Oakton Residents Stay Put in Lead Redistricting Plans

The once-a-decade rewrite of county supervisor districts is likely to have little effect on Oakton 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 Oakton between Sully and Providence districts unchanged.

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. Providence has a population of 123,327, while Sully has 124,203 people.

All 25 plans are still in play, but plans 9A3 and 9A4 currently stand out as the most reasonable, Smyth said.

Neither plan changes Sully District. Both plans shift the Walnut Hill #2 precinct from Providence to the Mason District.

Two plans presented by the committee offer alternatives to expand to 10 districts, and a third plans for 11. Adding districts would mean adding members to the Board of Supervisors, and seems unlikely this year.

“Creating a new district would be extremely disruptive at this stage," said Supervisor Jeff McKay (D-Lee), who chairs the Board of Supervisor’s Legislative Committee, which worked with redistricting committee.

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.