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Failure to communicate
The Tysons Land Use Task Force has been planning the future of Tysons Corner since it was created in 2005. But after two years and what must be more than 50 public meetings, the task force and the voting public that must ultimately decide the fate of Tysons Corner seem to deeply misunderstand each other.
At a recent McLean Citizen's Association meeting, members of the group cheered when told that three model scenarios for Tysons Corner's density were "dead." The trouble is, those scenarios were never "alive" – they were simply models created to aid the task force's planning effort. Lead consultant G.B. Arrington referred to those scenarios as "crash test dummies," rather than actual projections, nearly every time he spoke in public for six months.
And it's not just the MCA. The task force has held several public workshops to gather public input, and at each meeting participants were surprised and suspicious of the task force's methods of gauging public opinion. Arranging Legos on a map or assigning imaginary dollar amounts to imaginary priorities is not the way people expect to weigh in on a planning process that will change this county forever.
Misunderstanding and mistrust can only make the task force's job harder. The task force clearly needs to do a better job of communicating with the public in a way that those not versed in planning jargon can understand.
When it's finished, Tysons' new comprehensive plan will be the starting point for anyone building anything in the region. The ending point will be with elected officials, voted into office by a public that seems to be increasingly unsure or unaware of the direction the task force is moving in. It would be unwise to surprise them.
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