Carl Sell’s Lasting Impact on Our Community

Carl is a great human being who has made a real and lasting difference in this community for decades.

Part of what I'll share comes from a book he wrote for the Franconia Museum - Franconia Remembers Joe Alexander. This is because a lot of Carl's early community engagement traces to and overlaps with his close partnership with the late and long-term (32 years) County Supervisor, beginning in the mid-1960s and lasting through the mid-90s.

Carl moved to the area in 1951 and began his family in Rose Hill sometime in the mid-1960s. His initial area of focus was youth athletics - reaching out to Joe for better fields and facilities. He was the President of Pioneer Baseball League, growing it to 100 teams during his tenure. Of note, his Pioneer League boasted the first female to play organized youth baseball in the County and was among the first organized leagues to offer opportunities for Black youths.

Joe and Carl's partnership really took off in 1971 when Joe appointed him to the Fairfax County Park Authority Board. Carl rose to become Chair of the Board (1974) and, thanks to his diligent work in concert with Joe, the community was able to secure Lee District Park, Franconia Park, Huntley Meadows Park and the Greendale Golf Course - to name just the major acquisitions.

Carl also was engaged in the 60s and 70s with several other active citizens in the restraint of area gravel pit operations and in advancing regulations requiring land reclamation. Between these efforts and companion regulations concerning development on so-called marine clay soils, the path was cleared for the community-guided development of Manchester Lakes, Kingstowne and Wellington Green, portions of which were all one-time gravel operations.

Carl's active engagement with these and scores of other residential and commercial projects began when Joe "moved him up" to the Fairfax County Planning Commission in December 1975. One of the first things he did was to establish the Lee District Land Use and Transportation Advisory Committee, a body of civic and homeowner-association appointed representatives who would regularly meet to hear, debate and form recommendations on all area land use proposals requiring a plan amendment, special exception, or rezoning. Carl convinced Joe to formally commit to supporting this group's recommendations on all cases. Of all the County Supervisors, only Joe "yielded" his vote on such matters, truly empowering local citizens. Over the two decades Carl served on the Planning Commission, he attended all these meetings, respectfully lending a helping hand to residents in the formation of their recommendations.

Of course, Carl was also one of the founding members of the Franconia Museum - and the author of many of their publications and monthly newsletter. The man can write.

A notable side point - in addition to his years as Sports Information Director for George Mason University, his long career with the Washington Star is also "newsworthy." Carl started as a paperboy for the evening paper, became a sports reporter, then the sports page editor, and (as the Star finally went under - leaving the region with just the morning Washington Post), he crowned his tenure there as the newspaper's editorial page editor.

Editor’s Note: Dana Kauffman served as a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from 1996 to 2007. He was elected in November 1995 running as a Democrat and beating out a few other candidates, including Carl Sell, who was the Republican nominee.

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