Vienna Residents Stay Put In Lead Redistricting Plans

The once-a-decade rewrite of county supervisor districts is likely to have little effect on Vienna residents.

The Board of Supervisors is moving forward in choosing a plan for redistricting, and Supervisor Linda Smyth (D-Providence) called two of them the most reasonable and likely.

Those plans would leave the boundary that splits Vienna between the Hunter Mill and Providence districts unchanged, despite some discussion by Town Council this winter about how Vienna's issues and needs may be better aligned with the Providence District because it includes Tysons Corner.

The Advisory Citizen Redistricting Committee presented 25 plans to the supervisors March 28, three of which were designed by the public. Former Board of Supervisors Chairman Katherine Hanley leads the committee.

At a Tuesday public hearing, five people spoke and none expressed support or opposition for a specific plan.

The district boundaries must be redrawn every 10 years, using U.S. Census data, to account for population shifts.

Five of the county's nine districts have populations exceeding 120,192, the target size for each district.

Hunter Mill experienced the most rapid growth among all districts in the past decade, increasing 15.6 percent or 17,056 people, for a total of 126,594 residents. The Providence District has a population of 123,327.

All 25 plans are still in play, but plans 9A3 and 9A4 currently stand out as the most reasonable, Smyth said. Those plans move only six and seven precincts, respectively, between supervisor districts.

Plan 9A3 would move Hunter Mill's far-west Coates district to Drainesville, and Plan 9A4 would relocate Oakton's Walnut Hill No.2 to the Mason District. Neither plan would add precincts to the Hunter Mill or Providence Districts.

Two of the 25 plans presented by the committee offer alternatives to expand to 10 districts -- adding a district either in the Tysons Corner or in Lorton. A third plans for 11. Adding districts would mean adding members to the Board of Supervisors, and seems unlikely this year.

The supervisors will vote on a redistricting plan at their next board meeting April 26.

To see the proposed redistricting plans, click here.

Lorton Patch editor Shawn Drury contributed to this report.