Agenda
[0:08]
Pledge of Allegiance.
[0:28]
Presentations and Proclamations.
[0:28]
Presentation of a proclamation acknowledging July as Parks and Recreation Month in the City of Fairfax.
[5:05]
Presentation of a Commendation Certificate acknowledging Katherine MacCammon for her creativity and design of the 250 logo for the 4th of July in the City of Fairfax.
[7:42]
Adoption of the agenda.
[8:32]
Initial general public comment period (a maximum of three (3) minutes per speaker for any city matters not requiring a public hearing. The speakers who have registered with the city clerk’s office (703-385-7935) prior to 5:00 p.m. the day of the meeting may speak at this time. Any remaining speakers will be heard during agenda item #9.).
[16:37]
Consent agenda.
[17:24]
Consideration of Board, Commission, and Advisory Committee Appointments.
[18:53]
Public hearings.
[19:19]
Public hearing and Council action on proposed amendments to the Code of the City of Fairfax, Chapter 110 (Zoning) to amend portions of the articles and sections contained therein, including Introductory Provisions, Zoning Districts and Regulations, and Definitions, relating to Detached Accessory Dwelling Units.
[1:48:54]
Second general public comment period (a maximum of three (3) minutes per speaker for any city matters not requiring a public hearing – limited to speakers who did not speak under initial general public comment period).
[1:49:06]
Recess the regular meeting to go into a work session.
[1:56:56]
Work Session.
[1:58:38]
Pre-application briefing on a request by Network Realty Partners for the redevelopment of 3541 Chain Bridge Road.
[2:44:45]
Discussion of a request by Combined Courthouse LLC C/O Combined Columbia Glade, LLC -20049 for the redevelopment of 10300 Willard Way (57 2 20 004 D) and 3922 Blenheim Boulevard (57 2 20 003 A).
[3:26:46]
Reconvene the regular meeting.
[3:26:54]
Future Meeting Topics
[3:41:58]
City Manager report out (if needed).
[3:50:51]
Council Comments and Committee reports out (if needed).
[3:56:48]
Adjournment.
Transcript
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[0:04]
And someday. You Good evening.
[0:05]
I would like to call the
[0:08]
regular meeting of JULY 28th,
[0:09]
2026 to order if you are able
[0:11]
and so choose, please rise for
[0:15]
the Pledge of Allegiance.
[0:17]
Pledge allegiance to the flag
[0:19]
of the United States of America
[0:20]
and to the Republic for which
[0:21]
it Republic Republic for which
[0:22]
Republic it Republic stands,
[0:24]
one nation under GOD,
[0:25]
indivisible with liberty and
[0:29]
justice abroad. I would now
[0:30]
like to invite the Parks and
[0:32]
Recreation Department to come
[0:33]
down for the proclamation
[0:34]
acknowledging JULY as Parks and
[0:55]
Recreation Month. Everybody
[1:00]
looks wonderful. Yes ok. All
[1:05]
right then. Whereas The city of
[1:06]
Fairfax Parks and Recreation
[1:09]
Department is dedicated to
[1:09]
developing and maintaining
[1:12]
beautiful, safe, and
[1:13]
environmentally friendly open
[1:16]
spaces for the public to use
[1:19]
and enjoy affordable,
[1:19]
comprehensive and amazing
[1:21]
experiences, a sense of
[1:23]
community that enriches
[1:23]
people
[1:24]
s lives, contributing to
[1:25]
the well-being of the
[1:27]
individual, family, and
[1:29]
visitors to our city. And
[1:31]
whereas a strategic master plan
[1:32]
for parks and recreation was
[1:34]
passed unanimously by the
[1:37]
Fairfax City Council in 2014,
[1:39]
committing city resources to
[1:41]
ongoing investment in our 25
[1:44]
public parks, walking trails,
[1:46]
open space, recreational
[1:47]
programming, cultural arts, and
[1:50]
events. And whereas programming
[1:51]
is offered to serve children
[1:53]
through camps, older adults
[1:54]
through the senior center at
[1:57]
Green Acres and classes for all
[1:58]
ages held year-round at
[2:00]
locations across the city,
[2:02]
offering opportunities for
[2:03]
educational enrichment, skill
[2:06]
building, and recreation. And
[2:07]
whereas Fairfax City events
[2:09]
draw people from all over the
[2:11]
region for our chocolate lovers
[2:12]
festival, our independence Day
[2:14]
parade, most years, Fall
[2:15]
Festival, and other
[2:17]
celebrations, including Rock
[2:19]
the Block from MAY to OCTOBER,
[2:21]
all made possible by Parks and
[2:23]
Recreation staff and their
[2:25]
collaborative partnerships with
[2:26]
other Fairfax City departments,
[2:27]
and whereas cultural arts
[2:29]
events such as the spotlight on
[2:32]
the arts, City of Fairfax band
[2:33]
performances and other theater
[2:34]
and dance performances held at
[2:38]
venue. Throughout Fairfax City
[2:39]
are facilitated and supported
[2:40]
by the work of our parks and
[2:44]
recreation staff. And whereas
[2:45]
environmental sustainability
[2:46]
and stewardship is central to
[2:49]
our parks, trails, and open
[2:51]
spaces, prioritizing a healthy
[2:52]
tree canopy and working to
[2:53]
implement best practices
[2:55]
regarding the planting and care
[2:56]
of the city
[2:58]
s green spaces, and
[2:59]
whereas a vibrant community
[3:01]
with events and parks is
[3:03]
central to sustaining and
[3:04]
growing our economic
[3:05]
development, drawing visitors
[3:07]
to our city and attracting new
[3:08]
residents who choose to make
[3:11]
their home here. And whereas
[3:12]
playgrounds, ball fields,
[3:15]
practice fields, and pavilions
[3:16]
within our city provide
[3:17]
children and their families a
[3:19]
safe, accessible, and
[3:21]
well-located area in which to
[3:24]
enjoy outdoor play, sports, and
[3:27]
celebrations. And whereas the
[3:29]
us House of Representatives
[3:31]
representatives have, has
[3:32]
designated JULY as Parks and
[3:34]
Recreation Month, now therefore
[3:36]
I, Catherine s. Reed, mayor of
[3:38]
the city of Fairfax, on behalf
[3:39]
of all residents of the city of
[3:43]
Fairfax. Declare the month of
[3:44]
JULY with celebrations
[3:45]
extending through AUGUST as
[3:47]
Parks and Recreation Month in
[3:49]
the city of Fairfax, and i
[3:50]
encourage residents and
[3:51]
visitors to enjoy, enjoy all
[3:53]
that our city has to offer
[3:55]
through our investments made in
[3:58]
parks, trails, programs,
[3:59]
cultural arts, and special
[3:59]
events. Let
[4:00]
s give it up for
[4:05]
Parks and Rec. Thank you, uh,
[4:07]
we just want to thank Mayor and
[4:08]
council for acknowledging us
[4:09]
through this proclamation, and
[4:11]
we, we are also lucky to work
[4:12]
in a community that is so
[4:14]
supportive of Parks and
[4:16]
Recreation and our parks
[4:17]
facilities, trails, and
[4:18]
programs are so amazing because
[4:21]
we have an incredible team, so
[4:22]
thank you, and now a photograph.
[4:30]
All right, sir, squinch in.
[4:37]
Sure, people in the back. Ok.
[4:42]
All right, and big smiles.
[4:54]
Couple more. But not you, Katie
[4:58]
McCammon. I need you back here,
[4:58]
who, who
[5:01]
s taking this? We
[5:02]
ll
[5:07]
see. Hurt you. So Catherine
[5:11]
McCammon. Also known
[5:12]
affectionately throughout the
[5:15]
city, is Katie Mack. We have
[5:16]
something special for you. And
[5:18]
let me just start by saying for
[5:20]
people who do not know, Katie
[5:22]
Mack, she has been with us for
[5:23]
almost 15 years. She started
[5:29]
out here. 14 years ago for sure
[5:31]
Is a camp counselor was hired
[5:33]
as an intern and was hired in
[5:35]
cultural arts events management,
[5:36]
have worked your way all the
[5:39]
way up to recreation manager.
[5:42]
And in that time. She has
[5:43]
committed herself to so many
[5:44]
things in this city that are
[5:45]
not even part of her job
[5:49]
description, which is why Today,
[5:51]
we are going to honor Katie for
[5:54]
this right here, the beautiful
[5:56]
design you saw all over this
[5:59]
city for the 250th anniversary
[6:00]
the celebration celebration was
[6:01]
designed by Katie Mack because
[6:03]
she is talented, because she is
[6:04]
talented and she is generous
[6:06]
and she does things for the
[6:08]
city because after almost 15
[6:10]
years, everything she does.
[6:12]
Reflects how much she cares
[6:14]
about all of us. So in light,
[6:14]
and I
[6:15]
m gonna show you this
[6:16]
right here because it has, it
[6:19]
has the, has the logo on it.
[6:25]
Katie McCammon. For your
[6:26]
Exceptional talent, creativity
[6:27]
and dedication in designing the
[6:31]
official logo of the city of
[6:32]
Fairfax commemorating the 250th
[6:34]
anniversary of the United
[6:35]
States Declaration of
[6:36]
Independence, your contribution
[6:38]
will serve as a source of
[6:39]
community pride and a
[6:41]
meaningful emblem of this
[6:43]
historic milestone, helping to
[6:45]
unite residents in the
[6:47]
celebration of 250 years of
[6:48]
history, achievement, and
[6:49]
progress, thank you, Katie, for
[6:51]
all you do for us every single
[6:52]
day, but particularly for your
[6:54]
gift and your talent. Talent
[6:57]
that really set us apart in
[6:58]
this national celebration,
[6:59]
would you like to say a few
[7:03]
words? Thank you, I guess, um,
[7:05]
did not know this was happening,
[7:08]
so, um, I appreciate it and I
[7:09]
love working here, so thank you
[7:11]
all for everything that you do
[7:12]
to support our department and
[7:13]
allow us to make all these
[7:14]
things happen. Ok, now a
[7:27]
picture and a picture. Yes. Big
[7:55]
smile. Yes. Yes, hang on to it,
[7:56]
for those of you who got a yard
[7:58]
sign, and for those of you who
[7:59]
have t-shirts, you know, the
[8:00]
emblems on the t-shirts. Hang
[8:02]
on to those things, really, we
[8:04]
have the best looking logo in
[8:07]
the entire nation. I, I feel
[8:08]
firmly confident about that. We
[8:10]
will now move on to, um, the
[8:12]
agenda a Adoption. Is there a
[8:13]
motion to approve the agenda. I
[8:15]
move to adopt the agenda as
[8:19]
presented. Second. Ok, a motion
[8:20]
has been made in, uh, seconded
[8:23]
a roll call vote. Council
[8:25]
member Amos Council Member Hall
[8:26]
Council member Hardy Hardy
[8:27]
Hardy Chandler Hardy Council
[8:30]
member Peterson Council member
[8:31]
Bates Councilor McClellan,
[8:32]
motion passed unanimously. We
[8:34]
will go on to initial general
[8:35]
public comment. I had 3 people
[8:36]
sign up by 5 o
[8:37]
clock P.M. Today,
[8:37]
and I
[8:38]
m gonna call the first
[8:39]
speaker up, which is Stacy
[9:09]
Langton. 3. Good evening, um.
[9:13]
In the fall of 2020, this city
[9:14]
council apparently went along
[9:17]
with the Fairfax County Board
[9:19]
of Supervisors to remove
[9:20]
so-called offensive monuments
[9:22]
and landmarks. They voted on
[9:25]
SEPTEMBER 15th of that year to
[9:28]
remove 2 us Navy Civil War era
[9:29]
howitzer cannons, which stood
[9:31]
on the lawn of the historic
[9:33]
Fairfax County Courthouse here
[9:35]
in Fairfax City, along with a
[9:36]
large stone monument that
[9:38]
marked this place as one of the
[9:39]
locations of the first battles
[9:42]
of the Civil War, and it marked
[9:43]
the death of John Quincy
[9:47]
Meagher on JUNE 1st of 1861,
[9:48]
the very first Confederate
[9:49]
soldier to die at the hands of
[9:51]
a Union soldier in the Civil
[9:54]
War. That summer, 2020 was the
[9:57]
summer of woke when political
[9:59]
correctness ran amok nationwide
[10:01]
along with all of the looters
[10:03]
and protesters of Antifa and
[10:05]
other leftist groups who burned
[10:06]
the downtown areas of several
[10:08]
cities across our land, the
[10:09]
idea of political correctness
[10:11]
is a distinctly communist
[10:14]
phenomenon, it was created by
[10:15]
the Bolsheviks in 1918 when
[10:17]
they murdered the czar and the
[10:18]
royal family in Russia and took
[10:20]
over the government. Karl Marx
[10:22]
and Vladimir Lenin emphasized
[10:23]
that strong adherence to the
[10:25]
ideology of their new regime
[10:27]
was an essential requirement of
[10:29]
citizens if you deviated from
[10:30]
their political correctness,
[10:31]
you would be severely punished.
[10:32]
You would lose the ability to
[10:34]
buy or sell, and you might even
[10:37]
lose your life. The bulls, the
[10:38]
Bolsheviks promulgation of Karl
[10:38]
Marx
[10:40]
s communist Manifesto
[10:41]
Destroyed their society for the
[10:43]
next 70 years and starved 60
[10:45]
million people to death. Now
[10:47]
here we are 100 years later,
[10:49]
and our country, the one that
[10:50]
was founded upon the ideals and
[10:52]
the bedrock of personal freedom
[10:54]
and liberty is doing exactly
[10:56]
what the communists did, Lenin
[10:58]
had an agenda he called the
[11:00]
plan for monumental propaganda,
[11:01]
his monuments policy called for
[11:03]
the removal of all monuments
[11:05]
and statues dedicated to the
[11:08]
czars as they were of no
[11:08]
historic or artistic interest.
[11:11]
Sound familiar? I believe that
[11:13]
was the exact excuse given in
[11:15]
2020 to remove the cannons.
[11:15]
Here
[11:17]
s a photo of them being
[11:19]
taken out under the cover of
[11:19]
darkness in the middle of the
[11:23]
night. PRESIDENT Trump
[11:23]
s March
[11:26]
27th, 2025, executive order
[11:28]
restoration of truth in
[11:30]
American History executive
[11:32]
order number 14253, uh, states,
[11:35]
we must take action to
[11:36]
reinstate preexisting monuments,
[11:38]
more memorials, statues, or
[11:39]
markers that have been removed
[11:41]
to perpetuate a false
[11:42]
reconstruction of American
[11:44]
history, I submit to you the
[11:46]
general public is now sick of
[11:49]
wokeness in society. It is
[11:50]
communist in origin, and it is
[11:53]
fundamental. Ally un-American,
[11:55]
and it is time to put the
[11:56]
cannons and the monument back,
[12:01]
thank you. Our next speaker is
[12:15]
Melody Bentley. Good evening. I
[12:17]
am PRESIDENT Of the u, excuse
[12:19]
me, Old Fairfax Muses Home
[12:21]
Owners Association, and I would
[12:23]
like to address the combined
[12:25]
properties proposal for the
[12:25]
redevelopment of Courthouse
[12:30]
Plaza. Our community of 74 town
[12:32]
homes is situated diagonally
[12:32]
across University Drive from
[12:36]
Courthouse Plaza. Everyone who
[12:38]
lives there appreciates the
[12:40]
proximity of this plaza, which
[12:42]
provides us walkable access to
[12:44]
retail, especially the
[12:45]
desirable convenience of a
[12:48]
nearby grocery store. We have a
[12:50]
keen interest, um. And any
[12:53]
changes to this plaza. We
[12:55]
appreciate several things about
[12:57]
this new proposal, the combined
[12:57]
prob uh properties has
[12:59]
submitted. There will be
[13:02]
additional retail. The mixed
[13:04]
use will provide much-needed
[13:06]
housing in our area and a park
[13:08]
is included in the plan.
[13:10]
However, we have the same
[13:12]
concerns now as with the first
[13:14]
proposal that combined
[13:15]
properties submitted and which
[13:17]
was detailed in a petition we
[13:18]
sent to city council last
[13:21]
SEPTEMBER. The building
[13:25]
proposal is still 6 stories. It
[13:27]
is 2 stories taller than the
[13:29]
small area plan allows, it will
[13:30]
dwarf and overshadow the rest
[13:34]
of Old Town. A further reason,
[13:36]
uh, to respect the 4-story
[13:38]
limitation concerns traffic.
[13:39]
University Drive will soon be
[13:41]
reduced to 1 lane in each
[13:43]
direction in the vicinity of
[13:44]
the plaza to accommodate bike
[13:47]
paths. It will be quite enough
[13:49]
to ask this road to handle the
[13:51]
additional vehicles of 3
[13:52]
stories of apartment dwellers
[13:55]
and retail. 5 stories of
[13:56]
apartment dwellers will
[13:57]
introduce too much traffic
[13:58]
congestion to this neighborhood.
[14:02]
Finally, there is the proposed
[14:03]
architecture which has barely
[14:04]
changed from the first proposal.
[14:10]
It is modern. Busy, stark. And
[14:11]
depressing with its large
[14:15]
swaths of black facing. It is a
[14:17]
jarring contrast to Old Town
[14:19]
and can hardly be considered
[14:22]
transitional architecture. I
[14:23]
think combined properties is
[14:25]
missing a huge opportunity.
[14:27]
Their site, with its proximity
[14:30]
to Old Town, if designed well,
[14:31]
could become a locus of
[14:34]
downtown activity. Imagine, for
[14:37]
example, a public square
[14:39]
surrounded on 3 sides with a
[14:41]
retail below and apartments
[14:43]
above, with restaurants and
[14:45]
outdoor seating, a public
[14:47]
square, which commu uh where
[14:48]
community gatherings and events
[14:51]
could happen. Then Courthouse
[14:51]
Plaza could really live up to
[14:54]
its name. Thank you so much for
[14:54]
your attention. I appreciate it.
[14:58]
Our last speaker under this
[15:11]
item is Katie Johnson. Katie
[15:13]
Johnson and the clerk has my
[15:15]
address. Um, this is a quote
[15:17]
from MR. Cunningham from one of
[15:18]
the previous, um, planning
[15:20]
commissions. It says from a
[15:21]
perspective of zero residential
[15:23]
units, we are now essentially
[15:25]
at 2000 bedrooms in this space
[15:26]
with the possibility of adding
[15:29]
more. Smart growth is just a
[15:31]
euphemism for density. Back in
[15:32]
and I
[15:33]
m saying, please, please,
[15:35]
please, when you are discussing
[15:37]
this afternoon or at the later
[15:39]
this evening, um, the major
[15:41]
density projects. I ask that
[15:43]
your decisions be made to put
[15:45]
everything on hold until the
[15:47]
citywide level of service, um,
[15:48]
study comes back, it
[15:48]
s not
[15:51]
prudent to Put commitment to
[15:51]
things that we don
[15:52]
t know how
[15:57]
much they cost. We shouldn
[15:57]
t be
[15:57]
committing our city without
[15:57]
fully understanding the true
[15:58]
cost and the impacts of them.
[16:01]
So Also, a month
[16:02]
s subscription
[16:04]
to Capital Bike Share and a
[16:06]
prepaid MetroCard is not
[16:08]
adequate traffic mitigation. So,
[16:12]
of those 2000, if just 15
[16:14]
percent of those 2000 bedrooms
[16:18]
are school-age children, that
[16:21]
would add $7,159,200 per year
[16:23]
to our budget, and that
[16:23]
s only
[16:26]
going to go up, so please do
[16:28]
not sacrifice our, our little
[16:28]
city
[16:29]
s cherished community
[16:30]
character for the sake of
[16:33]
density, so thank you. We can
[16:38]
move to the consent agenda. Are
[16:40]
there any questions on any of
[16:41]
the items on the consent agenda.
[16:47]
Are there any items canceled
[16:48]
like pulled from the consent
[16:53]
agenda. Is there a motion to
[16:56]
approve the consent agenda. I
[16:58]
moved to approve the consent
[17:00]
agenda item 6a throughc as
[17:03]
presented, uh, JULY 28th, 2026,
[17:04]
accompanying motions in the
[17:05]
staff reports and the
[17:05]
accompanying motions in the
[17:08]
staff reports. Second. A motion
[17:10]
has been made by a council
[17:11]
member Hardy Chandler and
[17:12]
seconded by Council member
[17:14]
Peterson, a roll call vote.
[17:17]
COUNCILMAN McQuillan, Council
[17:18]
Member Bates Council member
[17:20]
Peterson Council member Hardy
[17:23]
Chandler, Council member Hall,
[17:24]
Council member Amos motion
[17:25]
passed unanimously. We will go
[17:26]
on to consideration of
[17:27]
appointments to boards,
[17:28]
commissions, and advisory
[17:29]
committees. Is there a motion
[17:30]
to approve the appointments to
[17:32]
boards, commissions, and
[17:33]
advisory committees. I move to
[17:36]
appoint the, uh, the following
[17:37]
applicants Board of
[17:40]
Architecture Review reappoint.
[17:42]
Kemsuwan as the architect and
[17:44]
business representative for a
[17:46]
3-year term extending through
[17:50]
JUNE 13th, 2029. Commission for
[17:51]
Women reappoint Amini Bonani
[17:53]
for a 3-year term extending
[17:56]
through JULY 1st, 2029,
[17:58]
reappoint Brenda Coleman for a
[18:01]
3-year term extending through
[18:03]
JUNE 30th, 2029, Commission on
[18:06]
the Arts, appoint Kirknoll for
[18:07]
a remainder of a 3-year term
[18:11]
extending Though DECEMBER 11th,
[18:13]
2026 with an extension of a
[18:15]
3-year term extending through
[18:19]
JULY 2020, JULY 28th, 2029.
[18:23]
Fairfax Commission on Aging
[18:24]
reappoint v Meesha Maskey for a
[18:27]
2-year term extending through
[18:29]
JULY 9th, 2028, Fairfax County
[18:32]
Public Library Board of
[18:33]
Trustees reappoint Suzanne Levy
[18:35]
for a 4-year term extending
[18:39]
through JUNE 10th, 2030. Second,
[18:40]
the motion has been made and
[18:44]
seconded a roll call vote.
[18:45]
Council member Amos Council
[18:47]
Member Hall, Council member
[18:48]
Hardy Chandler, Council member
[18:52]
Peterson, Council member Bates,
[18:53]
Councilor McQuillan motion
[18:53]
passed unanimously, we
[18:54]
ll go on
[18:56]
to public hearings. The only
[18:57]
public hearing tonight is a
[18:59]
public hearing and council
[19:00]
action on proposed amendments
[19:03]
to the code of the city of
[19:06]
Fairfax chapter 110 and parent
[19:08]
zoning to amend portions of the
[19:10]
articles and sections contained
[19:11]
therein, including introductory
[19:15]
provisions, zoning Districts
[19:16]
and regulations and definitions
[19:17]
relating to detached accessory
[19:18]
dwelling units, I
[19:19]
m gonna
[19:20]
recognize Eric Forman, our city
[19:21]
planner for the staff
[19:25]
presentation. Well, thank you
[19:27]
very much, good evening. Uh,
[19:29]
this agenda item is a public
[19:30]
hearing. It
[19:31]
s for a series of
[19:34]
zoning text amendments that
[19:35]
would permit detached accessory
[19:38]
dwelling units or ADUs. In
[19:41]
Fairfax City, if you recall,
[19:42]
city council held a work
[19:45]
session in MAY to discuss this
[19:47]
topic and at that work session,
[19:49]
council requested that a public
[19:51]
hearing be scheduled to
[19:53]
consider these amendments and
[19:55]
counsel also asked for analysis
[19:57]
of certain data requests, so
[19:58]
tonight
[19:58]
s presentation is
[20:00]
really in 2 parts, you know,
[20:02]
the first part is an overview
[20:04]
of the amendment itself, and
[20:05]
thi this is largely similar to
[20:08]
what we had reviewed at the a
[20:10]
work session. The second part
[20:13]
looks at the specific data
[20:14]
requests that council had asked
[20:17]
for in MAY. We
[20:18]
ve held quite a
[20:20]
few meetings on the topic of
[20:23]
ADUs with various amounts of
[20:26]
detail, we held some high-level
[20:29]
work sessions and a community
[20:31]
meeting in 2024. Last year we
[20:33]
held work sessions with
[20:34]
planning commission and with
[20:37]
city council where we reviewed
[20:39]
options to potentially
[20:39]
accommodate detached accessory
[20:43]
dwelling units. In the fall,
[20:47]
council asks staff to draft
[20:49]
potential amendments to modify
[20:51]
our existing adu standards in
[20:54]
order to permit detached units,
[20:54]
and that
[20:55]
s what we discussed
[20:59]
back in MAY, focusing on uh
[21:01]
potential amendment details for
[21:02]
detached accessory dwelling
[21:05]
units. I, I should mention as
[21:06]
well that the planning
[21:08]
commission held a public
[21:10]
hearing on these amendments
[21:12]
last month, the commission
[21:13]
recommended approval and I
[21:13]
ll
[21:14]
discuss the planning commission
[21:16]
meeting, uh, a bit more in a
[21:20]
few slides from now. And as you
[21:22]
likely know, accessory dwelling
[21:24]
units are currently allowed in
[21:27]
the city under certain
[21:28]
conditions are specifically
[21:30]
EDUs are currently need to be
[21:33]
within the home itself or
[21:35]
attached rather than detached.
[21:39]
8 ADUs were first permitted in
[21:41]
2003 in Fairfax City, they were
[21:43]
at that time considered a
[21:44]
special use, meaning that
[21:46]
homeowners needed to come to
[21:48]
city council and ask for
[21:52]
approval, uh, that lasted until
[21:53]
2016 when ADUs became a
[21:55]
permitted use, meaning that
[21:55]
they
[21:57]
re permitted with, uh,
[21:59]
subject to conditions. They
[22:04]
also used to be an occupancy
[22:05]
limitation limiting adu
[22:07]
residents to seniors or to
[22:09]
disabled people, city council
[22:10]
removed that provision last
[22:14]
year. Now detached accessory
[22:14]
dwelling units didn
[22:15]
t just pop
[22:17]
up out of last year
[22:18]
s work
[22:19]
sessions, the comprehensive
[22:21]
plan recommends this, uh,
[22:23]
recommends to look at expanding
[22:27]
ADUs and, and this is important,
[22:30]
uh, while ensuring that they do
[22:31]
not negatively impact
[22:33]
surrounding neighborhoods. And
[22:35]
like we talked about at our
[22:37]
work sessions, this is, is
[22:38]
really the critical element
[22:40]
when it comes to creating
[22:44]
standards for ADUs. Now the,
[22:46]
the main characteristics of any
[22:47]
amendment to allow detached Aid
[22:51]
to use would really be physical
[22:52]
standards for the structures
[22:53]
themselves, and there are other
[22:55]
elements as well, but these
[22:56]
physical standards, these are
[22:58]
really key to making this work,
[23:01]
and to re reducing any kinds of
[23:03]
negative externalities that the
[23:05]
comprehensive plan mentions. Uh,
[23:07]
like we had talked about in MAY,
[23:10]
the, the subtlety from a policy
[23:11]
perspective is that this is a
[23:14]
balancing act, so trying to
[23:16]
juggle that flexibility,
[23:17]
flexibility for property owners
[23:19]
juggling that with the
[23:20]
neighborhood impact that that
[23:22]
flexibility might bring. So
[23:23]
most of the standards that you
[23:25]
see here today are similar to
[23:27]
those that we discussed in MAY,
[23:27]
and I
[23:27]
ll point out where they
[23:32]
differ. The first of these that
[23:32]
we
[23:35]
ll talk about is setbacks,
[23:38]
and in our single family zoning
[23:40]
districts, the required rear
[23:42]
yard setback for most houses is
[23:46]
25 ft. The required side yard
[23:47]
varies by zoning district, it
[23:48]
s
[23:49]
1012, or 15 ft, depending on
[23:52]
where it is. Now we had
[23:53]
mentioned in our last work
[23:56]
session that there are
[23:58]
provisions in our zoning
[23:59]
ordinance for affordable
[24:00]
dwelling units. This was added
[24:02]
as part of the Affordable
[24:05]
dwelling unit ordinance back in
[24:08]
2020, and those affordable
[24:09]
dwelling provisions include
[24:10]
slightly reduced setbacks from
[24:13]
what we call the general or
[24:13]
standard setbacks and the
[24:16]
rationale is to provide some
[24:18]
extra flexibility, but provide
[24:19]
that flexibility without over
[24:20]
overly impacting the
[24:21]
surrounding ing neighborhood
[24:26]
and As we talked about in MAY,
[24:29]
these accessory dwelling unit
[24:30]
amendments recommend setbacks
[24:33]
really that correspond to those
[24:34]
affordable dwelling provisions,
[24:36]
and for the same reason, this
[24:39]
is a way to balance that
[24:41]
flexibility to give some
[24:42]
preference to accessory
[24:44]
dwelling units, but at the same
[24:46]
time keeping the guardrails in
[24:49]
place to reduce those negative
[24:49]
effects on neighbors
[24:51]
properties. So like it shows
[24:53]
here, those recommended
[24:55]
setbacks, and this is what
[24:55]
s in
[24:58]
the amendment before you, uh,
[24:59]
the recommended setbacks are 20
[25:00]
ft in the rear, so that
[25:01]
s as
[25:04]
opposed to 25 ft. And about a
[25:06]
20% reduction or about a 2 to 3
[25:08]
ft reduction on the side lock
[25:10]
line, so 8 ft in most zoning
[25:12]
districts, 12 ft in the rl
[25:15]
district. And, uh, as we can
[25:17]
see on the screen, uh, you
[25:20]
could see what it means to adu
[25:22]
placements in, in this kind of
[25:24]
hypothetical scenario, an adu
[25:26]
could go anywhere in the
[25:28]
unshaded areas so we can go
[25:31]
here or here or here and so on.
[25:33]
Uh, so like it says here that
[25:36]
this looks to balance again
[25:37]
that property owner flexibility,
[25:39]
balance it with potential
[25:42]
neighborhood impact. Now
[25:43]
planning commission did have a
[25:45]
recommendation at one of their
[25:47]
work sessions that
[25:47]
s been
[25:50]
incorporated into this proposed
[25:51]
amendment that involves ADUs
[25:54]
that might be located on the
[25:55]
side of houses where there
[25:55]
s
[25:58]
enough space to do that. The
[25:59]
commission was concerned about
[26:02]
the aesthetic effects of having
[26:03]
a detached accessory dwelling
[26:06]
unit in a side yard and
[26:08]
recommended standards to ensure
[26:09]
that any side yard ADUs would
[26:11]
be located near. The rear of
[26:14]
the house and that, again, has
[26:15]
been incorporated in into these
[26:19]
Uh, recommended amendments. And
[26:20]
now for setbacks in, in general,
[26:24]
I think it helps to show how
[26:25]
the proposed adu setbacks
[26:27]
compare with setbacks for other
[26:28]
structures. So this shows a
[26:32]
sample lot. This is in the rh
[26:34]
district, shows 3 examples of
[26:37]
behind the house setbacks. On
[26:40]
the left here, this is the
[26:41]
setback for main dwellings
[26:43]
themselves, so if this house
[26:43]
s
[26:45]
owners were to build an
[26:46]
addition, or if the house
[26:48]
itself were torn down and
[26:50]
replaced, the house could not
[26:52]
extend into that green shaded
[26:52]
area, so that
[26:54]
s the setback,
[26:54]
that
[26:56]
s the required yard. Again,
[26:59]
4 dwellings, 4 houses. In the
[27:01]
middle here, these are the side
[27:03]
and rear setbacks for accessory
[27:04]
structures, so things like
[27:06]
garages, and like it says at
[27:08]
the bottom here, these are less
[27:09]
inte intense uses than a
[27:11]
dwelling, than a house, and the
[27:12]
reason is because no one lives
[27:14]
in a garage, no one lives in a
[27:16]
gazebo, and, and so on. So
[27:18]
these are permitted to be
[27:20]
closer to the lot lines than
[27:21]
the dwellings themselves, and,
[27:24]
and in this case, a minimum of
[27:26]
5 ft from the rear lot line or
[27:29]
the side lot line. Now, on the
[27:31]
right here, this is what
[27:32]
s in
[27:34]
the proposed amendment for
[27:35]
detached accessory dwelling
[27:38]
units, and again, this mirrors
[27:39]
the ordinance
[27:40]
s existing
[27:42]
standards for affordable
[27:44]
dwelling setbacks and this
[27:46]
recognizes that an accessory
[27:47]
dwelling units have similar
[27:49]
levels of intensity as other
[27:51]
dwellings, but it provides more
[27:53]
flexibility, it provides
[27:54]
flexibility by permitting these
[27:56]
structures to be a little
[27:57]
closer to the lot line than the
[28:02]
main house can can be. Just 1
[28:04]
more slide on, on setbacks here
[28:07]
at our fall work session, uh,
[28:09]
city council mentioned that
[28:11]
detached ADUs can be thought of
[28:14]
as an alternative to building a
[28:16]
very large houses, and that
[28:17]
that alternative might be able
[28:20]
to fit more appropriately into
[28:21]
our neighborhoods, and that
[28:22]
s a
[28:24]
significant guiding principle
[28:26]
because these standards view
[28:29]
ADUs as that kind of
[28:30]
alternative, and importantly,
[28:30]
the setback standard that
[28:33]
s In
[28:35]
these amendments would avoid
[28:38]
cases of property owners
[28:40]
maximizing both house size and
[28:42]
having an adu on, having a
[28:44]
detached adu on the same lot.
[28:46]
Again, part of that balancing
[28:48]
act, this, this slide shows an
[28:49]
example of that. These are 2
[28:52]
houses side by side on
[28:53]
identically sized lots, uh, the
[28:56]
house on the left is a newer
[28:57]
house. It doesn
[28:58]
t completely
[28:58]
maximize the buildable area,
[28:59]
but you can see it comes
[29:02]
somewhat close. Uh, the house
[29:05]
on the right has a smaller
[29:06]
overall footprint for the house
[29:07]
itself, it has a more open lot.
[29:11]
Mhm These amendment standards
[29:13]
would enable that house on the
[29:14]
right to build an adu. Now that
[29:16]
house on the right could also
[29:17]
build in addition, it could be
[29:19]
replaced by another house and,
[29:20]
and so on, uh, but as it is now,
[29:22]
that house could build an adu
[29:25]
in, in the yard for the house
[29:28]
on the left. These standards
[29:30]
basically say that the square
[29:31]
footage that could have been
[29:34]
used for an adu has already
[29:36]
been used for the house itself.
[29:38]
So again, avoids the instance
[29:41]
of having a maximum sized house
[29:42]
with a detached adu on the same
[29:50]
lot. Now the other significant
[29:51]
physical standard is height,
[29:53]
there is a good amount of
[29:54]
discussion on height standards
[29:56]
at the work sessions. The main
[29:57]
issue being implications for
[30:00]
neighboring properties. These
[30:02]
amendment standards set a limit
[30:05]
of 20 ft. Or the measured
[30:07]
height of the main house and
[30:10]
whichever is less. Now 20 ft,
[30:13]
this is roughly 1.5 stories.
[30:15]
The intent here is to ensure
[30:17]
the detached ADUs don
[30:17]
t
[30:19]
overwhelm the lots that they
[30:19]
re
[30:19]
on don
[30:21]
t overwhelm the main
[30:24]
house or neighboring properties,
[30:26]
uh, and 1.5 stories would still
[30:28]
provide for design flexibility,
[30:28]
uh, provides for the
[30:29]
structure
[30:30]
s placement on the
[30:34]
lot and layout and, and so on.
[30:36]
This gives kind of a quick
[30:37]
visual representation of what
[30:37]
we
[30:39]
re talking about, so for a
[30:40]
multi-storey house like the one
[30:43]
on the left. A detached adu
[30:45]
would have a maximum height of
[30:46]
20 ft. So again, that
[30:47]
s about
[30:50]
1.5 stories. For houses like
[30:52]
the house on the right here,
[30:53]
houses that are themselves less
[30:57]
than 20 ft, the maximum adu
[30:58]
height would be equivalent to
[30:59]
the house
[31:01]
s height, so again,
[31:03]
uh, the recommendation in these
[31:05]
amendments is that adu height
[31:07]
MAY not exceed 20 ft. Or the
[31:10]
height of the house, and again,
[31:14]
whichever is less. There are
[31:16]
some other, uh, physical
[31:18]
standards that are currently in
[31:20]
place, these amendments, uh,
[31:21]
recommend keeping those
[31:21]
standards. I won
[31:22]
t spend too
[31:24]
much time on these right now
[31:25]
since we talked about these
[31:26]
standards of previous meetings,
[31:28]
but these standards are all
[31:30]
proposed to remain the same as
[31:32]
they are now, uh, you can see
[31:34]
here there are standards for
[31:37]
accessory structure, footprint,
[31:38]
uh, also standards for adu
[31:40]
square footage, and again these
[31:42]
are recommended to be kept, uh,
[31:44]
like it says at, at the bottom.
[31:45]
Here are these standards really
[31:47]
can work together to account
[31:49]
for different sized lots,
[31:50]
different house sizes, multiple
[31:56]
stories, and so on. The zoning
[31:58]
ordinance also has standards on
[31:59]
lot and building coverage, so
[32:01]
both for lots in general and
[32:04]
also for lots with accessory
[32:05]
structures, uh, so these
[32:06]
likewise are proposed to remain
[32:09]
the same. And you can tell
[32:11]
these are all interrelated, and
[32:13]
again, each of these addresses
[32:15]
a specific issue. Uh, the
[32:16]
amendments again propose
[32:22]
keeping these standards intact.
[32:24]
Moving on to parking, uh, as
[32:26]
you MAY recall, our zoning
[32:29]
ordinance right now does have a
[32:31]
standard for adu parking, uh,
[32:33]
but that standard is based on
[32:35]
vehicles that are used by adu
[32:36]
residents, it
[32:36]
s just not
[32:39]
effective, it
[32:40]
s not enforceable
[32:42]
in our work sessions, uh, both
[32:43]
planning commission and city
[32:45]
council were interested in
[32:46]
exploring a different approach
[32:50]
to adu parking. So the standard
[32:51]
proposed here takes a different
[32:54]
approach, so like it says here,
[32:57]
uh, it says that a lot, a
[33:00]
property with an adu must
[33:02]
provide no less than the
[33:03]
minimum number of parking
[33:05]
spaces, uh, that are specified
[33:06]
in the off-street parking
[33:08]
section of the ordinance, which
[33:12]
is Section 4.2. Uh, so that
[33:13]
standard for detached houses
[33:15]
and for duplex houses, uh, that
[33:18]
standard, like it says at the
[33:22]
bottom here is a minimum of 2
[33:23]
off-street parking spaces for a
[33:26]
house, and that that means 2
[33:28]
driveway spaces effectively, uh,
[33:31]
so what that means is that if a
[33:33]
house already has at least 2
[33:35]
driveway spaces than that house
[33:36]
would comply with this standard.
[33:39]
Now some houses don
[33:39]
t have a
[33:41]
driveway or like in the house
[33:42]
that
[33:43]
s shown here, I have just
[33:46]
a small driveway that just fits
[33:49]
1 car, so in those cases, uh,
[33:50]
the house would need to be
[33:52]
brought up to the city
[33:53]
s
[33:54]
regular parking standards in
[34:00]
order to have an adu. So this
[34:00]
house that
[34:01]
s shown here, if, if
[34:04]
the owners were to add an adu.
[34:06]
They would need to enlarge the
[34:08]
driveway so that it could fit
[34:10]
another vehicle before getting,
[34:11]
before the city would issue an
[34:14]
adu permit. The reason for this
[34:16]
standard is to not
[34:18]
automatically trigger a parking
[34:20]
shortage with the addition of
[34:22]
an accessory dwelling unit, but
[34:24]
still to guard against parking
[34:25]
shortfalls where they might be
[34:26]
more uh for particularly
[34:30]
problematic. Uh, now, planning
[34:31]
commission did express some
[34:33]
concern about parking at their
[34:34]
public hearing, the concern was
[34:35]
that this standard MAY not go
[34:38]
far enough. Our planning
[34:39]
commission
[34:40]
s hesitation seem to
[34:41]
be that some neighborhoods
[34:43]
already have not enough parking,
[34:47]
and that adding the possibility
[34:48]
of more ADUs might make that
[34:50]
kind of situation worse. Uh,
[34:52]
now the, the flip side, and
[34:53]
this was discussed at the
[34:54]
planning commission meeting as,
[34:56]
as well, is that it
[34:56]
s tough to
[35:00]
make the case that an adu would
[35:02]
generate more parking demand
[35:05]
than an addition to a house. So,
[35:06]
for example, uh, right down the
[35:07]
road from City Hall, we have a
[35:09]
house that has 10 bedrooms, for
[35:11]
instance, uh, that kind of
[35:14]
addition can be built. Without
[35:16]
having any parking requirement,
[35:17]
uh, so it, it
[35:18]
s, uh, a
[35:19]
difficult leap to make to say
[35:21]
that that kind of thing can be
[35:22]
built without a parking
[35:24]
requirement, but adding a. 500
[35:26]
sq ft cottage in the backyard
[35:27]
triggers parking requirement.
[35:27]
So there
[35:29]
s a lot going on with
[35:33]
the parking, uh Discussion, a
[35:34]
few planning commissioners felt
[35:37]
uneasy about this. Now, not
[35:38]
enough to suggest changes to
[35:40]
the amendments, but just a
[35:41]
feeling that there
[35:42]
s an
[35:43]
existing problem that might be
[35:45]
made worse, might be made more
[35:48]
problematic, I guess, by
[35:48]
allowing detached accessory
[35:53]
dwelling units. Uh, now, one
[35:54]
more topic here, and then we
[35:54]
ll
[35:55]
move on to some of the analysis
[35:58]
that city council had asked for.
[36:01]
We had talked before about how
[36:04]
to best deal with the potential
[36:05]
conversion of existing
[36:08]
structures to ADUs, and
[36:09]
specifically existing
[36:11]
structures that do not meet
[36:13]
whatever standards are in place
[36:14]
for ADUs themselves, meaning
[36:15]
that they would be considered
[36:18]
nonconforming. So under these
[36:20]
proposed amendments if a
[36:23]
property owner, uh, would wish
[36:25]
to convert an existing
[36:27]
nonconforming structure to an
[36:28]
accessory dwelling unit that
[36:29]
property owner would go through
[36:30]
the board of zoning appeals,
[36:32]
and this is the same as we had
[36:34]
discussed in MAY. I, I bring it
[36:36]
up because one of, uh, the city
[36:36]
council
[36:38]
s request has to do
[36:38]
with city with accessory
[36:42]
structures. Bza is set up
[36:44]
really to handle exactly that,
[36:45]
this kind of situation, special
[36:47]
exceptions that can be dealt
[36:48]
with on a case by case basis,
[36:50]
and, and this is really the
[36:52]
default set up with our zoning
[36:55]
ordinance, and there are just
[36:57]
so many potential variations of
[36:58]
nonconformities like this, uh,
[36:59]
that it
[37:00]
s a issue that
[37:01]
s best
[37:02]
addressed outside of rigid type
[37:07]
of standards. So those are the
[37:08]
main standards for what
[37:08]
s
[37:10]
proposed here in the detached
[37:11]
adu amendment that you have
[37:13]
before you, the full amendment
[37:15]
text is in, in your packets.
[37:16]
Like I said, I went through
[37:18]
kind of quickly. I can always
[37:20]
go back and and explain some,
[37:22]
some more of this, but. As I
[37:25]
had mentioned, counsel
[37:26]
requested additional analysis
[37:28]
on certain topics and staff has
[37:30]
done that analysis, and the
[37:31]
next few slides will summarize
[37:35]
the results. City council, then
[37:38]
again, this is back in MAY, had
[37:42]
asked a few questions regarding
[37:43]
potential impacts that detached
[37:45]
ADUs MAY have on real estate
[37:48]
assessments, so both on the
[37:48]
adu
[37:50]
s property itself and also
[37:52]
in general or citywide. Uh,
[37:54]
like it says up here under
[37:59]
direct impacts, When a detached
[38:02]
adu is built, that adu would be
[38:03]
assessed similar to other
[38:04]
structures or similar to other
[38:05]
additions, and what that means
[38:08]
is on a per square foot basis,
[38:08]
uh, so there
[38:10]
s no set amount
[38:11]
for valuation, it would vary,
[38:13]
like it says here would vary
[38:15]
based on the details of the adu
[38:21]
itself. Now counsel also asked
[38:23]
if a jurisdiction allows
[38:26]
detached ADUs. Would that
[38:28]
permissiveness result in
[38:29]
increased property values
[38:31]
citywide, so not just for the
[38:33]
properties that have ADUs but a
[38:35]
general increase in property
[38:38]
values, the concern here was
[38:40]
whether that by enabling
[38:42]
property owners to build these
[38:44]
kind of structures with
[38:45]
property values increase in
[38:46]
general and really since there
[38:49]
would be a new Option for
[38:50]
essentially monetizing
[38:52]
properties to a greater extent
[38:53]
would that raise property
[38:55]
values, raise property taxes,
[38:59]
and harm affordability. Our
[39:00]
real estate staff examined this
[39:02]
question, uh, determined that
[39:05]
across the board, property
[39:08]
value impacts due to a detached
[39:10]
adu ordinance is not something
[39:13]
that we would expect. Now to
[39:16]
reach that determination, our
[39:16]
assessor
[39:17]
s office reviewed
[39:19]
existing studies on ADUs did
[39:20]
not find evidence of this kind
[39:23]
of effect. Uh, they also
[39:25]
conducted their own local
[39:27]
analysis, so based on Arlington
[39:29]
County, Arlington is the
[39:31]
jurisdiction around here that
[39:31]
s
[39:32]
had detached ADUs for the
[39:35]
longest. Uh, like it says here,
[39:38]
uh, our staff, again, the real
[39:40]
estate staff analyzed
[39:42]
neighborhoods in Arlington that
[39:44]
have had detached adu property
[39:46]
sales, so properties that have
[39:49]
detached ADUs and have sold,
[39:50]
analyze these neighborhoods
[39:53]
over a 5-year period, and, uh,
[39:55]
the finding was that the
[39:58]
general property appreciation
[39:59]
in those neighborhoods tracked
[40:01]
extremely close to the
[40:02]
countywide average for
[40:04]
appreciation and counting. Wide
[40:04]
is Arlington County because
[40:04]
that
[40:05]
s what, what this is
[40:08]
looking at, so by extremely
[40:11]
close, uh, I, I mean within 11
[40:13]
of 1% of the countywide average.
[40:15]
So the, these neighborhoods
[40:18]
actually went down by 0.11%,
[40:18]
but really, that
[40:19]
s so close to
[40:20]
the baseline that we would
[40:22]
consider it, uh, like it says
[40:25]
down here, just not indicative
[40:27]
of adu influence. Uh, just to
[40:30]
put it in a dollar amount that
[40:32]
0.11%, uh, which we would
[40:34]
consider really a plus or minus
[40:37]
is about $10 in property, uh,
[40:43]
tax payments. Another request
[40:46]
from city council was to see
[40:47]
for other Northern Virginia
[40:50]
jurisdictions, or jurisdictions
[40:53]
that have already approved
[40:54]
detached adu ordinances, uh,
[40:56]
how many of these units have
[40:57]
actually been approved within
[41:01]
those jurisdictions. The most
[41:02]
instructive localities around
[41:03]
here are Arlington and
[41:05]
Alexandria, uh, both of those
[41:07]
have had permitted detached
[41:10]
ADUs now for 5 or 7 years. Uh,
[41:11]
you see the numbers up here,
[41:15]
this is the number of permits
[41:15]
issued, what
[41:17]
s perhaps most
[41:19]
instructive here is the uh
[41:20]
average annual number of
[41:21]
permits issued, and you see
[41:23]
that here it
[41:23]
s 11 in Arlington
[41:26]
County, and this goes back a
[41:31]
5-year period of 2021 to 202025,
[41:32]
uh, 14 annual average in
[41:35]
Alexandria. And uh you see it
[41:39]
at the bottom, how that
[41:40]
translates into annual permits
[41:42]
per 1000 homes, so that
[41:42]
s
[41:43]
helpful because it accounts for
[41:45]
the difference in, in size
[41:48]
between the jurisdictions. Oh.
[41:50]
Our counsel also asked for
[41:52]
information on Falls Church in
[41:56]
Fairfax County, uh, Fairfax
[41:58]
County allows detached ADUs, uh,
[41:59]
right now on properties that
[42:02]
are larger than 2 acres, the
[42:03]
county has issued 10 permits
[42:06]
for these types of ADUs since
[42:11]
2021. Falls Church is the most
[42:12]
recent jurisdiction locally to
[42:13]
allow detached ADUs, they have
[42:18]
issued 1 permit. So far, uh.
[42:20]
Now that that number per 1000
[42:23]
houses. If you take these 2
[42:25]
numbers that are on the screen
[42:27]
for Arlington and Alexandria,
[42:30]
if you combine those two with
[42:31]
Fairfax County, uh, so again, 2
[42:33]
plus acres, but Fairfax County
[42:35]
has 7000 homes over 2 plus
[42:35]
acres, so that
[42:37]
s a pretty big
[42:40]
data set. I if you take the, uh,
[42:43]
houses, the ADUs per 1000
[42:45]
houses, apply that to the city
[42:47]
of Fairfax, uh, you know, I, I
[42:49]
hate to make direct comparisons
[42:50]
because each jurisdiction is
[42:51]
different, uh, but that would.
[42:56]
Get us in the area of about 50
[42:58]
detached ADUs over a decade. Uh,
[42:59]
now I, I, I said I
[43:00]
m a little
[43:00]
bit uncomfortable saying that,
[43:02]
but of course, I just said it.
[43:02]
I
[43:02]
d, I
[43:04]
d give it a, a bigger
[43:04]
window, I
[43:07]
d say a few dozen, uh,
[43:08]
over a decade, uh, make, make
[43:10]
that a, a pretty big plus or
[43:12]
minus, but, uh, hopefully that
[43:14]
gives some kind of indication
[43:17]
of the prevalence of detached
[43:18]
ADUs locally in Northern
[43:20]
Virginia, uh, in, in places
[43:20]
where, where they
[43:26]
re allowed.
[43:27]
And another question, uh, like
[43:29]
I had mentioned before,
[43:30]
involved existing structures,
[43:31]
uh, council wanted to know just
[43:33]
as a frame of reference, uh,
[43:35]
how many of these kinds of
[43:37]
structures are in the city
[43:39]
right now. So for this, we, we
[43:41]
looked at property records, we
[43:43]
looked at all existing
[43:44]
residential structures so of
[43:46]
all types, not just garages,
[43:50]
but any res any structure that,
[43:52]
uh, but with a minimum of 350
[43:53]
square feet in size, which are
[43:55]
more likely to be converted to.
[43:59]
ADUs. Uh, in total, there
[43:59]
s
[44:01]
slightly under 400 of such
[44:03]
structures in the city right
[44:05]
now on residential lots, about
[44:06]
a quarter of those, or like it
[44:10]
says up here, 104. Are within
[44:12]
what we would call the
[44:14]
buildable setback area for
[44:15]
detached ADUs, so if you think
[44:17]
back to the previous slide with
[44:19]
the green area that would be,
[44:22]
uh, outside of the green area.
[44:25]
So 104 are within that
[44:26]
buildable setback area. The
[44:28]
remainder are, like it says
[44:30]
here, outside of that buildable
[44:31]
area, uh, so that gives some
[44:33]
kind of an idea of the number
[44:36]
of these structures in the city,
[44:37]
it is very important, though,
[44:38]
the point that
[44:38]
s at, at the
[44:39]
bottom, we can examine the
[44:41]
number, we can examine the size
[44:43]
and the placement of these
[44:44]
structures, but like it says at
[44:46]
the bottom here, not all of
[44:48]
these are really convertible to
[44:49]
some place where people would,
[44:52]
would want to live, so he
[44:54]
Either from the standpoint of
[44:55]
the type of construction, the
[44:57]
foundation, uh, the cost of
[44:58]
modifying the structure and,
[45:00]
and so on, so, uh, just an
[45:03]
important thing to keep in mind,
[45:03]
that
[45:03]
s something that
[45:03]
s
[45:04]
non-quantifiable, uh, but we,
[45:06]
we gave you here the, uh,
[45:07]
information that can be
[45:08]
quantified on the number of
[45:13]
existing structures. And now
[45:15]
finally, there were some
[45:17]
questions about the permitting
[45:19]
process and, uh, specifically
[45:21]
whether the city, uh, the main
[45:22]
question that came up in MAY
[45:22]
s
[45:25]
meeting was whether the city
[45:28]
would verify that properties
[45:30]
containing detached ADUs are in
[45:32]
fact owner-occupied, it is
[45:32]
required, it
[45:33]
s required in the
[45:35]
zoning standards, its current
[45:35]
requirement that we
[45:36]
re
[45:39]
recommending to keep in place,
[45:40]
uh, that the property owner
[45:41]
live in either the main house
[45:44]
or the Accessory dwelling unit.
[45:46]
Uh, now, first of all, city
[45:49]
staff will update the permit
[45:51]
procedures if detached ad ADUs
[45:53]
are allowed by city council, so
[45:56]
this will be updated, uh, and
[45:59]
one area where detached ADUs
[46:02]
would differ from attached ADUs
[46:03]
is that they would be subject
[46:05]
to the city
[46:06]
s rental occupancy
[46:07]
permit program. So this is a
[46:08]
program, uh, it
[46:09]
s an existing
[46:11]
program in the city where
[46:12]
rental houses are registered
[46:16]
and are periodically inspected.
[46:20]
Uh, because detached ADUs are
[46:21]
separate structures, they would
[46:24]
be made part of this program,
[46:27]
and those periodic inspections
[46:28]
would include a verification
[46:30]
that the property is
[46:32]
owner-occupied. Uh, so thi this
[46:34]
is, is not a verification that
[46:37]
would happen on a an annual
[46:37]
basis, uh, it
[46:38]
s a verification
[46:40]
that would happen when the
[46:43]
property is inspected, uh, but
[46:46]
that is one, additional level
[46:48]
of check that would not
[46:50]
ordinarily be there. Uh, and
[46:52]
aside from that city staff
[46:54]
would still be able to respond
[46:56]
to complaints about potential
[46:58]
zoning violations and that
[47:00]
includes uh occupancy,
[47:01]
potential occupancy violations
[47:02]
as well, uh, as is currently
[47:08]
the case. So that concludes
[47:08]
staff
[47:09]
s presentation for
[47:11]
tonight. I had mentioned that
[47:13]
the planning commission held a
[47:14]
public hearing on these
[47:16]
amendments in JUNE, the
[47:17]
commission recommended approval.
[47:18]
It was a unanimous
[47:20]
recommendation. The planning
[47:22]
commission did express some
[47:23]
concerns about parking, like I
[47:25]
had mentioned, planning
[47:27]
commission also expressed some
[47:28]
concerns about overcrowding and
[47:32]
occupancy enforcement. Uh, so
[47:33]
regarding overcrowding and
[47:36]
occupancies, some, some of that
[47:38]
discussion pertained to whether,
[47:40]
uh, you know, really similar to
[47:42]
the parking issue, uh, whether
[47:44]
the option of having detached
[47:47]
accessory dwelling units would
[47:49]
make existing overcrowding
[47:51]
issues worse, and whether the
[47:51]
city
[47:52]
s enforcement mechanisms
[47:55]
for all rentals were sufficient
[47:58]
to be on guard for overcrowding,
[48:00]
uh, types of situations. Some
[48:01]
of the discussion really
[48:04]
drifted into a more general
[48:06]
overcrowding and inspection
[48:08]
type of discussion, uh,
[48:09]
planning commissioners did
[48:09]
realize that that
[48:10]
s somewhat
[48:12]
outside of the boundary of
[48:12]
what
[48:13]
s being discussed here,
[48:15]
you know, with a specific focus
[48:19]
on detached ADUs. So outside of
[48:21]
the, the boundary of these
[48:22]
amendments, but it was
[48:23]
identified as a concern by
[48:24]
several planning commissioners,
[48:26]
and there was a bit of a
[48:28]
discussion on this topic at the
[48:29]
public hearing, so, uh, with
[48:30]
that, we
[48:32]
d be glad to answer
[48:33]
any questions that you all MAY
[48:36]
have. Thank you so much for the
[48:37]
presentation, uh, Council
[48:40]
member McQuillan. Thank you,
[48:42]
thank you so much. That
[48:44]
presentation was fantastic. Um,
[48:48]
I am looking at slide 5, about
[48:50]
the setbacks. Can you explain
[48:52]
why 8 ft versus 10 ft was
[48:55]
chosen for the ADUs. Uh, so we,
[48:57]
we did want to align it with
[49:02]
the Uh, existing affordable
[49:04]
dwelling unit setbacks, uh, you
[49:05]
know, the affordable dwelling
[49:07]
unit setbacks were put in place
[49:09]
again to give a little bit more
[49:11]
flexibility to something that
[49:12]
was considered desirable, but
[49:14]
to still maintain neighborhood
[49:16]
character and maintain a decent
[49:18]
amount of separation between 1
[49:20]
property and, and the other, uh,
[49:22]
8 8 8 ft was considered to be
[49:24]
appropriate for the affordable
[49:25]
dwelling unit ordinance it
[49:26]
achieves the same type of goal
[49:27]
that we
[49:28]
re looking at with, uh,
[49:31]
accessory. Ok, so the, for the
[49:34]
flexibility, just the extra
[49:34]
flexibility additional
[49:36]
flexibility while keeping those
[49:37]
kind of guardrails, not letting
[49:38]
these dwellings and the
[49:42]
dwellings have a higher. Bit of
[49:43]
intensity than other structures,
[49:44]
not letting those dwellings
[49:45]
being too close to the property
[49:47]
line. Thank you, I was just
[49:49]
curious as to why they didn
[49:49]
t
[49:50]
choose the 10 ft like they do
[49:51]
with the, um, but it sounds
[49:54]
like they need more flexibility,
[49:57]
um, is there considerate, was
[49:57]
there consideration regarding
[50:02]
topography? Of the Lock and we
[50:02]
we
[50:03]
re discussing the height,
[50:03]
and I
[50:04]
m thinking about the
[50:05]
height and how you mentioned
[50:05]
you didn
[50:08]
t want it looking over
[50:09]
or looming onto the permanent
[50:10]
dwelling, um, that
[50:11]
s there
[50:13]
already, so was that already
[50:14]
taken in as far as height, yes,
[50:15]
and that
[50:18]
s part of the reason
[50:20]
why the recommendation was 20
[50:22]
ft was basically 1.5 stories
[50:23]
instead of 2 stories, uh,
[50:25]
because if it is built on a
[50:26]
hill that 1.5 stories would
[50:29]
look more. Would look bigger
[50:33]
than 1.5 stories. Uh we didn
[50:33]
t
[50:36]
want anything too large.
[50:37]
2-story accessory dwelling
[50:38]
built in that situation on a
[50:40]
hill, uh, would, would just be
[50:42]
too looming, so 1.5 felt that
[50:44]
was perfect. Ok, good. So you
[50:45]
did consider that as far as far
[50:47]
as that kind of topography, yes,
[50:50]
the kind of topography that we
[50:50]
just can
[50:51]
t consider is if if a
[50:55]
certain uh Portion of a yard is
[50:57]
sloping to the point where it
[50:58]
makes construction difficult.
[51:00]
On a map like this, it might
[51:01]
seem like there
[51:01]
s plenty of
[51:03]
room to build an adu, but there
[51:05]
MAY not be. Same kind of thing
[51:06]
with trees in in in the way and
[51:07]
that there are cer certain
[51:08]
types of things that we just
[51:08]
can
[51:12]
t. Account for typography
[51:14]
and trees are 2 of those. Thank
[51:17]
you. I just want to make sure
[51:17]
that that was considered
[51:18]
exactly what you said with, you
[51:20]
know, if the lot was increasing
[51:24]
in height. In the back, um, is
[51:26]
there a financial cost for the
[51:28]
applicant to convert the
[51:29]
existing structure to an adu
[51:33]
conversion. There, there is a
[51:37]
zoning permit cost which i
[51:42]
believe is $70 or or so. Uh,
[51:44]
now the, any, you know, there
[51:46]
are, depending on what is
[51:48]
required, there would be
[51:49]
inspections from Code
[51:50]
Administration as well. Uh,
[51:52]
these things would really pale
[51:53]
in comparison to the actual
[51:55]
cost of construction or the
[51:56]
cost of providing utilities and,
[51:57]
and whatnot. They
[51:58]
re, there, it
[52:00]
is a minimal city cost uh to to
[52:01]
some of this, but it
[52:01]
s, it
[52:02]
s
[52:03]
very small in the overall
[52:04]
picture. Ok, good to know, and
[52:07]
then, um, of the, the local
[52:09]
cities that you use to, um,
[52:13]
make a comparison. Um, which
[52:15]
one most closely aligns with
[52:16]
the ordinance that we
[52:16]
re
[52:17]
currently being presented this
[52:19]
evening. I, I would say
[52:21]
Arlington and Falls Church
[52:23]
would most closely align at
[52:24]
Alexandria is much more
[52:26]
permissive in terms of setbacks,
[52:27]
and I think that has to do with
[52:29]
the types of houses and the
[52:31]
types of neighborhoods they
[52:33]
have in Alexandria and a lot of
[52:34]
existing structures that were
[52:37]
built. Long, long ago, uh, and,
[52:39]
and are already there, but
[52:40]
Arlington and Falls Church are
[52:41]
excellent, thank you, that
[52:41]
s
[52:42]
all my questions. I appreciate
[52:46]
it. Council member Amos. Thank
[52:49]
you, uh, excellent presentation,
[52:50]
the more comment than question,
[52:52]
the only thing I would flag, I,
[52:54]
I do echo the planning
[52:54]
commission
[52:54]
s concerns with
[52:55]
parking, and I know that came
[52:58]
up in our one on ones as well,
[52:59]
and I imagine that
[52:59]
s a concern
[53:03]
that many of us share the main
[53:04]
thing I would recommend, uh,
[53:04]
just because it
[53:06]
s very And I do
[53:06]
appreciate the language you
[53:07]
added to make it more
[53:09]
enforceable. I think that does
[53:11]
a good job. I, I would just
[53:13]
recommend tracking, uh, code
[53:15]
violations over a certain
[53:16]
period of time, and similar to
[53:17]
that tracking the number of
[53:18]
permits that are applied for
[53:20]
and comparing the two. We also
[53:20]
don
[53:21]
t want it to be a case
[53:24]
where We have a certain number
[53:25]
of, uh, violations, but they
[53:26]
re
[53:27]
all attributed to similar
[53:30]
properties or 1 or 2 outliers.
[53:31]
By by code violations, what
[53:32]
kind of code violations do you
[53:33]
have rather than code
[53:35]
violations, just violations,
[53:37]
for example, uh, for not
[53:38]
providing adequate parking or
[53:42]
overparking in certain areas.
[53:44]
So applications that, that tri
[53:45]
trigger that need for an
[53:45]
additional parking space, ok,
[53:48]
yes, got you. Council member
[53:50]
Hall. Thank you and thank you
[53:52]
for the extra time and energy
[53:54]
that went into asking or
[53:55]
answering the questions that we
[53:57]
had posed previously and, and
[53:59]
the other concerns, um, so I
[53:59]
ll
[54:00]
be honest, I thought you were
[54:01]
making a mistake when you
[54:03]
called them affordable dwelling
[54:04]
units, but then you made a
[54:06]
reference between 8 ft and 10
[54:08]
ft for affordable dwelling unit
[54:09]
versus accessory, detached
[54:10]
accessory dwelling unit. So,
[54:10]
i
[54:12]
ve been over here trying to
[54:13]
do some additional research,
[54:17]
but can you, there, there is an
[54:18]
affordable dwelling unit
[54:18]
ordinance folks aren
[54:19]
t very
[54:21]
familiar with it as a Pertains
[54:22]
to single-family houses because
[54:22]
we haven
[54:23]
t had anything like
[54:25]
that since 2020 when it was
[54:27]
approved, but the affordable
[54:29]
dwelling ordinance that you all
[54:30]
are more familiar with
[54:33]
requiring a certain percentage
[54:34]
of 6% of multi-family
[54:37]
residences be affordable. There
[54:39]
is an equivalent for detached
[54:42]
homes as well, uh, and just
[54:44]
like the, uh, building
[54:45]
standards were relaxed a bit
[54:47]
for the affordable dwelling
[54:48]
unit or affordable dwelling
[54:49]
units in multi-family. They
[54:53]
were Relaxed a little bit for.
[54:56]
Single family as well, and that
[54:59]
was increasing the. Setbacks or
[55:00]
decreasing the setbacks, so
[55:01]
that, that
[55:01]
s, that
[55:02]
s, that
[55:02]
s
[55:03]
where that comes from, thank
[55:05]
you, yes, yeah, I feel like we
[55:07]
need new acronyms that are Not
[55:13]
identical. Excuse me. Um, page
[55:15]
7 with regard to the parking, I,
[55:16]
I do, I, I know we like to
[55:17]
think that people are going to
[55:19]
bike everywhere and walk
[55:20]
everywhere and take shuttles,
[55:22]
but I, I really have concerns
[55:24]
about the parking, especially
[55:25]
in neighborhoods that already
[55:28]
have Um, you know, parking
[55:29]
issues, I don
[55:29]
t think it
[55:30]
s too
[55:32]
much to ask to move this to 3
[55:34]
spots as opposed to 2 spots. Um,
[55:35]
i think the picture that
[55:36]
s on
[55:37]
slide 11 is kind of a prime
[55:38]
example, as you were saying,
[55:39]
you know, there
[55:39]
s a requirement
[55:41]
to do this for the 2 required
[55:42]
spots. I was thinking to some
[55:44]
of the neighborhoods that are
[55:45]
in the city where they don
[55:45]
t
[55:47]
have a driveway at all, or they
[55:48]
have a short driveway just like
[55:49]
that, and I was like, well,
[55:49]
those don
[55:51]
t That
[55:51]
s not how
[55:52]
things are right now. So I
[55:53]
recognize that it would need to
[55:54]
be brought up to code in order
[55:58]
to do that, but I, I don
[55:58]
t
[55:58]
think it
[55:59]
ll hurt in most cases
[56:02]
to add a third spot, uh,
[56:05]
instead of just 2. Um, and then
[56:07]
page 11. Think, oh, sorry, that
[56:08]
was the same thing. Yeah, uh,
[56:10]
bring up the code for 2 spots.
[56:14]
Um And I
[56:14]
m so ok, so I
[56:14]
m
[56:16]
flipping back and forth a
[56:18]
little bit between the staff
[56:19]
report and the presentation. So
[56:22]
on page 8 of the presentation.
[56:25]
Uh, it talks about the height
[56:28]
of, of the, um, the houses here.
[56:30]
So I think, you know, in the
[56:32]
city, we have a lot of houses
[56:34]
that might not be Cookie cutter
[56:36]
in some ways or they might have
[56:37]
like my house specifically, we
[56:39]
have, you know, we put in like
[56:40]
16-foot ceilings, which you
[56:40]
don
[56:41]
t see from the outside
[56:42]
because it looks like the same
[56:44]
height, but then in the front,
[56:45]
when we did our garage, we did
[56:48]
a Peak, I guess, whatever, I
[56:48]
don
[56:49]
t know what it
[56:49]
s called,
[56:50]
like the one roof goes this way
[56:51]
and the other one goes that way,
[56:52]
hipped, I think, yes, thank you,
[56:57]
the hip, yes. How, how do those
[56:58]
hips get decided, like what
[56:58]
s
[56:59]
the height that you
[56:59]
re looking
[57:00]
at when you see a tall portion
[57:02]
of a house versus the majority
[57:03]
of the roof is another height.
[57:05]
How does that work? So a hip
[57:07]
roof and a regular peaked roof
[57:09]
are measured the same way that
[57:12]
the height is measured halfway
[57:13]
between the eve and the peak.
[57:16]
Ok. So, uh, in, in this case,
[57:20]
20, so a house can be 35 ft
[57:21]
tall, that 35 ft is not
[57:22]
measured to the peak, it
[57:22]
s
[57:23]
measured at the halfway point
[57:25]
between the eve and the. Peak.
[57:27]
Same thing with the 20 ft here,
[57:28]
uh, it, it
[57:31]
s measured halfway,
[57:32]
uh, between the, um, between
[57:34]
the eve and the peak and also
[57:36]
halfway between the slope of
[57:37]
the ground, if, if the ground
[57:40]
slopes, it, it is a complicated
[57:41]
procedure. We don
[57:42]
t feel that
[57:42]
it
[57:43]
s something that we
[57:43]
re
[57:44]
dumping on residents as much
[57:45]
because if you have one of
[57:47]
these built, you have an
[57:49]
architect who has to take those
[57:51]
measurements in all cases, uh,
[57:52]
so the same architect can take
[57:53]
measurements of, of the house
[57:55]
as well. Well, it
[57:56]
s not a bit
[57:57]
of information the property
[57:59]
owners would tend to have at
[57:59]
the ready for their own
[58:00]
property, but it
[58:00]
s something
[58:02]
that in the course of
[58:04]
construction is, is routine. Ok,
[58:05]
and so then let
[58:07]
s picture that
[58:10]
you have a lot where the back
[58:11]
is significantly higher or
[58:13]
lower, how does that factor
[58:16]
into the roof of that space. So,
[58:18]
so the measurement is taken if,
[58:19]
if the ground slopes like this,
[58:21]
the measurement is taken from
[58:22]
the halfway point, uh, of the
[58:24]
high point and the low point.
[58:25]
Of, of the structure, so the
[58:27]
halfway point of the ground to
[58:29]
the halfway point of the roof.
[58:30]
Ok, so that
[58:31]
s your 35 ft or
[58:32]
your 20 ft, ok, so let
[58:33]
s say my
[58:34]
house out front is normal when
[58:37]
it comes to my neighbors, but
[58:39]
then my yard significantly goes
[58:40]
up, am I going to be able to
[58:42]
build a house that is as tall
[58:44]
as my house, which means now
[58:46]
this house in behind is
[58:48]
significantly taller, or am I
[58:50]
limited to the height, even
[58:52]
with the additional Hill in the
[58:54]
back, so if your house is on a
[58:57]
slope, and if the measurement
[58:58]
for your house come comes out
[59:01]
that your house is 25 ft. Tall,
[59:04]
for instance, uh The maximum
[59:07]
height of the adu would be 20
[59:07]
ft because that
[59:08]
s the tallest
[59:11]
that it could possibly go. Ok,
[59:12]
so I, I understand you
[59:12]
re
[59:13]
explaining the same thing to me
[59:14]
multiple times in different
[59:15]
ways. I
[59:16]
m still not visually
[59:17]
height measurement is not easy
[59:19]
to understand. No, it
[59:20]
s not the,
[59:22]
the, the 2 structures would be
[59:22]
measured independently of each
[59:26]
other. So if, if, if, if your
[59:28]
house. Is measured at over 20
[59:33]
ft. Your adu could be a maximum
[59:34]
of 20 ft regardless of what the
[59:37]
topography is. Ok, so it is
[59:38]
possible then if you have a
[59:41]
very large hill in the back
[59:44]
that your secondary. Adu could
[59:45]
be significantly taller than
[59:49]
your front house. That, that,
[59:50]
that would be extremely
[59:51]
unlikely. I
[59:51]
m, I
[59:52]
m, I, I, I
[59:52]
don
[59:53]
t want to say it can
[59:53]
t
[59:58]
happen. Ok. I, I, I, I feel. I
[59:59]
feel it would be very unlikely.
[1:00:01]
It it would be a, you know,
[1:00:03]
like if you had this house on
[1:00:06]
the right, and then you had the
[1:00:07]
property slope down a lot in
[1:00:13]
the back. Uh, then. You MAY
[1:00:14]
have a situation where that
[1:00:15]
looks the case, but it would
[1:00:17]
still have to keep to 16 ft.
[1:00:19]
And, and the, and the reason
[1:00:22]
that we have It as The, the
[1:00:24]
reason we have it is that is to
[1:00:26]
build in some additional
[1:00:29]
flexibility, uh, because we, we
[1:00:29]
didn
[1:00:30]
t want houses, we didn
[1:00:32]
want a situation where a house
[1:00:34]
where an adu would have to be
[1:00:37]
an unreasonably small. Number.
[1:00:38]
Right, and, but on the flip
[1:00:39]
side, we also don
[1:00:40]
t now that
[1:00:42]
this house is going to be
[1:00:43]
significantly closer to a side
[1:00:44]
yard. We also don
[1:00:46]
t want it to
[1:00:48]
be towering over where the
[1:00:48]
front house wasn
[1:00:49]
t already just
[1:00:50]
because of a topography thing,
[1:00:53]
so just trying to understand
[1:00:59]
that those nuances. Ok. Um, On,
[1:01:01]
uh, in the staff report, I
[1:01:06]
think this is on page 6, Item l,
[1:01:06]
it
[1:01:09]
s on page 7, it talks about
[1:01:10]
the zoning administrator MAY
[1:01:12]
inspect the property if If
[1:01:13]
there is a complaint registered
[1:01:14]
with the city or if the
[1:01:15]
official has other reason to
[1:01:17]
believe that the owner or
[1:01:18]
occupants are in violation of
[1:01:19]
the accessory dwelling unit
[1:01:22]
approval. From what I
[1:01:26]
understand of our. Enforcement
[1:01:26]
abilities, there
[1:01:27]
s not a lot of
[1:01:31]
teeth to them. And I totally
[1:01:31]
support people
[1:01:32]
s right to do
[1:01:32]
what they want with their own
[1:01:34]
houses, but I also don
[1:01:35]
t want
[1:01:37]
to see that right impede upon
[1:01:39]
their neighbors. And so I, I, I
[1:01:39]
know we
[1:01:40]
ve had issues in the
[1:01:42]
past where we as a council have
[1:01:43]
been notified that, you know,
[1:01:44]
there might be x number of
[1:01:45]
people living in a house and
[1:01:46]
they
[1:01:47]
re like, no, it
[1:01:48]
boyfriends, girlfriends, but
[1:01:48]
they
[1:01:49]
re really there all the
[1:01:49]
time, but they don
[1:01:51]
t Qualify as
[1:01:53]
as house residents, but there
[1:01:54]
a parking situation that comes
[1:01:56]
or other things that come with
[1:02:00]
that. So I I would like to see
[1:02:02]
a little bit more enforcement
[1:02:05]
ability, whether or not we have
[1:02:06]
enforcement power or enough
[1:02:08]
staff members to do that. I
[1:02:09]
think that
[1:02:09]
s likely not going
[1:02:11]
to be something that we need to
[1:02:13]
add in order to manage this,
[1:02:13]
but that
[1:02:15]
s, those are part of
[1:02:16]
my concerns. Um, the next one
[1:02:19]
also goes then to item, um, n
[1:02:21]
as in Nancy, where it talks
[1:02:22]
about, um, if there
[1:02:22]
s a change,
[1:02:25]
sorry, they took that out. If
[1:02:27]
an accessory dwelling unit no
[1:02:27]
longer complies with the
[1:02:31]
conditions, then The, uh, use
[1:02:33]
of the space as a separate
[1:02:34]
dwelling unit shall cease the
[1:02:35]
physical arrangement of the
[1:02:36]
space that created an
[1:02:37]
independent housekeeping unit
[1:02:39]
shall be integrated into the
[1:02:40]
primary dwelling unit and the
[1:02:42]
space shall not be
[1:02:42]
independently leased as a
[1:02:44]
separate dwelling unit. Again,
[1:02:46]
I feel like that
[1:02:46]
s something
[1:02:47]
where we tell someone they
[1:02:47]
can
[1:02:48]
t do something because they
[1:02:50]
violated a rule or, you know,
[1:02:51]
an ordinance, but again, we
[1:02:52]
don
[1:02:53]
t have a lot of ability to
[1:02:55]
go back and actually follow up
[1:02:56]
on it. So I just think there
[1:02:57]
needs to be something in there
[1:02:57]
that
[1:02:59]
s a little bit stronger
[1:03:00]
because from what I understand,
[1:03:01]
if we go and we knock on the
[1:03:03]
door and no one answers, well,
[1:03:04]
we might go back another day
[1:03:07]
and no one answers again.
[1:03:08]
Legally, and we shouldn
[1:03:09]
t have
[1:03:10]
the ability to enter their yard
[1:03:13]
to do things, but If they
[1:03:13]
re
[1:03:14]
not complying with something,
[1:03:15]
it, it seems like there needs
[1:03:18]
to be some other way to have
[1:03:19]
some additional enforcement. So
[1:03:20]
I, I
[1:03:22]
m not suggesting You know,
[1:03:23]
I mean, tax levies, like
[1:03:23]
there
[1:03:24]
s all these different
[1:03:25]
things that people can do, like
[1:03:26]
they boot your car, right? Like
[1:03:27]
all those things that they do
[1:03:28]
when you don
[1:03:29]
t pay your parking
[1:03:30]
tickets. I just think that
[1:03:32]
there needs to be some other
[1:03:33]
conversation that is in place
[1:03:34]
to be able to move forward with
[1:03:36]
this. And, and that
[1:03:37]
s not
[1:03:38]
dissimilar to the conversation
[1:03:40]
the planning commission had
[1:03:41]
last month, uh, it, it just and,
[1:03:43]
and, you know, we reminded
[1:03:45]
planning commission of, of this
[1:03:47]
as well, and, uh, occupancy
[1:03:49]
enforcement is awfully tricky
[1:03:49]
from the city
[1:03:50]
s perspective
[1:03:51]
because there
[1:03:52]
s no way to check
[1:03:54]
on the occupancy of a dwelling
[1:03:56]
without having city staff go
[1:03:57]
into that dwelling and look at
[1:03:58]
the beds and look at the
[1:04:00]
bedrooms, and that
[1:04:00]
s something
[1:04:00]
obviously that
[1:04:01]
s not taken
[1:04:03]
lightly by the city, there
[1:04:06]
just no other way of, of doing
[1:04:08]
it, so. Yeah, well, it does
[1:04:10]
kind of, you know, wander into
[1:04:11]
another discussion on, on
[1:04:14]
occupancy and General, but it
[1:04:15]
a pertinent discussion. Yeah,
[1:04:16]
well, I know like with the
[1:04:17]
noise ordinance, right? If, if
[1:04:17]
you
[1:04:18]
re not getting the response
[1:04:20]
you need and the neighbor is
[1:04:22]
still continuing to do things,
[1:04:22]
there
[1:04:24]
s an option now to go to
[1:04:25]
the courthouse and swear out a
[1:04:27]
warrant and, and go that legal
[1:04:28]
route, obviously a, a
[1:04:29]
disgruntled neighbor is not
[1:04:30]
gonna be able to go and swear
[1:04:32]
out a warrant against their
[1:04:33]
neighbor for not having the
[1:04:34]
right number of people in their
[1:04:35]
house or whatever it is. So I
[1:04:37]
just think some of these things
[1:04:38]
are just a slippery slope, and
[1:04:41]
I think The, the more we can be
[1:04:44]
on top of them and try to have
[1:04:45]
stronger language where needed.
[1:04:48]
Again, just gives us a little
[1:04:49]
bit more opportunity to have
[1:04:50]
that conversation rather than
[1:04:51]
realizing it was too soft and
[1:04:52]
then we can
[1:04:52]
t go back and do
[1:04:56]
anything about it. Um, My also
[1:04:57]
my other question about that
[1:04:59]
section and it, it, um, talks
[1:05:00]
about like when the, I
[1:05:00]
m sorry,
[1:05:02]
it was, uh, section k talks
[1:05:04]
about the, they do an initial
[1:05:06]
inspection of the accessory
[1:05:08]
dwelling unit, um, and then in
[1:05:10]
addition to any renewal of the
[1:05:13]
accessory dwelling unit, use or
[1:05:15]
transfer of ownership, so. When
[1:05:17]
would a renewal apply? Are
[1:05:21]
people applying for an adu? For
[1:05:23]
1 year, 3 years, 5 years, or
[1:05:23]
it
[1:05:25]
s for the life of their
[1:05:26]
property in which they live,
[1:05:27]
and then it transfers to the
[1:05:30]
new owner. Uh, I, I think the
[1:05:31]
renewal applies to the transfer
[1:05:32]
of ownership. I
[1:05:33]
m not sure why
[1:05:33]
it
[1:05:35]
s wri written as an or
[1:05:37]
situation, the, the, the zoning
[1:05:40]
permit, uh, the applicant signs
[1:05:41]
an affidavit acknowledging that,
[1:05:44]
uh, it has to be renewed when
[1:05:45]
the property transfers, ok, I,
[1:05:48]
I will say the, the wording of
[1:05:49]
this made me think, and I guess
[1:05:50]
similar with the planning
[1:05:51]
commission was saying, and I
[1:05:53]
also You know, I think people
[1:05:54]
are landlords for a very long
[1:05:56]
time and People don
[1:05:56]
t always
[1:05:57]
check up on the house or make
[1:05:58]
sure that it
[1:05:58]
s being maintained
[1:06:00]
in the way that it should be,
[1:06:01]
especially when you might have
[1:06:02]
college kids renting and
[1:06:02]
there
[1:06:03]
s a lot of transiency and
[1:06:05]
things like that, but maybe we
[1:06:06]
do as a separate conversation
[1:06:11]
need a little bit more of a
[1:06:11]
stronger conversation around
[1:06:13]
making sure that when a tenant
[1:06:14]
takes possession of the home
[1:06:17]
that it really is truly in a
[1:06:19]
good, safe rentable smoke
[1:06:20]
detectors are working, all of
[1:06:21]
that kind of thing. Um, you
[1:06:23]
know, I know that they pay an
[1:06:24]
annual fee to have a rental
[1:06:28]
unit, but I, I think we could
[1:06:29]
potentially be doing our
[1:06:31]
renters as a disservice by not
[1:06:32]
making sure that things are up
[1:06:33]
to date, um, I know they used
[1:06:34]
to do it in, you know, college
[1:06:35]
and all that, so it
[1:06:35]
s just a
[1:06:45]
thought. Um, Page 17. I guess I
[1:06:46]
already asked this was how do
[1:06:47]
we respond to a violation if
[1:06:47]
there
[1:06:49]
s no one answers the door,
[1:06:55]
um, ok. And then, um, my last
[1:06:55]
question, and i
[1:06:56]
ve been asking
[1:06:57]
this since I think the
[1:06:58]
beginning is why are we so
[1:07:00]
afraid of doing this by special
[1:07:03]
use permit. I recognize that we
[1:07:04]
think there
[1:07:04]
s only gonna be a
[1:07:06]
handful. You said that there
[1:07:09]
might be Did you say 50/10
[1:07:11]
years? Right. Ok, so We
[1:07:12]
re
[1:07:13]
doing special use permits for
[1:07:13]
chickens. We
[1:07:15]
re doing them for
[1:07:16]
daycares. This this to me is
[1:07:20]
something that It impacts you
[1:07:21]
as a homeowner that lives there,
[1:07:23]
but it also impacts every
[1:07:23]
neighbor that
[1:07:24]
s around you, and
[1:07:26]
I know that when we were doing
[1:07:28]
our renovation and we wanted to
[1:07:30]
get an exception to the, which
[1:07:31]
is now, it
[1:07:31]
s even smaller than
[1:07:32]
what we asked for, but for the,
[1:07:34]
the side yard, I mean, we had
[1:07:36]
to send out certified postcards
[1:07:37]
and have all of our neighbors
[1:07:37]
not really have a problem with
[1:07:39]
it and, and have that
[1:07:42]
conversation to me this is a
[1:07:43]
really big decision that you
[1:07:45]
are making as a homeowner that
[1:07:47]
is impacting all of those
[1:07:49]
around you, and. I, I just, I,
[1:07:54]
I, I would have a much easier
[1:07:55]
Ability to accept this if it
[1:07:58]
was a spy special use, but just
[1:07:59]
willy-nilly by right, I, I
[1:08:01]
think. I
[1:08:01]
m hopeful that there
[1:08:02]
not going to be an
[1:08:03]
extraordinary amount of these,
[1:08:04]
but I, I don
[1:08:05]
t think it hurts
[1:08:06]
to do the special use. I think
[1:08:08]
it makes sure that we just have
[1:08:10]
that extra layer of You know,
[1:08:11]
rubber stamping it essentially
[1:08:12]
to make sure that it, it is
[1:08:14]
what it is. And I think it
[1:08:15]
gives, like I said, the
[1:08:17]
neighbors around them a real
[1:08:18]
opportunity to understand
[1:08:18]
what
[1:08:19]
s gonna be happening next
[1:08:19]
to them and what they
[1:08:20]
re gonna
[1:08:22]
be living next to. So I, I
[1:08:23]
would really, really like to
[1:08:26]
see that added in here. I, I
[1:08:29]
think the aversion to having
[1:08:31]
ADUs be a special use permit,
[1:08:33]
uh, just drawing back to 2016
[1:08:35]
when that was discussed because,
[1:08:37]
uh, ADUs used to be a special
[1:08:39]
use permit. I, I think council
[1:08:42]
felt uncomfortable about having
[1:08:43]
individual homeowners come, uh,
[1:08:46]
to a meeting like this at city
[1:08:46]
council to explain improvements
[1:08:50]
that they wanted to do in in
[1:08:51]
their home while other, uh, you
[1:08:54]
know. A brand new home could be
[1:08:57]
built 3-story, 35 ft high, 5000
[1:08:58]
sq ft home could be built
[1:09:01]
without coming to city council,
[1:09:02]
uh, but adding an accessory
[1:09:03]
dwelling unit brings people to
[1:09:06]
city council to a meeting like
[1:09:08]
this, uh, the, the Chicken.
[1:09:12]
This this was before chickens.
[1:09:13]
Before the chicken I think I, I
[1:09:16]
think the, uh, you know, the,
[1:09:20]
the thought is that counsel
[1:09:20]
doesn
[1:09:22]
t necessarily want more
[1:09:22]
individual property cases
[1:09:24]
coming to public hearings like
[1:09:26]
chickens. I think this council
[1:09:27]
member does, to be totally
[1:09:31]
honest. Um, and I You said back
[1:09:34]
in 2016 when they did this, but
[1:09:35]
we didn
[1:09:35]
t have detached
[1:09:37]
accessory dwelling units. We
[1:09:38]
had attached accessory dwelling
[1:09:39]
units, so you
[1:09:39]
re saying that
[1:09:43]
that Um, requirement was
[1:09:45]
removed in 2016 for attached
[1:09:47]
dwelling units. Correct, ok,
[1:09:48]
and, and I understand what
[1:09:48]
you
[1:09:50]
re saying about tear down
[1:09:51]
and build a 35-foot house. I
[1:09:52]
mean, I think we
[1:09:52]
ve all seen
[1:09:54]
the one on Warwick, um, but
[1:09:56]
again, I think you have very
[1:09:58]
angry neighbors that are really
[1:09:59]
unhappy with what happened
[1:10:02]
there. So I, I think if we
[1:10:03]
re
[1:10:04]
really only expecting 50 over a
[1:10:07]
10-year period to me. Check the
[1:10:09]
box. Special permit, special
[1:10:10]
use permit, easy breezy and we
[1:10:12]
get it going. So I, I
[1:10:12]
m not
[1:10:13]
sure that I can support this
[1:10:17]
without that. Thank you.
[1:10:23]
Council member Bates. So, uh,
[1:10:25]
with regard to height, um, well,
[1:10:26]
uh, well actually both height
[1:10:29]
and setbacks, uh. The
[1:10:31]
requirements that are proposed
[1:10:34]
here actually more strict than,
[1:10:34]
uh, the existing requirements
[1:10:37]
for, uh, non-dwelling unit
[1:10:38]
accessory structures, is that
[1:10:40]
right? Correct, yeah, um, and
[1:10:43]
then, uh, Um, which, you know,
[1:10:43]
also certainly don
[1:10:44]
t require
[1:10:45]
any additional parking, granted,
[1:10:45]
they don
[1:10:46]
t have anybody living
[1:10:49]
there, but, um You know, and
[1:10:52]
additionally. Residents are
[1:10:54]
able to, as you mentioned,
[1:10:55]
build additions onto their
[1:10:57]
house, add additional bedrooms,
[1:10:58]
um, and then, of course, we
[1:11:02]
have Uh, attached accessory
[1:11:06]
dwelling units allowed. Um, and
[1:11:08]
so really, to my mind, this is
[1:11:10]
taking what is already allowed
[1:11:11]
and providing some simply
[1:11:12]
additional flexibility in terms
[1:11:14]
of where it can be located. Um,
[1:11:16]
and perhaps even additional
[1:11:19]
flexibility to allow for it to
[1:11:21]
be even less overwhelming to
[1:11:22]
the existing structure since it
[1:11:23]
can be separated a bit from the
[1:11:27]
existing house. Um, and, uh,
[1:11:28]
you know, additionally, as you
[1:11:31]
mentioned, Someone can, um, can
[1:11:33]
build a, you know, a house, uh,
[1:11:36]
without a permit. And of course,
[1:11:36]
we
[1:11:39]
ve seen Uh, additional
[1:11:44]
houses built on, um, uh, lots.
[1:11:45]
That have been subdivided and
[1:11:48]
sold off. And so this, to my
[1:11:50]
mind, also provides an
[1:11:51]
alternative to that, you know,
[1:11:53]
that is perhaps a bit less, uh,
[1:11:55]
disruptive, you know, or less
[1:11:58]
impactful. To the, um, you know,
[1:12:00]
the streetscape, the, uh,
[1:12:01]
existing, uh, aesthetic of the
[1:12:05]
property. And, uh, with regard
[1:12:09]
to, um The question of
[1:12:13]
requiring a special use permit,
[1:12:15]
would that require the
[1:12:17]
applicant to pay the special
[1:12:19]
use permit fee as well, correct?
[1:12:22]
Yeah, yeah, so I have concerns
[1:12:23]
about that, um, given that, you
[1:12:25]
know, for chickens, for daycare,
[1:12:27]
you know, that kind of thing,
[1:12:29]
um, you know, certainly you can
[1:12:33]
say that, uh Um, you know,
[1:12:35]
hands produce eggs, uh. Daycare
[1:12:37]
provides an income stream, but
[1:12:37]
it
[1:12:40]
s not something that is, uh,
[1:12:43]
directly Uh, necessity for the,
[1:12:45]
you know, the people living
[1:12:47]
there, necessarily, but of
[1:12:48]
course, housing is for the, you
[1:12:50]
know, the people who live in
[1:12:51]
the accessible dwelling unit
[1:12:56]
itself. And so from a housing
[1:12:59]
availability perspective, I
[1:13:01]
would have concerns about, um,
[1:13:02]
the burden that that fee might
[1:13:03]
place on people who want to do
[1:13:06]
this. And also I would imagine
[1:13:08]
that the process for that would
[1:13:11]
be a lot more, um. Labor
[1:13:12]
intensive, uh, right then, you
[1:13:14]
know, for, for chickens or
[1:13:15]
daycare because it
[1:13:16]
s a matter
[1:13:17]
of building an additional
[1:13:20]
structure on the lot. Um, so
[1:13:23]
there would be a You know, the
[1:13:25]
process involved for that. So,
[1:13:28]
um Yeah, and then again, you
[1:13:31]
know, parking. Um, We can, you
[1:13:33]
know, of course, an additional
[1:13:35]
house on, you know, subdivided
[1:13:36]
lot does require additional
[1:13:38]
parking, but other than that,
[1:13:40]
um, you know, additions. Or, uh,
[1:13:43]
attached dwelling units, I
[1:13:44]
believe are under similar
[1:13:46]
conditions, they have to
[1:13:46]
fulfill the parking
[1:13:47]
requirements for, you know, the
[1:13:49]
house. Um, but don
[1:13:51]
t have to
[1:13:52]
add additional spots for those,
[1:13:54]
is that right? Yeah, so. Um,
[1:13:57]
from that perspective, I see
[1:13:57]
what
[1:13:58]
s proposed as really only
[1:13:59]
fair to the homeowners in the
[1:14:02]
city. Council member Hardy
[1:14:05]
Chandler. So I wanna thank you
[1:14:07]
for the report, and I also want
[1:14:10]
to, um, thank you for certainly
[1:14:12]
following up on the wide array
[1:14:14]
of questions that we had, I
[1:14:16]
know I was particularly
[1:14:17]
interested in looking at our
[1:14:18]
neighbors and what
[1:14:19]
s happening
[1:14:21]
around there, um, I was
[1:14:24]
surprised that the low numbers,
[1:14:26]
um, that are pretty consistent
[1:14:28]
across this region, um, so
[1:14:28]
we
[1:14:30]
re talking about 50 pos
[1:14:31]
possibly 50 over the course of
[1:14:33]
10 years when we go back to the
[1:14:36]
parking, is there any
[1:14:37]
Indication that, uh, the
[1:14:41]
existing Uh, Dwelling units
[1:14:42]
that are attached, are they
[1:14:44]
clustered in our city in any
[1:14:46]
way, or are they spread
[1:14:47]
dispersed throughout our city.
[1:14:49]
They, they are, they are spread
[1:14:50]
out. There
[1:14:51]
s about 2 dozen or,
[1:14:54]
or so, and, and there
[1:14:54]
s no
[1:14:55]
neighborhood pattern, no
[1:14:56]
geographic pattern to where
[1:14:58]
they are. And and there
[1:14:58]
s the
[1:14:59]
expectation that this would
[1:15:01]
follow that same pattern or
[1:15:01]
there
[1:15:02]
s no information to
[1:15:04]
indicate that these might be
[1:15:05]
just clustered in one
[1:15:08]
neighborhood, causing some kind
[1:15:09]
of parking problem for at 5 a
[1:15:11]
year. Right, there
[1:15:12]
s no,
[1:15:12]
there
[1:15:13]
s not a unique enough
[1:15:17]
element, uh, to, to say that
[1:15:18]
certain neighborhoods would
[1:15:19]
only, you know, be suitable for
[1:15:21]
these or, or not, yeah, and I
[1:15:24]
go back to just sort of our
[1:15:27]
general desire to have a wide
[1:15:29]
variety of housing options, um,
[1:15:30]
and our policy of, or our
[1:15:32]
desired policy, or aspiration
[1:15:34]
of wanting to have people who
[1:15:35]
are single family owners,
[1:15:38]
accommodate, uh, renters, those
[1:15:40]
kinds of things, I see this as
[1:15:42]
another viable option it is.
[1:15:42]
Isn
[1:15:44]
t a huge option, clearly
[1:15:46]
the data, um, that we requested
[1:15:47]
looking at the region shows
[1:15:49]
that this is a possibility for
[1:15:52]
some, um, but it opens up an
[1:15:53]
opportunity for some families.
[1:15:56]
i know of a neighbor who has an
[1:15:58]
attached dwelling unit and the
[1:16:00]
prior owner of the house is
[1:16:01]
living in that and her children
[1:16:03]
are living in the main house,
[1:16:03]
it
[1:16:05]
s a wonderful arrangement,
[1:16:07]
these kinds of opportunities
[1:16:10]
for homeowners, um, are ones
[1:16:13]
that I Absolutely support.
[1:16:13]
We
[1:16:15]
re not talking about large
[1:16:15]
volumes, we
[1:16:16]
re not talking
[1:16:20]
about, um, you know, ah. Every
[1:16:21]
household having a hill that
[1:16:22]
gonna distort, uh, the height,
[1:16:23]
but I do think we
[1:16:24]
re talking
[1:16:25]
about an opportunity that
[1:16:27]
going to make a major
[1:16:29]
difference, uh, for families
[1:16:30]
that choose this option, so
[1:16:32]
thank you for your report, I
[1:16:34]
appreciate all of the, um,
[1:16:35]
information that you gathered
[1:16:37]
to answer our questions.
[1:16:42]
Council member Peterson. So
[1:16:47]
what is the list of different
[1:16:50]
Permits that um the homeowner
[1:16:51]
would have to obtain to
[1:16:53]
actually put in place Detached
[1:16:57]
adu. From a zoning perspective,
[1:16:59]
there would be a zoning permit,
[1:17:02]
and then there would be code
[1:17:03]
administration building permits
[1:17:04]
as needed, so just, just like
[1:17:05]
any, any other construction
[1:17:07]
project. And that is the
[1:17:08]
equivalent of a construction
[1:17:12]
permit. Correct. Ok, so those
[1:17:15]
are 2, all right, um. And just,
[1:17:17]
I think one quick note on the
[1:17:18]
special use permit question.
[1:17:20]
One thing that seems a little
[1:17:22]
bit different here is a
[1:17:25]
detached uh adu. Has proximity
[1:17:26]
implications for neighbors that
[1:17:29]
are different than an attached
[1:17:31]
adu and that MAY raise the bar
[1:17:33]
a little bit in terms of
[1:17:35]
reactions that people have in
[1:17:36]
terms of something being
[1:17:38]
proposed and built, so it
[1:17:39]
probably worth considering as
[1:17:41]
we think about whether or not a
[1:17:42]
special use permit is something
[1:17:45]
that we should do. I, I would
[1:17:46]
like to go back to the parking
[1:17:47]
issue and I know we
[1:17:47]
ve said a
[1:17:49]
lot about it, but, uh, and I
[1:17:51]
just want to say also I
[1:17:53]
appreciate very much, um, we
[1:17:54]
had an opportunity to have some
[1:17:57]
staff. Briefings on this and
[1:17:58]
had some conversation around
[1:18:00]
street parking. And I
[1:18:00]
d like to
[1:18:02]
go back and just understand
[1:18:03]
there, there
[1:18:04]
s a potential, at
[1:18:06]
least in some places. That
[1:18:07]
there
[1:18:09]
s a risk that the amount
[1:18:10]
of street parking would
[1:18:12]
increase in certain locations.
[1:18:14]
It could be for a couple of
[1:18:16]
different reasons, there just
[1:18:16]
isn
[1:18:16]
t sufficient expansion
[1:18:19]
capacity on the lot, whatever,
[1:18:19]
what
[1:18:20]
s the remedy if that does
[1:18:24]
appear to be the case. So a, a
[1:18:25]
remedy from a neighborhood
[1:18:26]
perspective would be to
[1:18:27]
petition the city for a parking
[1:18:31]
district. Uh, so that, that
[1:18:33]
would be if, if a neighborhood
[1:18:37]
has. A parking problem that is
[1:18:40]
the remedy that the city has
[1:18:44]
established, is, is that the?
[1:18:44]
Answer that you
[1:18:47]
re Looking for.
[1:18:48]
Well, I
[1:18:48]
m not sure what the
[1:18:49]
answer is, I
[1:18:50]
m just needing to,
[1:18:52]
you know, understand for those
[1:18:54]
situations where that could be
[1:18:55]
a problem, where that goes in
[1:18:58]
terms of being able to address
[1:18:59]
it, um, I
[1:18:59]
m not sure what
[1:19:01]
involved in becoming a parking
[1:19:04]
district, but I just wonder, um,
[1:19:05]
maybe this gets back also to
[1:19:07]
the question mark. About a
[1:19:10]
special use permit. Is that a
[1:19:12]
way in which that kind of a
[1:19:14]
situation would be caught and
[1:19:15]
addressed if it is that one of
[1:19:19]
the options for that or no? I,
[1:19:20]
I suppose that
[1:19:21]
s a
[1:19:21]
consideration that counsel
[1:19:25]
could Use in a special use
[1:19:27]
permit situation if, if, if it
[1:19:30]
was a special use permit. Ok,
[1:19:32]
and the issue is not that there
[1:19:36]
would be So many detached ADUs
[1:19:37]
in one place that it would
[1:19:39]
contribute to volume. The issue
[1:19:40]
is more site-specific where
[1:19:40]
you
[1:19:41]
d have a circumstance where
[1:19:43]
there just isn
[1:19:44]
t a
[1:19:45]
configuration for off-street
[1:19:45]
parking sufficient, so you
[1:19:46]
re
[1:19:47]
forcing it on street where you
[1:19:49]
already MAY have it, so it
[1:19:50]
stretches that, yeah, so, so
[1:19:51]
the the special use permit
[1:19:53]
being at the discretion of
[1:19:54]
counsel, counsel can pick and
[1:19:54]
choose, and that
[1:19:55]
s the plus and
[1:19:56]
that
[1:19:57]
s the minus of the special
[1:19:58]
use permit, you know, the plus
[1:20:00]
side, it is the council can
[1:20:03]
make that. Spot determination,
[1:20:07]
you know, the downside from a
[1:20:07]
homeowner
[1:20:08]
s perspective is the
[1:20:09]
unknown that that they have to
[1:20:11]
go to city council and petition
[1:20:16]
for this to be done. Right. If
[1:20:18]
I could just switch gears to
[1:20:19]
the numbers game a little bit,
[1:20:24]
I think the Thank you for doing
[1:20:25]
the assessments there are 2 of
[1:20:27]
them that I think we asked for
[1:20:31]
that, uh, very helpful. One is.
[1:20:34]
The effect on property
[1:20:35]
assessments for uh people who
[1:20:36]
choose not to build just
[1:20:37]
because the legal option is
[1:20:39]
created and it looks like
[1:20:39]
that
[1:20:41]
s a non-issue. Uh, but
[1:20:42]
there
[1:20:43]
s a little bit of a
[1:20:46]
caveat in that I think are.
[1:20:50]
Comparative data on this. Is
[1:20:51]
coming from places that are
[1:20:52]
inside the Beltway,
[1:20:54]
predominantly the outside the
[1:20:54]
Beltway with Fairfax County is
[1:20:55]
a little bit different because
[1:20:58]
those are 2 acre lot minimums,
[1:20:58]
so we
[1:21:00]
re a little bit different
[1:21:02]
territory. Sounds like it
[1:21:02]
doesn
[1:21:03]
t look like there would
[1:21:05]
be an issue here, but I just
[1:21:05]
want to note there
[1:21:06]
s a little
[1:21:09]
bit of um. Variation in the
[1:21:12]
data sources here. The other
[1:21:13]
thing is the numbers and if I
[1:21:15]
understand at the end of the
[1:21:17]
day, our best estimate again
[1:21:19]
with some of the same
[1:21:21]
Uncertainty. Because of apples
[1:21:22]
and oranges here, we
[1:21:22]
re looking
[1:21:25]
at like maybe 5 a year. Is that
[1:21:29]
where this landed, right? Ok.
[1:21:30]
Helpful to know for a couple of
[1:21:32]
different reasons, it doesn
[1:21:36]
look like there is likely to be
[1:21:38]
a land rush, um, but it also
[1:21:41]
looks like 5 a year. Is a
[1:21:42]
manageable number if it was
[1:21:44]
determined that we did need to
[1:21:45]
do a special use permit, so it
[1:21:45]
wouldn
[1:21:46]
t be an overwhelming
[1:21:47]
surge. I
[1:21:47]
m not arguing for or
[1:21:51]
against at this stage, except
[1:21:54]
m sympathetic to the concerns
[1:21:56]
that arise and lead to the need
[1:21:57]
possibly for a special use
[1:21:59]
permit here. I think the other
[1:22:01]
thing that when we discuss this,
[1:22:04]
it was just helpful, um. Know
[1:22:06]
is this, uh, while we do have
[1:22:08]
attached ADUs. We have a lot of
[1:22:09]
experience with that. The
[1:22:11]
detached AUs are a little bit
[1:22:13]
different ballgame, not exactly
[1:22:14]
the same, and it sounds like
[1:22:16]
there is some merit in taking
[1:22:17]
it a step at a time in terms of
[1:22:21]
how we implement a new policy
[1:22:23]
so that we are going through a
[1:22:24]
process of discovery in terms
[1:22:25]
of how this works and being
[1:22:27]
cautious at the early stages
[1:22:28]
until we get a better feel for
[1:22:30]
what we are really in for in
[1:22:32]
terms of the volume, the
[1:22:32]
complexity, the impacts, and
[1:22:34]
all that. I don
[1:22:34]
t want to
[1:22:36]
overplay it because at 5 a year
[1:22:36]
it doesn
[1:22:37]
t sound like a big
[1:22:41]
deal. On the other hand, that,
[1:22:42]
um, it does sound like it would
[1:22:44]
be prudent to Approach this in
[1:22:45]
a way that is a little bit step
[1:22:47]
at a time and helps us get the
[1:22:48]
feedback we need to determine
[1:22:50]
whether or not and at what
[1:22:52]
point, um, this can be a more
[1:22:53]
automated, if you will,
[1:22:55]
approach to this that would
[1:22:58]
argue again back for at least
[1:22:59]
considering the possibility of
[1:23:00]
special use permit in the early
[1:23:02]
stages to see how this goes,
[1:23:03]
but I didn
[1:23:05]
t want to just bring
[1:23:06]
that conversation forward
[1:23:07]
because I appreciate the fact
[1:23:09]
that we talked about that and
[1:23:11]
that from a policy
[1:23:12]
implementation perspective that
[1:23:12]
it
[1:23:13]
s almost like treating this
[1:23:16]
as a pile. And taking some
[1:23:16]
special care in its early
[1:23:21]
stages. Uh, otherwise, uh, do
[1:23:24]
wanna thank you for. All of the
[1:23:24]
work that you
[1:23:24]
ve done here,
[1:23:24]
there
[1:23:25]
s been a lot of
[1:23:28]
assessment, it
[1:23:28]
s been
[1:23:29]
responsive and, uh, there
[1:23:32]
been a lot of work done on both
[1:23:33]
the design and the assessment
[1:23:34]
side of this that I think has
[1:23:36]
been very helpful, so much
[1:23:40]
appreciated. Thank you. Council
[1:23:41]
member Hall, thank you. Excuse
[1:23:43]
me, thank you. I just had one
[1:23:44]
follow-up question, um, I just
[1:23:46]
did a quick search and it looks
[1:23:47]
like the special use permit is
[1:23:50]
$600. Does that sound ok, that
[1:23:51]
might might be correct. I
[1:23:52]
m,
[1:23:53]
m not certain offhand. Ok,
[1:23:54]
yeah, no, I just wanted to see
[1:23:56]
what it was, um, and I also did
[1:23:57]
some additional research and it
[1:23:59]
looks like to build a 400
[1:24:00]
square foot house, you
[1:24:00]
re
[1:24:04]
looking between 1 and 75,000
[1:24:05]
and $275,000 and to build an
[1:24:09]
800 to 1000 sq ft adu looking
[1:24:12]
at 300,000 to 450,000, so I do
[1:24:13]
recognize that 600 is an extra
[1:24:17]
fee. But I feel like for people
[1:24:18]
that are likely going to be
[1:24:20]
doing this, $600 is kind of a
[1:24:21]
drop in the bucket with all of
[1:24:23]
the other costs. So I still
[1:24:25]
strongly support, uh, special
[1:24:28]
use permit. Thank you. Thank
[1:24:30]
you for the presentation. I do,
[1:24:31]
uh, agree it was thorough and
[1:24:33]
you did answer questions that
[1:24:35]
previously came up in the work
[1:24:36]
session. As far as the parking
[1:24:37]
goes, there is a parking
[1:24:39]
problem. We have a lot of
[1:24:41]
rentals in the city that have
[1:24:43]
college students in them. And
[1:24:43]
there
[1:24:45]
s no mechanism for
[1:24:48]
enforcing limitations on how
[1:24:50]
many vehicles a rental can have.
[1:24:50]
So what we
[1:24:51]
re basically saying
[1:24:52]
is, if there
[1:24:52]
s a parking
[1:24:53]
problem in a neighborhood
[1:24:55]
because we have a rental with
[1:24:56]
no mechanism for limiting the
[1:24:56]
number of vehicles, whether
[1:24:57]
it
[1:24:59]
s 345 or 6. Instead, we
[1:25:00]
re
[1:25:04]
going to The burden on an adu
[1:25:06]
to meet these requirements. We
[1:25:07]
have a parking issue. I grant
[1:25:11]
you. But, but giving a free
[1:25:13]
pass to renters in this city
[1:25:16]
and putting the burden on
[1:25:17]
renters of an adu or even not
[1:25:18]
even renters because I think
[1:25:18]
we
[1:25:19]
re overlooking the fact that
[1:25:21]
a lot of these ADUs MAY be for
[1:25:23]
family use and they
[1:25:23]
re not
[1:25:25]
rental properties at all. I
[1:25:25]
don
[1:25:26]
t think there should be a
[1:25:28]
greater burden on properties
[1:25:30]
with an adu, then we are
[1:25:32]
placing on lots of rental
[1:25:33]
properties that have lots of
[1:25:34]
vehicles. So that would be my
[1:25:38]
feedback. On that, um, and as
[1:25:40]
far as as the buy right use of
[1:25:44]
a of building an adu, the city
[1:25:46]
is full of yards that have
[1:25:47]
sheds and garages and lots of
[1:25:48]
external uses that are the
[1:25:50]
basic footprint. Not maybe not
[1:25:52]
the height of the square foot,
[1:25:52]
basic footprint of we
[1:25:53]
re talk,
[1:25:54]
what we
[1:25:55]
re talking about with
[1:25:56]
an accessory dwelling unit. And
[1:25:58]
while there might not be people
[1:25:59]
Living in there, the fact of
[1:26:01]
the matter is, the city is full
[1:26:03]
of yards that have sheds and
[1:26:04]
garages in them, and, and no
[1:26:06]
one came to us to ask if we
[1:26:08]
like the design or the location
[1:26:09]
or anything else. We can do it
[1:26:11]
by right. We can do it by right
[1:26:12]
because we own the property.
[1:26:14]
And so I do have an issue with,
[1:26:16]
with thinking that that this
[1:26:19]
dias, or any dias or every dias
[1:26:19]
that
[1:26:20]
s elected every other year,
[1:26:22]
should have an up or down vote
[1:26:24]
on what people want to build in
[1:26:25]
their yard because we don
[1:26:25]
t do
[1:26:27]
that for the other structures
[1:26:27]
they
[1:26:27]
re currently building in
[1:26:30]
their yard. So I fully support
[1:26:32]
the fact that 2 parking spaces
[1:26:34]
is adequate, understanding that
[1:26:36]
parking is, is not an
[1:26:37]
insignificant issue for
[1:26:37]
neighborhoods, but we
[1:26:37]
ve
[1:26:40]
already got a problem with
[1:26:41]
vehicles for rental properties
[1:26:43]
anyway. And the fact that it
[1:26:45]
should be by right because at
[1:26:46]
$300,000 we are not going to
[1:26:48]
have a lot of people who invest
[1:26:51]
in that. Think to yourself, if
[1:26:53]
you build something for
[1:26:54]
$300,000 how many renters you
[1:26:56]
have to have over what period
[1:26:57]
of time to make your investment
[1:27:00]
back. My feeling is probably
[1:27:02]
that people are going to choose
[1:27:06]
this because they have
[1:27:07]
Significantly greater reasons
[1:27:10]
having to do with their family
[1:27:12]
to invest $300,000 and that it
[1:27:13]
is not a money-making
[1:27:15]
enterprise because that kind of
[1:27:16]
money-making enterprise makes
[1:27:19]
no sense financially. So just
[1:27:20]
putting that out there. And
[1:27:22]
with that, I will ask if there
[1:27:27]
is a motion. Oh, sorry, public
[1:27:29]
hearing, hearing. Skipped a
[1:27:31]
step, sorry. Ok, I will open
[1:27:32]
the public hearing, MISS
[1:27:33]
Shenenbury has this public
[1:27:34]
hearing been properly
[1:27:36]
advertised? Yes it has. Someone
[1:27:37]
has signed up prior to the
[1:27:38]
meeting to speak, and then
[1:27:39]
after that person speaks, we
[1:27:39]
ll
[1:27:40]
open the floor if there
[1:27:42]
anybody else in the room, so
[1:27:44]
the one person that spoke is
[1:27:44]
Katie Johnson, or we
[1:27:45]
ll be
[1:27:56]
speaking with Katie Johnson.
[1:27:57]
Katie Johnson and the clerk has
[1:27:59]
my address. I came tonight to
[1:28:02]
ask that ADOs be approved by
[1:28:04]
special use permit. I, I
[1:28:07]
happy to hear, um, council
[1:28:07]
member Hall
[1:28:08]
s concern, I share
[1:28:11]
those concerns. I generally
[1:28:12]
support ADUs but only with very
[1:28:14]
strong guardrails. I asked the
[1:28:17]
city to retain the ability to
[1:28:18]
ensure appropriateness and
[1:28:20]
ensure no negative impacts on
[1:28:21]
neighbors or neighborhoods,
[1:28:22]
parking is absolutely a concern
[1:28:24]
and should have a plan for
[1:28:25]
enforcement. Cities should also
[1:28:27]
have In place of process much
[1:28:30]
like the city retains the right
[1:28:31]
to inspect chicken coops. The
[1:28:33]
city must have the ability to
[1:28:35]
enforce the ordinances. The
[1:28:37]
shed on my at my house, I,
[1:28:38]
there are places that I cannot
[1:28:39]
put my
[1:28:41]
. I cannot put my
[1:28:43]
in the rpa. I cannot put my
[1:28:45]
shed. I had to get special
[1:28:46]
exception to put my shed where
[1:28:49]
it is. So there are rules about
[1:28:51]
where sheds belong, but my
[1:28:53]
concern also is we have the
[1:28:55]
ability to inspect chicken
[1:28:56]
coops to ensure that the
[1:28:58]
chickens are safe. Why do we
[1:29:00]
not have the same ability. Why
[1:29:00]
can
[1:29:02]
t the city retain the same
[1:29:03]
ability to make sure and ensure
[1:29:06]
that the people living in the
[1:29:07]
small places are safe as well.
[1:29:11]
Thank you. Ok, is there anybody
[1:29:12]
else in the room that would
[1:29:13]
like to speak on this agenda
[1:29:26]
item? Good evening, Mayor Reed,
[1:29:27]
members of council. I
[1:29:27]
m Jim
[1:29:30]
Gillespie. I live at 3604
[1:29:31]
Colony Road. Uh, I
[1:29:32]
m speaking,
[1:29:35]
uh, tonight on behalf, on
[1:29:37]
behalf of the adu ordinance
[1:29:39]
amendment, um, as we all know,
[1:29:40]
there
[1:29:41]
s a regional shortage of
[1:29:44]
housing, um, housing at all
[1:29:44]
price points. There
[1:29:45]
s a
[1:29:47]
shortage of housing for young
[1:29:47]
adults. There
[1:29:49]
s a shortage of
[1:29:50]
housing for seniors, there
[1:29:51]
s a
[1:29:52]
shortage of housing for
[1:29:53]
everybody in between, and the
[1:29:57]
ad eu unit, uh, ordinance would
[1:30:00]
be a modest but meaningful, uh,
[1:30:02]
step in the direction of
[1:30:03]
providing housing for some
[1:30:07]
people who need it. Now you MAY
[1:30:10]
think 50 housing units over a
[1:30:12]
decade or so, uh, well, does
[1:30:13]
that really do anything? Well,
[1:30:15]
it does a lot for those 50
[1:30:16]
people. They are, they are
[1:30:17]
getting a home when they did
[1:30:20]
not have it before. And I think
[1:30:22]
a little bit about, uh, a
[1:30:23]
situation in my own extended
[1:30:26]
family. Uh, I have a close
[1:30:28]
relative who is roughly my age,
[1:30:30]
uh, who is disabled, and at
[1:30:33]
this point is, uh, living in a
[1:30:35]
senior living residence and
[1:30:38]
barely affording it, and, um,
[1:30:39]
and I think about what it would
[1:30:41]
be like to have that person
[1:30:44]
come and live in my home, and
[1:30:47]
we could make it work, but it
[1:30:48]
would be difficult, it would be
[1:30:51]
a sacrifice for us. It would be
[1:30:54]
a um a real sacrifice to the
[1:30:55]
dignity of this person to be a,
[1:30:59]
a borderer in my home, uh, and
[1:31:01]
an adu kind of arrangement
[1:31:03]
would provide that person with
[1:31:05]
more autonomy, the, uh, uh,
[1:31:07]
feeling of living independently,
[1:31:08]
of having more responsibility
[1:31:10]
for their own life. So, I thank
[1:31:12]
you for all of the work, uh,
[1:31:13]
the staff has done for all the
[1:31:16]
many efforts that you have done
[1:31:17]
to study this issue, to assess
[1:31:18]
it, and I hope you will vote
[1:31:24]
yes. Thank you. Is there
[1:31:25]
anybody else in the room that
[1:31:29]
would like to speak? Is their
[1:31:33]
emotion. I move to approve an
[1:31:35]
ordinance amending chapter 110,
[1:31:37]
zoning, to amend portions of
[1:31:39]
the article of articles and
[1:31:41]
sections contained therein,
[1:31:42]
including introductory
[1:31:44]
provisions, zoning districts,
[1:31:45]
and regulations and definitions.
[1:31:49]
Is there a second. Uh, motion
[1:31:50]
has been made by council member
[1:31:51]
Hardy Chandler and seconded by
[1:31:52]
council member Peterson, a roll
[1:31:54]
call vote. Hang on, are we
[1:31:56]
gonna have discussion? Oh, is
[1:31:56]
there a discussion on the
[1:31:59]
motion? Council member Peterson,
[1:32:00]
yes, is this something that we
[1:32:02]
need to do tonight, or is it
[1:32:04]
possible that this could be
[1:32:07]
allowed some further public
[1:32:08]
review of what we just saw
[1:32:09]
tonight before we make a
[1:32:13]
decision here. Counsel always
[1:32:14]
has the discretion to defer
[1:32:15]
action on an item with an
[1:32:19]
appropriate motion. And I would
[1:32:20]
be interested in the sense of
[1:32:22]
the body here, whether that
[1:32:23]
something that would be
[1:32:26]
acceptable. It does seem that
[1:32:26]
We
[1:32:27]
re voting on something we
[1:32:28]
just saw, I know it
[1:32:28]
s been
[1:32:29]
around for a while, on the
[1:32:30]
other hand, we
[1:32:30]
ve seen some new
[1:32:31]
information. Do you want to
[1:32:33]
make a substitute motion? Is
[1:32:35]
that how we would proceed, uh,
[1:32:39]
MR. Lubkeman. That would be the
[1:32:41]
mechanism do you want to make a
[1:32:42]
substitute motion? Yes, and I
[1:32:43]
will need help from MR.
[1:32:45]
Lubkeman to get the exact
[1:32:47]
wording correct, so if I MAY, I
[1:32:48]
assume you
[1:32:49]
ll just be asking to
[1:32:53]
defer. Action. On this item to
[1:32:55]
a date certain of blank. It, it,
[1:32:57]
the next time we get together
[1:32:59]
next earliest time we get
[1:33:01]
together, I think SEPTEMBER, I
[1:33:01]
believe that
[1:33:02]
d be SEPTEMBER the
[1:33:04]
8th. That would be fine from my
[1:33:05]
standpoint, but I
[1:33:06]
m Need to
[1:33:09]
make a motion. Let
[1:33:10]
s defer
[1:33:11]
consideration until SEPTEMBER
[1:33:16]
8th. Is there a second? Second,
[1:33:16]
a motion
[1:33:17]
s been made by council
[1:33:18]
member Peterson and seconded by
[1:33:20]
council member Hall, a roll
[1:33:22]
call vote. Is there a comment
[1:33:24]
available at this time? Do you
[1:33:25]
want to, yes, discussion on the
[1:33:26]
motion. Yeah, I just, I, I
[1:33:29]
really, I, I think that we give
[1:33:31]
a lot of time for the noise
[1:33:32]
ordinance and then the city of
[1:33:33]
Fairfax government put out a
[1:33:35]
post and people are all up in
[1:33:38]
arms about it, um, and I, I
[1:33:39]
just think that something of
[1:33:40]
this magnitude, while it very
[1:33:41]
well MAY pass and people might
[1:33:42]
be very, very supportive of it
[1:33:45]
I think that the timing of the
[1:33:46]
more finalized versions of this
[1:33:47]
came out in JUNE. Now we
[1:33:48]
re
[1:33:51]
doing this in JULY. These are
[1:33:52]
historically vacation months.
[1:33:52]
People are not here, so I just
[1:33:54]
think that We need a little bit
[1:33:55]
more time to be able to give
[1:33:57]
people to. Understand this, I
[1:34:00]
love to see the city put out
[1:34:01]
something about this so that we
[1:34:02]
can, you know, share it all
[1:34:04]
around and, and really garner
[1:34:05]
some additional support,
[1:34:06]
whether in favor or against,
[1:34:08]
just so we know that we
[1:34:08]
re
[1:34:09]
making a decision with more
[1:34:10]
information. Thank you. Council
[1:34:13]
member Amos. Uh, just 2 quick
[1:34:15]
comments, the, the first being,
[1:34:17]
you know, part of it is, we
[1:34:18]
re
[1:34:18]
we
[1:34:19]
re not gonna know what needs
[1:34:20]
to be fixed until it
[1:34:21]
implemented, unfortunately,
[1:34:22]
especially when it comes to
[1:34:24]
parking, to the actual number
[1:34:26]
of ADUs and we gauge interest
[1:34:29]
on where this is popping up and
[1:34:29]
if we
[1:34:30]
re gonna hit that 50
[1:34:32]
target in the next 10 years or
[1:34:33]
maybe lower, if it
[1:34:33]
s higher,
[1:34:34]
that
[1:34:34]
s something we
[1:34:35]
ll need to
[1:34:38]
track. The other I
[1:34:38]
m very
[1:34:42]
hesitant on The special use
[1:34:43]
permit particularly because I
[1:34:44]
just feel like that people have
[1:34:47]
a right to their property, and
[1:34:48]
they should be allowed to
[1:34:49]
develop it within reason. I do
[1:34:50]
feel like the Board of Zoning
[1:34:52]
Appeals is capable of assessing
[1:34:55]
that. The point about deferral
[1:34:55]
and the discussion on the
[1:34:58]
motion. I guess my question
[1:34:59]
would be, why wouldn
[1:35:00]
t we defer
[1:35:01]
more actions that happen over
[1:35:03]
summer and in general when
[1:35:04]
people are traveling, uh.
[1:35:06]
Unfortunately, you know,
[1:35:06]
business has to get, has to get
[1:35:08]
done. It
[1:35:09]
s my personal feeling
[1:35:10]
on that. Council member
[1:35:16]
McQuillan. I would like a defer
[1:35:17]
because I would like to ask a
[1:35:19]
little bit more information,
[1:35:20]
gather more information
[1:35:22]
regarding the special use
[1:35:23]
permit process, my
[1:35:24]
understanding that is that it
[1:35:25]
can take quite a long time for
[1:35:28]
some people, so I, I want to
[1:35:29]
better understand that process
[1:35:30]
more, um, this is something
[1:35:32]
that just came up this evening.
[1:35:32]
This isn
[1:35:33]
t something that we
[1:35:35]
really discussed in detail
[1:35:36]
prior, so deferring this to the
[1:35:37]
next meeting would allow me
[1:35:40]
that ability. Thank you.
[1:35:43]
Council member Bates. Um, so
[1:35:45]
first off, uh, this is
[1:35:46]
something that as I recall, has
[1:35:47]
been in the works since at
[1:35:49]
least last year, is, is that
[1:35:52]
right? Um, if not earlier, um,
[1:35:53]
and so it
[1:35:54]
s not something that
[1:35:56]
was introduced. You know, just
[1:35:58]
a, a month or two ago, um, you
[1:35:58]
know, it
[1:36:00]
s been on public
[1:36:01]
agendas, um, we
[1:36:01]
ve received
[1:36:04]
feedback about it. Um, with
[1:36:06]
regard to the special use
[1:36:10]
permit, um, first off, a, uh,
[1:36:12]
is a resident required to pay
[1:36:13]
that fee, uh, regardless of
[1:36:15]
whether or not the city council
[1:36:17]
ultimately votes it up or down.
[1:36:18]
Yes, that
[1:36:19]
s correct, um, so
[1:36:22]
again. You know, we don
[1:36:23]
t know
[1:36:25]
what the financial means of the
[1:36:26]
applicant, you know, every
[1:36:29]
single applicant is going to be,
[1:36:30]
um, they MAY have an agreement
[1:36:32]
with someone who MAY be the,
[1:36:34]
the very first occupant of that
[1:36:35]
unit where, you know, they pay
[1:36:37]
to build it, what have you, um,
[1:36:37]
and then they
[1:36:38]
re in a situation
[1:36:39]
where they
[1:36:41]
re out almost $1000
[1:36:44]
and plus the, you know,
[1:36:45]
whatever additional costs they
[1:36:47]
MAY have incurred through
[1:36:48]
having somebody help prepare
[1:36:49]
whatever documentation they
[1:36:50]
might need or what have you,
[1:36:50]
you don
[1:36:50]
t know what goes into
[1:36:53]
that. Um, and, you know,
[1:36:54]
without anything to really show
[1:36:57]
for it. Um, and, uh,
[1:37:02]
additionally, The, um Uh, you
[1:37:04]
know, the, I recall from
[1:37:06]
reviewing the language of the
[1:37:09]
ordinance. That, um, and I
[1:37:10]
believe is also actually
[1:37:13]
mentioned here tonight. If, um
[1:37:16]
The, uh, the property is, you
[1:37:19]
know, due to whatever
[1:37:20]
circumstances, um, it gets to a
[1:37:20]
point where it
[1:37:22]
s no longer in
[1:37:23]
conformance with the
[1:37:25]
requirements set forth there,
[1:37:25]
they
[1:37:27]
re no longer allowed to,
[1:37:29]
um, use that adu, is that right?
[1:37:32]
Yes, um, and that exists
[1:37:33]
regardless of whether or not
[1:37:33]
there
[1:37:35]
s a special use permit
[1:37:39]
process. And, um, would there
[1:37:40]
be any difference in
[1:37:42]
enforcement of that if there is
[1:37:43]
a special use permit process or
[1:37:46]
not. Uh, well, that, that
[1:37:47]
s up
[1:37:48]
to council, the, the bare
[1:37:49]
minimum for a special use
[1:37:51]
permit, what, what the changes
[1:37:53]
would be in the zoning
[1:37:54]
ordinance, there
[1:37:55]
s a table in
[1:37:57]
the zoning ordinance called the
[1:38:00]
Accessory use table, uh,
[1:38:02]
accessory dwelling units are
[1:38:04]
listed in there, uh, accessory
[1:38:06]
dwelling units are listed as
[1:38:09]
permitted uses in the rhrl and
[1:38:11]
rm zones, uh, that could be
[1:38:13]
changed to a special use permit
[1:38:17]
to cover all ADUs. Or it could
[1:38:19]
be split into in accessory
[1:38:21]
dwelling units attached and
[1:38:22]
accessory unit, accessory
[1:38:25]
dwelling units detached. One
[1:38:27]
would be special, one would be
[1:38:28]
permitted, in that case we
[1:38:30]
would need a definition of each
[1:38:32]
in the definition section, uh,
[1:38:32]
but that
[1:38:36]
s the bare minimum, uh,
[1:38:37]
and the standards that we
[1:38:38]
reviewed today could stay the
[1:38:41]
same. If, if that
[1:38:41]
s council
[1:38:44]
wishes, if council wishes to
[1:38:45]
add other standards you all
[1:38:47]
could do that as well, yeah,
[1:38:50]
yeah, but with, so with regard
[1:38:52]
to the enforcement mechanism,
[1:38:54]
um, would that be any different
[1:38:55]
in terms of, you know, there,
[1:38:55]
there
[1:38:56]
s, there
[1:38:58]
s similar
[1:38:59]
enforcement mechanisms to SUPs
[1:39:01]
that the sup is permitted. You
[1:39:02]
know, for whatever is applied
[1:39:03]
for, and if that changes, then,
[1:39:05]
uh, that would be out of
[1:39:06]
conformity and the property
[1:39:07]
owner would have to come back
[1:39:10]
for a, a new sup if that
[1:39:14]
changes. Mhm. But, um, in terms
[1:39:14]
of how that
[1:39:15]
s enforced with
[1:39:17]
regard to, you know, what
[1:39:19]
proposed, um. It
[1:39:20]
s, would you
[1:39:21]
say that it
[1:39:22]
s similar to, um,
[1:39:23]
you know, that provision that
[1:39:24]
currently in there, you know,
[1:39:25]
and it
[1:39:26]
s not in conformance and
[1:39:28]
it no longer functions, correct,
[1:39:29]
that, that would be similar,
[1:39:32]
the difference would be if
[1:39:33]
counsel imposes additional
[1:39:35]
requirements as part of the sup
[1:39:36]
process that that that would be
[1:39:36]
something that
[1:39:37]
s above and
[1:39:37]
beyond what
[1:39:38]
s in the zoning
[1:39:40]
ordinance, right, right, but we
[1:39:42]
could also, um, if we wanted to
[1:39:44]
amend, um, or, you know, set
[1:39:47]
the Uh, requirements as is, you
[1:39:48]
know, regardless of whether
[1:39:49]
there
[1:39:50]
s an, an sup or not,
[1:39:52]
correct, yeah, yeah, and so
[1:39:52]
we
[1:39:54]
ve already discussed those,
[1:39:54]
uh, requirements previously.
[1:39:55]
Anyway, so just, you know, some
[1:39:56]
clarification, uh, that
[1:39:56]
s very
[1:39:59]
helpful. Thank you. Council
[1:40:00]
member Hardy Chandler. I think,
[1:40:03]
uh. Put simply, what concerns
[1:40:06]
me is adding a burden to people
[1:40:07]
who MAY want to pursue this
[1:40:10]
option, um, and a burden that
[1:40:11]
Wouldn
[1:40:13]
t it be in place if they
[1:40:14]
were doing something else like
[1:40:16]
simply improving their property
[1:40:18]
in a different way, um, so the,
[1:40:19]
the added burden that does not
[1:40:22]
feel fair to me is not
[1:40:23]
something that I
[1:40:23]
m wanting to
[1:40:25]
consider, I wanted to be an
[1:40:26]
encouragement for people to
[1:40:27]
consider this when it
[1:40:27]
s right
[1:40:29]
for their family and right for
[1:40:31]
their for their financial
[1:40:33]
circumstances rather than sort
[1:40:35]
of punishing them and adding
[1:40:36]
extra hoops for them to jump
[1:40:38]
through in order to have this
[1:40:39]
happen, um, so I
[1:40:39]
m in support
[1:40:41]
of con Continuing with the vote
[1:40:46]
today. Council member Peterson,
[1:40:48]
just to clarify my interest
[1:40:51]
here was actually not to
[1:40:53]
address the special use permit
[1:40:55]
issue which Sounds like there
[1:40:57]
still some conversation around,
[1:40:59]
but really to give residents a
[1:41:00]
chance to digest this a little
[1:41:01]
bit, sometimes it seems like
[1:41:01]
it
[1:41:04]
s a little bit much for us
[1:41:05]
to receive new information,
[1:41:07]
people are giving invite people
[1:41:09]
to do a public hearing the same
[1:41:09]
night, and they
[1:41:10]
ve just seen it,
[1:41:12]
and in some cases have not even
[1:41:14]
yet seen it. It
[1:41:14]
s difficult for
[1:41:16]
people to be able to access
[1:41:17]
some of this information ahead
[1:41:19]
of time and digest it, we
[1:41:19]
re
[1:41:20]
actually getting explanations
[1:41:21]
here that help them do that,
[1:41:22]
and then we turn right around
[1:41:24]
and we vote, and if there
[1:41:24]
s no
[1:41:26]
harm in giving a little bit
[1:41:27]
more time for people to digest
[1:41:29]
this in case there is something
[1:41:30]
out of that that
[1:41:31]
s meaningful.
[1:41:31]
I, I don
[1:41:33]
t see why we wouldn
[1:41:35]
delay, and I, in terms of the
[1:41:36]
JULY time frame, I mean, people
[1:41:38]
are Busy all the time, I will
[1:41:41]
say, however, I have received
[1:41:43]
some comments from residents
[1:41:45]
who have expressed the concern
[1:41:45]
that they
[1:41:47]
ve been out of pocket
[1:41:48]
pretty badly in JULY and are
[1:41:50]
having a hard time keeping up
[1:41:50]
with what
[1:41:51]
s going on in terms
[1:41:53]
of city business, so this is a
[1:41:53]
time when it
[1:41:55]
s been a little
[1:41:56]
bit tougher probably than
[1:41:59]
normal to do that, and I would
[1:42:00]
think because of significant
[1:42:02]
new information. That we
[1:42:02]
re
[1:42:04]
having in front of us tonight
[1:42:05]
on the lack of the opportunity
[1:42:07]
for people to really have time
[1:42:09]
to digest it and for us to be
[1:42:10]
able to hear from them, and
[1:42:12]
again, there MAY be no feedback
[1:42:14]
whatsoever, but as in the case
[1:42:15]
of the noise ordinance there
[1:42:17]
MAY be quite a bit of feedback
[1:42:19]
in any case, it would be great
[1:42:21]
to give us that opportunity if
[1:42:22]
possible, and I, I don
[1:42:23]
t think
[1:42:23]
it
[1:42:24]
s a major burden in terms of
[1:42:26]
a postponement here for another
[1:42:27]
decision. I also don
[1:42:29]
t think it
[1:42:30]
would require a particularly
[1:42:33]
large amount of time. To, uh,
[1:42:34]
act on this when it does come
[1:42:36]
back, so that was really the
[1:42:37]
intention that I had here.
[1:42:40]
Thank you. House member hall.
[1:42:42]
Thank you. I do also want to
[1:42:43]
remind everyone that this was
[1:42:48]
the body earlier this month who
[1:42:50]
delayed the implementation of
[1:42:52]
an otherwise agreed upon
[1:42:56]
council, um. Uh, code of ethics
[1:42:58]
to allow our boards and
[1:42:59]
commissions time to review it
[1:43:00]
when it wasn
[1:43:01]
t even decided
[1:43:03]
that they were going to be
[1:43:04]
subject to it, so I just have a
[1:43:07]
hard time. Not allowing
[1:43:09]
additional time for our 24,000
[1:43:10]
residents to make sure that
[1:43:11]
they
[1:43:13]
ve wrapped their heads
[1:43:16]
around this potential change to
[1:43:18]
their neighborhoods. Amos. And
[1:43:19]
just for clarification on that
[1:43:21]
in that meeting, uh, I asked MR.
[1:43:22]
Lubcomman if the timeline was
[1:43:24]
affected if we did that action,
[1:43:27]
and he said no. So the timeline
[1:43:28]
was not changed because of that.
[1:43:30]
So if there
[1:43:31]
s no further
[1:43:32]
discussion on this motion to
[1:43:33]
defer, can we take a roll call
[1:43:38]
vote. Nashinabury. Council
[1:43:42]
member Amos. No. Council Member
[1:43:43]
Hall, Council member Hardy
[1:43:45]
Chandler. Council member
[1:43:49]
Peterson. Council Member Bates
[1:43:51]
Councilor McClellan, yes,
[1:43:57]
motion failed 3 to 3. So The
[1:43:58]
original motion which was made
[1:44:00]
by Council member Hardy
[1:44:02]
Chandler and seconded by
[1:44:03]
Council member Peterson. Is
[1:44:04]
there discussion on the
[1:44:05]
original motion before we take
[1:44:06]
a roll call vote, Council
[1:44:07]
Member Hall. I
[1:44:09]
d like to make
[1:44:10]
it very clear that I think that
[1:44:12]
this could be an excellent
[1:44:14]
opportunity for our community,
[1:44:18]
for our residents, I simply do
[1:44:19]
not feel that those that are
[1:44:20]
away and that have spent the
[1:44:21]
summer since their kids have
[1:44:24]
been out of school have
[1:44:25]
sufficient time to truly
[1:44:27]
understand and digest what is
[1:44:29]
included here, which is why I
[1:44:30]
strongly supported and was
[1:44:32]
going to ask for a delay myself.
[1:44:35]
So my vote tonight is not a no
[1:44:36]
against ADUs. It
[1:44:36]
s a no against
[1:44:40]
the process. That is not
[1:44:41]
allowing our residents
[1:44:42]
sufficient time to absorb this
[1:44:46]
information, thank you. Any
[1:44:47]
other discussion on the motion,
[1:44:48]
and I will simply say we
[1:44:48]
ve
[1:44:50]
been working on this adu
[1:44:52]
amendment, I believe, since I
[1:44:54]
was elected mayor. So it is not
[1:44:55]
something new. We have had work
[1:44:57]
sessions on it, there MAY not
[1:44:59]
have been work sessions you saw
[1:45:00]
previous to being on this
[1:45:02]
council, but we have been
[1:45:04]
talking about this adu
[1:45:07]
ordinance since at least 2024.
[1:45:09]
They have not 2023. So, with
[1:45:15]
that, a roll call vote. Ok,
[1:45:17]
council member McQuillan. I too
[1:45:19]
wanted to state on the record
[1:45:21]
that I, um, will be voting no
[1:45:24]
on this because I too in our
[1:45:28]
last meeting was, um, convinced
[1:45:29]
and in being collaborative and
[1:45:30]
trying to ensure that everyone
[1:45:32]
and my colleagues had enough
[1:45:34]
time to speak with their
[1:45:36]
constituents and do their due
[1:45:37]
diligence, I decided to go
[1:45:39]
ahead and agree with the rest
[1:45:41]
of council that we would delay,
[1:45:44]
um, adopting our code of ethics
[1:45:45]
and this evening I was also
[1:45:47]
kind of in the same Boat here
[1:45:49]
where I was going, ok, a
[1:45:50]
special use permit for $600
[1:45:51]
that
[1:45:52]
s a lot of money. I know
[1:45:53]
some of the, the timing, the
[1:45:55]
process can take a long time,
[1:45:56]
however, I
[1:45:57]
m not even given
[1:45:58]
enough time to to speak with
[1:46:00]
constituents and talk to them
[1:46:03]
about this, um, to ensure that
[1:46:04]
they understand that this is
[1:46:04]
what
[1:46:05]
s going to happen when
[1:46:08]
this is approved this evening,
[1:46:09]
um, so I just want to let
[1:46:09]
everyone know that I
[1:46:10]
m not
[1:46:12]
saying no to ADUs because I
[1:46:13]
actually support them fully.
[1:46:15]
m very frustrated that the
[1:46:16]
process tonight that we
[1:46:16]
re
[1:46:17]
saying. Saying that we don
[1:46:19]
care about what our
[1:46:20]
constituents think about this.
[1:46:23]
We have all of this set out
[1:46:24]
really nicely now. We know
[1:46:26]
exactly what it entails and our
[1:46:28]
constituents can look it over
[1:46:29]
and give us really good
[1:46:30]
accurate feedback. They
[1:46:31]
re all
[1:46:32]
on vacation. Everybody is gone
[1:46:33]
this summer. We know this.
[1:46:33]
They
[1:46:35]
re going to return next
[1:46:36]
month because school starts in
[1:46:38]
AUGUST. Can we really wait for
[1:46:39]
1 month? Yes, we could, but
[1:46:39]
we
[1:46:41]
re not going to tonight. So
[1:46:43]
my vote will be a no, but it
[1:46:44]
not against ADUs because I do
[1:46:45]
want affordability and I want
[1:46:48]
housing here. However, However,
[1:46:49]
m very frustrated that we
[1:46:49]
feel like it
[1:46:51]
s ok to just push
[1:46:53]
things along and not give a
[1:46:58]
deferment. Thank you. Well
[1:47:01]
Council member Peterson. Yeah,
[1:47:03]
it is, uh, I think a little bit
[1:47:04]
frustrating for everybody to be
[1:47:08]
in this position. I, I, I
[1:47:09]
support the detached adu
[1:47:10]
approach, I do think there
[1:47:11]
s a
[1:47:12]
little bit of unfinished
[1:47:13]
business here, and if we
[1:47:13]
re not
[1:47:16]
going to be able to give
[1:47:17]
ourselves some breathing room
[1:47:18]
to let people give us feedback
[1:47:19]
and tie this up with a nice bow
[1:47:21]
when we get back the way we
[1:47:24]
really ought to, I would just
[1:47:27]
say that I would hope Uh, that
[1:47:29]
our city manager and city staff
[1:47:33]
would move forward in a manner
[1:47:36]
that would retain flexibility.
[1:47:38]
As needed to address needs that
[1:47:41]
MAY come up as a consequence of
[1:47:43]
public feedback that we receive
[1:47:45]
after, uh, this evening
[1:47:46]
s vote,
[1:47:49]
and that we stay flexible and
[1:47:50]
responsive every step of the
[1:47:52]
way, and that could be special
[1:47:55]
use permit, but it could be any
[1:47:56]
number of other things as I
[1:47:57]
mentioned earlier, this is
[1:48:00]
going to go into an early
[1:48:01]
implementation phase, it will
[1:48:03]
be an early period of discovery.
[1:48:06]
It will be much like a pilot.
[1:48:07]
And I will support this, but it
[1:48:10]
will be based on the assumption
[1:48:12]
that we will take seriously
[1:48:13]
feedback that we receive and
[1:48:16]
that we will act on that
[1:48:18]
feedback without hesitation as
[1:48:19]
necessary and retain the
[1:48:20]
flexibility we need to do that,
[1:48:22]
and so I will be supporting
[1:48:25]
this, but I must say I have
[1:48:26]
real reservations about, um,
[1:48:27]
the way in which we
[1:48:27]
re doing
[1:48:28]
this and we
[1:48:29]
re not giving
[1:48:30]
people a chance to have a last
[1:48:31]
look at something that has some
[1:48:36]
new elements to it. Thank you.
[1:48:38]
Any other comments, seeing none
[1:48:39]
a roll call vote. Council
[1:48:42]
member Amos. Council member
[1:48:43]
Hall, Council member Hardy
[1:48:47]
Chandler. Council Member
[1:48:48]
Peterson Council Member Bates
[1:48:52]
COUNCILMAN McClellan. No. Ok,
[1:48:55]
motion passed 4 to 2. Ok, we
[1:48:58]
will go on to the second
[1:48:59]
general public comment, is
[1:48:59]
there anybody in the room that
[1:49:01]
would like to make a general
[1:49:06]
public comment tonight. Ok. All
[1:49:08]
right, seeing none, we will now
[1:49:08]
recess the regular meeting to
[1:49:09]
go into a work session. We
[1:49:10]
ll
[1:49:11]
take a 5-minute recession
[1:49:13]
recess to move it to the work
[1:56:59]
session room. Mhm. I. And
[1:57:01]
welcome to our work session.
[1:57:02]
Before we begin the work
[1:57:03]
session, I want to give a
[1:57:06]
background on the development
[1:57:07]
review process for applications.
[1:57:10]
The development review process
[1:57:10]
was established through a
[1:57:12]
series of mayor and city
[1:57:15]
council retreats to ensure
[1:57:15]
development concepts are
[1:57:17]
presented to the mayor and
[1:57:19]
counts city council as a whole,
[1:57:20]
rather than through individual
[1:57:22]
meetings. This approach
[1:57:23]
promotes transparency by
[1:57:25]
ensuring all elected officials
[1:57:26]
receive the same information at
[1:57:29]
the same time. Pre-application
[1:57:32]
briefings occur before a formal
[1:57:33]
application is submitted at
[1:57:36]
this stage, city staff provides
[1:57:38]
a high level overview of a
[1:57:39]
proposed concept and the
[1:57:41]
potential applicant is
[1:57:43]
available to answer questions.
[1:57:44]
The plans are conceptual and
[1:57:46]
the mayor and city council MAY
[1:57:48]
offer general observations as
[1:57:51]
guidance. Once a formal
[1:57:53]
application is submitted and
[1:57:55]
accepted city staff conducts a
[1:57:56]
detailed review for compliance
[1:57:59]
with applicable codes. And
[1:58:01]
policies, post submission work
[1:58:03]
sessions include an in-depth
[1:58:05]
staff analysis and typically
[1:58:07]
occur after the applicant has
[1:58:08]
addressed initial staff
[1:58:10]
comments and before the
[1:58:11]
application proceeds to public
[1:58:14]
hearings. The process has been
[1:58:16]
reviewed and refined over time
[1:58:18]
by successive mayor and city
[1:58:21]
councils. Changes have included
[1:58:22]
clarifying materials to
[1:58:23]
distinguish pre-application
[1:58:26]
briefings from post submission
[1:58:27]
work sessions and allowing
[1:58:30]
potential applicants to answer
[1:58:31]
questions during
[1:58:32]
pre-application briefings to
[1:58:34]
provide additional context for
[1:58:35]
conceptual proposals. So we are
[1:58:37]
just setting the stage for
[1:58:39]
where we are with this work
[1:58:41]
session, MS. Shniberry, what
[1:58:45]
here. Our first item is a
[1:58:47]
pre-application briefing on a
[1:58:49]
request by Network Realty
[1:58:51]
Partners for the redevelopment
[1:58:52]
of 3541 Chambridge Road. I
[1:58:54]
gonna recognize Clara Schweiger,
[1:58:55]
our city planner for the staff
[1:58:57]
presentation. Good evening,
[1:59:00]
Mayor and Council, first up
[1:59:01]
tonight for work sessions is a
[1:59:04]
discussion on a potential
[1:59:04]
redevelopment at 3541
[1:59:08]
Chainbridge Road. We are
[1:59:09]
currently in the
[1:59:10]
pre-application stage of the
[1:59:12]
development review process, so
[1:59:13]
a formal land use application
[1:59:15]
has not yet been submitted.
[1:59:16]
City staff have met with the
[1:59:18]
potential applicant and
[1:59:19]
provided initial feedback on
[1:59:24]
the potential proposal. So the
[1:59:25]
top left image here is an
[1:59:28]
aerial of the site. The site is
[1:59:29]
located at the southeast corner
[1:59:32]
of Chambridge Road and Eaton
[1:59:33]
Place, west of University Drive
[1:59:36]
and north of Fairfax Boulevard.
[1:59:38]
The Future land use designation
[1:59:40]
for this site is the activity
[1:59:41]
center place type and the site
[1:59:44]
is located in the Northfas
[1:59:46]
Activity Center and a subject
[1:59:47]
to the North Facts Small area
[1:59:51]
plan. The site is currently
[1:59:53]
zoned cr Commercial Retail and
[1:59:55]
the potential applicant
[1:59:56]
proposes to rezone to cu
[2:00:02]
commercial urban. This slide
[2:00:03]
shows proposed residential
[2:00:05]
development in the Northfax
[2:00:06]
Activity Center. This table is
[2:00:08]
also provided in your briefing
[2:00:11]
packet, but just to give a
[2:00:13]
quick summary in Northfas, the
[2:00:15]
small area plan estimates 1400
[2:00:17]
new residential units in the
[2:00:20]
near term. To date, there are
[2:00:21]
1,088 units currently in some
[2:00:22]
phase of the land use process
[2:00:23]
in the North Facts Activity
[2:00:26]
Center. And all activity
[2:00:30]
centers, the small area plans
[2:00:31]
estimate 4700 new units in the
[2:00:35]
near term. To date, 2,753 units
[2:00:37]
are in some phase of the land
[2:00:38]
use process in all activity
[2:00:42]
centers. Outside of the
[2:00:43]
activity centers, 3,022 units
[2:00:45]
are in the land use pipeline.
[2:00:47]
And then the table on the
[2:00:49]
bottom here shows each project
[2:00:50]
in Northfax with the status and
[2:00:56]
the number of units proposed.
[2:00:58]
Now, going back to the
[2:00:59]
potential project for tonight
[2:01:02]
discussion, existing on the
[2:01:04]
development site are 2 2-story
[2:01:07]
office buildings and 124
[2:01:08]
parking spaces on approximately
[2:01:12]
2.09 acres. This is the concept
[2:01:16]
plan. The potential applicant
[2:01:18]
proposes 29 townhouses and 8
[2:01:19]
2/2 units with the proposed
[2:01:25]
height maximum of 4 stories.
[2:01:26]
They proposed 2750 square feet
[2:01:29]
of retail on University Drive,
[2:01:31]
a new private street, a widened
[2:01:32]
10-foot sidewalk on Eaton Place
[2:01:33]
and an 8 ft sidewalk on
[2:01:37]
University Drive. And an
[2:01:38]
internal 6 ft sidewalk leading
[2:01:42]
to units. The potential appro
[2:01:46]
applicant proposes a 4200 sq ft
[2:01:48]
linear park 8300 square feet of
[2:01:50]
open space and an interpersonal
[2:01:53]
connection to the south. Here
[2:01:55]
are renderings of the potential
[2:02:00]
proposal. So these are looking
[2:02:01]
at the stacked townhouses, so
[2:02:05]
the 2 of 2s. And hear more
[2:02:08]
renderings on the left is, um,
[2:02:09]
a retail building, and then on
[2:02:10]
the right you
[2:02:10]
re seeing the
[2:02:16]
townhouses. So city staff met
[2:02:18]
with the applicant, um, the
[2:02:20]
potential applicant and has
[2:02:23]
provided preliminary feedback
[2:02:26]
on the potential proposal, um,
[2:02:27]
this list was included in your
[2:02:32]
briefing packet. And on JUNE
[2:02:36]
22nd, the planning commission
[2:02:37]
held a pre-application briefing
[2:02:39]
with the applicant, and gave
[2:02:42]
the applicant feedback. Um, a
[2:02:44]
summary of this, um, feedback
[2:02:45]
has also been included in your
[2:02:50]
briefing packet. Potential land
[2:02:52]
use requests for the proposal
[2:02:54]
would be a rezoning from cr
[2:02:55]
Commercial retail to see you
[2:02:58]
commercial urban and the
[2:02:58]
architectural control overlay
[2:03:02]
district, a special use permit
[2:03:03]
for townhouses and multi-family,
[2:03:04]
a general development plan and
[2:03:06]
a major certificate of
[2:03:06]
appropriateness for
[2:03:10]
architecture and landscaping.
[2:03:12]
So the next steps are a land
[2:03:14]
use application submission.
[2:03:16]
Staff review, work sessions
[2:03:17]
with the planning commission,
[2:03:19]
the bar and city council, and
[2:03:23]
then public hearings. And that
[2:03:24]
concludes my presentation. I
[2:03:25]
here to answer any questions
[2:03:28]
that you have, the potential
[2:03:28]
applicant is also standing by
[2:03:31]
for questions. But Thank you
[2:03:32]
for the presentation, Council
[2:03:34]
Member Amos. Thank you very
[2:03:36]
much, uh, for the very, uh,
[2:03:38]
brief presentation, uh, just to
[2:03:40]
quickly go over what I
[2:03:41]
d liked
[2:03:42]
that I saw the Sidewalk widths,
[2:03:44]
I think are appropriate. I
[2:03:46]
think 1010 ft on Eaton, 8 ft on
[2:03:47]
university, I think that makes
[2:03:50]
a lot of sense. Uh, I do like
[2:03:51]
the university connection and
[2:03:53]
access from Cambridge. I
[2:03:54]
actually, my understanding
[2:03:55]
based off of what I saw on the
[2:03:57]
plan, the access point to the
[2:03:58]
property from Eden is removed,
[2:04:00]
correct? I, I do like that
[2:04:02]
element of it as well, uh,
[2:04:04]
taking that off. I also really,
[2:04:07]
yes, right there, thank you. I
[2:04:08]
also like the linear park and
[2:04:10]
green space concepts, so I, I
[2:04:11]
do like to see that you have a,
[2:04:14]
a good amount of green space
[2:04:14]
proposed from this initial
[2:04:17]
application, uh, just a few
[2:04:18]
questions, um, it might be a
[2:04:19]
little too early, but I imagine
[2:04:21]
in terms of stormwater, if I
[2:04:22]
recall correctly, this is kind
[2:04:24]
of on a slope, uh, in terms of
[2:04:24]
storm water, we
[2:04:25]
re looking at
[2:04:26]
an underground tank is what
[2:04:28]
there sufficient or what would
[2:04:30]
be, uh, implemented for that, I
[2:04:30]
guess that would be to the
[2:04:40]
applicant. Just early thoughts.
[2:04:41]
Thank you, uh, MADAM Mayor,
[2:04:42]
members of City Council, Bob
[2:04:44]
Brandt with the law firm of
[2:04:45]
Walsh Colucci on behalf of the
[2:04:45]
applicant this evening, I
[2:04:46]
m,
[2:04:48]
m joined by Greg Trimmer from
[2:04:49]
Network Realty Partners and
[2:04:50]
appreciate the opportunity to
[2:04:52]
come before council and get
[2:04:54]
feedback, answer questions, and
[2:04:55]
hopefully begin this process.
[2:04:57]
Um, Council member Amos, you
[2:04:58]
asked about stormwater
[2:04:59]
management, um, we have not yet
[2:05:00]
fully designed it. We
[2:05:00]
re still
[2:05:01]
very early. This is the concept
[2:05:03]
plan. This is really the extent
[2:05:06]
of what we designed so far, um,
[2:05:07]
but make no mistake about it,
[2:05:08]
there will be stormwater
[2:05:09]
management facilities provided
[2:05:12]
on site. Um, what we
[2:05:12]
re
[2:05:13]
anticipating is exactly what
[2:05:14]
you, what you described,
[2:05:15]
underground facilities,
[2:05:17]
detention, stormwater quantity,
[2:05:18]
quality controls, things like
[2:05:21]
that, um, it will be a
[2:05:22]
significant benefit over what
[2:05:23]
there today. This this property
[2:05:26]
was developed in the early
[2:05:27]
1970s and, um, I think it
[2:05:29]
safe to say is probably
[2:05:30]
entirely lacking in terms of
[2:05:31]
stormwater controls. So that
[2:05:33]
one of the several benefits
[2:05:35]
that the redevelopment of this
[2:05:36]
property will just inherently
[2:05:38]
bring forward. Thank you. Uh,
[2:05:40]
my next question in terms of
[2:05:41]
height, so the, what
[2:05:42]
currently there, I think I saw
[2:05:45]
on the plane, it was 28 ft if
[2:05:47]
m correct, and then you have
[2:05:48]
proposed 4 stories. What
[2:05:48]
s the,
[2:05:49]
the gap there? What
[2:05:49]
s the
[2:05:50]
difference? That
[2:05:50]
s, that
[2:05:51]
correct, the 2-story buildings,
[2:05:52]
I think you
[2:05:52]
re, you
[2:05:53]
re, you
[2:05:53]
re
[2:05:55]
correct or Route 25 28 30 ft
[2:05:58]
story, uh, excuse me, feet high,
[2:05:59]
uh, what we are proposing at
[2:06:00]
this point is a maximum height
[2:06:04]
of 4 stories or 60 ft. The 60
[2:06:06]
ft would be the, uh, 2/2 units,
[2:06:08]
the Stack townhouse units. On
[2:06:09]
the left side of your screen,
[2:06:11]
the west side of the site
[2:06:12]
fronting on Chambridge Road, um,
[2:06:13]
those will be a little bit
[2:06:14]
taller than the, the
[2:06:16]
single-family attached, the
[2:06:17]
townhouse units, one of the
[2:06:19]
reasons we did that was to kind
[2:06:20]
of establish that frontage,
[2:06:21]
establish that book end of the
[2:06:22]
site, create kind of a gateway
[2:06:23]
as you
[2:06:24]
re coming into the city
[2:06:25]
by concentrating that mass
[2:06:27]
there, but that 4-story,
[2:06:30]
60-foot height would be the
[2:06:30]
maximum the townhouses would
[2:06:31]
likely be a bit shorter than
[2:06:32]
that, but again, we
[2:06:34]
re early in
[2:06:35]
the process and so all of that
[2:06:36]
information will be provided if
[2:06:37]
and when this moves forward.
[2:06:38]
Absolutely, I, and I know it
[2:06:40]
early in the process, so for
[2:06:41]
example, you know, I, I
[2:06:41]
d be
[2:06:43]
curious, our economic
[2:06:43]
development director
[2:06:44]
s thoughts,
[2:06:46]
what exactly is driving this?
[2:06:47]
Is it vacancy rates, is it, I
[2:06:48]
mean, what are we, what are we
[2:06:49]
looking at for this? Yeah, and
[2:06:50]
ll ask Greg to chime in with
[2:06:52]
a little bit more detail, but,
[2:06:54]
um, the reality is these, these
[2:06:55]
buildings are really
[2:06:56]
approaching or at the end of
[2:06:59]
their useful life, um, they
[2:06:59]
re
[2:07:00]
about 50 years old at this
[2:07:02]
point, and, um, they
[2:07:02]
re
[2:07:03]
deteriorating and frankly, the
[2:07:05]
costs of, um, getting them back
[2:07:06]
to where they need to be to
[2:07:08]
release these, the these.
[2:07:08]
Spaces are, it
[2:07:08]
s, it
[2:07:09]
s, it
[2:07:10]
approaching to the point where
[2:07:10]
it
[2:07:11]
s cost prohibitive, and so
[2:07:11]
that
[2:07:12]
s why the property owner
[2:07:14]
is in the position now where
[2:07:14]
they
[2:07:15]
re looking to the next
[2:07:17]
phase, the next step for this
[2:07:18]
property, and so, um, what
[2:07:18]
we
[2:07:19]
ve come forward with is what
[2:07:21]
we think and what we hope
[2:07:22]
council agrees is a step in the
[2:07:24]
right direction, something
[2:07:24]
that
[2:07:25]
s consistent with the
[2:07:26]
small area plan and continuing
[2:07:28]
the, the, the, the progress of
[2:07:29]
development here in Northfax,
[2:07:30]
Greg, do you wanna add to that?
[2:07:31]
That, that
[2:07:31]
s exactly right in
[2:07:32]
terms of the condition of the
[2:07:33]
buildings and in, in terms of
[2:07:35]
the product mix and the
[2:07:36]
direction of the plan, um, we
[2:07:36]
looked kind of holistically in
[2:07:39]
this. Broader market, and we
[2:07:39]
re
[2:07:40]
really excited about kind of
[2:07:40]
the canvas that
[2:07:41]
s been painted
[2:07:42]
already. We have a senior
[2:07:44]
housing building, we have a, uh,
[2:07:44]
a rental apartment building
[2:07:46]
coming out of the ground, uh,
[2:07:46]
what we don
[2:07:49]
t have is, um, home,
[2:07:50]
homeownership opportunities.
[2:07:51]
And in this small little plan,
[2:07:53]
um, we fit a lot of, we think
[2:07:54]
great things. There
[2:07:55]
s, uh, the
[2:07:56]
2/2 units, which will be the
[2:07:57]
smaller of the smallest of the
[2:07:59]
units, and then a mixture of 16
[2:08:01]
ft wide and 20 ft wide towns.
[2:08:02]
So in this plan, you have 3
[2:08:04]
different types of home
[2:08:04]
ownership opportunities that
[2:08:05]
will be the first kind of this
[2:08:07]
broader, uh, area. And we think
[2:08:09]
think that all of that, uh,
[2:08:10]
residential activity, in
[2:08:11]
addition to the 2 hotels that
[2:08:13]
already exist, brings a kind of
[2:08:14]
a nice diversity of, of, of
[2:08:15]
pedestrian activity and we
[2:08:15]
ll
[2:08:16]
kind of start to activate it as
[2:08:17]
a whole. So we
[2:08:17]
re really
[2:08:20]
excited about that. Thank you,
[2:08:21]
my last question is related to
[2:08:22]
the retail portion, uh, and
[2:08:23]
there
[2:08:24]
s kind of 2 things built
[2:08:26]
into that. 1 for the retail, I
[2:08:28]
mean, when, when you say retail,
[2:08:30]
do you mean more commercial
[2:08:31]
office space, or do you more so
[2:08:32]
mean, for example, restaurant
[2:08:35]
usage or something like that.
[2:08:36]
Just for clarification, so our
[2:08:37]
hope is that it
[2:08:38]
s neighborhood
[2:08:39]
serving retail, uh, we
[2:08:40]
intentionally had it in front
[2:08:41]
on the linear Park, uh, because
[2:08:44]
we like that interface between
[2:08:46]
that activity, um, uh, in the
[2:08:48]
park, interacting with, uh, uh,
[2:08:49]
with the retail. It
[2:08:50]
s very,
[2:08:51]
very early to, uh, uh, to try
[2:08:52]
and determine what will lease
[2:08:54]
in that space, our hope would
[2:08:55]
be though, it would be
[2:08:56]
neighborhood serving retail
[2:08:58]
rather than commercial uses,
[2:08:59]
understood, and part of the
[2:09:00]
reason I asked that is because
[2:09:02]
it just felt a little odd to
[2:09:03]
have that retail space fronting,
[2:09:06]
well, not fronting, Technically,
[2:09:07]
but closer to the Chambridge
[2:09:08]
roadside, I would think.
[2:09:10]
Considering you have an
[2:09:11]
adjacent shopping center on the
[2:09:13]
University Drive portion, you
[2:09:13]
might get more consistency
[2:09:15]
putting that on the university
[2:09:16]
drive side. I wasn
[2:09:17]
t sure what
[2:09:18]
went through your thought
[2:09:20]
process on that. Yeah, so, uh,
[2:09:21]
the, the retail actually is on
[2:09:23]
the right side, east side of
[2:09:24]
the site on University Drive,
[2:09:25]
correct, and, and the reason
[2:09:26]
for that, just, just so you
[2:09:27]
re
[2:09:28]
aware, um, and, you know, when
[2:09:30]
we first met with, with staff
[2:09:31]
about this, they, they
[2:09:32]
emphasize the importance of
[2:09:33]
having that retail frontage
[2:09:33]
there because that
[2:09:34]
s what the
[2:09:35]
small area plan recommends. If
[2:09:37]
you look at this site, um, this
[2:09:38]
site, the hotel site to the
[2:09:40]
south, And even points to the
[2:09:41]
north across Eaton Place it
[2:09:42]
envisioned in the small area
[2:09:44]
plan that, that Linear Park has
[2:09:46]
a retail frontage, and so, um,
[2:09:48]
what you see here is the
[2:09:48]
product of several
[2:09:50]
conversations we had with staff
[2:09:51]
early on to advance that design.
[2:09:53]
I am very happy to hear I was
[2:09:55]
wrong about that, so thank you.
[2:09:55]
Uh, so I didn
[2:09:57]
t say you were
[2:09:57]
wrong per se. I
[2:09:59]
ll say it to
[2:09:59]
myself, uh, no, that
[2:10:00]
s good to
[2:10:01]
know, um, and that was it for
[2:10:04]
my questions. Thank you. Thank
[2:10:08]
you. Uh, COUNCILMAN McQuillan.
[2:10:10]
Thank you, um, how much
[2:10:12]
commercial will be preserved,
[2:10:14]
uh, so the, the existing office
[2:10:14]
buildings are about 16,000
[2:10:17]
square feet, a little over that,
[2:10:18]
uh, council member McQuillan,
[2:10:19]
those will be, those will be
[2:10:20]
removed and replaced with the
[2:10:21]
proposed retail that we have
[2:10:23]
here, which is just over 2700
[2:10:27]
square feet. 100. Ok, and then,
[2:10:32]
um, how much How How much room
[2:10:33]
is there for, I
[2:10:35]
m looking at
[2:10:37]
the renderings and they I like,
[2:10:38]
I actually really like this
[2:10:39]
plan a lot. I
[2:10:39]
ll be honest with
[2:10:41]
you. I, I really like this plan
[2:10:43]
a lot. I like the retail on the
[2:10:45]
side, um, but the renderings,
[2:10:49]
is there a lot of room for
[2:10:51]
Changing the look to look less
[2:10:52]
square and modern and like
[2:10:54]
everything else I see in
[2:10:55]
everybody else
[2:10:56]
s city that
[2:10:57]
being built absolutely, um,
[2:10:59]
when, and this is probably my
[2:11:00]
first opportunity to work
[2:11:01]
together and, and he said, you
[2:11:01]
know, you don
[2:11:03]
t really need, uh,
[2:11:04]
renderings at this point. It
[2:11:05]
just conceptual. I said, let
[2:11:06]
put something in there and
[2:11:07]
facilitate a conversation, so
[2:11:08]
the answer is absolutely, and
[2:11:10]
we want that feedback and we,
[2:11:11]
and we want this whole project
[2:11:12]
to feel like it
[2:11:12]
s part of the
[2:11:14]
fabric of the city of Fairfax,
[2:11:16]
I really, I do like the setup.
[2:11:17]
I like the green space. I like
[2:11:19]
where You have the retail, I
[2:11:21]
like to see a little or the
[2:11:21]
commercial, I
[2:11:22]
d like to see a
[2:11:23]
little bit more preservation
[2:11:26]
for commercial, but, um, I, I,
[2:11:28]
the renderings and the look of,
[2:11:29]
of the appearance, I think you
[2:11:31]
could go a long way if it
[2:11:32]
really matches our community
[2:11:34]
well and keeps to the character.
[2:11:36]
So thank you. Thank you.
[2:11:39]
Council member Peterson. Yeah,
[2:11:41]
ve got it for staff, a couple
[2:11:42]
of questions here just on page
[2:11:46]
1. And uh, just a couple of
[2:11:48]
quick math questions for you on
[2:11:51]
the far right bottom activity
[2:11:52]
centers plus outside of number
[2:11:54]
of units. And there
[2:11:54]
s, you drop
[2:11:57]
down, you go to a total of
[2:11:58]
3,022, what does is that number?
[2:12:02]
Ok, sorry, can you repeat your
[2:12:04]
question? I was looking at my
[2:12:05]
presentation at the staff
[2:12:07]
report. So I
[2:12:09]
m going to the
[2:12:11]
staff report. Yes, and I
[2:12:15]
going down to. Uh, bottom right
[2:12:17]
corner of page 1. Ok, so you
[2:12:17]
ve
[2:12:21]
got a couple tables here. Uh,
[2:12:24]
that give you the tally. Of
[2:12:26]
what are known what you
[2:12:27]
re
[2:12:27]
benchmark estimates, but I
[2:12:28]
ll
[2:12:29]
circle back to the very far
[2:12:30]
right, and they have numbers
[2:12:32]
for the 1st 2 for North Facts
[2:12:33]
and then Activity Centers plus
[2:12:36]
combined. The last one is
[2:12:37]
activity centers plus outside
[2:12:38]
of, and it
[2:12:40]
s blank. But if you
[2:12:41]
drop down to the very bottom,
[2:12:42]
it
[2:12:44]
s 3,022. What does that mean?
[2:12:45]
Yeah, that
[2:12:47]
s all like 1 table,
[2:12:51]
so that means The projects that
[2:12:55]
are in a land use process right
[2:12:56]
now, including activity
[2:12:57]
including including activity
[2:12:58]
including centers and those
[2:13:01]
outside of activity centers.
[2:13:03]
Those are in a land use process,
[2:13:06]
how do you reconcile that with
[2:13:07]
the 1st 2 boxes, 1 for North
[2:13:09]
Facts and 1 for Activity
[2:13:11]
centers combined. The Norfax
[2:13:14]
one has 1400 and the, uh,
[2:13:15]
smaller plan benchmark estimate
[2:13:17]
for activity centers is 4700
[2:13:19]
and, and MS. Schweiger, if you
[2:13:21]
could pull up that slide as
[2:13:23]
well. I think that might be
[2:13:27]
helpful. So the 1400 units
[2:13:29]
council member Peterson is the
[2:13:30]
benchmark estimate for the
[2:13:34]
North facts. Small area plan
[2:13:35]
and so that
[2:13:35]
s what identified
[2:13:38]
in the plan in terms of a
[2:13:40]
benchmark estimate over the, uh,
[2:13:42]
near term development. In
[2:13:47]
Northfaxs. Um, so there is not
[2:13:49]
a benchmark estimate for areas
[2:13:51]
outside of activity centers, so
[2:13:54]
in that final table on the far
[2:13:56]
right of this slide, you don
[2:13:58]
see a benchmark estimate, so
[2:13:59]
what
[2:14:01]
s included there is in
[2:14:03]
total number of residential
[2:14:05]
units at some place within the
[2:14:08]
development review process.
[2:14:09]
That could be considered by
[2:14:11]
city council at some point in
[2:14:15]
time if those, uh, proposals or
[2:14:17]
projects proceed, those are the
[2:14:20]
figures associated with that.
[2:14:23]
So under construction approved.
[2:14:25]
Under review and in a
[2:14:26]
pre-application phase, and so
[2:14:29]
those are the units that are
[2:14:30]
somewhere in the development
[2:14:34]
review process with the city.
[2:14:34]
That
[2:14:36]
s the 3022. Yes sir.
[2:14:38]
Alright, so just. Checked my
[2:14:41]
math. So if you look at Current
[2:14:42]
Population in the city of
[2:14:45]
Fairfax, which is 26,340 or
[2:14:48]
something like that. And you
[2:14:50]
add 47 to it, that
[2:14:51]
s 4700,
[2:14:51]
that
[2:14:52]
s knocking the door at an
[2:14:54]
18% increase. You had another,
[2:14:57]
um. 3000 to it, it
[2:14:58]
s like a 29%
[2:15:03]
increase over base. So, just
[2:15:04]
adding the numbers up again,
[2:15:05]
just a math thing trying to
[2:15:07]
where you, we have a current
[2:15:07]
population. I
[2:15:09]
m trying to get a
[2:15:12]
sense of how much that current
[2:15:12]
population expands I
[2:15:12]
ll take
[2:15:14]
your word for it, council
[2:15:15]
member Peterson, blame it on
[2:15:16]
the iPhone if it
[2:15:17]
s wrong, ok,
[2:15:19]
and my thumbs, which I have too
[2:15:21]
many of right now. All right,
[2:15:22]
so, so, so there
[2:15:23]
s that just,
[2:15:27]
uh Then I you said near term,
[2:15:31]
what does that mean? The small
[2:15:34]
area plans identify a 10 to 15
[2:15:37]
year near term. Development
[2:15:39]
window, and so as, as shown in
[2:15:41]
those plans, there There
[2:15:41]
s a
[2:15:43]
full illustrative build out of
[2:15:45]
what redevelopment in those
[2:15:47]
areas which are designated
[2:15:49]
redevelopment areas in the city
[2:15:51]
might look like as those plans
[2:15:54]
were being developed based upon
[2:15:56]
market conditions, what is
[2:16:00]
included is what, um, is
[2:16:00]
estimated redevelopment
[2:16:03]
activity could, um, result in.
[2:16:06]
Over that 10 to 15-year period.
[2:16:09]
So for Northfas, uh, it was
[2:16:11]
1400 units. Great, but so, and
[2:16:12]
we
[2:16:13]
ve talked about this, so
[2:16:13]
you
[2:16:15]
ll correct me if I don
[2:16:17]
exactly get it right, but those
[2:16:22]
benchmark estimates are What
[2:16:23]
market conditions could result
[2:16:25]
in, that is not, however, a
[2:16:26]
public policy goal that
[2:16:26]
s been
[2:16:28]
adopted by the city. That is
[2:16:29]
correct, and that
[2:16:30]
s a very
[2:16:31]
critical point for everybody to
[2:16:33]
recognize. So I, I think we
[2:16:35]
need to be cautious about, um,
[2:16:37]
any presentation, and I
[2:16:37]
m not
[2:16:38]
pointing fingers at this one
[2:16:40]
that might suggest that we are
[2:16:42]
trying to attain this
[2:16:43]
particular goals, that is not
[2:16:44]
the case. We
[2:16:45]
re simply tracking
[2:16:46]
metrics, but I
[2:16:47]
m curious also,
[2:16:47]
I don
[2:16:48]
t see our economic
[2:16:49]
development director here,
[2:16:49]
although maybe she
[2:16:52]
s hiding
[2:16:56]
somewhere, uh, but we have a
[2:16:58]
metric here, which is housing
[2:17:01]
units, um, are we also. Uh,
[2:17:05]
estimating Commercial, uh,
[2:17:06]
expansion, uh, market potential,
[2:17:08]
and for that matter, retail.
[2:17:08]
And I don
[2:17:09]
t even talk about
[2:17:10]
industrial, but let
[2:17:11]
s just talk
[2:17:12]
about commercial and retail
[2:17:13]
over the same period. I don
[2:17:15]
see those benchmarks here. Uh,
[2:17:17]
we are, um, and, and that
[2:17:18]
information that we can provide.
[2:17:22]
To city council moving forward,
[2:17:23]
I think this table is put
[2:17:24]
together in response to a
[2:17:26]
previous request, so we
[2:17:27]
included it in this
[2:17:30]
presentation, but we can add
[2:17:30]
additional information
[2:17:32]
regarding commercial square
[2:17:33]
footage is as well. Well, I
[2:17:35]
mean, it gets to a strategic
[2:17:36]
question, I think, for the
[2:17:39]
council in the city as it is
[2:17:39]
trying to address public
[2:17:43]
interest, and that is the, um
[2:17:46]
Goal that Either we have or
[2:17:46]
we
[2:17:47]
ve certainly discussed of
[2:17:53]
expanding. Um, the presence of
[2:17:55]
commercial redevelopment and or
[2:17:58]
development in the city, and we
[2:17:58]
don
[2:17:59]
t have parallel numbers
[2:18:01]
here to tell us what those
[2:18:03]
numbers look like next to
[2:18:05]
residential numbers, so the
[2:18:06]
conversation a little bit
[2:18:06]
one-sided. We
[2:18:07]
re just talking
[2:18:08]
residential. We
[2:18:08]
re not talking
[2:18:12]
commercial here. This is a case
[2:18:12]
where we
[2:18:13]
re reducing the and so
[2:18:16]
there is certainly an interest
[2:18:16]
in expanding commercial and,
[2:18:17]
and in this case, we
[2:18:17]
re
[2:18:19]
actually reducing it. From
[2:18:22]
16,000 to 2700 square feet. I
[2:18:23]
think that
[2:18:24]
s a really big hit
[2:18:26]
on a commercial, uh, square
[2:18:29]
footage. And again, our
[2:18:30]
economic development director
[2:18:31]
is not here, but she will, I
[2:18:33]
sure, be listening in on this.
[2:18:33]
It
[2:18:34]
s my understanding that just
[2:18:36]
across the street, At Bright
[2:18:38]
View, one of the objectives
[2:18:40]
there, uh, to address this very
[2:18:44]
problem. Is to add 7000 square
[2:18:45]
feet at least of commercial
[2:18:48]
there. So I, I guess my
[2:18:51]
question is if, if we are
[2:18:53]
trying to expand commercial in
[2:18:56]
this area, um, why aren
[2:18:56]
t we
[2:18:58]
focusing the approach on this
[2:19:00]
particular site in a manner
[2:19:00]
that
[2:19:01]
s consistent with that
[2:19:03]
because that would seem to be
[2:19:03]
consistent with the city
[2:19:07]
goals. Mhm. I
[2:19:08]
ll, I
[2:19:09]
ll defer to
[2:19:11]
the applicant or the potential
[2:19:11]
applicant regarding this
[2:19:13]
potential site. Sure thing,
[2:19:14]
thanks, thanks, MR. Hart, and
[2:19:15]
thanks, Council Member Peterson
[2:19:16]
for the question. I think it
[2:19:18]
a good one, right, um, you know,
[2:19:20]
this site has been a commercial
[2:19:23]
use for the last 50 or so years,
[2:19:24]
um, for the reasons I described
[2:19:25]
the, the existing facilities on
[2:19:28]
the site, the, the buildings
[2:19:28]
themselves are just, they, you
[2:19:29]
know, they
[2:19:29]
re, they
[2:19:29]
re, they
[2:19:29]
re,
[2:19:29]
they
[2:19:30]
re at the end of their,
[2:19:32]
their lifespan, and so the
[2:19:33]
question then becomes, what
[2:19:35]
next, and so, uh, when we
[2:19:36]
looked at this property and
[2:19:38]
working with the owner, um,
[2:19:39]
trying to figure out what made
[2:19:40]
the best sense for Northfas,
[2:19:41]
what made the best sense for
[2:19:42]
the city as Greg was mentioning.
[2:19:45]
Earlier, we thought that
[2:19:46]
introducing opportunities for
[2:19:47]
homeownership here where
[2:19:49]
appropriate. Now, I, I
[2:19:50]
acknowledge that there will be
[2:19:52]
a reduction in the amount of
[2:19:52]
commercial space, certainly
[2:19:53]
compared to what
[2:19:54]
s there today,
[2:19:55]
we are bringing forward what
[2:19:56]
what I do believe is a
[2:19:58]
meaningful number, 2700 square
[2:20:00]
feet. But I think looking at
[2:20:02]
the bigger picture here, what
[2:20:04]
these these future residents
[2:20:05]
will do is support the existing
[2:20:06]
commercial uses that are
[2:20:08]
already in the area, the
[2:20:08]
shopping centers down the
[2:20:10]
street, the future growth yet
[2:20:11]
to come in Northfax, and so I
[2:20:14]
do think that This application,
[2:20:16]
this proposal, which is a
[2:20:18]
relatively small piece of North
[2:20:20]
Facts and the bigger picture
[2:20:22]
does have a role to play. Um,
[2:20:22]
you
[2:20:23]
ve got the botanist coming
[2:20:24]
online right now, um, it
[2:20:25]
under construction. I think
[2:20:26]
that
[2:20:26]
s bringing about 5000
[2:20:27]
square feet. I forget if you
[2:20:29]
mentioned that or not, Council
[2:20:31]
member Peterson, but, um,
[2:20:32]
looking at this site and, and,
[2:20:34]
and, and working through this
[2:20:35]
development program, we felt
[2:20:36]
that this was the highest and
[2:20:38]
the best use for it, and
[2:20:39]
certainly something that can be
[2:20:40]
a valuable part of the overall
[2:20:44]
Northfax community. So I think
[2:20:47]
it would be great to maybe, um,
[2:20:48]
have an expanded conversation
[2:20:49]
that I would like, um, if
[2:20:51]
possible, to have the benefit
[2:20:52]
of our economic development
[2:20:56]
director to be a part of to
[2:20:59]
understand the commercial, um,
[2:21:00]
status mix and potential goals
[2:21:01]
in that area because right
[2:21:04]
across the street, there is, of
[2:21:06]
course, quite substantial, uh,
[2:21:07]
commercial redevelopment going
[2:21:07]
on, and I don
[2:21:08]
t think the issue
[2:21:10]
here is trying to make use of
[2:21:11]
the 50-year-old building, so I
[2:21:12]
think it
[2:21:12]
s pretty clear that
[2:21:14]
this is a redevelopment
[2:21:15]
scenario under any scenario
[2:21:16]
here that
[2:21:17]
s taking place, but I
[2:21:19]
think the question is whether
[2:21:19]
it
[2:21:20]
s really the right time and
[2:21:21]
place to be knocking out so
[2:21:24]
much commercial given these
[2:21:25]
circumstances, and I
[2:21:26]
d, I
[2:21:28]
certainly like to understand
[2:21:29]
that more clearly. Uh, the
[2:21:31]
other thing that factors into
[2:21:37]
that in is um In terms of the
[2:21:38]
type of commercial development
[2:21:43]
that Is consistent with future
[2:21:44]
market conditions and could
[2:21:45]
actually, uh, those conditions
[2:21:48]
could be shaped a bit by
[2:21:50]
proactive things that we might
[2:21:53]
do here. Uh, my understanding,
[2:21:54]
uh, from our economic
[2:21:57]
development director is that uh
[2:21:59]
Where the city shines and could
[2:22:03]
shine is smaller scale, uh.
[2:22:04]
Commercial sites that would be
[2:22:06]
of interest to firms. That
[2:22:06]
don
[2:22:07]
t want to go into the
[2:22:10]
really big, um, office building
[2:22:11]
developments that are outside
[2:22:13]
of the city, but are looking
[2:22:17]
for, um Smaller scale, more and
[2:22:19]
by definition, uh, more
[2:22:20]
affordable also that are
[2:22:23]
monetized and it creates a set
[2:22:24]
of conditions that those firms
[2:22:27]
are looking for, and we have
[2:22:27]
some competitive advantages
[2:22:29]
there, and this would be a case
[2:22:30]
where, you know, this is a site
[2:22:31]
that could potentially be
[2:22:32]
acting on them. I
[2:22:33]
m not sure
[2:22:36]
how much of the formulation of
[2:22:38]
this proposal has involved
[2:22:39]
conversations around economic
[2:22:40]
development and commercial
[2:22:41]
development in the city, but to
[2:22:41]
me that
[2:22:44]
s kind of the, uh The
[2:22:46]
white elephant here, um, I
[2:22:47]
appreciate what you brought
[2:22:49]
forward, but I, I do want to
[2:22:50]
acknowledge that we have kind
[2:22:52]
of a big picture issue here, uh,
[2:22:54]
for the city in this particular,
[2:22:57]
uh, location that I, I would
[2:22:59]
feel more comfortable if we had
[2:23:00]
a chance to unpack that a
[2:23:02]
little bit here as we decide
[2:23:03]
what, what works best here.
[2:23:06]
Thank you. Thank you, Council
[2:23:12]
member Hardy Chandler. Uh,
[2:23:18]
thank you, um. I really
[2:23:19]
appreciate slide 4 because I
[2:23:20]
think as I mentioned in a
[2:23:22]
previous meeting, sometimes we
[2:23:23]
look at projects individually
[2:23:24]
and we don
[2:23:24]
t consider what else
[2:23:27]
is going on in the area. So I
[2:23:30]
think that we did ask for, uh,
[2:23:31]
particularly on the residential
[2:23:32]
side, what else is going on and
[2:23:35]
where this falls, so in
[2:23:37]
Northfax is this proposal
[2:23:38]
included in the pre-application
[2:23:39]
number that
[2:23:40]
s in the upper left
[2:23:44]
side. Ok. Thank you. Um, the
[2:23:48]
other question that I had was
[2:23:50]
for retail you mentioned
[2:23:52]
neighborhood serving. What does
[2:23:52]
that mean specifically? Can you
[2:23:54]
break down what that means for
[2:23:57]
me? Sure, sure, and I think
[2:23:57]
might shop there
[2:23:58]
s things like
[2:23:59]
small, small boutiques, perhaps
[2:24:02]
a coffee shop, a cafe, a small
[2:24:04]
restaurant, things that could,
[2:24:05]
as I was mentioning before, you
[2:24:06]
know, be used by the, the
[2:24:08]
future residents here. And so,
[2:24:09]
um, I
[2:24:09]
m sure Greg would agree
[2:24:09]
with me. It
[2:24:11]
s still, again,
[2:24:11]
we
[2:24:13]
re on step 1 of 1. 100 of
[2:24:15]
this process, um, it
[2:24:15]
s still
[2:24:17]
relatively early. I think as we
[2:24:18]
move forward, hopefully that
[2:24:19]
vision gets fleshed out a
[2:24:20]
little bit more at this point
[2:24:21]
anyway, we
[2:24:21]
re hoping to
[2:24:23]
maintain as much flexibility as
[2:24:25]
we can to expand the, the
[2:24:26]
universe of potential uses, but
[2:24:26]
what we
[2:24:27]
re thinking is most
[2:24:29]
likely is something like I
[2:24:30]
described a small restaurant
[2:24:31]
cafe, store, something like
[2:24:33]
that you, I just wanted to
[2:24:34]
understand the category, um, I
[2:24:35]
did read in the report where
[2:24:36]
you were talking about the
[2:24:37]
buildings being at the end of
[2:24:38]
their life. So can you talk a
[2:24:41]
little bit about the current
[2:24:41]
tenants and so it
[2:24:42]
s at the of
[2:24:43]
its life, something is going to
[2:24:46]
have to happen, right? These
[2:24:47]
buildings are not sustainable
[2:24:50]
at all. Some choices gonna have
[2:24:52]
to be made, um, so for the
[2:24:56]
current Tenants, I guess a
[2:24:59]
couple of questions there, um,
[2:25:00]
any very early thoughts about
[2:25:01]
what might happen with them in
[2:25:04]
terms of a plan and also what
[2:25:06]
is the current vacancy of those
[2:25:08]
buildings, the, the current
[2:25:11]
vacancy is about 40%, um, and
[2:25:11]
that
[2:25:12]
s going to grow, um, to
[2:25:13]
the, the buildings are set to
[2:25:15]
go entirely vacant over the
[2:25:18]
next 18 months, um, the, the
[2:25:18]
buildings are structurally, you
[2:25:19]
know, I don
[2:25:20]
t wanna say unsound,
[2:25:22]
but in poor condition and it no
[2:25:24]
longer makes sense to continue.
[2:25:25]
Invest them. So, in any
[2:25:26]
scenario, those buildings will
[2:25:27]
be closed here in the next 18
[2:25:30]
to 24 months. Ok, and you
[2:25:34]
mentioned If I heard you
[2:25:35]
correctly and another response,
[2:25:36]
you mentioned this as being
[2:25:38]
different from some of the
[2:25:39]
other projects that you
[2:25:39]
re
[2:25:41]
involved in, is that what went
[2:25:43]
into the decision for this
[2:25:47]
particular kind of Proposal
[2:25:49]
because I think there was a
[2:25:50]
mention of rental properties
[2:25:52]
and other properties, so was
[2:25:55]
this to diversify? Well, in
[2:25:57]
terms of this particular plan,
[2:25:59]
it was diversifying the housing
[2:26:00]
opportunities in this submarket
[2:26:01]
right now, right now there
[2:26:02]
s a
[2:26:03]
rental product coming up and
[2:26:03]
there
[2:26:04]
s a senior housing and so
[2:26:06]
forth and so we saw a distinct
[2:26:08]
opportunity, um, specifically
[2:26:10]
in townhouses that are smaller,
[2:26:12]
more attainable, uh, the 2 over
[2:26:13]
2s will be even a lower price
[2:26:14]
point, so we felt like that hit
[2:26:15]
a real sweet spot that wasn
[2:26:17]
an opportunity there. So having
[2:26:18]
differentiated product was, was
[2:26:20]
very interesting. The other
[2:26:20]
thing that
[2:26:21]
s about the site
[2:26:22]
that, uh, is important to note
[2:26:23]
is it
[2:26:23]
s a small site, um, it
[2:26:27]
Just over 2 acres, um, with the
[2:26:28]
hotel to the south, there
[2:26:29]
s no
[2:26:30]
real opportunity to grow that
[2:26:32]
to do a more substantial
[2:26:34]
project, um, and so this was an
[2:26:35]
opportunity to kind of pack a
[2:26:38]
lot into a small bag, so, um,
[2:26:39]
if, if checked a lot of boxes.
[2:26:40]
Thank you, I appreciate that
[2:26:41]
it
[2:26:41]
s my questions for now.
[2:26:45]
Thank you. COUNCILMAN Hall.
[2:26:47]
Sorry, can you give me another
[2:26:48]
minute, please? Thanks. Council
[2:26:52]
member Bates. Um, I certainly
[2:26:57]
do. Overall, um. Like some
[2:26:59]
aspects of this project, the,
[2:27:02]
uh, the layout of, um, overall
[2:27:03]
the sidewalks and, uh, side
[2:27:07]
access. Um, I will say that the
[2:27:09]
smaller area plan envisions
[2:27:12]
this site being all commercial,
[2:27:13]
um, understanding that, you
[2:27:16]
know, there might be room for
[2:27:17]
compromise here, but, um, I
[2:27:19]
would like to see, ideally, at
[2:27:21]
least half the commercial space
[2:27:21]
that
[2:27:23]
s there, um, replaced, and,
[2:27:25]
uh, you know, there are things
[2:27:27]
that could be done in terms of
[2:27:28]
perhaps structured parking, um,
[2:27:28]
you know, we
[2:27:29]
ve seen other
[2:27:30]
sites in the city where there
[2:27:31]
s,
[2:27:32]
uh, you know, a small office
[2:27:33]
building with a small, uh,
[2:27:33]
parking garage or something
[2:27:38]
like that. That, um, and in
[2:27:41]
addition to, you know, the
[2:27:43]
retail frontage is certainly um
[2:27:46]
Uh, needed there, you know, at
[2:27:47]
an absolute minimum. But the
[2:27:49]
smaller area plan envisions
[2:27:51]
that fronting onto the linear
[2:27:52]
park, um, which I think is
[2:27:55]
perhaps maybe just a matter of
[2:27:56]
moving that sidewalk around to
[2:27:57]
the other side and, you know,
[2:27:58]
having it front onto that
[2:28:01]
sidewalk on that side, um, but
[2:28:03]
yeah, again, more commercial
[2:28:07]
space, uh, office and or retail,
[2:28:08]
um, but still certainly, you
[2:28:10]
know, I think that having some
[2:28:11]
for sale units here, add some
[2:28:14]
diversity to The, the housing
[2:28:15]
stock in this part of Northfaxs.
[2:28:20]
Thank you. Council Member Hall,
[2:28:21]
thank you. Sorry, I forgot my
[2:28:21]
reading glasses so I
[2:28:22]
m having
[2:28:24]
to like zoom in or go over to
[2:28:26]
the screen, sucks getting old.
[2:28:27]
Um, I have a couple, I don
[2:28:29]
know if they
[2:28:30]
re Clara questions
[2:28:32]
or not, but back to slide 4. I
[2:28:32]
know we
[2:28:33]
re spending a lot of
[2:28:37]
time on that, um, the, the
[2:28:38]
benchmark estimates of 1400 for
[2:28:41]
North Facts and 4700 for the
[2:28:44]
activity centers combined. That
[2:28:46]
equates to 6100 units, correct?
[2:28:47]
If you, you
[2:28:48]
re adding those two
[2:28:50]
together, or is the 4700
[2:28:55]
inclusive of the 4? Inclusive,
[2:28:57]
4700 total among all of the
[2:28:58]
activities centers, so sorry,
[2:28:58]
we
[2:28:59]
re gonna have to do math
[2:29:03]
real quick. Because I did it
[2:29:06]
the other way so what I found,
[2:29:17]
uh, sorry, wrong buttons. 41.
[2:29:23]
Ok, so 4700. 45, ok, so what I
[2:29:26]
found, um, with a quick search
[2:29:29]
was that in 2024, the total
[2:29:32]
dwelling units in the city was
[2:29:39]
10,467. So these proposed
[2:29:41]
residential development plans
[2:29:47]
to add 4700 units. Which is 45%
[2:29:49]
of what we currently have
[2:29:50]
available for dwelling units.
[2:29:54]
So we are Adding and an
[2:29:56]
extraordinary amount. Um, in
[2:29:59]
this. Overall proposal, not
[2:30:00]
your specific proposal. We
[2:30:01]
ll
[2:30:05]
be clear on that. Um. And then
[2:30:07]
of the 914 units that are
[2:30:09]
currently under construction.
[2:30:11]
Or am I doing that wrong? It
[2:30:12]
should be 4:30 under
[2:30:14]
construction or is it 484 total
[2:30:19]
under construction. 484 total
[2:30:21]
under construction among all 4
[2:30:24]
of the activity centers, yeah,
[2:30:28]
so then 484 divided by 467 gets
[2:30:29]
me to, let
[2:30:34]
s call it about 5%.
[2:30:36]
So there is 5% of the total
[2:30:38]
dwelling units in 2024 that is
[2:30:39]
currently under construction in
[2:30:43]
the city. I trust your math. I
[2:30:44]
didn
[2:30:44]
t at first, but then I
[2:30:46]
went back and did it the right
[2:30:48]
way, um, ok, so what I
[2:30:49]
hearing is that we
[2:30:50]
re going to
[2:30:53]
be adding based upon this slide,
[2:30:55]
45% of our existing housing
[2:30:55]
stock, we
[2:30:56]
re going to be adding
[2:30:59]
an additional 45% of that total
[2:31:00]
based on what we have on this
[2:31:03]
slide. I think those are really
[2:31:06]
important numbers. Um Now, to
[2:31:07]
your specific proposal, and
[2:31:09]
this might be, again, a clarity
[2:31:13]
question first, but on page 6,
[2:31:15]
the residents in that is right
[2:31:17]
near this, I believe that is a
[2:31:20]
4-story building. Which is
[2:31:23]
roughly 48 ft tall. I believe
[2:31:24]
it
[2:31:24]
s 5. I
[2:31:25]
m going by memory. I
[2:31:28]
googled it, but it said 4, but
[2:31:30]
is it 5? I think so. I believe
[2:31:33]
so. Ok, so 5 ft would be
[2:31:35]
roughly 60 ft tall. Ok, so
[2:31:35]
you
[2:31:37]
re building then. Where
[2:31:39]
that frontage there is going to
[2:31:41]
be similar to the residents in,
[2:31:43]
ok, I will say that makes me
[2:31:44]
feel a little better, but still
[2:31:46]
not great, so I actually live
[2:31:47]
across the street on Eaton
[2:31:49]
Place. If you go across and
[2:31:49]
down, I
[2:31:50]
m in that neighborhood
[2:31:51]
there. So this is, this is very,
[2:31:54]
very close to home for me. Um,
[2:31:56]
you might be surprised based
[2:31:57]
upon my other comments along
[2:31:59]
the way that I actually do like
[2:32:02]
this, um, I do have some
[2:32:04]
suggestions though. Um, I do
[2:32:05]
feel even though the residents
[2:32:07]
in apparently is taller Than I
[2:32:10]
thought, I do feel personally
[2:32:11]
that townhouses where the
[2:32:13]
stackable units are would make
[2:32:14]
more sense. I think it would
[2:32:15]
keep the height a little bit
[2:32:16]
lower there as you
[2:32:17]
re driving
[2:32:18]
along Chambridge Road, and then
[2:32:20]
maybe you could potentially
[2:32:22]
repurpose some of the Interior
[2:32:24]
town homes to be the stackable
[2:32:25]
units, that way you have that
[2:32:26]
extra height, but it
[2:32:27]
s not
[2:32:28]
looming over the street there.
[2:32:30]
Um, I know across the street
[2:32:31]
from there is the Assembly
[2:32:33]
Townhomes, I believe, again,
[2:32:35]
someone can correct me, I think
[2:32:37]
they are 3 stories tall, so
[2:32:39]
might give a little bit more
[2:32:40]
balance to what
[2:32:41]
s there, um, I
[2:32:44]
like the green space. I cannot
[2:32:46]
wait until those connections on
[2:32:47]
that service road are closed
[2:32:49]
off, so this gets us there a
[2:32:50]
little bit faster, um, very
[2:32:52]
happy to see the 10. Foot
[2:32:54]
sidewalk uneaten, the 8 ft
[2:32:58]
sidewalk on university, um. The
[2:32:59]
parking that is available, the
[2:33:03]
88 parking spaces. Uh, again,
[2:33:04]
my old eyes are failing me
[2:33:06]
today, but it looks like there
[2:33:08]
are some, um, guest parking
[2:33:10]
spots, Amazon drop off
[2:33:11]
deliveries, though kind of
[2:33:12]
spots available in addition to
[2:33:12]
what
[2:33:14]
s at the residences
[2:33:16]
themselves. Correct. So, so the
[2:33:16]
surface parking spaces are
[2:33:18]
really, they could be used for
[2:33:19]
both. So the ones on the left
[2:33:21]
side, so the west side of the
[2:33:23]
site adjacent to the townhouses,
[2:33:23]
there
[2:33:23]
s, I think there
[2:33:25]
s 8 or 9
[2:33:26]
spaces there, but some of those
[2:33:28]
would be kind of dedicated to
[2:33:30]
the, to the stack townhouses,
[2:33:30]
the stack townhouses will have
[2:33:32]
1 car garages. And so the rest
[2:33:34]
of the parking would be
[2:33:34]
provided in that surface
[2:33:37]
parking area on the left, um,
[2:33:38]
the surface parking area on the
[2:33:39]
right primarily would be
[2:33:41]
devoted to the, the retail, the
[2:33:42]
commercial uses, but, you know,
[2:33:44]
after hours in the evenings on
[2:33:45]
weekends when that space is
[2:33:46]
maybe not, maybe not
[2:33:48]
functioning. Um, those would be
[2:33:49]
theoretically available for
[2:33:51]
guests, visitors, things like
[2:33:53]
that. Ok. While I, while I have
[2:33:54]
the opportunity to speak with
[2:33:56]
you, Council Member Hall, just
[2:33:57]
real briefly, one of the
[2:33:59]
reasons we provided that open
[2:34:01]
space area on the south part of
[2:34:02]
the screen here was to serve as
[2:34:04]
a buffer between those units
[2:34:06]
and the residents and, um, it
[2:34:07]
about 8000 square feet, give or
[2:34:08]
take, and we thought it was the
[2:34:09]
right move to provide a little
[2:34:12]
bit of a buffer there, but I, I
[2:34:13]
appreciate your suggestions
[2:34:14]
about potentially looking at
[2:34:14]
shifting things around a little
[2:34:15]
bit. We
[2:34:15]
ll look at that. I just
[2:34:16]
didn
[2:34:17]
t want to MISS That. Ok,
[2:34:18]
no, I appreciate that, uh, and
[2:34:19]
I do also appreciate the buffer,
[2:34:19]
and I
[2:34:21]
m sure people that live
[2:34:22]
there will also appreciate it.
[2:34:24]
Um, the, these are all going to
[2:34:28]
be for sale units, correct? Ok,
[2:34:30]
and based upon the number that
[2:34:30]
you
[2:34:32]
re putting in 6% of them
[2:34:34]
will be affordable? Uh, I
[2:34:35]
believe for the townhouses,
[2:34:35]
it
[2:34:36]
s 10%. MR. Harden
[2:34:36]
s nodding
[2:34:38]
his head, correct? 6% would
[2:34:40]
apply to multi-family. Ok, I
[2:34:40]
wasn
[2:34:42]
t sure if the combination
[2:34:43]
of the townhouses and the and
[2:34:46]
it would be split. So 10% on
[2:34:48]
the, the townhouse and on the,
[2:34:51]
the 2/2 is a stack to those
[2:34:52]
would be multi-family per
[2:34:55]
zoning, and so that would be 6%
[2:34:56]
on this. So I think it
[2:34:58]
s 3 or
[2:35:02]
43 or 43 or 4, I think. Ok, uh,
[2:35:03]
and I don
[2:35:04]
t mean to be naive
[2:35:05]
about the 2/2 units, but when
[2:35:08]
it says 82/2, does that mean 16
[2:35:10]
units total, or that means 8
[2:35:12]
units, like 4 of 8 total. Ok,
[2:35:16]
correct. Ok, um, I
[2:35:17]
m happy to
[2:35:19]
see the dwelling units per acre
[2:35:20]
at a reasonable 17.7 in my
[2:35:23]
opinion. Um The private street
[2:35:23]
you
[2:35:25]
re referring to, is this,
[2:35:26]
this, the trash and all of
[2:35:28]
those things would be handled
[2:35:30]
entirely by the complex itself.
[2:35:30]
Because they
[2:35:31]
re townhouses,
[2:35:32]
right? So they don
[2:35:33]
t, oh, so
[2:35:36]
they do get city services the
[2:35:38]
townhouses would get city
[2:35:41]
services, yes. Stacked units
[2:35:41]
would not. That
[2:35:42]
s correct. I
[2:35:42]
don
[2:35:45]
t know how that
[2:35:45]
s gonna
[2:35:48]
work. Um, similar situation in
[2:35:49]
Mount Vineyard at the corner of
[2:35:52]
Oak and Main Street has similar
[2:35:53]
setup townhouses and 2 of her
[2:35:55]
tubs and, and condominiums in
[2:35:57]
that development, so it is
[2:36:00]
split. Ok, different colored
[2:36:02]
trash cans on different units,
[2:36:03]
I think I was gonna say I was
[2:36:04]
gonna fighting over some
[2:36:06]
dumpster, but maybe not, um,
[2:36:08]
and again, I know this is step
[2:36:11]
1 of 100. Um, I do think, again,
[2:36:13]
I, I live right near here, what
[2:36:15]
I think we are lacking is, like
[2:36:18]
you said, a cafe style place, a
[2:36:19]
place that does sandwiches, a
[2:36:21]
place that does a nice lunch,
[2:36:23]
you can get some stuff for
[2:36:25]
dinner, takeout, um, I love
[2:36:27]
coffee shops, but when they
[2:36:27]
don
[2:36:28]
t serve sufficient food
[2:36:28]
like we have enough coffee
[2:36:30]
shops right now. So again, I
[2:36:31]
know that that
[2:36:32]
s in the weeds,
[2:36:33]
but I live here, I have a
[2:36:35]
vested interest in, in seeing
[2:36:38]
something like that succeed, um,
[2:36:40]
but I, I have to say I, I am
[2:36:40]
pleasantly surprised and I
[2:36:41]
sure those that are watching at
[2:36:43]
home are like, wow, she
[2:36:44]
actually supporting something,
[2:36:45]
right? Um, and, and I am, I, I
[2:36:47]
again, I would like to see
[2:36:49]
maybe the, the shift of the
[2:36:51]
stackable over to the back, but,
[2:36:51]
um, I, I think there
[2:36:52]
s a lot of
[2:36:54]
really good things here, um,
[2:36:57]
you did mention that the
[2:36:59]
current tenants were 40%. 40%
[2:37:00]
vacant right now and expected
[2:37:02]
to transition out in the next
[2:37:04]
18 months is that simply
[2:37:05]
because the owner of the
[2:37:06]
building knows he wants to do,
[2:37:08]
he or she wants to do something
[2:37:12]
and is not renewing leases. The,
[2:37:14]
uh, the value of the leases are
[2:37:16]
far below the, the cost of, uh,
[2:37:17]
fix the building up to the
[2:37:18]
state where we remain leasable,
[2:37:19]
so it doesn
[2:37:20]
t make any economic
[2:37:24]
sense any any longer. And what
[2:37:26]
is currently in space it
[2:37:29]
about and about 2/3 office, so
[2:37:31]
they kind of local small office
[2:37:34]
kind of users. Ok, do, do we
[2:37:35]
know if we anticipate the
[2:37:37]
people that are there currently
[2:37:38]
wanting to remain in the city,
[2:37:40]
are there options for them, or
[2:37:41]
is that just they
[2:37:42]
re likely
[2:37:43]
gone. Yeah, I think, and you
[2:37:44]
know, the owner
[2:37:44]
s not with us
[2:37:46]
this evening, but, you know,
[2:37:46]
we
[2:37:46]
ve had conversations with
[2:37:48]
them. I think we would be
[2:37:50]
absolutely very open to working
[2:37:52]
with economic development and
[2:37:53]
facilitating relocation in the
[2:37:54]
city if that, if that is a
[2:37:56]
possibility. Um, the, the
[2:37:57]
ownership group that owns this,
[2:37:58]
this, these buildings today
[2:37:59]
have owned for quite a long
[2:38:00]
time. And so, um, you know,
[2:38:01]
they have, they, they, they
[2:38:03]
very much want to do. Do right
[2:38:04]
by their attendants as, as they,
[2:38:05]
as they move on, as they move
[2:38:06]
out, and so that
[2:38:07]
s something
[2:38:07]
that
[2:38:08]
ll be working through
[2:38:09]
throughout this process and,
[2:38:11]
and beyond, um, one more thing
[2:38:12]
while I have the microphone and
[2:38:12]
I, I
[2:38:14]
d be remis with that at
[2:38:15]
the risk of snatching defeat
[2:38:17]
from the jaws of victory here.
[2:38:18]
Um, green space you mentioned
[2:38:20]
on, on Chambridge Road here,
[2:38:22]
just to be very clear, what we
[2:38:24]
did there is we, we took, um,
[2:38:24]
what
[2:38:24]
s in the city
[2:38:25]
s plans
[2:38:27]
right now for the intersection
[2:38:28]
improvements at Eaton Place in
[2:38:29]
University, and we kind of
[2:38:30]
overlaid that, what that
[2:38:31]
going to look like in the
[2:38:33]
future. Just to be very clear,
[2:38:35]
ok, so not a pocket park there.
[2:38:37]
Correct. This, this, that
[2:38:38]
really for illustrative
[2:38:38]
purposes, that
[2:38:39]
s going to be
[2:38:41]
done in the future when the
[2:38:41]
intersection improvement
[2:38:42]
project goes forward. And so
[2:38:45]
what we did is we just simply
[2:38:46]
overlaid the city
[2:38:47]
s plans onto
[2:38:48]
these drawings to show what it
[2:38:49]
will look like in the future
[2:38:49]
when it
[2:38:50]
s all said and done, I
[2:38:52]
appreciate your honesty and
[2:38:53]
transparency on that one the
[2:38:54]
other spaces on the site, we
[2:38:54]
ll
[2:38:56]
take care of those. Ok, great.
[2:39:00]
Thank you very much. Council
[2:39:01]
member Peterson. Yeah, I was
[2:39:05]
wrong on my math. And council
[2:39:07]
member Hall was kind enough to
[2:39:09]
recut the numbers, and I just
[2:39:14]
wanted to, um, reinforce that,
[2:39:16]
uh, the 45% growth in
[2:39:17]
households over 1015 years, but
[2:39:18]
let
[2:39:21]
s call it 10 years, um, is
[2:39:22]
more than 4 times, it
[2:39:23]
s 4.5
[2:39:24]
times the rate of household
[2:39:25]
growth that occurred in the
[2:39:27]
last in the period of 2020 to
[2:39:31]
2025 in the city. So this just,
[2:39:34]
again, this is not an issue
[2:39:35]
with this particular proposal,
[2:39:39]
but it is a general question
[2:39:40]
and concern about the overall
[2:39:43]
volume and rate of growth for
[2:39:44]
residential units because it
[2:39:45]
far surpasses both in rate and
[2:39:46]
volume, what we
[2:39:47]
ve seen in the
[2:39:49]
last 5 years. Of of course, the
[2:39:50]
backdrop is we
[2:39:52]
re down economic
[2:39:53]
and population growth, so it
[2:39:54]
s,
[2:39:54]
it
[2:39:56]
s even more reason to be
[2:39:57]
wondering, um, how best to
[2:39:59]
approach these things. I think
[2:40:01]
it underscores the need to have
[2:40:02]
this conversation about the
[2:40:05]
commercial. Strategy for this
[2:40:06]
area and what that looks like
[2:40:08]
and whether there are yet
[2:40:08]
opportunities that you all
[2:40:09]
haven
[2:40:10]
t been able to capture
[2:40:12]
yet that might tap into that.
[2:40:14]
Um, and I think it also, uh,
[2:40:16]
makes us think a little bit
[2:40:18]
twice about, um, how we
[2:40:18]
re
[2:40:19]
approaching the residential
[2:40:21]
unit additions, um, across the
[2:40:23]
board in small area plans. I
[2:40:24]
appreciate what you all have
[2:40:26]
done and I appreciate your
[2:40:27]
flexibility and openness here,
[2:40:29]
and this is a first swing, what
[2:40:29]
you
[2:40:31]
ve done, but I, I think it
[2:40:32]
is good and fair to give you
[2:40:34]
sort of some feedback. In terms
[2:40:36]
of this whole commercial issue
[2:40:38]
and hope that we maybe can look
[2:40:39]
into that a little bit more
[2:40:40]
clearly as we go forward. Thank
[2:40:46]
you. Councilmember Bates. Just
[2:40:50]
an additional comment, um In,
[2:40:51]
uh, the interest of perhaps
[2:40:54]
having some give and take here,
[2:40:55]
um, I could see, and um, you
[2:40:56]
know, maybe this is something
[2:40:58]
that you might not necessarily
[2:41:00]
even want to do, given, uh,
[2:41:03]
marking conditions, but I could
[2:41:05]
see in exchange for, uh, more
[2:41:06]
significant amount of
[2:41:07]
commercial space, uh, going to
[2:41:09]
all 2 over 2s, for example, to
[2:41:11]
maintain, you know, the number
[2:41:11]
of units roughly that you
[2:41:12]
ve
[2:41:16]
proposed. Um, in exchange for
[2:41:17]
providing additional commercial
[2:41:19]
space here. Um, again, ideally,
[2:41:21]
at least half what
[2:41:22]
s there. But,
[2:41:23]
um, also just want to point out
[2:41:26]
that in addition to the 5-story
[2:41:26]
hotel that
[2:41:28]
s, um, directly to
[2:41:31]
the south, the office building
[2:41:33]
next to the assembly on the
[2:41:35]
west side of Chambridge Road,
[2:41:35]
uh, that basically backs right
[2:41:37]
up to the community. There is
[2:41:39]
also 4 stories, so very in
[2:41:41]
keeping with the current
[2:41:43]
character of that area. Um, and
[2:41:44]
additionally, the small area
[2:41:46]
planner recommends a maximum of
[2:41:48]
7 stories here. So you even
[2:41:48]
have some additional
[2:41:50]
flexibility, but I think that 4
[2:41:52]
stories throughout the site, um,
[2:41:58]
would certainly be reasonable.
[2:42:01]
Other questions or comments? Ok,
[2:42:03]
so, um. I think this is a good
[2:42:07]
project, I like it, I think.
[2:42:08]
Townhouses and 202s in this
[2:42:09]
location is going to be very
[2:42:11]
appealing because of its
[2:42:13]
proximity to I-66. I predict
[2:42:15]
they will be sold before
[2:42:15]
they
[2:42:17]
re completed. Uh, it also
[2:42:18]
backs, it, it
[2:42:19]
s gives access to
[2:42:22]
the I-66 trail. A very
[2:42:24]
significant, and they
[2:42:25]
re just
[2:42:26]
additions and implementation
[2:42:28]
for the I-66 trail, and this
[2:42:31]
housing is right there. As far
[2:42:33]
as the retail, when I see, I
[2:42:35]
see what you see, which is
[2:42:35]
you
[2:42:37]
ve got 2 hotels, you
[2:42:38]
ve got,
[2:42:39]
uh, the botanist over here, and
[2:42:41]
the re the the retail is
[2:42:42]
probably going to be the
[2:42:43]
services those people want to
[2:42:45]
walk to. And that just makes
[2:42:46]
sense that that
[2:42:47]
s the kind of
[2:42:48]
commercial retail that
[2:42:48]
s gonna
[2:42:49]
be there is the kind that
[2:42:50]
serves that community. I like
[2:42:52]
the fact that it
[2:42:53]
s so few units
[2:42:56]
because the smaller units on
[2:42:57]
these small parcels give, um, a
[2:42:59]
better opportunity to create a
[2:43:00]
closer community. I mean, you
[2:43:02]
look at some places in Northern
[2:43:03]
Virginia that have townhouses,
[2:43:05]
communities that are just
[2:43:06]
hundreds and hundreds of
[2:43:08]
townhouses, and I think with
[2:43:12]
the number, we have other small
[2:43:12]
townhouse developments. It just
[2:43:13]
gives a greater sense of
[2:43:16]
community. I I think, but the
[2:43:18]
proximity to I-66 and I-66
[2:43:20]
trail are gonna make them
[2:43:22]
highly, highly desirable, I
[2:43:24]
believe. And so I really liked
[2:43:25]
the project. I know you
[2:43:25]
ve gone
[2:43:26]
above and beyond on the green
[2:43:29]
space in the Linear Park and
[2:43:29]
you
[2:43:30]
re paying attention not
[2:43:31]
only to what the small area
[2:43:32]
plan calls for, you
[2:43:32]
re paying
[2:43:34]
attention to what you
[2:43:34]
ve
[2:43:36]
historically heard the feedback
[2:43:39]
from this council on other
[2:43:40]
projects, dpi adaptive fitness
[2:43:41]
is in this complex. They
[2:43:42]
re on
[2:43:43]
the first floor. Um, I don
[2:43:45]
know what other business are
[2:43:47]
there, we have vacancy in the
[2:43:49]
city for like accountants and
[2:43:50]
medical space and things like
[2:43:52]
that. But dpi adaptive fitness
[2:43:56]
is a very unique Space that has
[2:43:58]
been configured in a, in a
[2:44:00]
specific way. And so I think I
[2:44:01]
haven
[2:44:02]
t spoken with Devon or
[2:44:05]
anyone else over there, but the
[2:44:06]
city obviously has plenty of
[2:44:09]
time to work with them to find
[2:44:10]
another location in the city,
[2:44:11]
but, you know, so it
[2:44:12]
important that we know who our
[2:44:14]
businesses are. I believe that
[2:44:14]
they
[2:44:15]
ll want to stay here in
[2:44:16]
the city, but we
[2:44:18]
re the first
[2:44:20]
step of 100, people are now on
[2:44:22]
notice that we need, and I
[2:44:23]
think our economic development
[2:44:25]
team will in fact find Spaces
[2:44:26]
for the businesses that want to
[2:44:27]
stay here, and I hope they all
[2:44:30]
want to stay here, but I think
[2:44:30]
the fitness definitely will
[2:44:32]
want to stay here. So I have
[2:44:34]
confidence. I really have
[2:44:36]
confidence in this project and
[2:44:36]
look forward to seeing you come
[2:44:39]
back. Um, based on the feedback
[2:44:39]
you
[2:44:41]
ve gotten. So thank you
[2:44:43]
very much. Thank you I
[2:44:47]
appreciate the feedback. MISS
[2:44:48]
Shenterbury before I announce
[2:44:48]
the next item, and it was a
[2:44:49]
little early, but I
[2:44:50]
m just
[2:44:54]
doing a time check, a 9:45. Ok,
[2:44:56]
so our last work session item
[2:45:02]
is a discussion of a request by
[2:45:03]
combined courthouse llcc/o
[2:45:07]
combined Columbia Glade llc.
[2:45:12]
20049 for the redevelopment of
[2:45:19]
10,300 Willard Way in Pris
[2:45:25]
57220004d and 3922 Blenheim
[2:45:26]
Boulevard in Perez 57220003a.
[2:45:27]
m gonna recognize Claire
[2:45:28]
Schweiger, our city planner for
[2:45:30]
the staff presentation. Ok,
[2:45:32]
moving right along to
[2:45:33]
Courthouse Plaza. This is a
[2:45:36]
work session to discuss a
[2:45:38]
redevelopment proposal at
[2:45:39]
10,300 Willard Way and 3922
[2:45:42]
Blenheim Boulevard. We are
[2:45:44]
currently in the post
[2:45:45]
submission phase of the
[2:45:47]
development review process. So
[2:45:48]
the applicant has made 2
[2:45:49]
submissions of the plan and
[2:45:52]
staff have given the applicant
[2:45:53]
comments on their application,
[2:45:55]
a work session was held with
[2:45:57]
the Board of architectural
[2:46:00]
Review on JUNE 3rd, and with
[2:46:01]
the planning commission on JUNE
[2:46:07]
22nd. On the right here is an
[2:46:10]
aerial of the site, the site is
[2:46:11]
bounded by Blenheim Boulevard
[2:46:13]
on the east and University
[2:46:15]
Drive on the West to the north
[2:46:17]
is Democracy Lane and Plaza
[2:46:19]
Drive, and to the south is the
[2:46:23]
library. The site is located in
[2:46:25]
the activity center place type
[2:46:27]
and is subject to the old town
[2:46:29]
Fair Fairfax small area plan.
[2:46:33]
The site is currently zoned cr
[2:46:34]
Commercial retail and cg
[2:46:36]
commercial general and the
[2:46:38]
transition overlay district and
[2:46:40]
the applicant proposes a zoning
[2:46:41]
change to pdm plan development
[2:46:46]
mixed use. The applicant
[2:46:48]
proposes a phased development
[2:46:51]
with phase 1 including 315
[2:46:53]
residential units, a 72 ft
[2:46:55]
height maximum, which does
[2:46:57]
require a special exception,
[2:46:59]
the applicant has submitted a
[2:47:00]
special exception request to
[2:47:02]
exceed the 48 ft height maximum
[2:47:05]
and the transition overlay
[2:47:09]
district and the small area
[2:47:10]
plan recommends a six-story
[2:47:14]
height maximum on this site.
[2:47:16]
Phase 1 also includes 12,500
[2:47:19]
square feet of first floor
[2:47:21]
retail, roughly 30,000 square
[2:47:24]
feet of open space, a plaza to
[2:47:27]
the east of the existing retail
[2:47:27]
new landscaping and 2 new
[2:47:31]
streets. It also includes new
[2:47:33]
and widened sidewalks, the
[2:47:35]
applicant is also requesting a
[2:47:37]
special exception for sidewalks
[2:47:38]
to allow some sidewalks to be
[2:47:43]
narrower than 10 ft. The plan
[2:47:45]
also shows 741 parking spaces
[2:47:46]
and service and structured
[2:47:48]
parking. The applicant is also
[2:47:49]
requesting a special exception
[2:47:52]
to reduce the minimum parking
[2:47:55]
ratio from 1.5 to 1.25 parking
[2:47:58]
spaces per residential unit.
[2:47:59]
The plans also include facade
[2:48:02]
updates to the courthouse Plaza
[2:48:04]
Shopping Center and public are
[2:48:04]
along the proposed Street 1
[2:48:10]
facade. Phase 2 would require a
[2:48:11]
future amendment to the master
[2:48:14]
development plan, so if this
[2:48:15]
application is approved, phase
[2:48:17]
2 would need to come back to
[2:48:19]
this body at a future time for
[2:48:23]
approval. In phase 2, the
[2:48:24]
applicant proposes 315
[2:48:26]
residential units, a new North
[2:48:28]
to South Street, 50,000 square
[2:48:32]
feet of first floor retail. Um,
[2:48:35]
in addition to one of the, the
[2:48:37]
pa buildings, 90,000 square
[2:48:39]
feet of open space and 980
[2:48:40]
parking spaces across surface
[2:48:44]
and Structure parking. Here are
[2:48:46]
some renderings of the proposed
[2:48:51]
building for phase 1. These are
[2:48:58]
more renderings. These are
[2:49:01]
renderings of the center that
[2:49:03]
would be re-faced, and then, um,
[2:49:05]
on the right image you can see
[2:49:07]
a proposed plaza to the east of
[2:49:12]
the existing retail. And then
[2:49:14]
next steps for this application
[2:49:16]
are planned resubmission and
[2:49:17]
staff review, public hearings
[2:49:19]
with the planning commission,
[2:49:21]
city council, and the Board of
[2:49:23]
architectural Review, and that
[2:49:24]
concludes my presentation, and
[2:49:25]
the applicant is here to
[2:49:30]
present next. Mhm. Yeah, do you
[2:49:32]
want to switch or do you wanna,
[2:49:38]
yeah. Sorry, one moment. There
[2:49:52]
you go. Good evening. My name
[2:49:53]
is Molly Navotny. I
[2:49:54]
m an urban
[2:49:54]
planner with Curatea Partners,
[2:49:55]
and I
[2:49:56]
m pleased to be here
[2:49:57]
before you tonight, uh, with
[2:49:58]
the combined properties team, I
[2:49:59]
have Ayesha Hill at the table
[2:50:02]
with me. Um, significantly to
[2:50:04]
this, this body, combined
[2:50:05]
properties owns 4 properties in
[2:50:07]
the city, Scout on the circle
[2:50:08]
in the upper, in, in the upper
[2:50:10]
portion of this image, picket
[2:50:11]
and turnpike shopping centers,
[2:50:12]
and then Courthouse, which is
[2:50:12]
what we
[2:50:13]
re talking with you
[2:50:16]
about tonight. This image, um,
[2:50:17]
you saw when I was here before.
[2:50:19]
It shows the area in magenta,
[2:50:21]
which will be removed. That is
[2:50:22]
the only portion of the
[2:50:23]
building that would be removed
[2:50:25]
with this first phase, and then
[2:50:27]
rebuilt with a mixed-use
[2:50:28]
building. Everything in green
[2:50:30]
is existing retail that would
[2:50:33]
be renovated with this project.
[2:50:35]
We have made significant,
[2:50:36]
significant revisions to this
[2:50:37]
application before this body
[2:50:39]
saw it since this body has seen
[2:50:42]
it in 2025. Additionally, we
[2:50:42]
ve
[2:50:42]
made significant revisions
[2:50:44]
since the images that Clara
[2:50:45]
presented in her presentation,
[2:50:45]
so you
[2:50:47]
re going to see
[2:50:48]
different architecture in my
[2:50:48]
presentation, you
[2:50:49]
re going to
[2:50:50]
see additional commitments that
[2:50:50]
we
[2:50:52]
ve made, because we have
[2:50:53]
been working with staff, the
[2:50:54]
planning commission and bar
[2:50:56]
over the last 6 weeks to be
[2:50:59]
able to address their comments.
[2:51:00]
So significantly with this
[2:51:00]
application, we
[2:51:01]
re now rezoning
[2:51:04]
the entire property. Um, to the
[2:51:05]
pdm district. We
[2:51:06]
ve also
[2:51:07]
proposed that second phase,
[2:51:09]
which was something staff had
[2:51:10]
requested before. We
[2:51:10]
ve removed
[2:51:12]
some, several of our special
[2:51:14]
exception requests, including
[2:51:16]
the request for parking, um, we
[2:51:17]
have upgraded our architecture,
[2:51:18]
so you
[2:51:19]
re going to see a lot of
[2:51:20]
red brick integrated into the
[2:51:21]
buildings, you
[2:51:22]
re going to see
[2:51:24]
the commitment that the Safeway
[2:51:26]
gets re-faced with this phase 1.
[2:51:26]
We
[2:51:27]
ve also reduced the height
[2:51:29]
of the building at the corner
[2:51:31]
of University and Democracy, um,
[2:51:32]
some additional things with
[2:51:33]
landscape. We
[2:51:34]
ve added a
[2:51:35]
Central Park in phase 2, we
[2:51:36]
ve
[2:51:37]
added a linear park along
[2:51:38]
Blenheim. We
[2:51:40]
ve really created
[2:51:42]
an established new open spaces
[2:51:43]
and also added interim open
[2:51:46]
space at phase 2 gets delayed.
[2:51:47]
And then for sight conditions,
[2:51:48]
we have removed the pinch point
[2:51:50]
at the sidewalk, so our pub
[2:51:51]
sidewalks facing public roads
[2:51:53]
are all 10 ft, and we have
[2:51:54]
widened some streets to, for
[2:52:00]
vehicular traffic. But to set
[2:52:01]
the stage, this application is
[2:52:02]
here before you because you
[2:52:02]
re
[2:52:05]
a small area plan in 2020 asked
[2:52:06]
for this application. It
[2:52:09]
identified this site to be
[2:52:11]
redeveloped to include
[2:52:11]
multi-family apartment
[2:52:12]
buildings up to 6 stories in
[2:52:14]
height and to be grocery
[2:52:15]
anchored. The area in this
[2:52:18]
image in this part of Old Town,
[2:52:20]
had 0% residential in 2020, and
[2:52:22]
that plan called for a 58% mix
[2:52:23]
of residential, and that
[2:52:24]
again from your small area plan.
[2:52:27]
And so what we
[2:52:28]
ve done with
[2:52:29]
phase 1 is we
[2:52:30]
ve, um, focused
[2:52:31]
on the left portion of the
[2:52:32]
project. We
[2:52:33]
ve got the parking
[2:52:34]
garage, the interior courtyard,
[2:52:35]
and a mixed-use building. That
[2:52:37]
building will have 12,500
[2:52:39]
square feet of new retail, and
[2:52:41]
all of this green space will be
[2:52:44]
all, uh, open space available
[2:52:45]
in phase 1 with new pocket
[2:52:47]
parks throughout. And then when
[2:52:48]
we come to phase 2, what we
[2:52:49]
ve
[2:52:49]
done is we
[2:52:50]
ve established the
[2:52:51]
street network. We
[2:52:51]
ve
[2:52:52]
established the street trees,
[2:52:53]
we
[2:52:53]
ve established the building
[2:52:55]
envelope. We hadn
[2:52:55]
t had these
[2:52:57]
details before you when we were
[2:52:59]
here in 2025, but we have now
[2:53:01]
committed to this as a phase 2
[2:53:03]
plan to start to show you how
[2:53:05]
the full site could redevelop
[2:53:06]
and this entire site would be
[2:53:08]
rezoned. Additionally, we
[2:53:08]
ve
[2:53:09]
shown an additional building on
[2:53:11]
the pad site, that building
[2:53:12]
could locate in different areas
[2:53:13]
along that path site. We could
[2:53:15]
put it along street 2 or along
[2:53:16]
Blenheim as we
[2:53:18]
ve shown.
[2:53:19]
Architecture, this is the image
[2:53:21]
that was in Clara
[2:53:22]
presentation and is what was
[2:53:23]
included in our second
[2:53:25]
submission to staff back in MAY.
[2:53:26]
Since that time, we
[2:53:26]
ve heard
[2:53:28]
from your, uh, bar and staff,
[2:53:30]
they would like more red brick.
[2:53:30]
So what you
[2:53:32]
re going to see is
[2:53:33]
a significantly revised
[2:53:35]
building, what this building
[2:53:38]
does is it removes the white
[2:53:39]
brick and it converts any black
[2:53:41]
brick to be an accent material
[2:53:43]
and it integrates red brick
[2:53:46]
throughout. These facades, um,
[2:53:46]
democracy, university, and
[2:53:49]
street 1. Are primarily brick,
[2:53:51]
the only element on these
[2:53:52]
buildings besides accents that
[2:53:52]
isn
[2:53:54]
t brick is that champagne
[2:53:56]
colored fiber cement. So we
[2:53:56]
ve
[2:53:57]
really done a significant
[2:53:58]
overhaul with the materials and
[2:54:00]
the color palette. This is a
[2:54:01]
corner of democracy and
[2:54:02]
university. You can see how
[2:54:02]
we
[2:54:03]
ve lowered that building
[2:54:04]
height to help with that
[2:54:07]
transition at that corner. And
[2:54:08]
then again, just looking up
[2:54:11]
democracy. This is the Safeway,
[2:54:12]
the top image is what it looks
[2:54:13]
like today. The bottom would
[2:54:16]
show a reef face Safeway, which
[2:54:17]
would occur prior to
[2:54:19]
residential occupancy, and then
[2:54:22]
the overall center being a
[2:54:23]
completely renovated and
[2:54:25]
integrated development.
[2:54:27]
Existing tenants, yes, we will
[2:54:28]
be relocating existing tenants
[2:54:30]
that are there. We have
[2:54:32]
commitments in our application
[2:54:34]
that commit to rent subsidies
[2:54:36]
for tenants in good standings
[2:54:38]
to help them relocate to find
[2:54:39]
other properties in the city,
[2:54:40]
we also have a commitment that
[2:54:40]
we
[2:54:42]
re going to reserve some
[2:54:44]
smaller space in our building
[2:54:45]
for startup customers and to
[2:54:46]
continue to work with your
[2:54:48]
economic development, we think
[2:54:49]
those are important commitments,
[2:54:49]
and we
[2:54:49]
re proud to have made
[2:54:52]
them. Terms of connectivity,
[2:54:54]
the site is incredibly porous,
[2:54:55]
this image shows in orange all
[2:54:56]
the vehicular routes through
[2:54:58]
the site, and then all of the
[2:55:00]
pedestrian routes through the
[2:55:02]
site really interlinking all
[2:55:03]
components of the project,
[2:55:04]
these are just gonna show some
[2:55:06]
images of these sidewalks
[2:55:06]
around the site. We
[2:55:07]
ve got at
[2:55:11]
least 7 ft of walking area on
[2:55:13]
Street 1, and then it enlarges
[2:55:15]
to at least 10 ft of walking
[2:55:17]
area everywhere else, um, if
[2:55:18]
not 12 ft or wider, you
[2:55:18]
ve got
[2:55:20]
lots of room for outdoor space,
[2:55:24]
lots of room. For tables, um.
[2:55:25]
And then we
[2:55:25]
ve got significant
[2:55:27]
open space. Today, the site
[2:55:29]
only has 4.3% open space. It
[2:55:29]
ridiculous. There
[2:55:30]
s there, it
[2:55:31]
a surface parking lot at the
[2:55:33]
end of phase 1, we will have
[2:55:35]
increased that open space to
[2:55:37]
12.3%, and then we
[2:55:37]
ve added
[2:55:40]
interim open space if by 2035
[2:55:40]
we haven
[2:55:41]
t moved forward with
[2:55:43]
the next phase that um bolsters
[2:55:45]
that open space to 13.4% before
[2:55:47]
bringing it to the 20% with the
[2:55:49]
full build out of phase 2, just
[2:55:50]
some images to show you and
[2:55:52]
give you that feel of how we
[2:55:52]
ve
[2:55:53]
articulated and really
[2:55:56]
activated the open. Space.
[2:55:58]
Retail park along Safeway,
[2:55:59]
proposed linear Park along
[2:56:01]
Blenheim. And then again, a
[2:56:02]
reminder of the significant
[2:56:03]
revisions that we
[2:56:04]
ve made to
[2:56:05]
this application since 2025,
[2:56:05]
and I
[2:56:06]
m happy to answer any
[2:56:11]
questions. Council member Amos.
[2:56:14]
Thank you. Uh, this was a great
[2:56:15]
presentation, um, just to go
[2:56:17]
into some of the likes, the,
[2:56:19]
the, the open space plus the
[2:56:20]
linear park, that
[2:56:20]
s pretty
[2:56:21]
impressive, so I appreciate
[2:56:22]
that. I
[2:56:24]
ll come back to the
[2:56:25]
tenant relocation plan shortly.
[2:56:26]
My understanding is also you
[2:56:26]
ve
[2:56:27]
been in communication with our
[2:56:28]
economic development team, and
[2:56:29]
I see that
[2:56:30]
s included in here,
[2:56:32]
that makes me very happy to see,
[2:56:33]
and I, I think you
[2:56:34]
ll probably
[2:56:35]
hear from my colleagues as well
[2:56:37]
with the color scheme is a
[2:56:39]
significant improvement, so, uh,
[2:56:40]
I really like to see that for
[2:56:43]
the tenant relocation plan.
[2:56:44]
Just for clarification, and
[2:56:46]
this is more just interest
[2:56:47]
rather than anything
[2:56:48]
substantial for the graduated
[2:56:50]
rent for smaller scale tenants.
[2:56:52]
So, in terms, where did that
[2:56:53]
idea come from and what
[2:56:53]
s your
[2:56:54]
ultimate goal with, with
[2:56:57]
accomplishing that? Good
[2:56:59]
evening. So the idea originally
[2:57:01]
came from, the current
[2:57:03]
situation at Courthouse Plaza.
[2:57:05]
Because we do that, we wanted
[2:57:08]
the opportunity to redevelop it.
[2:57:11]
We were left with, uh, below
[2:57:13]
market lease terms, um, so
[2:57:15]
ultimately for less than market
[2:57:16]
rent, you could lease our space
[2:57:18]
and instead of 10 years, you
[2:57:20]
might get 3 or 5 or 7 depending
[2:57:22]
on the timing. And so there are
[2:57:24]
some tenants that have this gap
[2:57:25]
between what
[2:57:25]
s technically
[2:57:27]
market rent and what they
[2:57:27]
re
[2:57:29]
paying today. And so
[2:57:30]
recognizing that difference, we
[2:57:32]
wanted to be able to, you know,
[2:57:33]
help people along the way and
[2:57:35]
our tenants along the way in
[2:57:36]
the event there isn
[2:57:37]
t another
[2:57:39]
below market space available
[2:57:41]
for them, um, that we can help
[2:57:43]
them get there. So over a
[2:57:44]
3-year period, you know, the
[2:57:45]
details still need to be worked
[2:57:47]
out how it would work with the
[2:57:48]
other landlord, and, um, that
[2:57:50]
sort of thing, but that we
[2:57:52]
would, we would, um, fill that
[2:57:54]
gap for them. Um, and then on
[2:57:55]
the other side of that, that
[2:57:57]
there could also be an
[2:57:59]
opportunity for new small
[2:58:00]
businesses coming in, or
[2:58:01]
businesses that are currently
[2:58:02]
there today that want to come
[2:58:05]
back. That might also need, you
[2:58:07]
know, similar assistance as
[2:58:08]
they get started and, you know,
[2:58:09]
are early in their business
[2:58:11]
that this could be a place they
[2:58:13]
could come and start and grow.
[2:58:14]
And would this be just for 3
[2:58:15]
years, or are you saying this
[2:58:17]
is kind of like a process you
[2:58:19]
want to implement moving
[2:58:22]
forward over the long term. So
[2:58:23]
far existing tenants, it would
[2:58:25]
be for 3 years, um, it
[2:58:25]
s not
[2:58:27]
something that we could
[2:58:29]
financially handle, um, you
[2:58:31]
know, into infinity, um, we
[2:58:34]
could give it a little bit more
[2:58:36]
thought on the new small
[2:58:36]
businesses, our original
[2:58:38]
thought that it would be a
[2:58:40]
similar 3-year period, um, and
[2:58:40]
they could choose to stay
[2:58:43]
though in the space, but that
[2:58:44]
their rent would gradually
[2:58:45]
increase over time and if they
[2:58:46]
chose to stay, they could.
[2:58:47]
Sorry, I asked my question
[2:58:48]
poorly and that
[2:58:49]
s why there
[2:58:50]
confusion. Uh, what I mean is,
[2:58:52]
for example, you have. A
[2:58:53]
business that moves in there
[2:58:53]
and they
[2:58:54]
re there for 10 years
[2:58:56]
and they had to relocate to the
[2:58:57]
new business coming in get a
[2:58:59]
similar program, or would they
[2:58:59]
just go, I
[2:59:01]
m assuming at the
[2:59:01]
rate that
[2:59:03]
s existing at that
[2:59:05]
time. So, after 10 years, it
[2:59:07]
would be that new market rate.
[2:59:11]
Ok, thank you. Other questions,
[2:59:13]
comments? On this Council
[2:59:17]
member Bates. Uh, thank you. So,
[2:59:19]
um, certainly, you know, I
[2:59:23]
think that there have been, uh
[2:59:25]
Some improvements here that are
[2:59:29]
much appreciated. Um As well as
[2:59:30]
perhaps some lingering minor
[2:59:32]
questions and, and issues, uh,
[2:59:32]
to be addressed and understand
[2:59:34]
that you all, you know, have
[2:59:35]
another submission coming up,
[2:59:38]
um. And but I mainly just want
[2:59:42]
to ask, do we have the, uh,
[2:59:44]
current, um, tree canopy
[2:59:47]
percentage as well on the site.
[2:59:50]
Under current conditions. We
[2:59:51]
are working on getting you the
[2:59:53]
current tree canopy on the site
[2:59:54]
today. It
[2:59:57]
s, um. The way tree
[3:00:00]
canopy is calculated, doesn
[3:00:02]
necessarily measure the
[3:00:03]
survivability or the quality of
[3:00:05]
that tree and so rather it
[3:00:06]
takes it into account the
[3:00:07]
canopy of the tree, but if you
[3:00:09]
go out to look at that tree,
[3:00:12]
the health of the tree, um, is
[3:00:13]
not always the at the standard
[3:00:15]
you would want, and so we
[3:00:15]
re,
[3:00:17]
we want to be able to paint an
[3:00:18]
accurate picture for you. And
[3:00:22]
so we will be providing That
[3:00:23]
calculation, but at any rate, I
[3:00:26]
think that, um, the significant
[3:00:29]
increase in open space, um. You
[3:00:31]
know, particularly where, uh,
[3:00:32]
there was simply pavement
[3:00:34]
before and, uh, in a lot of
[3:00:38]
cases. Represents a significant
[3:00:39]
opportunity to reduce
[3:00:40]
impervious surface on the site,
[3:00:42]
um, in addition to, I believe
[3:00:44]
that there are additional
[3:00:45]
stormwater management
[3:00:46]
improvements proposed as well.
[3:00:47]
So I think that
[3:00:49]
s, uh, really
[3:00:51]
important for environmental
[3:00:52]
sustainability going forward,
[3:00:55]
um, as well as, um, you know,
[3:00:57]
stormwater management. Thanks.
[3:01:00]
Council member Hall. Thank you,
[3:01:03]
uh. So I, I want to start with
[3:01:05]
saying this is, in my opinion,
[3:01:06]
very, very much improved. I
[3:01:08]
really happy to see the changes
[3:01:10]
to the brick. I feel like
[3:01:10]
you
[3:01:11]
re incorporating a lot more
[3:01:13]
of what is our historic old
[3:01:15]
town and so many areas
[3:01:17]
throughout the city. Sorry, my
[3:01:20]
voice is going away. I, I, I
[3:01:21]
having some trouble visualizing
[3:01:21]
some things and I
[3:01:22]
m hoping you
[3:01:23]
could maybe help me a little
[3:01:24]
bit. Um, I
[3:01:25]
m also curious, did
[3:01:26]
you side note, did you happen
[3:01:28]
to meet with the old Fairfax
[3:01:32]
muse, hoa. We did. A while ago
[3:01:34]
or recently? 2 weeks ago, 3
[3:01:36]
weeks ago? Ok, because the, but
[3:01:38]
did they see this updated? No,
[3:01:39]
so when this is a work in
[3:01:41]
progress and this is part of
[3:01:41]
what happens in this cycle,
[3:01:44]
right? So we had been to the
[3:01:45]
planning commission and the bar
[3:01:47]
before we met with the Fair old
[3:01:49]
Fairfax Muse. We told them that
[3:01:52]
those bodies had asked us to
[3:01:54]
revise the architecture. We had
[3:01:55]
shown them an interim option
[3:01:57]
that we had shared with the
[3:01:58]
planning commission, but said
[3:01:59]
we are still working on this.
[3:02:01]
So they have not seen These
[3:02:02]
latest ones, you guys are the
[3:02:04]
first to see them. Ok, I, I
[3:02:05]
appreciate that and, and
[3:02:08]
knowing that I think Some of
[3:02:10]
the concerns that the, the hoa,
[3:02:12]
m sure you heard them. Yeah,
[3:02:13]
m hopeful some of those have,
[3:02:16]
have, have been, I think,
[3:02:16]
moderately addressed in here,
[3:02:18]
um. And this is where I
[3:02:19]
m going
[3:02:20]
to need a little bit more of a
[3:02:22]
visual. So Looking at this
[3:02:25]
picture. Democracy Lane looking
[3:02:29]
east. So this, the flats are on
[3:02:31]
the left. Is that the flats on
[3:02:31]
the left there, I
[3:02:33]
m at, I
[3:02:36]
standing at university, ok,
[3:02:38]
looking up democracy lane here.
[3:02:41]
Ok. Ok. It
[3:02:44]
s not showing. Ok,
[3:02:46]
so right now we
[3:02:47]
re at 5 stories
[3:02:49]
on the front side as opposed to
[3:02:53]
the 6 that had been previously
[3:02:53]
Yes, so let
[3:02:54]
s Let me go back up.
[3:03:03]
So this image now, I
[3:03:03]
ve moved
[3:03:05]
down a street, so sorry for the
[3:03:05]
confusion. I
[3:03:06]
ve moved down a
[3:03:09]
street. This is look, um, to
[3:03:10]
the left is university and the
[3:03:12]
flats are in the background
[3:03:15]
behind that ghosted out tree.
[3:03:18]
Street, our new street 1 is to
[3:03:19]
the right here. And so this is
[3:03:20]
kind of our front entrance. I
[3:03:23]
looking, um, the old Fairfax
[3:03:24]
Muse is going to be up into the
[3:03:26]
left. Ok, so I
[3:03:27]
m on university
[3:03:30]
now on university now, and so
[3:03:32]
you have here 6 story, a
[3:03:33]
6-story building along
[3:03:35]
University, it drops to 5
[3:03:37]
stories at that corner. Of
[3:03:40]
democracy. On the left side, it
[3:03:45]
drops to 5, ok, is it? So I, I
[3:03:45]
appreciate that the land, I
[3:03:47]
sorry, not the landscaping, the,
[3:03:51]
the These your words. The way
[3:03:52]
that the, the darker brick, I
[3:03:54]
guess is there and in the
[3:03:55]
forefront and then the wider is
[3:03:58]
in the back. I feel like that
[3:04:00]
visually helps a lot with the
[3:04:03]
height feeling, um, I do still
[3:04:04]
feel like that one section
[3:04:05]
there where it says retail and
[3:04:07]
the apartments is still a
[3:04:08]
little tall. I would love to
[3:04:09]
see that knocked down by 1
[3:04:11]
story, if at all possible, but
[3:04:13]
I do understand that, you know,
[3:04:14]
you need to make a profit and
[3:04:15]
all of that. I still think it
[3:04:18]
a lot of units, but visually, I
[3:04:20]
think this is much more appeal.
[3:04:23]
Willing and in line with What
[3:04:25]
our residents had, have been
[3:04:29]
asking for there, um. This is
[3:04:31]
going to be a Clara question or
[3:04:34]
maybe a Dan question, but I
[3:04:34]
don
[3:04:35]
t think I realized that
[3:04:36]
University Drive is going to be
[3:04:38]
going down to 1 lane to
[3:04:41]
accommodate bike. Lanes. I
[3:04:43]
thought we were Putting bike
[3:04:44]
lanes on there, but we were
[3:04:45]
still keeping 2 lanes of
[3:04:50]
traffic. Sorry, I
[3:04:50]
m making it,
[3:04:51]
we
[3:04:51]
re making you get up a lot
[3:04:55]
tonight. Um And, and quite
[3:04:55]
honestly, I
[3:04:56]
m not sure I should
[3:04:58]
be answering this. I believe, I
[3:04:58]
believe it
[3:04:59]
s 4, it
[3:05:00]
s a 4-lane
[3:05:02]
section as you get toward North
[3:05:05]
Street, and then as you come
[3:05:08]
back, headed north, going by
[3:05:09]
this property down the hill and
[3:05:13]
so forth, it transitions to a 3
[3:05:16]
lane section where you have a
[3:05:18]
center turning lane and 2.
[3:05:20]
Travel lanes, but We
[3:05:20]
ll check
[3:05:23]
that. Our traffic engineers
[3:05:24]
here and they
[3:05:24]
re nodding their
[3:05:26]
head. That
[3:05:26]
s correct in
[3:05:28]
agreement. Ok, for the city
[3:05:29]
plans, not our plans. We
[3:05:30]
ve
[3:05:31]
just shown them, but they
[3:05:31]
re
[3:05:33]
the city plans. Yeah, I, I,
[3:05:36]
what I will say for the city as
[3:05:36]
large, whether it
[3:05:37]
s you guys or
[3:05:40]
the city, but we have these
[3:05:41]
nice 10-foot wide sidewalks,
[3:05:42]
which could also be called a
[3:05:44]
shared use path. To me, that
[3:05:45]
could be a great place for a
[3:05:47]
bike to go without taking out a
[3:05:49]
total lane on university,
[3:05:49]
recognizing not your situation,
[3:05:51]
but, um, I think we
[3:05:51]
re going to
[3:05:52]
get a lot of pushback when that
[3:05:53]
Starts to come out a little bit
[3:05:54]
more. I don
[3:05:54]
t know who I
[3:05:58]
looking at, but all of you. Um
[3:06:03]
So I, I, I think this is not
[3:06:04]
depressing looking anymore to,
[3:06:05]
to quote the woman that came
[3:06:06]
earlier, and I, I have to agree
[3:06:07]
with her. I mean, I think
[3:06:08]
before it was very, it
[3:06:09]
s just
[3:06:10]
too new. It
[3:06:11]
s too fancy. It was
[3:06:13]
too all of the things that I
[3:06:13]
don
[3:06:15]
t think were great. Um, I
[3:06:15]
still think it
[3:06:16]
s a lot of units,
[3:06:16]
and I know I
[3:06:17]
ve said that a
[3:06:18]
couple offf different times and
[3:06:20]
m not going to change my mind
[3:06:22]
on that. Um, but I, I really do
[3:06:24]
want to give you credit for
[3:06:26]
adding in as much of the open
[3:06:28]
space that you have adding in
[3:06:30]
the green space, um, I don
[3:06:32]
know what your plans are. For
[3:06:33]
like the parking, but if
[3:06:33]
there
[3:06:36]
s any way to do some
[3:06:38]
Impervious, no, pervious
[3:06:39]
parking spots in some of those
[3:06:42]
areas with, you know, the fancy
[3:06:43]
things as opposed to concrete
[3:06:45]
or asphalt or whatever. I think
[3:06:46]
that
[3:06:46]
s another opportunity to
[3:06:47]
take what is still a pretty
[3:06:49]
large parking lot out in the
[3:06:52]
open, um. I appreciate your,
[3:06:52]
m sorry, I
[3:06:53]
m trying to find
[3:06:55]
the pages here, but I
[3:06:56]
appreciate your efforts to do
[3:06:58]
the, um, kind of the pocket
[3:06:59]
park along Blenheim and some of
[3:07:02]
the other things. Um, I Is this?
[3:07:04]
Yeah, sorry, there
[3:07:05]
s a lot of
[3:07:08]
pages. Thank you. Um, But there
[3:07:09]
was another, there was another
[3:07:10]
spot where you were kind of
[3:07:11]
doing a little bit more of a
[3:07:12]
park feature. There we go.
[3:07:16]
Thank you. Um, so we have, this
[3:07:18]
is our phase 1 commitment that
[3:07:21]
when the multi-family opens,
[3:07:22]
and then the darker green on
[3:07:24]
the Blenheim side here would be
[3:07:26]
an interim park space, if for
[3:07:27]
some reason, we don
[3:07:28]
t move
[3:07:30]
forward with phase 2, so right
[3:07:33]
now, if you MAY, if you recall
[3:07:33]
Safeway controls the entire
[3:07:35]
parking field with its lease.
[3:07:35]
So we can
[3:07:36]
t affect those
[3:07:37]
parking spaces any more than
[3:07:37]
what we
[3:07:38]
ve already done, but
[3:07:40]
when that lease expires at the
[3:07:41]
end of 2034, we can control
[3:07:42]
that space and so we can commit
[3:07:45]
to turn that Into additional
[3:07:47]
open space at that time, if we
[3:07:47]
haven
[3:07:49]
t filed a phase 2 plan.
[3:07:54]
Ok. And Does any interior
[3:07:55]
Safeway work get done in any of
[3:08:01]
these proposals? So, uh, that
[3:08:02]
Safeway
[3:08:03]
s decision, it is our
[3:08:04]
hope that they will do work on
[3:08:06]
the inside of the building, but
[3:08:07]
they are completely in control
[3:08:10]
of that, um, and not combined,
[3:08:10]
unfortunately. Ok, I figured
[3:08:11]
that was going to be your
[3:08:13]
answer. Um, I do like the brick.
[3:08:15]
I, I like all the things that
[3:08:17]
you have proposed there. Um,
[3:08:18]
remind me again because it
[3:08:18]
s a
[3:08:20]
lot of pages here. How many
[3:08:22]
units total are we talking in
[3:08:24]
phase 1 and phase 2? It
[3:08:25]
s a
[3:08:27]
total of 315 units per building.
[3:08:29]
And so phase 1 would be 315,
[3:08:30]
and then if we come forward
[3:08:33]
with phase 2, it would be 315.
[3:08:34]
Um, it
[3:08:35]
s important to, yes,
[3:08:38]
over. A significant time period,
[3:08:39]
right, and we
[3:08:40]
re not, we
[3:08:41]
re not
[3:08:42]
asking for the approval of
[3:08:44]
phase 2 of those details now.
[3:08:46]
We we are merely committing to
[3:08:47]
the buildable envelope, the
[3:08:49]
street network, the street
[3:08:50]
trees, the open space
[3:08:52]
commitments, but we want the
[3:08:53]
market, we want the city
[3:08:55]
growth to be able to be
[3:08:58]
absorbed into to really give us
[3:09:00]
guidance on that phase 2. Ok,
[3:09:02]
um, and I, I think. Again, it
[3:09:06]
a lot of units, but I do think
[3:09:06]
it
[3:09:08]
s reasonable in, in the, the
[3:09:09]
layout and the things that have,
[3:09:12]
have come out of this newer, um,
[3:09:15]
design with it, do you know
[3:09:15]
roughly what your breakdown is
[3:09:16]
going to be for 1 versus 2
[3:09:21]
versus 3? Units, bedroom units.
[3:09:23]
We can get you the specific
[3:09:24]
breakdown for now, um, I don
[3:09:27]
have that in front of me, but
[3:09:29]
we will have the majority 1
[3:09:32]
bedroom unit bedroom. Yes. Ok.
[3:09:36]
Ok. And will there be any like
[3:09:37]
amenities on site? Can you
[3:09:38]
remind me for the residents
[3:09:41]
that live here? Yes, so, um,
[3:09:41]
there
[3:09:42]
s a structured parking
[3:09:44]
garage fills the, um, upper
[3:09:45]
part of the interior building
[3:09:46]
and then it
[3:09:47]
s an interior green
[3:09:48]
courtyard that would have a
[3:09:48]
pool. We
[3:09:50]
ve committed to a pool
[3:09:52]
indoor or outdoor pool outdoor
[3:09:52]
pool, um, but it
[3:09:55]
s an Uh,
[3:09:56]
courtyard that is internal to
[3:09:57]
the building, right? So it
[3:09:59]
really creates that priva
[3:10:00]
privacy for those future
[3:10:02]
residents. Ok, uh, and I was
[3:10:03]
happy there would, there will
[3:10:05]
also be a fitness center and
[3:10:06]
kind of co-working space in a
[3:10:08]
lobby and your traditional, you
[3:10:09]
know, pet spa bike room,
[3:10:11]
traditional, um, Class a
[3:10:11]
apartment amenities. I
[3:10:12]
m sorry,
[3:10:14]
was that pet spa? Yeah, so a
[3:10:15]
spot to wash your dog. All
[3:10:16]
right, that
[3:10:17]
s called my shower
[3:10:22]
right now, but I know. Ok, um.
[3:10:23]
Sorry, question just left my
[3:10:25]
head. Oh, I did want to thank
[3:10:26]
you also for reaching out to
[3:10:27]
every single tenant that
[3:10:27]
s in
[3:10:28]
there. I, I
[3:10:28]
ve actually heard
[3:10:29]
from a couple of tenants, um,
[3:10:30]
this week. I haven
[3:10:30]
t had a
[3:10:32]
chance to respond yet, but I
[3:10:33]
think that the outreach was
[3:10:34]
appreciated. I
[3:10:35]
m happy to see
[3:10:35]
the plan that you
[3:10:36]
ve put in
[3:10:40]
place and just to make sure I
[3:10:42]
understand what that is. It
[3:10:42]
s a
[3:10:46]
commitment of Low for up to 3
[3:10:48]
years with pre-negotiated
[3:10:51]
increases of 3% per year. So
[3:10:53]
after those, so this would
[3:10:55]
allow them to Temporarily
[3:10:59]
relocate. Come back into your
[3:11:01]
new space for 3 years with a 3%
[3:11:06]
increase. Is that correct? So
[3:11:06]
whether the relocation would be
[3:11:09]
up to the tenant, so we
[3:11:10]
ve
[3:11:12]
committed to, um, helping them
[3:11:14]
find a new space if they would
[3:11:16]
like, um, or if they do want to
[3:11:18]
come back into the space, then
[3:11:20]
we could help them in that
[3:11:22]
situation as well, but it is
[3:11:23]
challenging for tenants to move
[3:11:25]
twice, um, so there probably
[3:11:26]
wouldn
[3:11:27]
t be very many that do
[3:11:29]
that, but we are open to them
[3:11:30]
coming back if they would like
[3:11:32]
to do that. Ok. And is there
[3:11:35]
any Anyway, with the
[3:11:36]
construction and my, the answer
[3:11:38]
might be no, but is there any
[3:11:41]
way that these businesses could
[3:11:43]
stay in place during some
[3:11:44]
portion of the construction,
[3:11:44]
like when you
[3:11:45]
re working on the,
[3:11:47]
m going to use the word left
[3:11:47]
because i
[3:11:48]
m not good with east
[3:11:49]
and west, with the left portion
[3:11:51]
and those kind of things, or is
[3:11:53]
it once you start, you start
[3:11:53]
and everything to the left of
[3:11:55]
the Safeway is, is kind of
[3:12:00]
instantly gone. Oops, it
[3:12:01]
s more
[3:12:02]
than likely everyone will have
[3:12:03]
to vacate for safety reasons.
[3:12:05]
We usually have to cut off gas,
[3:12:07]
power, water, and make sure
[3:12:11]
things are safe. Ok. Ok, well,
[3:12:11]
it
[3:12:11]
s never perfect for
[3:12:13]
everybody, right? But I do
[3:12:14]
appreciate what you are doing,
[3:12:15]
and I, I think it
[3:12:15]
s clear that
[3:12:17]
you have gone above and beyond,
[3:12:19]
I know phase 2 was not
[3:12:20]
something that you initially
[3:12:21]
wanted to kind of commit to at
[3:12:23]
this point. I know there was a
[3:12:24]
lot of pushback on that from
[3:12:25]
city staff, from, you know,
[3:12:26]
members of council as well. So,
[3:12:28]
I do want to acknowledge that I,
[3:12:29]
I can tell a lot of extra work
[3:12:30]
has gone into this. So thank
[3:12:34]
you very much. Thank you.
[3:12:39]
Council member McQuillan. Thank
[3:12:41]
you. This is much, a much
[3:12:43]
better fit than previous
[3:12:44]
submissions. I really
[3:12:46]
appreciate, um, the work that
[3:12:49]
you all did on changing the
[3:12:49]
colors and the architecture
[3:12:52]
look to it. It looks much more
[3:12:55]
like it fits in this area of
[3:12:56]
our community. Um, I also like
[3:12:58]
the reduced height at the
[3:12:59]
corner of University and
[3:13:01]
Democracy, I think that, that
[3:13:03]
really does make a huge
[3:13:04]
difference. The 10-foot
[3:13:06]
sidewalks, thank you, really
[3:13:07]
appreciate that and the green
[3:13:09]
spaces, I like that as well. Um,
[3:13:13]
The only concern I have, oh, I,
[3:13:14]
i do like your explanation
[3:13:16]
about your approach and your
[3:13:18]
strategy for phase 2, and the
[3:13:20]
Safeway, if you could do that,
[3:13:21]
that would look great. Um, the
[3:13:23]
only concern I have is density
[3:13:24]
still. It
[3:13:24]
s still pretty, it
[3:13:26]
still a lot of units there for
[3:13:29]
me. Um, however, It looks like
[3:13:29]
there
[3:13:30]
s, I guess the only
[3:13:33]
question I have then is what,
[3:13:35]
what community benefit beyond
[3:13:35]
just housing, do you see this
[3:13:41]
offering? So we have a
[3:13:42]
commitment statement within
[3:13:42]
that statement we
[3:13:44]
ve, you know,
[3:13:47]
made commitments to, um,
[3:13:50]
financially fund the schools.
[3:13:51]
Financially fund Parks and Rec.
[3:13:53]
Trying to get to the right page.
[3:13:58]
We
[3:13:59]
ve made our tenant
[3:14:02]
relocation, sorry. I skipped
[3:14:03]
right by it. So the city school
[3:14:04]
fund, we
[3:14:04]
ve committed to $1600
[3:14:06]
a unit, which is more than
[3:14:07]
other applicants have committed
[3:14:09]
to and we studied this last
[3:14:09]
time, we
[3:14:12]
ve got, um, $367 a
[3:14:14]
unit for city recreational
[3:14:14]
amenities. We
[3:14:15]
ve committed to
[3:14:18]
up to $305,000 toward
[3:14:19]
undergrounding utilities, um,
[3:14:20]
we
[3:14:21]
ve added $10,000 for
[3:14:22]
commemorative signage on the
[3:14:23]
site and a variety of things
[3:14:25]
like that. Thank you so much,
[3:14:27]
and then, um, my last question
[3:14:30]
was that the small area plan in
[3:14:32]
this area, what is the top
[3:14:33]
amount of stories that you can
[3:14:34]
go for this spot. It calls for
[3:14:35]
6 stories. It
[3:14:36]
s 6, and that
[3:14:37]
what this says, right? And
[3:14:37]
that
[3:14:38]
s what we proposed. Thank
[3:14:43]
you, I appreciate that. Council
[3:14:45]
member Peterson, just a couple
[3:14:45]
of clarifying questions I MAY
[3:14:48]
need a little help from staff
[3:14:51]
on this. I got the presentation
[3:14:53]
this morning at 9 and really
[3:14:53]
didn
[3:14:54]
t have a chance to go
[3:14:58]
through this and Details, so,
[3:14:59]
uh, pardon me if I have not
[3:15:02]
been able to Uh, capture
[3:15:03]
everything in here and that I
[3:15:04]
not able to capture everything
[3:15:06]
with the questions right now.
[3:15:10]
Um, But just a couple of
[3:15:13]
clarifications here. You said
[3:15:13]
there
[3:15:15]
s 0 residential. Density,
[3:15:17]
or 0 residential. What were you
[3:15:19]
referring to again? So in the
[3:15:21]
small area plan when that was
[3:15:22]
adopted in 2020, it identified
[3:15:24]
that there was no residential.
[3:15:26]
I can pull up the page number.
[3:15:28]
No residential in this portion
[3:15:31]
of, um, the small area plan, so
[3:15:31]
it
[3:15:32]
s page 25 of the small area
[3:15:35]
plan, it has pie graphs on it
[3:15:37]
and it noted existing mix of
[3:15:40]
uses and proposed mix of uses
[3:15:42]
this portion, are you talking
[3:15:43]
about the old town Fairfax
[3:15:44]
property, Old Town Fairfax
[3:15:46]
Small. Are plan, and there
[3:15:46]
s no
[3:15:48]
residential in that area, that
[3:15:51]
is what the small area plan
[3:15:52]
document identified on page 25
[3:15:55]
with a pie chart. So when the
[3:15:58]
plan was completed in 2020.
[3:15:59]
There wasn
[3:16:00]
t any, but now on
[3:16:02]
page 8 of my staff report I
[3:16:04]
have the same table that you
[3:16:06]
saw in my last presentation, so
[3:16:09]
there, there has been plans
[3:16:11]
approved, um, since then. Yeah,
[3:16:14]
I think the planning commission
[3:16:16]
commented on 2000 bedrooms, uh,
[3:16:17]
in that area, so some such
[3:16:18]
figure, but I, I was just a
[3:16:20]
little surprised to hear that
[3:16:20]
it
[3:16:22]
s my neighborhood, so, you
[3:16:23]
know, I
[3:16:25]
m familiar with, uh, a
[3:16:28]
lot of residences there. Um,
[3:16:29]
the, maybe to go back just,
[3:16:33]
just to be a little clear. Um,
[3:16:34]
And again, I got the
[3:16:36]
presentation and I, I noticed
[3:16:38]
something in it that said, The
[3:16:43]
smaller plan. I think it was
[3:16:45]
calls for 1250 units and it
[3:16:46]
my understanding that this sort
[3:16:48]
of goes back to the earlier
[3:16:50]
discussion this evening that
[3:16:53]
that 1250 is, uh, potential
[3:16:54]
under market conditions, but
[3:16:55]
it
[3:16:57]
s not a goal, right, yep,
[3:16:57]
that
[3:16:58]
s just an estimate from
[3:17:01]
the small area plan. Ok, so
[3:17:01]
it
[3:17:01]
s not really calling for
[3:17:02]
that, it
[3:17:03]
s just saying that
[3:17:04]
s a
[3:17:05]
possibility under market
[3:17:07]
conditions. It also is not
[3:17:08]
requiring 6 stories. It is
[3:17:11]
permitting up to 16. Stories,
[3:17:12]
so there
[3:17:12]
s flexibility around
[3:17:17]
that. Um, ok, so then the other
[3:17:18]
thing, and not to be totally
[3:17:21]
nitpicky here, but the guiding
[3:17:22]
principles for redevelopment, I
[3:17:24]
think are really focused on The
[3:17:28]
kinds of, um, Design
[3:17:29]
considerations that you
[3:17:29]
ve
[3:17:31]
brought to the site and I, I
[3:17:32]
think you
[3:17:32]
ve been working
[3:17:34]
really hard on that. Uh, it
[3:17:35]
clear, but I
[3:17:36]
m just wondering,
[3:17:37]
I mean, we
[3:17:38]
re acting, uh, as a
[3:17:41]
body here to make a public
[3:17:42]
policy decision and are driven
[3:17:43]
by community interest and
[3:17:45]
public. Interest in this, and
[3:17:47]
m wondering, are there,
[3:17:49]
perhaps this is, uh, for staff,
[3:17:50]
but there ought to be another
[3:17:52]
set of principles here or a
[3:17:54]
principle anyway. Related to
[3:17:55]
the public interest, and how
[3:17:56]
would you express that in terms
[3:17:59]
of how this meets. As a matter
[3:18:01]
of principle, public interest
[3:18:03]
to put this particular Uh,
[3:18:04]
proposal in place, and I
[3:18:06]
particularly noting. There
[3:18:07]
been a lot of concern about
[3:18:08]
height and density. There
[3:18:10]
also been a lot of concern
[3:18:11]
about the shift here towards
[3:18:13]
residential, uh, versus
[3:18:15]
commercial, and the city
[3:18:16]
overall need for expanding
[3:18:17]
commercial in light of that,
[3:18:19]
what, what is the principle
[3:18:20]
here in terms of, of the public
[3:18:25]
interest for this. So this
[3:18:28]
shopping center has been, um.
[3:18:28]
Not the city
[3:18:29]
s crown jewel for
[3:18:32]
decades, and so we think the
[3:18:34]
public interest will be
[3:18:35]
represented by redoing the
[3:18:36]
shopping center and creating it
[3:18:39]
to be an active and vibrant
[3:18:41]
community with strong
[3:18:41]
pedestrian vehicular
[3:18:43]
connections through it, lots of
[3:18:47]
new open spaces and wider and
[3:18:48]
improved street presence along
[3:18:49]
to central drives to the city,
[3:18:52]
university, and Blenheim. So we,
[3:18:53]
we certainly hear a lot,
[3:18:53]
there
[3:18:55]
s been a lot of comment
[3:18:59]
on this, um. I, you know,
[3:19:00]
people love the grocery store,
[3:19:03]
etc. I think the thing that is
[3:19:06]
being raised that, uh, perhaps
[3:19:07]
raises inconsistency with
[3:19:08]
public interest is the
[3:19:09]
heightened density here and,
[3:19:10]
and the athletics have come a
[3:19:13]
long way, but still, this is a
[3:19:14]
lot in this particular spot,
[3:19:15]
there is a lot of development
[3:19:17]
here already, a lot of
[3:19:18]
residential development. So I,
[3:19:20]
I just want to acknowledge that
[3:19:20]
I think we
[3:19:21]
ve all heard that
[3:19:22]
there is a lot of concern about
[3:19:24]
that, and it
[3:19:24]
s really been
[3:19:25]
raising the question of whether
[3:19:26]
there
[3:19:27]
s some modification that
[3:19:28]
Could address the concerns that
[3:19:30]
have been raised about that. I,
[3:19:32]
I recognize there have been
[3:19:32]
some changes here. Y
[3:19:33]
all have
[3:19:34]
worked very hard on it, but the
[3:19:36]
first blush, it looks very
[3:19:40]
similar. And scale, uh, to the
[3:19:40]
proposal we
[3:19:40]
ve been seeing for
[3:19:42]
a while, so, and I
[3:19:43]
m hearing
[3:19:44]
that from others in the
[3:19:45]
community who are seeing this
[3:19:47]
and the general reaction is
[3:19:48]
essentially the same while
[3:19:52]
there have been some, um,
[3:19:53]
modifications involved in this
[3:19:54]
and improvements. It is
[3:19:57]
essentially the same proposal
[3:19:58]
as was originally presented and
[3:19:59]
that, you know, is a concern to
[3:20:02]
a lot of people. Uh, I look
[3:20:03]
forward to spending more time
[3:20:05]
with us and getting a chance to,
[3:20:06]
uh, digest this a little bit
[3:20:08]
more, but I, I would hope that
[3:20:09]
there would be a way for us to
[3:20:12]
address some of those concerns.
[3:20:13]
I also think that the phase 2
[3:20:18]
thing It is very helpful to
[3:20:19]
have made additional
[3:20:21]
commitments around phase 2, but
[3:20:21]
they
[3:20:22]
re certainly not
[3:20:22]
guarantees, and I
[3:20:23]
m not sure
[3:20:23]
we
[3:20:24]
re yet at the stage where
[3:20:25]
we
[3:20:26]
ve seen a layout for what
[3:20:28]
this area would look like under
[3:20:29]
a fully developed approach here.
[3:20:31]
I know that was a
[3:20:33]
recommendation slash concern of
[3:20:34]
staff, um, I
[3:20:34]
m interested in
[3:20:35]
looking further to see what, to
[3:20:36]
what extent that
[3:20:37]
s actually
[3:20:38]
been addressed, but it would
[3:20:39]
seem to me it
[3:20:41]
s a valid, um
[3:20:44]
Request, um, to have a closer
[3:20:45]
understanding of what a full
[3:20:46]
buildout would this look like
[3:20:47]
with, uh, of this place would
[3:20:50]
look like, uh, as a
[3:20:51]
particularly, um, pays
[3:20:52]
attention to commercial and
[3:20:54]
restate retail development.
[3:20:56]
Thank you. Council member Hardy
[3:21:02]
Chandler. So there is a great
[3:21:04]
deal of evidence that you have
[3:21:05]
been listening and integrating
[3:21:06]
what you
[3:21:07]
ve been hearing into
[3:21:09]
this next iteration of your
[3:21:13]
proposal, um, I want to Um,
[3:21:16]
echo some of the positives that
[3:21:17]
people have been talking about
[3:21:19]
the green spaces and those
[3:21:20]
kinds of things and add to that
[3:21:22]
list that you also listened in
[3:21:26]
terms of, um, concerns about
[3:21:27]
connectivity and that the
[3:21:31]
roadway spaces as well as the
[3:21:33]
pedestrian spaces, um, I do
[3:21:34]
think that, and I don
[3:21:35]
t have a
[3:21:36]
question, my questions have
[3:21:40]
been answered. I do think that,
[3:21:42]
um, you are making an attempt
[3:21:42]
to balance what
[3:21:45]
s Needed in
[3:21:46]
terms of development against
[3:21:47]
what would happen if you did
[3:21:49]
nothing, right? And I want to
[3:21:50]
highlight what you were
[3:21:52]
starting to say about that
[3:21:53]
being the public policy of it
[3:21:57]
not being the crown jewel and,
[3:21:59]
um, really looking at how we
[3:22:00]
re
[3:22:01]
uplifting the whole activity
[3:22:04]
area. I get the concerns about,
[3:22:07]
um, about, uh, density, those
[3:22:09]
are definitely an ongoing
[3:22:11]
balancing act, and yet as has
[3:22:12]
been mentioned, I think by the
[3:22:13]
mayor several times, you know.
[3:22:16]
Just in terms of having people
[3:22:19]
near the spaces to support the
[3:22:21]
retail aspects, I think is an
[3:22:22]
important contribution, um,
[3:22:25]
something has to be done there,
[3:22:26]
um, and I think that every
[3:22:29]
attempt has been made by your
[3:22:31]
organization which has Invested
[3:22:34]
in the city. Which that is
[3:22:35]
another point I want to
[3:22:36]
highlight that you have made
[3:22:38]
other investments in the city,
[3:22:40]
um, this is, I try not to look
[3:22:42]
at things in isolation. This is
[3:22:43]
yet another investment that
[3:22:44]
you
[3:22:47]
re making in our city to,
[3:22:49]
um, kind of collectively, uh,
[3:22:51]
elevate our sys our city, so I
[3:22:53]
appreciate the work that you
[3:22:53]
ve
[3:22:56]
done. I appreciate listening,
[3:22:56]
that
[3:22:58]
s evident to me, um, doing
[3:23:00]
nothing is not an option, and I
[3:23:01]
think, uh, I supported this
[3:23:05]
project in its prior iteration.
[3:23:06]
Uh, so with the advancements
[3:23:06]
that you
[3:23:07]
ve made and showing
[3:23:09]
once again that you
[3:23:09]
re willing
[3:23:12]
to listen to the feedback, um,
[3:23:13]
I appreciate the changes that
[3:23:13]
you
[3:23:14]
ve made and I just want to
[3:23:17]
highlight that, and again, uh,
[3:23:20]
for me, no development on that
[3:23:22]
very central spot in our city
[3:23:24]
is is an option that I think
[3:23:26]
goes against, um, public policy
[3:23:31]
for our city, thank you. Uh,
[3:23:32]
other comments, Council member
[3:23:34]
Peterson, just to underscore, I
[3:23:34]
don
[3:23:35]
t think I
[3:23:37]
m hearing from
[3:23:37]
anybody, there
[3:23:38]
s a preference
[3:23:42]
for 0, redevelopment here. I
[3:23:43]
think everybody, like many
[3:23:45]
other spots in the city,
[3:23:46]
virtually everybody is
[3:23:47]
interested in that. The
[3:23:49]
question is how. And that
[3:23:51]
really where the feedback has
[3:23:54]
been, so, uh, again, I would
[3:23:55]
hope that we would be able to
[3:23:59]
focus a little bit more on the
[3:24:01]
fundamentals of what that, um,
[3:24:03]
question really, um, involves
[3:24:04]
from the community in terms of
[3:24:07]
what happens here. Thanks.
[3:24:09]
Council member Amos? Last
[3:24:10]
comment i
[3:24:11]
ll make, uh, and it
[3:24:14]
a quick one just because I, I
[3:24:16]
see some similarities to it and
[3:24:18]
a lot of it depended on phase 1
[3:24:19]
getting approved and then phase
[3:24:21]
2 ideally happening, but that
[3:24:23]
phase 2 location does give me
[3:24:24]
elements of Fairfax Quarter in
[3:24:28]
it, and I do appreciate that.
[3:24:30]
Other questions or comments? I
[3:24:33]
like the the project, um. I
[3:24:33]
ve
[3:24:34]
been looking at the Safeway now
[3:24:38]
for, you know, since 1981. And
[3:24:39]
it is right in the center of
[3:24:41]
our city, and when we talk
[3:24:42]
about getting feedback from the
[3:24:44]
public, that is the point of
[3:24:46]
having a public hearing, and I
[3:24:48]
do expect that we will hear
[3:24:49]
from residents who have a
[3:24:50]
vested interest, including the
[3:24:52]
people across the street who
[3:24:54]
are residents, but I hope we
[3:24:56]
have a robust feedback from our
[3:24:58]
businesses. I hope our
[3:24:59]
businesses step up to say what
[3:25:03]
it means to have 30,060 units
[3:25:05]
right next door or right behind
[3:25:06]
their buildings. The flats at
[3:25:09]
university was our first foray
[3:25:10]
into having housing in the
[3:25:12]
downtown, which is great, but
[3:25:13]
those students aren
[3:25:13]
t there 12
[3:25:16]
months out of the year. So our
[3:25:16]
summertime doesn
[3:25:17]
t look nearly
[3:25:20]
as active as our fall and our
[3:25:21]
spring, and so I hope our
[3:25:23]
businesses will come out to
[3:25:26]
talk about the, the economic
[3:25:29]
impact of having housing in
[3:25:30]
this location, we need to hear
[3:25:31]
from everyone, and I do think
[3:25:33]
that is why we have a public
[3:25:35]
hearing, and I do want to
[3:25:36]
acknowledge the fact that you
[3:25:36]
didn
[3:25:38]
t have to come back and
[3:25:39]
Give us another chance, but,
[3:25:40]
but you did and you
[3:25:42]
incorporated so much of what
[3:25:44]
you heard, including the people
[3:25:46]
from the the muse who said, I
[3:25:46]
don
[3:25:48]
t like the color. I, I
[3:25:51]
think you have, you have done
[3:25:52]
your best to negotiate what
[3:25:57]
works. Financially and from a
[3:25:59]
property ownership standpoint,
[3:26:00]
what works for combined
[3:26:02]
properties, again, I agree with
[3:26:03]
council member Hardy Chandler,
[3:26:04]
you
[3:26:05]
ve been deeply invested in
[3:26:08]
our city for 6 decades, and we
[3:26:09]
appreciate the fact that you
[3:26:10]
keep improving the properties
[3:26:11]
that you own here. It
[3:26:13]
s a long
[3:26:14]
term relationship, and I want
[3:26:15]
to acknowledge that we
[3:26:16]
appreciate all the work that
[3:26:19]
gone into this, and I do think
[3:26:20]
there is an opportunity through
[3:26:21]
public hearing for people to
[3:26:22]
come and give us more
[3:26:25]
information on this Project,
[3:26:27]
but I do like the project, I do,
[3:26:29]
I, I believe it is in the best
[3:26:32]
interest long term of the city
[3:26:34]
to redevelop this piece of
[3:26:35]
property so close to our
[3:26:38]
downtown. It is just It
[3:26:39]
something, something has to
[3:26:40]
happen there, so thank you so
[3:26:42]
much for the presentation and
[3:26:43]
we look forward to seeing you
[3:26:52]
again. MISS Shniberry? Ok, I
[3:26:54]
will now reconvene the regular
[3:26:55]
meeting and kick it over to our
[3:26:58]
city manager, MR. Alexander.
[3:27:00]
Thank you, Mayor and Council,
[3:27:02]
uh, as you know, uh, after this
[3:27:03]
meeting, he
[3:27:03]
ll take us into a
[3:27:06]
break. For a month and then we
[3:27:10]
will be back for a robust work
[3:27:11]
session on SEPTEMBER 1st
[3:27:13]
reminder that is scheduled to
[3:27:13]
start at 4 o
[3:27:15]
clock, you will
[3:27:17]
see a number of items on that
[3:27:21]
work session. Um, for a reason,
[3:27:23]
and we certainly wanted to try
[3:27:26]
to do as much Workshopping as
[3:27:29]
we can on those sessions, so
[3:27:29]
you
[3:27:30]
ll see pre-application
[3:27:34]
briefings, um. Listed there for,
[3:27:38]
uh, 3250 Blenheim. 10, 560 Main
[3:27:42]
Street. And 3570 Chain Bridge
[3:27:46]
Road. Uh, we will also bring
[3:27:50]
back citywide level of service,
[3:27:51]
uh, and dynamic capital impact
[3:27:54]
modeling for discussion. We
[3:27:58]
will, um, make a foray into our
[3:27:58]
legislative program, and then
[3:28:01]
we will have a discussion,
[3:28:01]
which you
[3:28:04]
ll see on consent
[3:28:05]
later regarding the
[3:28:06]
reappropriation of general
[3:28:08]
operating capital and
[3:28:10]
enterprise funds carrying over
[3:28:13]
to 2027 from 2026. So again,
[3:28:13]
that
[3:28:16]
ll be, uh, pretty Um,
[3:28:20]
robust work session on the 1st.
[3:28:23]
Looking ahead to the 8th. Uh,
[3:28:27]
on consent, you will see, uh,
[3:28:27]
construction contract for
[3:28:30]
University Drive bike lanes.
[3:28:32]
And the consideration of
[3:28:33]
resolution to cancel the vdot
[3:28:37]
project. Uh, listed there. And
[3:28:38]
then, um, as I mentioned,
[3:28:39]
you
[3:28:40]
ll see the introduction or
[3:28:41]
consideration of the resolution
[3:28:43]
for the reappropriation. That
[3:28:44]
would have been workshopped on
[3:28:47]
the meeting prior. Also items
[3:28:49]
not requiring a public hearing
[3:28:50]
will be the consideration of
[3:28:53]
adopting the code of ethics. On
[3:28:56]
the 8th. Looking ahead to
[3:29:00]
finishing out SEPTEMBER. Um,
[3:29:01]
public hearing and council
[3:29:03]
action on a redevelopment of
[3:29:09]
existing office. In 14
[3:29:10]
townhouses at Mantua 9495,
[3:29:12]
Silver King Court. And then if
[3:29:15]
needed, a public hearing. In
[3:29:16]
council action on the
[3:29:18]
resolution for reappropriation.
[3:29:21]
On that night, and that would
[3:29:22]
wrap up SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER
[3:29:25]
would be our second. Uh, work
[3:29:25]
session starting at 4 o
[3:29:28]
clock.
[3:29:29]
Happy dancer, any other
[3:29:31]
questions on items that we
[3:29:31]
ve
[3:29:31]
discussed or otherwise are
[3:29:34]
ahead of us. All right.
[3:29:36]
Questions on future? Uh,
[3:29:40]
COUNCILMAN Hall. Just 2
[3:29:43]
questions, I think, um. The
[3:29:45]
University Drive bike lanes.
[3:29:45]
That
[3:29:46]
s the same conversation we
[3:29:48]
just had a few minutes ago. Can
[3:29:51]
we get a refresher on that? Did
[3:29:52]
we see that as this counselor
[3:29:54]
or was that a previous council?
[3:29:56]
Am I just totally forgetting
[3:29:56]
that we
[3:29:58]
ve talked about it for
[3:29:59]
a while, I know, but did we do
[3:30:00]
a recent public hearing and all
[3:30:01]
those things. I mean, I
[3:30:01]
m sure
[3:30:03]
that was closed out a while ago
[3:30:04]
since we
[3:30:05]
re at the
[3:30:07]
consideration phase, but I
[3:30:09]
just really wondering and in
[3:30:11]
light of the 10-foot sidewalks
[3:30:11]
that they
[3:30:12]
re considering is
[3:30:14]
there maybe a better solution
[3:30:15]
to a shared-use path there.
[3:30:16]
Well, we
[3:30:16]
ll, what we
[3:30:17]
ll do is
[3:30:19]
come back with Information
[3:30:22]
generally about our plan. And
[3:30:23]
more information specifically
[3:30:24]
about this ahead of this
[3:30:25]
meeting, well ahead of this
[3:30:26]
meeting, so you have that
[3:30:27]
information, yeah, I mean, we
[3:30:27]
don
[3:30:28]
t really have a lot of time
[3:30:29]
because I know we have the
[3:30:29]
AUGUST recess. I
[3:30:30]
m certainly
[3:30:32]
open to receiving information
[3:30:35]
in AUGUST, um, but, ok, uh, and
[3:30:36]
I, I will also do my due
[3:30:38]
diligence and go back, um, and
[3:30:42]
try to check that out. Um My
[3:30:43]
second question and it
[3:30:44]
s just a
[3:30:45]
logistical one, is that we have
[3:30:46]
a meeting on OCTOBER 13th,
[3:30:50]
which I think is the final day
[3:30:52]
of the vml conference. Are we?
[3:30:54]
Is it, is there any actual
[3:30:56]
conference that day and then
[3:30:56]
we
[3:30:57]
re coming home or it
[3:30:57]
s only
[3:31:00]
half day, so they wrap up about
[3:31:01]
noon that day, so we should be
[3:31:03]
home in time for a meeting, ok,
[3:31:08]
perfect, thank you. Council
[3:31:09]
member Amos follow-up question
[3:31:11]
for SEPTEMBER 22nd, the
[3:31:12]
Highlands of Mentua Project. If
[3:31:13]
m remembering that cor that
[3:31:15]
correctly, I remember, oh gosh,
[3:31:15]
I don
[3:31:17]
t know if that was a
[3:31:19]
pre-application that we did or
[3:31:21]
was it a post submission, I
[3:31:22]
mean, I think that was last
[3:31:23]
year if I recall correctly, and
[3:31:24]
that
[3:31:26]
s the one where we had the
[3:31:27]
conversation about whether to
[3:31:28]
keep the tree landscaping there
[3:31:29]
or they wanted to put in a park,
[3:31:34]
if I recall. Yes, I believe you
[3:31:37]
are correct, um, that, uh,
[3:31:39]
application has now gone to the
[3:31:42]
planning commission, um. There
[3:31:44]
will be a communication to each
[3:31:46]
of the members of council and
[3:31:48]
the mayor for individual
[3:31:50]
meetings to give you an update
[3:31:52]
on that project from the
[3:31:54]
development team and then any
[3:31:55]
questions you MAY have. Thank
[3:31:57]
you, just because it feels like
[3:31:57]
it
[3:31:58]
s been a pretty significant
[3:32:00]
gap in time between when we
[3:32:01]
spoke with them. I, again, I
[3:32:02]
think it was last year, uh,
[3:32:04]
versus, uh, this coming up in
[3:32:05]
SEPTEMBER. So thank you. Yes,
[3:32:09]
sir. Other questions, Council
[3:32:12]
memberer Hall? So, are we gonna
[3:32:14]
talk about the buck slip at
[3:32:15]
another time or is this the
[3:32:17]
right time? We can, I had it on
[3:32:18]
the report out so I can kill
[3:32:19]
birds we can talk about it then,
[3:32:19]
that
[3:32:20]
s fine. Thank you. That
[3:32:25]
fine. Council member Peterson.
[3:32:28]
Can you, uh, clarify this the
[3:32:30]
purpose and scope of the
[3:32:33]
citywide level of service and
[3:32:37]
dynamic capital impact model. I
[3:32:38]
want to set expectations for
[3:32:40]
what we will be receiving, what
[3:32:44]
is the actual purpose and
[3:32:45]
Substantive application of that
[3:32:47]
we previously, I think,
[3:32:49]
presented in a work session to
[3:32:49]
counsel, but I
[3:32:50]
ll go to the
[3:32:51]
bullpen and ask Brooke to come
[3:32:57]
up again. And this would be an
[3:33:00]
update to that previous work
[3:33:00]
session that council held,
[3:33:03]
which was more of an
[3:33:07]
introduction to the project and,
[3:33:10]
um, a review of what the effort
[3:33:11]
would be undertaking and, and
[3:33:13]
what factors will be analyzed
[3:33:14]
as part of, part of the project.
[3:33:19]
This is to come back and share
[3:33:22]
results of that analysis, um.
[3:33:23]
It would not be a moment where
[3:33:26]
we would ask for counsel
[3:33:32]
approval, um, in terms of, um,
[3:33:33]
considering proffer, uh, policy
[3:33:35]
or anything of that nature, we
[3:33:36]
would anticipate that based
[3:33:39]
upon this discussion. The
[3:33:41]
council would give staff
[3:33:43]
feedback on those results and
[3:33:43]
whether there
[3:33:45]
s a desire to, to
[3:33:46]
move forward with considering
[3:33:49]
policies in terms of level of
[3:33:52]
impact to various, um, um, uh,
[3:33:54]
city infrastructure. And so
[3:33:56]
that would be a future
[3:33:57]
discussion, and so this will be
[3:33:59]
to share the results to give a
[3:34:01]
sense of what those impacts are,
[3:34:04]
how those numbers calculate. Um,
[3:34:04]
and whether there
[3:34:05]
s a desire to
[3:34:07]
continue to move forward to
[3:34:09]
look at policies that would be
[3:34:10]
part of the city
[3:34:10]
s development
[3:34:14]
review process. Let me
[3:34:17]
understand if I might, um, a
[3:34:19]
little bit more clearly, it is
[3:34:22]
this, um, providing Guidance
[3:34:24]
and benchmarks, uh, related to
[3:34:29]
proffers. Potentially. Ok. So
[3:34:33]
potentially that is this.
[3:34:37]
Designed to be a Regulatory
[3:34:39]
impact or public policy impact,
[3:34:45]
um, assessment tool. It is a
[3:34:46]
development impact assessment
[3:34:49]
tool, and so the team has
[3:34:52]
analyzed what, um, expenditures
[3:34:55]
are associated with, um,
[3:34:56]
development proposals, what
[3:34:58]
that means in terms of the city
[3:35:01]
infrastructure, um, and Whether
[3:35:04]
or not there are, um, you know,
[3:35:06]
what those financial impacts
[3:35:08]
are, and so a level of service
[3:35:10]
study would, would provide to
[3:35:17]
the city, um, on a, um, per, uh,
[3:35:18]
project basis what those
[3:35:21]
impacts would be to things like
[3:35:23]
Parks and Recreation facilities,
[3:35:26]
school facilities, um,
[3:35:28]
transportation infrastructure,
[3:35:29]
public safety, infrastructure,
[3:35:31]
and that analysis Good guide
[3:35:35]
the city toward. A proffer
[3:35:37]
policy for all of those items,
[3:35:40]
you know, what, what the
[3:35:41]
approach has been to this point
[3:35:42]
has been those have been
[3:35:45]
negotiated on a case by case
[3:35:47]
basis, um, and not to get too
[3:35:48]
deep into the proffer thing, I
[3:35:48]
think we
[3:35:49]
ve talked a little bit
[3:35:51]
about that before, but the
[3:35:53]
Commonwealth of Virginia in
[3:35:55]
2016 rewrote the rules in the
[3:35:58]
state for proffers, which
[3:35:59]
severely limited localities
[3:36:01]
ability to negotiate for
[3:36:02]
proffers since that time, we
[3:36:02]
ve
[3:36:05]
instituted some measures that
[3:36:07]
have given us a little bit more
[3:36:10]
flexibility to do that, and so
[3:36:10]
we
[3:36:12]
ve seen, um, the potential
[3:36:14]
for for proffers to be offered,
[3:36:16]
particularly in our activity
[3:36:18]
centers because the code of
[3:36:20]
Virginia carves out special
[3:36:21]
provisions for areas covered by
[3:36:23]
small area plans, and so that
[3:36:25]
gives us some more ability to
[3:36:27]
negotiate these things, what we
[3:36:30]
would like to do is be a little
[3:36:31]
bit more systematic in how we
[3:36:32]
do that, um, and so it
[3:36:34]
s Not an
[3:36:35]
unknown to the council, it
[3:36:39]
not an unknown to a property
[3:36:40]
owner or developer coming in as
[3:36:42]
to what those expectations are,
[3:36:44]
but that will be totally at the
[3:36:46]
discretion of the council. This
[3:36:49]
first discussion is to merely
[3:36:51]
share the results of that
[3:36:52]
analysis if the direction from
[3:36:53]
the council from that point
[3:36:55]
forward is yes, staff, we would
[3:36:58]
like you to, to look at
[3:36:59]
creating some policies that
[3:37:00]
again could come back to the
[3:37:02]
council and we consider whether
[3:37:02]
that
[3:37:02]
s something that the
[3:37:04]
council wants. To adopt. That
[3:37:05]
what we
[3:37:07]
ll do. Is this an
[3:37:10]
accounting tool? So that we
[3:37:10]
know when we
[3:37:11]
re looking at a
[3:37:13]
project, uh, from an accounting
[3:37:17]
standpoint. What the outlays Uh,
[3:37:19]
outlays and expenditures are
[3:37:20]
for a particular decision we
[3:37:23]
make, is that Correct
[3:37:24]
Accounting on who
[3:37:25]
s on whose
[3:37:26]
books I mean, services and
[3:37:28]
infrastructure from an
[3:37:29]
accounting standpoint, the
[3:37:31]
public accounting standpoint,
[3:37:32]
what are we spending as a
[3:37:33]
consequence of a decision on
[3:37:34]
the development. Is that the
[3:37:36]
question this is answering? Not,
[3:37:37]
not necessarily. That
[3:37:40]
something that. So the city
[3:37:42]
does a fiscal impact analysis
[3:37:44]
analysis for each one of the
[3:37:45]
significant projects that come
[3:37:47]
forward to the council, and
[3:37:47]
that
[3:37:48]
s part of your staff
[3:37:50]
report that you see at a, at a
[3:37:53]
public hearing that accounts
[3:37:56]
For anticipated revenues and
[3:37:57]
expenditures for any
[3:37:59]
development, um, and looking at
[3:37:59]
the city
[3:38:00]
s budget and what
[3:38:02]
those costs are to the city and
[3:38:04]
then in terms of the
[3:38:05]
development proposal, what
[3:38:07]
revenues that, that we
[3:38:07]
anticipate coming in. So that
[3:38:13]
a part of what we do today, um,
[3:38:16]
and that looks at city costs
[3:38:19]
kind of across, um, you know,
[3:38:20]
across the entirety of the
[3:38:24]
budget, the Level of service
[3:38:26]
would look at physical impacts,
[3:38:27]
we look at infrastructure
[3:38:30]
impacts, things that the city
[3:38:31]
can potentially get proffers
[3:38:32]
for so they can
[3:38:32]
t get proffers
[3:38:35]
for operational. Costs the
[3:38:38]
localities can get proffers for
[3:38:40]
physical infrastructure and
[3:38:41]
expansion of capacity of
[3:38:43]
physical infrastructure. That
[3:38:46]
associated with the development
[3:38:46]
that
[3:38:47]
s being proposed, and so
[3:38:48]
the level of services looks
[3:38:51]
more at the, at the
[3:38:52]
infrastructure side of the
[3:38:54]
equation, not, not so much the
[3:38:55]
overall fiscal impact, but that
[3:38:57]
is part of what the council
[3:38:59]
receives as well. Is this
[3:39:01]
somewhere where it already is
[3:39:04]
scoped and we can look at its
[3:39:06]
current status in terms of what
[3:39:07]
it
[3:39:08]
s covering is there
[3:39:08]
something that you know I could
[3:39:10]
read, for instance, or anybody
[3:39:12]
else could read about the, the
[3:39:17]
scope of this, we Uh, the, the
[3:39:20]
materials that, that we brought
[3:39:22]
forward previously. Uh, we
[3:39:22]
don
[3:39:23]
t have necessarily have the
[3:39:25]
materials that will be
[3:39:27]
presented in SEPTEMBER ready to,
[3:39:28]
to bring forward yet, but we
[3:39:28]
ll
[3:39:29]
share, we
[3:39:29]
ll share those as
[3:39:30]
soon as they
[3:39:31]
re available. As
[3:39:32]
well, well, that
[3:39:33]
d be real
[3:39:34]
helpful. I mean, I think the
[3:39:36]
general thing is on, uh,
[3:39:38]
FEBRUARY 14th, I think, uh, we
[3:39:40]
had a discussion about
[3:39:40]
development land use
[3:39:42]
applications and the city
[3:39:43]
manager listed out a whole
[3:39:51]
series of Um, impacts. That
[3:39:53]
could and typically are
[3:39:56]
included in assessments of the,
[3:39:57]
um, full suite of impacts
[3:40:00]
associated with the development
[3:40:01]
or land use application, safety,
[3:40:02]
crime risk, you name it, right
[3:40:06]
down the list here. And that
[3:40:08]
sounds like that, um, you know,
[3:40:08]
it
[3:40:10]
s a set of socioeconomic
[3:40:15]
impacts. Public, public impacts
[3:40:15]
here, that
[3:40:16]
s this would provide.
[3:40:21]
Only the fiscal dimensions of
[3:40:23]
that with respect to services
[3:40:24]
and infrastructure, but it
[3:40:26]
not, this is really not what
[3:40:29]
impact um. Are we able to
[3:40:31]
determine in terms of the
[3:40:33]
effect of these decisions on
[3:40:34]
elevated crime risk and the
[3:40:36]
response that we will have to,
[3:40:38]
you know, uh, engineer in terms
[3:40:41]
of that, things like that. Is
[3:40:42]
that a fair understanding? Ok,
[3:40:43]
so there
[3:40:44]
s a broader piece of
[3:40:46]
this that this really is not
[3:40:48]
looking at, um, I, I would like
[3:40:51]
to see if I might, and I
[3:40:51]
m sure
[3:40:52]
everybody would, what that is
[3:40:54]
because I think there is a
[3:40:56]
broader question mark about how
[3:40:59]
we assess, um, from a public.
[3:41:01]
Inter standpoint, um, the
[3:41:02]
impacts and the opportunities
[3:41:04]
associated with these decisions
[3:41:05]
we make and it would be great
[3:41:08]
for that to be as inclusive as
[3:41:09]
possible, so I think we send
[3:41:11]
you what we have up to this
[3:41:13]
point that also say at this
[3:41:15]
point also that will offer each
[3:41:16]
of you an opportunity to have a
[3:41:17]
conversation with the head of
[3:41:19]
the work session, which will
[3:41:21]
benefit the conversation at the
[3:41:22]
morgue session that, that would
[3:41:24]
be great, and it would be great
[3:41:26]
if there could be with respect
[3:41:27]
to the fiscal impact analysis
[3:41:29]
that we do now. Um, a little
[3:41:31]
bit of transparency in terms of
[3:41:31]
what
[3:41:32]
s actually in that. I
[3:41:37]
would love to see that. Thanks.
[3:41:40]
Any other questions or comments
[3:41:43]
on the future meeting topics.
[3:41:45]
Saying none, we will go to the,
[3:41:46]
the manager
[3:41:47]
s report out. Thank
[3:41:50]
you, Mayor and Council, um, as
[3:41:51]
was mentioned earlier, we did
[3:41:56]
send you This morning a, what
[3:41:58]
called in buckslip,
[3:41:59]
Informational item Buck because
[3:41:59]
it
[3:42:02]
s the size of a dollar that
[3:42:04]
we would like to maybe include
[3:42:05]
in the personal property tax
[3:42:07]
bills that will be mailed out
[3:42:08]
in SEPTEMBER, the idea is to
[3:42:11]
give us some more transparency
[3:42:13]
and information on how our
[3:42:15]
general fund dollars are spent
[3:42:17]
and investments are made both
[3:42:18]
in operating and capital, uh,
[3:42:21]
we provided you an example in
[3:42:22]
the the timeliness issue really
[3:42:24]
is one of I know the
[3:42:25]
treasurer
[3:42:25]
s office wanted to
[3:42:28]
know we had consensus from
[3:42:29]
council before we coordinated
[3:42:31]
with them, um, in order to, to
[3:42:33]
push that out, and so this is
[3:42:35]
an opportunity to get some
[3:42:36]
feedback from you on that item
[3:42:38]
so that we can quickly turn it
[3:42:40]
around, um, and, and again
[3:42:42]
coordinate, uh, the process of
[3:42:45]
getting that out to, um, our
[3:42:47]
residents, so happy to take any
[3:42:48]
feedback from you on what you
[3:42:49]
saw and what you might want to
[3:42:50]
see out of that understanding,
[3:42:51]
it
[3:42:51]
s, it
[3:42:54]
s just big, so.
[3:42:55]
Council member Hall and then
[3:42:57]
council member Hardy Chandler.
[3:42:58]
Thank you, I know I
[3:42:58]
ve been
[3:43:00]
asking for this for a while and
[3:43:01]
I think actually with the
[3:43:01]
interim, so I
[3:43:02]
m really, really
[3:43:04]
happy to see that this is
[3:43:06]
moving forward. Um, I really
[3:43:08]
just have 2 suggestions. 1 is
[3:43:09]
maybe just add a thank you for
[3:43:13]
paying your taxes. Um, and also
[3:43:14]
on the backside of it, there
[3:43:16]
an area on the bottom right
[3:43:20]
where It had a, the percentages
[3:43:20]
of certain things and there was
[3:43:24]
a, a bit of a Are available.
[3:43:26]
m wondering if maybe we could
[3:43:28]
add a qr code that would direct
[3:43:31]
people to the fiscal year 2027
[3:43:32]
budget and just say, you know,
[3:43:32]
here
[3:43:33]
s Here
[3:43:34]
s a link to this,
[3:43:36]
um. Hopefully that won
[3:43:36]
t add
[3:43:38]
too much. Extra effort, but
[3:43:40]
that was just my suggestion to,
[3:43:42]
you know, kind of, here
[3:43:42]
s the
[3:43:43]
basic information, and then if
[3:43:44]
you want more information, here
[3:43:45]
it is. Nice, easy e, ready to
[3:43:50]
go. Thank you. Council member
[3:43:52]
Hardy Chandler, I think I
[3:43:53]
responded that I absolutely
[3:43:56]
support this. I think, um, the
[3:43:57]
visual helps people understand
[3:43:57]
that it
[3:43:58]
s not going into a
[3:44:00]
black hole, it really is going
[3:44:01]
to services and how those
[3:44:03]
services are divided. So I
[3:44:05]
absolutely support that. Is
[3:44:07]
there any question of the cost
[3:44:09]
of adding that to the mailing
[3:44:11]
of the bills, just minuscule
[3:44:13]
that we got consensus from
[3:44:14]
counsel before you approach the
[3:44:16]
treasurer again on, on this
[3:44:17]
process. Well, I, I think it
[3:44:17]
ll
[3:44:19]
be very beneficial. To all of
[3:44:20]
the residents of the city. So
[3:44:23]
thank you very much. Council
[3:44:27]
member McQuillan. Yeah, I love
[3:44:28]
this idea ever since, uh,
[3:44:29]
COUNCILMAN Hall brought it
[3:44:30]
forth. I think this is great.
[3:44:34]
Thank you so much. Any other
[3:44:35]
feedback, Council member
[3:44:38]
Peterson? Well, I think this a
[3:44:40]
separate thing that it kind of
[3:44:41]
gets to the last conversation,
[3:44:41]
but it
[3:44:42]
d be great to kind of
[3:44:44]
boil this down to a
[3:44:45]
communications format is every
[3:44:47]
time we make a decision here,
[3:44:49]
it has, well, not every time,
[3:44:53]
but very often it has, uh, out
[3:44:55]
of pocket expense implications
[3:44:56]
on residents and I like to use
[3:44:57]
the term neighborhood math,
[3:44:58]
people need to understand if
[3:44:58]
you do this, what
[3:44:59]
s coming out
[3:45:02]
of my back pocket next year.
[3:45:04]
And, um, it would be great to
[3:45:10]
be Regular about lifting that
[3:45:11]
information out of the
[3:45:13]
decisions we make so that
[3:45:15]
people who are tuning in, uh,
[3:45:16]
can know and we need to invite
[3:45:17]
other people to tune into that,
[3:45:18]
so I, I don
[3:45:19]
t think this is
[3:45:20]
exactly the same thing, but I
[3:45:21]
think they
[3:45:22]
re related. I would
[3:45:22]
say also it
[3:45:23]
s not just a matter
[3:45:26]
when we make decisions of the
[3:45:27]
out of pocket expenses that,
[3:45:29]
you know, people are facing as
[3:45:31]
a consequence of it, but just a
[3:45:32]
reminder, we
[3:45:33]
re also helping
[3:45:34]
people save, reduce those out
[3:45:37]
of pocket expenses we we On
[3:45:38]
energy, you know, clean energy
[3:45:41]
things that are actually cost
[3:45:42]
savings things, um, and then
[3:45:42]
we
[3:45:43]
ve done things that
[3:45:45]
proactively are designed to
[3:45:46]
increase revenues, commercial,
[3:45:48]
economic, household, etc. It
[3:45:50]
just would be good from a
[3:45:52]
communication standpoint for a
[3:45:53]
resident to know when we make
[3:45:54]
decisions, what
[3:45:54]
s the plus and
[3:45:55]
the minus, you know, that
[3:45:57]
going on here, and I, and again,
[3:46:00]
that has to be in terms they
[3:46:01]
can understand and what they
[3:46:02]
typically understand very well.
[3:46:02]
It
[3:46:02]
s what
[3:46:04]
s coming out of my
[3:46:06]
back pocket this year. So I
[3:46:07]
know we don
[3:46:08]
t have that exactly,
[3:46:10]
and that MAY be, um, ground for
[3:46:11]
further creative thinking, but
[3:46:12]
I just wanted to suggest it.
[3:46:17]
Yep. Any other comments? I
[3:46:20]
think, I think that we have
[3:46:22]
consensus that the idea is good,
[3:46:24]
it is helpful for people to
[3:46:25]
visualize where their dollar
[3:46:28]
goes, so I think you
[3:46:29]
ve gotten
[3:46:30]
feedback and other than that, I,
[3:46:31]
I, I think we
[3:46:32]
re all nodding in
[3:46:33]
agreement that this is a go.
[3:46:37]
Thank you. Anything else, MR.
[3:46:38]
City Manager? That
[3:46:39]
s it, thank
[3:46:39]
you. That
[3:46:40]
s it for you. Ok,
[3:46:42]
then we will do the councils,
[3:46:47]
council member Amos. Thank you,
[3:46:48]
uh, so looking over to Melissa,
[3:46:49]
she wanted to quickly go over
[3:46:51]
the, the BACs and setting up
[3:46:52]
that for AUGUST, I believe.
[3:46:56]
Thank you, Council Member Amos.
[3:46:58]
So each of you have a printout
[3:47:00]
of, um, the 1st 2 pages are
[3:47:00]
vacancies that
[3:47:01]
s gonna be
[3:47:03]
advertised in the AUGUST city
[3:47:05]
scene, as you see on the second
[3:47:06]
page, it
[3:47:08]
s the h cab 17
[3:47:11]
positions that are coming up.
[3:47:11]
For reappointment or
[3:47:15]
appointments. Uh, on the third
[3:47:17]
page is the applicants I have
[3:47:19]
on deck that would be ready to
[3:47:21]
be interviewed, there are 20
[3:47:23]
people listed on here. And I
[3:47:25]
bringing this forward because a
[3:47:26]
council member had brought this
[3:47:29]
up last week about maybe doing
[3:47:30]
an AUGUST interview night, so I
[3:47:32]
wanted to get feedback if there
[3:47:34]
be a consensus or at least 4
[3:47:36]
council members that would be
[3:47:39]
available in AUGUST. And I
[3:47:40]
would say either the, we keep
[3:47:41]
it on a Tuesday, either the
[3:47:44]
11th, 18th, or the 25th.
[3:47:44]
Because next week
[3:47:44]
s national
[3:47:49]
night out. Ok, so feedback and
[3:47:49]
we
[3:47:50]
ll just start with Council
[3:47:54]
Member Amos. Uh, AUGUST is a
[3:47:56]
bit of a rough month for me, so
[3:47:56]
it
[3:47:57]
s unlikely I
[3:47:58]
ll be able to,
[3:47:59]
however, if I were to be able
[3:48:01]
to finesse it, it would need to
[3:48:01]
be towards the end of the month,
[3:48:05]
so the 18th or the 25th. If we
[3:48:08]
stick with Tuesday. Ok, council
[3:48:10]
member Hall, I would prefer not
[3:48:11]
the 25th as our kids go back to
[3:48:15]
school the day before. So I am
[3:48:16]
otherwise, um, the 11th or the
[3:48:19]
18th work fine for me. Ok,
[3:48:22]
Council member Hardy Chandler.
[3:48:27]
I believe I can do the 18th.
[3:48:27]
Council member Peterson, I
[3:48:31]
flexible. Ok, Council member
[3:48:32]
Bates, any of those work for me?
[3:48:38]
Mhm. Oh, sorry, Oh, sorry the
[3:48:39]
11th or the 18th, please. Ok,
[3:48:41]
it looks like the 18th is the
[3:48:43]
winner, ok, and this next
[3:48:44]
question, like I said, I have
[3:48:47]
20 people on deck, is there a
[3:48:48]
certain amount you wanna bring
[3:48:51]
that night? We do 4 an hour, so.
[3:48:53]
That
[3:48:58]
s a long time. I can.
[3:49:01]
Council member Peterson. So I
[3:49:03]
looking at the list and if I
[3:49:03]
ve
[3:49:07]
got it right, 123456789, 1011,
[3:49:10]
12, like 12 or 13 are housing
[3:49:10]
and healthing Communities
[3:49:12]
advisory Board, did I get that
[3:49:14]
right? So some of them have
[3:49:16]
long titles because they
[3:49:17]
represent a certain position on
[3:49:18]
there, so really on there,
[3:49:18]
there
[3:49:19]
s, let me get my glasses
[3:49:21]
on. Ok, yeah, my eyes are not,
[3:49:22]
my eyes are not working there
[3:49:24]
like 6 right now. Ok, yeah,
[3:49:26]
thank you. Gosh, that was hard
[3:49:27]
to figure out. Well, there
[3:49:27]
s, I
[3:49:27]
didn
[3:49:28]
t wanna, you know, just
[3:49:30]
put names on there. I at least
[3:49:33]
You know, show like what
[3:49:34]
position they represent, but I
[3:49:35]
wonder whether that
[3:49:36]
s sort of a
[3:49:38]
stack that we might set aside
[3:49:38]
and do that, that
[3:49:39]
s a bunch of
[3:49:40]
folks and that if we split it
[3:49:42]
so that somehow or another we
[3:49:42]
weren
[3:49:44]
t doing them all at once,
[3:49:45]
that would be an option for
[3:49:49]
that being set aside. So their
[3:49:52]
terms are not open till JANUARY,
[3:49:54]
yes. So on the last page, I
[3:49:57]
have a list of all of the
[3:49:57]
applicants would be
[3:49:59]
reappointments for the rest of
[3:50:01]
the year, they vary some terms
[3:50:04]
end in SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER,
[3:50:09]
NOVEMBER, or DECEMBER. Ok, ok.
[3:50:11]
I think my suggestion would be.
[3:50:12]
Pull out the health and housing,
[3:50:15]
m sorry, housing and Healthy
[3:50:16]
Communities Advisory Board and
[3:50:17]
do them separately and then we
[3:50:18]
could probably get everybody
[3:50:21]
else in one night. I agree with
[3:50:22]
that for everybody else agrees
[3:50:25]
with that. Yeah. All right,
[3:50:26]
that
[3:50:26]
s all I need, I
[3:50:27]
ll get
[3:50:29]
back on the date, or we can
[3:50:30]
just see, well, we
[3:50:31]
ll see, ok,
[3:50:33]
we can do the 18th since
[3:50:33]
everybody
[3:50:33]
s pretty much on the
[3:50:37]
18th. Ok. We could start at 7
[3:50:39]
or we could start at 6, your
[3:50:45]
preference? Ok. 6, ok. Yeah, I
[3:50:47]
was like. Don
[3:50:48]
t chime in unless
[3:50:48]
you
[3:50:49]
re definitely gonna come
[3:50:51]
right, right, right, right, I
[3:50:51]
forgot it
[3:50:53]
s still on me. Ok,
[3:50:55]
thank you. All good. So
[3:50:57]
pivoting back real quick, um,
[3:50:59]
another, I guess, calendar
[3:50:59]
clarification doesn
[3:51:00]
t need to
[3:51:02]
be during council comments. I
[3:51:02]
know Brian Lubcomman responded
[3:51:04]
to us about the pickets reserve
[3:51:07]
visit on Saturday. So if folks
[3:51:08]
wanna message on how we want to
[3:51:09]
go about that, we can handle
[3:51:12]
that separately. So I
[3:51:13]
ll just
[3:51:15]
mention that, um, last 2 items,
[3:51:17]
uh, National Night Out, just
[3:51:18]
want to celebrate our police
[3:51:19]
and thank the communities who
[3:51:21]
are hosting for them next week
[3:51:23]
and, uh, shout out to Courtside
[3:51:25]
Tie on your 20 years of of
[3:51:28]
activity and, uh, serving the
[3:51:28]
great citizens of Fairfax City,
[3:51:31]
so thank you. Council member
[3:51:34]
Hall. Uh, I want to thank
[3:51:36]
Ornery for many, many years of
[3:51:38]
service to our city very, very
[3:51:40]
sad to see them close. It seems
[3:51:43]
to be a tough spot there, um,
[3:51:45]
and I loved you when you were
[3:51:46]
upstairs, I loved you when you
[3:51:48]
were downstairs, and I just sad
[3:51:52]
to see you go. Um, and I don
[3:51:55]
really have much else prepared.
[3:51:57]
I wish everyone a quiet month
[3:51:59]
in AUGUST while we don
[3:51:59]
t have
[3:51:59]
council meetings. I
[3:52:01]
m sure
[3:52:01]
staff will appreciate the
[3:52:04]
somewhat Hiatus of dealing with
[3:52:06]
all of us on a weekly basis,
[3:52:06]
we
[3:52:08]
ll make sure to check in, I
[3:52:09]
promise, um, and as I said
[3:52:10]
earlier to my colleagues, I
[3:52:12]
just want to thank you all for
[3:52:14]
your flexibility for our remote
[3:52:15]
participation policy with the
[3:52:16]
things that were going on with
[3:52:18]
my dad, um. Things are
[3:52:19]
definitely looking up. He went
[3:52:21]
on as a first solo walks and
[3:52:23]
things are good. Um, and if I
[3:52:24]
owe you an email, it will be
[3:52:29]
coming this week, I promise. Um,
[3:52:32]
and, uh, I know we had
[3:52:34]
difficult conversations tonight
[3:52:36]
with regard to the adu
[3:52:38]
conversation, but I do want to
[3:52:40]
say that I think we had
[3:52:42]
respectful conversation, I
[3:52:43]
think we were all able to share
[3:52:44]
our thoughts and feelings in a
[3:52:46]
way that, you know, is, is what
[3:52:47]
we should be doing on council
[3:52:48]
here, whether we Disagree or
[3:52:50]
agree at the end of the evening
[3:52:51]
about it, um, you know, we
[3:52:51]
re
[3:52:53]
all able to still get together
[3:52:54]
and laugh and do the other
[3:52:55]
things, which makes me think, I
[3:52:55]
think we
[3:52:56]
re also due for a
[3:52:58]
night out. To our planner over
[3:53:06]
here on the right. I got you.
[3:53:08]
Council member Hardy Chandler,
[3:53:10]
I hope everyone enjoys a
[3:53:11]
restful break except for
[3:53:13]
breaking the brake for other
[3:53:14]
tasks. Looking forward to
[3:53:15]
National Night Out. I
[3:53:15]
ll look
[3:53:17]
forward to trivia night day if
[3:53:19]
we do get together, um, happy
[3:53:23]
summer. Councilor Peterson.
[3:53:24]
Well, likewise, so I think
[3:53:25]
everybody deserves a good break,
[3:53:27]
and I hope they take advantage
[3:53:30]
of it. So I, believe it or not,
[3:53:31]
was the last customer to leave
[3:53:33]
winery, uh, on its last night
[3:53:38]
on Sunday. Yeah, very, um Yeah,
[3:53:41]
sad, but I had, um, a long
[3:53:42]
conversation with the owner,
[3:53:43]
and as it turns out, it
[3:53:43]
s been
[3:53:46]
a little bit of a busy week
[3:53:50]
because um it just happenstance
[3:53:52]
had long conversations with
[3:53:53]
other restaurant owners in Old
[3:53:58]
Town, some Past recent and some
[3:54:00]
current, uh, and I think they
[3:54:01]
kind of sense that came out of
[3:54:04]
all those conversations is that
[3:54:07]
there is a conversation that
[3:54:07]
hasn
[3:54:10]
t exactly happened yet, um,
[3:54:12]
with that community about, um,
[3:54:12]
what their needs are and how
[3:54:15]
they might be met, and I think
[3:54:17]
in their view, um, ain
[3:54:19]
t so
[3:54:21]
easy. There are multiple
[3:54:23]
factors at play here, um, and I
[3:54:25]
just wanted to, um, suggests
[3:54:28]
that we find a way somehow or
[3:54:29]
another to have that
[3:54:30]
conversation that is perhaps
[3:54:31]
something our economic
[3:54:32]
development director could help
[3:54:33]
with. I
[3:54:35]
m not sure, but I think
[3:54:36]
my sense from talking, uh, with
[3:54:39]
all of them, and these are
[3:54:43]
people who are, um, pretty
[3:54:44]
capable business analysts as
[3:54:47]
well as being entrepreneurs,
[3:54:50]
they, they had, um, kind of an
[3:54:52]
advanced sense of the challenge
[3:54:52]
that they
[3:54:53]
re facing and they
[3:54:53]
re
[3:54:55]
looking for a way to kind of
[3:54:56]
Unpack that in some meaningful
[3:54:57]
way, so I
[3:54:57]
d, I
[3:54:57]
d like to
[3:54:58]
encourage us to find a way to
[3:54:59]
do that because it
[3:55:00]
s, you know,
[3:55:00]
it
[3:55:02]
s tough, uh, people put
[3:55:04]
their lives into these
[3:55:06]
businesses, um, it
[3:55:07]
interesting the the one thing
[3:55:09]
that small business people have
[3:55:10]
in common, according to
[3:55:11]
McKinsey, is that they work all
[3:55:14]
the time and they go to the gym
[3:55:15]
regularly, and this is a set of
[3:55:16]
people who
[3:55:17]
s an example of
[3:55:20]
folks who work all the time and
[3:55:22]
to see this, uh, cycle kind of
[3:55:23]
happened where people have to
[3:55:25]
check out because, uh, they Not
[3:55:27]
able to keep up is a hard thing,
[3:55:29]
so I just want to shout out for
[3:55:31]
them. I certainly, uh, feel,
[3:55:32]
feel their pain and want to do
[3:55:33]
everything we can here to be
[3:55:36]
helpful for them. Thanks
[3:55:39]
Council Member Bates. I just
[3:55:42]
want to wish everyone a happy
[3:55:43]
national night out, um, and
[3:55:44]
echo Council member Amos
[3:55:47]
comments, uh, thanking our, uh,
[3:55:49]
local police. Thank you.
[3:55:51]
Council Member McQuillan. I too
[3:55:53]
am looking forward to National
[3:55:56]
Night Out, and I also was able
[3:55:57]
to visit Ornery before they
[3:55:59]
closed their doors this weekend
[3:55:59]
and we
[3:56:01]
ll be sad to see them go,
[3:56:03]
um, wishing all of our staff a
[3:56:09]
great month off. Thank you. Ok,
[3:56:10]
and I want to remind everybody
[3:56:13]
that Frozen, the City of
[3:56:14]
Fairfax Theater Company
[3:56:15]
production is currently playing
[3:56:16]
and we
[3:56:17]
ll be going with the
[3:56:18]
grandchildren to see that on
[3:56:20]
Saturday the 1st, so I
[3:56:21]
encourage everybody to go see
[3:56:22]
Frozen. I know you know all the
[3:56:25]
words to the songs. We also
[3:56:26]
have Restaurant Week from
[3:56:29]
AUGUST 20th to 30th, so please,
[3:56:30]
please support our local
[3:56:31]
restaurants. Speaking of our
[3:56:32]
local restaurants, get out
[3:56:34]
there, try some new ones, take
[3:56:37]
friends and family. We did that
[3:56:38]
in this particular time period
[3:56:39]
because the George Mason
[3:56:41]
students are returning to the
[3:56:43]
campus on AUGUST the 26th, and
[3:56:44]
please always keep in mind that
[3:56:47]
Fairfax City is in fact George
[3:56:48]
Mason University
[3:56:48]
s hometown, so
[3:56:50]
we need to kind of represent
[3:56:52]
out there, welcome the students
[3:56:52]
and their parents back when we
[3:56:55]
see them around town. And with
[3:56:55]
that, I
[3:56:58]
m going to adjourn the
[3:56:59]
meeting at 10:57 P.M. On