This month, the firm would like to acknowledge all the women who have broken through barriers, achieved their goals, and created pathways for future generations of women. To do this, we are paying a special tribute to Arabella “Belle” Babb Mansfield, the first female attorney admitted to the legal profession in the United States. We are also including quotes from a few women Land Lawyers expressing what interested them in a career in the law.

Born in 1846 on her family’s farm in Burlington, Iowa, Belle Mansfield taught English, history, and political science at Simpson College before returning home to marry her college sweetheart, John Melvin Mansfield. John, a professor of natural history at Iowa Wesleyan University, where they met, supported Belle’s ambition to study law even though women were prohibited from sitting for the bar exam.

Belle had been introduced to the legal profession by her older brother, Washington. After he passed the bar exam, Belle went to work in his law office as an apprentice, reading about and studying the law. In 1869, along with her husband, she was permitted to take the bar exam and passed with high marks. Abajournal.com quotes her examiners as stating, “Your committee takes unusual pleasure in recommending the admission of Mrs. Mansfield, not only because she is the first lady who has applied for this authority in the state, but because in her examination she has given the very best rebuke possible to the imputation that ladies cannot qualify for the practice of law.”

That same year, the Iowa state legislature struck gender-specific language from the admissions statute allowing Belle to be admitted to the bar. Although she never practiced, Belle continued to teach and focused her legal energies on women’s rights. She was an active suffragette, working arm in arm with Susan B. Anthony, and chaired the Iowa Women’s Suffrage Convention in 1870. Belle died in 1911, nine years before passage of the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote and 70 years before President Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Click here to learn more about Women’s History Month and here to learn about American women in the law. We asked the women in our office what attracted them to a career in the law and here’s what some of them said.

I was at home watching “Oprah” with my grandmother one afternoon after school. The show’s topic was child abuse. Sometime during the show I turned to my grandmother and told her I wanted to be an advocate for children. That was my goal. After I took a class in family law, I realized how hard it would be to keep my emotions in check. It was during an externship at the District of Columbia Housing Authority that I became interested in real estate and that’s how I became a Land Lawyer.
Jonelle Cameron, Associate, Land Use & Zoning, Prince William

I had a keen interest in government and the performing arts (musical theater in particular) all throughout high school and undergraduate school. I find that trial work combines elements of both procedure and theater, and a successful litigator demonstrates talent with both aspects. I also enjoy the process of putting all of the pieces of each case together and recognizing which of the pieces are the keys to telling a persuasive story and reaching a successful outcome.     
Wendy Alexander, Shareholder, Litigation, Prince William

After completing my undergraduate studies at Georgetown, I was at a turning point in my life. I did not know exactly what I wanted to do, but I thought a law degree would provide a good foundation for any career. When I told a male friend that I was thinking about going to law school, he asked, “Why would you want to be a lawyer?” Because I can, I thought, and I did. My family has been involved in the construction and land development industry dating back to the late 19th century in Texas. During my third year at George Mason School of Law, I was selected for an Honors Intern position at HUD and from then on I was a real estate attorney.
Erin Thiebert, Associate, Land Use and Zoning, Real Estate Transactions, and Commercial Business Transactions, Prince William

By clicking on these links, Nan Walsh, Lynne Strobel, Cathy Puskar, Wendy Alexander, Kathleen Smith, Antonia Miller, Jonelle Cameron, and Erin Thiebert, you can learn more about all of our women Land Lawyers and their influence on Northern Virginia real estate, zoning, and land use.

Source: Richard Harrison

A key issue for ensuring quality, sustainable development in Reston is the important relationship between transportation and land use. The Fairfax County Department of Transportation has recently initiated a new planning effort, known as the “Reston Network Analysis,” to ascertain cost-effective ways to enhance Reston’s street network around the Wiehle/Reston East, Reston Town Center, and Herndon Metrorail Stations.

The Reston Network Analysis follows the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors February 2014 adoption of the Reston Phase I Plan Amendment. While the 2014 Plan Amendment made broad recommendations concerning a conceptual grid of streets and transportation projects, it did not provide a detailed analysis of the specific improvements needed to support transit-oriented development over time.

Accordingly, the Reston Network Analysis was conceived as a long-range study of area transportation conditions with benchmarks in 2030 and 2050. It takes into account the future demand of travel associated with development around the transit stations and considers factors such as level of service, right-of-way needs, future travel demand, road capacity, signal timing, and transit accessibility.

In addition to an area-wide review, the Reston Network Analysis is studying three potential crossings over the Dulles Toll Road—at Soapstone Drive, Town Center Parkway, and South Lakes Drive—as well as an interchange upgrade at the Fairfax County Parkway/Sunrise Valley Drive intersection.

Aiming to identify improvements needed to support acceptable traffic conditions, the Reston Network Analysis is being conducted concurrently with the “Reston Funding Plan,” which will identify potential sources of revenue to implement the transportation recommendations in the Reston Phase I Plan Amendment.

Successful implementation of the Reston Network Analysis findings and the planned street grid should make it easier to accommodate the transportation demands associated with new development, provide more direct connections on both sides of the Dulles Toll Road, and enhance pedestrian and bicycle mobility to the current and planned Metrorail Stations.

The Reston Network Analysis is scheduled to be complete in late 2016, and FCDOT is soliciting input from both a stakeholder group and a citizen-developer Transportation Advisory Group appointed by Hunter Mill District Supervisor Catherine Hudgins. The Transportation Advisory Group has been meeting monthly since September 2015 and will hold its next meeting February 22 at the North County Governmental Center in Reston.

Additional information may be found on FCDOT’s website, located here.

Source: Lennar Multifamily Communities, LLC

Lennar Multifamily Communities, LLC, has filed a series of applications to allow an approximately 356-unit, six-story multifamily building near the Huntington Metro Station.

The approximately 6.32-acre site has been approved for office use since 1991, but has remained vacant over the years. The site is directly south of Cameron Run where Fairfax County is designing a levee to protect the Huntington area from flooding.

The Huntington Levee project will include a pumping station as a precaution to potential tidal surges from the nearby Potomac River and overflow from the Cameron Run Watershed. The levee project is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2019. Lennar has been working closely with Fairfax County to ensure the development accommodates and supports the County’s improvements.

In addition to supporting the levee project, Lennar proposes a trail connection along Cameron Run that will tie into the existing trail network in the area. Lennar further proposes an urban plaza adjacent to Huntington Avenue that will serve as a community amenity.

Source: Susan Lynch

In a move to streamline the rezoning application submission process, the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning has launched ePlans, an online submission program that will help simplify the application review process. Walsh Colucci participated in the pilot program and had this to say: “Printing and managing the required documentation for an application for rezoning is an undertaking. The ability to upload documents not only expedites the process, it helps me and our staff do our job more efficiently. It will also allow us to meet critical deadlines in the development process and continue to meet our clients’ needs and exceed their expectations.”

Watch a video about ePlans and read more about Fairfax County’s paperless zoning application program here.

Image Source: Land Design Inc.

The Town of Dumfries and the owners of Potomac Landfill, Inc., made Virginia land use history at the February 2 Town Council meeting. PLI and the Council agreed to enter into a “host fee agreement” centered on three provisions that are unprecedented for a Virginia Construction, Demolition, and Debris (CDD) landfill.

First, the agreement provides the opportunity for the Town to share the profits of landfill operations via a “host fee” that can, depending on the volume of waste received, amount to several million dollars the Town would not otherwise receive. No other Virginia CDD landfill pays such a fee to its host community. Second, the parties agreed to collaborate on a mutually agreeable end-use plan for the property once the landfill is closed. Finally, and for the first time, PLI agreed to cease operations in 16 years.

PLI has been present in Dumfries for more than 30 years, and its interests have focused on the need to acquire more airspace to allow for more waste intake as well as on the use of the property after operations cease. PLI will now be able to incorporate state-of-the-art technology and construction methods that permit both vertical and horizontal expansion and that will result in an area atop the closed landfill that can become part of an overall end-use plan.

John Foote provided legal counsel and Marian Harders assisted with project management to the project team led by the very able managers of Potomac Landfill, Phil Peet and Steve Danahy. Joe Giangrandi and Matt Clark with LandDesign, Inc., assisted in the development of the end-use plan and crafted this video to demonstrate PLI’s vision.