The leaders of the County Fairfax seem ready to move forward with caution by considering creation of a sports and entertainment authority.
However, the responsibilities of a potential independent agency, where it would obtain its funding and how it would interact with existing public and private facilities must still be postponed.
“There are certainly things here, we must know more,” said president of the supervisor council Jeff McKay after a staff briefing At the meeting of the Committee of Economic Initiatives of the Board of Directors last Tuesday (March 25).
In response to the 2024 request for the board of directors of the Board of Directors for an examination of the options available to stimulate local sports tourism, the staff submitted a report On his study of three sports and entertaining authorities elsewhere in the Commonwealth.
The staff found some key discussions uniting the revised entities, including a clear accent on tourism, dedicated financing mechanisms and an ability to conclude agreements for the acquisition of land, access and management of facilities and income sharing. They were also all “adapted to an initial goal and a partnership”.
“They were not created in the void,” said Scott Sizer, deputy director of the County Economic Initiative Department. “There must be a clear goal and mission.”
Created under the Authorities Authorities of Public Installations in Virginiawhich gives the localities the author to establish sports and entertainment authorities, the revised entities were:
- Henrico County Sports & Entertainment Authority
- The Recreational Triangle Facilities Authority Historic, in the service of Williamsburg, the County of James City and the county of York
- Chesterfield Sports, Visitation & Entertainment Department
County staff noted that the county of Fairfax deviates from these jurisdictions to have a park authority, as opposed to a parks and leisure service. Certain public investments may be necessary, probably from transitional occupation tax revenue.
“It is not a magic currency machine,” said the Braddock district supervisor James Walkinshaw, about the experiences of these localities. “It is potentially a tool to associate yourself with entities inside and outside the county to do more.”
The authority of Fairfax County Park and the George Mason University seem to be logical partners. The county also houses a number of large private sports facilities, such as the 450,000 square feet St. James Complex in Springfield.
McKay said that all the county’s efforts must be made “in the companion with private facilities that already exist in the county, which are in many ways in its own right”.
While some of the localities in the northern state have focused on the introduction of outdoor sports teams for tournaments and training, Fairfax must first focus its efforts on local needs, said McKay.
“We have a huge request that is not satisfied,” he said. “We all want to bring sports tourism, without a doubt, but as I said from the start and I will repeat it here, not if it moves the needs of our own community.”
The Mount Vernon district supervisor, Dan Storck, agreed that there were local needs that should have priority.
“The opportunities are there,” he said, pointing limited interior track installations that restrict opportunities for adults and young people.
Beyond the development of its own facilities, an authority would be able to provide subsidies to private entities and spend money on marketing efforts.
While most of the objective during the 45 -minute presentation was on sport, Walkinshaw noted that state legislation also creates options for artistic and entertainment facilities.
“It may be for us, in the long term, there are more opportunities in this direction,” he said.
State legislation allows localities to create independent authorities between five and 17 members, which can be an independent body, a subset of the local director or a combination. Authorities have the capacity to issue obligations, but would need a dedicated income flow to do so.
Other localities have used a combination of funding sources, including meals income and accommodation taxes.
Directed by the Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, the supervisors’ advice has gathered a Sports tourism working group In 2017, projected sports tourism could generate an additional $ 3.3 billion for the county over 20 years with development and investments in new facilities.
Completed in 2020, the working group report listed outdoor field complexes such as absolute priority, followed by interior hard terrains, interior tracks, an ice complex and a natatorium with a swimming pool in the competition and diving equipment.
The county Patriot Park finished northA baseball stadium near the GMU Fairfax campus and its first foray into sports tourism following the working group report in April 2023.
However, an agreement with the Alpine-X developer for a seaside resort with an interior ski slope on a closed part of the I-95 landfill in Lorton Fallen at the end of 2024. Although the developer said he was still hoping to continue the “Fairfax Peak” project, the county is now weigh alternatives For the site after receiving an unsolicited offer for a waste treatment installation.
The Fairfax County Park Authority published a Call in 2023 For more sports tourist proposals but finally transmitted All the submissions he received after having determined that the sites were not adapted or that the potential developers were lacking in funding.
