Road to Beverly Road, and the safe pedestrian access across Old Chain Bridge Road for the residents of McLean House and The Ashby to the former Safeway (now Lidl) shopping area, the latter negotiated as proffers from building applicants. An early supporter and architect of design standards for McLean’s Downtown, she worked closely to format new design guidelines that were approved in 2023.

Maya’s husband John needed full time care first at home and then was moved to a Sunrise facility in 2010 at Spring Hill where she visited daily. Sadly, he was one of the county’s first covid victims in 2020. Coincidentally, during the pandemic, the Bryn Mawr Stream Valley Park, tucked away behind the McLean Square Shopping Center, was discovered by the general public and heavily used.

In addition to her continuing membership in the MPC and MCA, Maya swam regularly at the Spring Hill Recreation Center and was an avid gardener, tending to her berries, herbs, lettuces, beans, and tomatoes at her plot at Lewinsville Park.

In recent years, macular degeneration had robbed Maya of the ability to read and drive. In her

own words she said “Many wonderful friends have since helped me to continue leading my life without a car and I am truly thankful. It also takes a village to take care of the elderly. I have been able to continue taking part in aerobic water exercise which keeps me limber, keep my garden, and be mostly self-sufficient, thanks to their help.”

Maya received the MCA’s Citizen of the Year award in 1999, in 2010 she was recognized as a Volunteer Fairfax “County Community Champion” for Dranesville District. In 2012 she was awarded the McLean Chamber of Commerce “Mary Kingman “Pillar of McLean” award. This past year she was honored as one of the MCA’s longest surviving members at the organization’s 110th Anniversary Celebration.

She is survived by three sons, and two grandchildren and a myriad of friends who will miss her.

Chronology:

1929- Born Switzerland

1964 - Moved to McLean with husband and three small sons

1973 – Joined the MCA as vice president, MPC, president, and FCFCA as vice president land use chair

1975 – Chairman, as part of the county’s revision of 1975 Comprehensive Plan, of the McLean PLUS Plan Task Force for McLean’s Central Business District.

1980 – With FCPA, established Bryn Mawr Stream Valley Park; McLean Farmer’s Market, the county’s first.

1981 – Elected to McLean Community Center Board

1980 – Chair -Occoquan Basin Study Citizens Task Force that resulted in the Occoquan downzoning to protect county’s drinking water.

1982 – FCFCA Citation of Merit

1983 – Leader in county’s effort to create its Agricultural and Forestal zoning districts to protect the county’s agricultural and open space heritage.

1984-87 – Land use staff aide in Annandale (now Braddock) Magisterial District Office

1984-1990 – McLean Citizens (now Community) Foundation trustee and Vice President

1987-1989– Land use staff aide for Chairman of the Board of Supervisors

1989-1993 – Fairfax County At-Large Planning Commissioner

2010 – Appointed to McLean Pedestrian Task Force

2011 – Secretary of the MPC.

2018-2022 – Participant in Revision of Policy Plan and Design Standards for McLean’s CBD.