Reston Regional Library

ATTENDING: Committee members - Victoria Brombacher, Lois Rice, Bruce Wright, Edythe Frankel, Steven Cerny, Feliza Kepler, Gene Klein, and Joe Stowers.

Other attendees: Goldie Harrison, Ronald Tyus, Elizabeth Baker, R. Kevin Dougherty, Mitch Bonanno, Greg Hamm, Rustom Cowasja, Roger Holtorf, Lou Kriser, Markus Brombacher, Pat Blair, Jane Holtorf, Art Walsh, John Gosling.

The meeting was called to order at 7:35.

The minutes from the Aug. 16 meeting were approved.

Meeting times - A discussion of future meeting times was tabled, to be continued by the committee via email.

Concept of Operations - Mr. Lizardi had expressed reservations about parts of the document. It was decided that the concept of operations document is a living document subject to continual refinement by the group.

St. Marks meeting chair - Ms. Rice stated that she had a scheduling conflict for the St. Marks Catholic Church rezoning request meeting. Mr. Stowers was nominated as chairman of the St. Marks meeting and he agreed.

DSV Limited Partnership (Dulles Station) (PCA&FDPA 00-C-696-2) Horsepen Rd and Fox Mill Rd - This is a follow-up to the presentation on the same proposal given on Aug. 9. Greg Hamm of Crimson Partners gave a brief introduction to the proposal. He explained that the development will contain commercial and residential properties adjacent to a future rail station. John Gosling of the design firm RTKL gave an overview of the concept behind the development, the creation of a transit oriented development with a high walkability factor. The goal is to create a more integrated urban setting that includes retail establishments that provide services to occupants. This potentially reduces the number of trips generated from the site.

Mr. Hamm then discussed a new design that includes retail sites in a more integrated fashion. He also discussed a revised pedestrian layout that includes several new proposed trail connections to adjacent properties and he confirmed that asphalt will be used on the Fox Mill frontage trail.

Questions:

Q. (from the audience) Trees are being cut in this area all the time. What are you doing to preserve the trees on this site and other natural areas?
A. Mr. Hamm - 12.14 acres of land will be dedicated to the Board of Supervisors for park purposes and for a storm water management facility. Where possible existing vegetation will be saved.

Q. Mr. Stowers - What commitment does Crimson have to using RTKL in the development?
A. Mr. Hamm and Mr. Dougherty - RTKL will contribute to the master plan for the site. Crimson will personally develop some of the site, but has not yet selected architects. If others develop other parts of the site, the design must be approved by a design review board that Crimson is creating. RTKL will sit on that board.

Q. Ms. Rice - The Environmental Quality Corridor was incorrectly drawn in the early plan documents. Has that been corrected?
A. Mr. Hamm - Yes.

Q. Ms. Rice - She is concerned about the loss of trees as well. Will Crimson contract with an arborist to help save trees on the site?
A. Mr. Hamm - Yes. One problem is that the county is requesting a soccer field on part of the forested parkland. An option would be to build the soccer field on the 3 acres dedicated for transit parking.

Q. Ms. Rice - There is a definite need for a traffic signal on the Fox Mill entrance to the site. Would Crimson change the wording in the proffer from "if VDOT requires a signal" to "when VDOT requires a signal"?
A. Yes.

Q. Ms. Rice - On the Horsepen entrance a light will probably be needed as well. How much of the total cost of the signal is covered by the $50,000 dedicated for that purpose?
A. The total cost is about $100,000. The remaining $50K will be contributed by adjoining landowners.

Q. Ms. Rice - She is concerned that the 13 acres of open space is too little for the number of new residents on the site. Is there any way that the amount of open space can be increased?
A. Not given the present economic conditions and size of the site.

Q. Mr. Cerny - What is the cost of the proffered off-site road improvements?
A. Mr. Hamm - $10,000,000.

Q. Mr. Cerny - What will be the cost of monthly rent for the rental units?
A. Mr. Dougherty - Approx. 90% of the units will be 1 BR and 2 BR units and 10% 3 BR. Rentals will have to be approximately $1.65/sq. ft. Monthly rental of 1 BR is approx. $1400-1600.

Q. Ms. Rice - If the apartment buildings do not have elevators will there be affordable dwelling units (ADU) built.
A. Mr. Hamm and Mr. Dougherty - Yes, it is a county requirement if the buildings do not have elevators. One reason for the use of elevators is that the structured parking increases costs which increase the cost of rental units, and the tenants expect elevators.

Mr. Cerny - Discussed the need for ADU. He questions the insistence of the County on the expensive road improvements that add to the impervious surfaces in the county and wondered if it is possible to reduce the cost of the transportation proffers in exchange for more ADU on the site. It was agreed that this is an issue that needs to be discussed with Fairfax County transportation and planning staff.

Mr. Stowers read the following motion:

Resolution on Application PCA/FDPA C-696-2
Hunter Mill District Land Use Committee

The Committee recommends approval of the application, subject to the conditions in the August 23 staff report and subject to the following additional conditions:

1. A pedestrian plaza be incorporated in the plan, with first floor retail and restaurants surrounding the plaza and incorporating amenities such as a fountain, benches, tables, landscaping, and umbrellas, plus open space suitable for concerts and other types of performances;

2. An affordable dwelling unit program be added to the plan, generally meeting the objectives of Fairfax County's ADU ordinance. Such a program might be achieved through Section 8 certificates or other means, and might be achieved by an increase in the allowable FAR through an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan to allow the ADUs to be added to the already proposed residential units.

The motion was seconded.

Ms. Frankel changed the wording of the first para. to:

The Committee recommends approval of the application, subject to the proffers and conditions in the August 23 staff report and subject to the following conditions:

Mr. Stowers and the committee were in agreement with this friendly motion.

Ms. Rice moved that the following amendments be added:

3. The applicants agree to work with county environment management staff and an arborist to ensure that the natural areas are protected where possible.

4. The wording in the transportation proffer 3, number 10, Fox Mill Road (Northern) Entrance, last bullet be changed from "a traffic signal, if warranted by VDOT..." to "a traffic signal, when warranted by VDOT..."

This motion was seconded.

The motion was approved 8-0.

The following is the wording of the final resolution:

Resolution on Application PCA/FDPA C-696-2
Hunter Mill District Land Use Committee

The Committee recommends approval of the application, subject to the proffers and conditions in the August 23 staff report and subject to the following conditions:

1. A pedestrian plaza be incorporated in the plan, with first floor retail and restaurants surrounding the plaza and incorporating amenities such as a fountain, benches, tables, landscaping, and umbrellas, plus open space suitable for concerts and other types of performances;

2. An affordable dwelling unit program be added to the plan, generally meeting the objectives of Fairfax County's ADU ordinance. Such a program might be achieved through Section 8 certificates or other means, and might be achieved by an increase in the allowable FAR through an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan to allow the ADUs to be added to the already proposed residential units.

3. The applicants agrees to work with county environment management staff and an arborist to ensure that the natural areas are protected where possible.

4. The wording in the transportation proffer 3, number 10, Fox Mill Road (Northern) Entrance, last bullet be changed from "a traffic signal, if warranted by VDOT..." to "a traffic signal, when warranted by VDOT..."

TST Woodland LLC (RZ&FDP 1999-HM-037, PCA 80-C-028-5-5, SEA 97-H-070-2} Centreville Rd and Dulles Toll Rd - This is also a follow-up presentation from an earlier one at the Aug. 9 meeting.

Elizabeth Baker of Walsh, Colucci, Stackhouse, Emrich & Lubeley gave a brief overview of the proposal. The applicant is requesting a shift in allowable floor area ratio (FAR) from the already developed parcel 16-3((11))5A to parcels 16-3((1))29C&D. Ms. Baker stated that once the entire Woodland park area is developed, overall density of the Park, from Centreville Rd to Monroe St, would not be changed by this application and that there would not be an increase in the number of commuter trips to/from the Woodland Park area.

The applicant is also asking for a waiver of the sign ordinance to allow for a major entrance sign. The actual width and height of the proposed sign is 195% larger than is allowed by the ordinance. Ms. Baker stated that the county agreed to allow the larger sign in the other section of Woodland Park in limited locations (3) vs. allowable signs in up to 13 locations.

No residential development is planned in the proposed or future development of Woodland Park. Mr. Cowasja of Tishman Spayer Properties stated that based on market studies, residential development would be too costly and that there is little market for the properties.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the application. Mr. Wright stated that he initially opposed the sign variance but agreed that one large sign was preferable to several smaller signs. He also did not agree with adding density to an allow additional commuters to travel to the area, but was satisfied that there would not be a net increase in commuter traffic. Mr. Stowers stated that it would be appropriate to add density in this area as it is close to future a rail station.

The motion was approved 8-0.

Ms. Rice stated that she did not think it appropriate that recommendations be drafted in advance. Mr. Stowers noted that this was in accord with Ms. Kepler's draft procedures and with the minutes. He also noted that he had said that we could put off consideration of the draft resolution until the next meeting if members were not comfortable acting on it this evening, and that we still could reconsider the motion if anyone wanted to do so. He said that as the point of contact for the Dulles Station application, he was familiar with the case. After talking with the chair about this briefly, and with County staff at length about what we might recommend, he was comfortable writing a draft resolution for presentation to the committee as a whole, to be modified according by the group based on their concerns and issues raised in the public meeting. The pros and cons of this approach were discussed with no resolution.

Mr. Klein said that he was concerned that the Woodland Park developers did not think that residential development was feasible whereas the Dulles Station developers located nearby, were proposing a major residential development mixed with commercial and retail. Mr. Stowers said that developers are often only accustomed to producing one kind of development and are reluctant to mix other types of uses together because this requires greater effort in planing and design.

Ms. Frankel agreed to act as the St. Mark's case manager.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m.