Author: chogan@directresearch.com

Post 226: #closethecurbcutsnow

The Town has made much about closing curb cuts (parking lot entrances) along Maple, under MAC.  And the consultants for the (thing formerly known as the) Maple Avenue traffic study (post #223) duly echoed this with extended reference to the many curb cuts on Maple.

At various times, these curb cuts have been blamed for a) slowing traffic, b) increasing vehicular accident rates, and c) endangering pedestrians on the sidewalk.  For the moment, let me put aside truth versus fiction in these claims, and ask a simple question:

If these Maple Avenue curb cuts are such a clear public menace, why hasn’t the Town already started getting rid of them?   The Town owns the sidewalk.  How can our elected officials idly stand by, when the menace of excess curb cuts stalks the Town, threatening our prosperity and our very lives?

That was sarcasm.  But it’s a legit question.  It’s a question that I naively asked.  Seriously, if curb cuts are so bad, why don’t they close some of them? And the answer to that shows you exactly how proponents of MAC zoning will tell you only what they want you to hear. And not the full story.

After some research, my conclusion is that, practically speaking, the only way the Town can close a curb cut is to stuff a whole bunch of high-density housing on the lot behind it (i.e., MAC rezoning).  And so, the only practical way to close a curb cut is to have a more people  turning on and off of Maple, during the rush hour periods.

Once you figure that out, then it’s clear that the full effect of “closing curb cuts on Maple” is not the rosy picture painted by the Town.  You have to pay for that curb cut closure by adding to traffic turning on and off Maple.  Anyone who tells you that “getting rid of curb cuts” is an unalloyed positive for the Town is pulling your leg.  To put it politely.

In fact, I’ll up the ante on this.  If a property owner voluntarily agreed to allow it,  the Town could close a Maple Avenue curb cut.  So, with all the mayhem now being attributed to curb cuts, has the Town done anything at all about them?  Has the Town systematically pressured Maple Avenue property owners about closing Maple Avenue curb cuts?   Has it offered (e.g.) a property tax incentive for closing off curb cuts?   Has it identified the ones apparently associated with high accident rates and developed policies targeting those specific locations?

In short, if this is such a problem, then has the Town done anything whatsoever to address it?  Other than to use it to flack MAC?

Detail follows.

Continue reading Post 226: #closethecurbcutsnow

Post #225: Take the bus, edited PM 4/3/2019

I took the Fairfax Connector bus down Maple Street last night, to run an errand at the other end of town.  I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.  I’m hooked.  This is not your grandfather’s city bus.

In this post, I am first going to go through the mechanics of it.  E.g., link to the website that does the real-time tracking of the buses.  Then give you my impressions.

Continue reading Post #225: Take the bus, edited PM 4/3/2019

Post #223: TC, PC, TSC joint work session, 4/1/2019, Part Two: The thing formerly known as the traffic study

This post addresses the other item on last night’s agenda — the study formerly referred to as the Maple Avenue traffic study.  See prior post for context.

There was some initial kerfuffle over the fact that the guy doing this study just got finished working for the developer of 380 Maple.  The idea that this might be a conflict of interest was dismissed via proof-by-assertion.  They just said that they didn’t think having one engineer work both sides of the street was a conflict, as long as it was serial monogamy.

If I had to sum this up quickly, it would be, this is likely to be a waste of time.  If I had to say something more thoughtful, I’d say, what a waste of time, just to produce another piece to resonate in the Town’s echo chamber. Continue reading Post #223: TC, PC, TSC joint work session, 4/1/2019, Part Two: The thing formerly known as the traffic study

Post #222: TC, PC, TSC joint work session, 4/1/2019, Part One: Sunrise Assisted Living

Last night, the Town Council (TC), Planning Commission (PC), and Transportation Safety Commission (TSC) held a joint work session to talk about two items.  The first was what used to be referred to as the Town’s Maple Avenue Traffic study.  But should not be referred to as that, in the future.  The second was the Sunrise Assisted Living facility proposed for Maple and Center, next to the Vienna Inn.

I will be posting the cleaned-up audio for that meeting, shortly, along with the usual Excel index file, so you can tell what was said, when.  In this post, I give my impression of the discussion of the Sunrise proposal.

Continue reading Post #222: TC, PC, TSC joint work session, 4/1/2019, Part One: Sunrise Assisted Living

Post #220: The NEVCA candidate forum

The North East Vienna Citizens Association (NEVCA) has a tradition of hosting a candidate forum for Vienna Town Council candidates.  They don’t hold this when candidates are unopposed.  But this year, with three contested Town Council seats, I have been assured that, in fact, NEVCA will hold a candidate forum in April 2019.

And if I can ever figure out when and where, I’ll let you know.  Because, as with so much that goes on in the Town of Vienna, it looks like you just have to know the right people, or know exactly the right place to look, in order to know what’s happening.

I have been diligently making audio recordings of Town of Vienna public meetings so that anyone can hear what goes on.  For each such meeting, I provide a recording and index available via public link on Google Drive.  But that’s not going to happen with the NEVCA candidate forum.  Shelley Ebert, of viennavotes.com, asked for permission to tape it, and was denied.  Nor will NEVCA itself tape it and make that available.  If you want to hear what the candidates have to say, you’ll have to show up in person.  If you can figure out where they are holding it.  And when.

Continue reading Post #220: The NEVCA candidate forum

Post #218: 2019 real estate tax increase – or – The Vienna School of Algebra

The Commonwealth has a rule that whenever real estate assessments rise more than 1 percent, but tax rates don’t fall to offset that (to within one percent), local governments have to publish a notice explaining that.  Just a simple bit of algebra to say, here’s the tax rate that would have offset that assessment increase.  Here’s what we’re actually proposing to charge.  And here’s the difference.  It’s just a way to make sure that citizens know how much their taxes are increasing.

I hate to have to be the one to say this.  But the Town just put out such a notice.  And their arithmetic is wrong.  Grossly incorrect.  I checked similar notices from three other jurisdictions, just to be sure that I was doing the calculation right.

And you know why I hate that?  Based on recent history, the most likely outcome is that, instead of just correcting their algebra, the Town will offer the usual bafflegab as why this unique Town of Vienna algebra is fully justified.  (And then quietly correct it.)

Let me be clear:  There is obviously no intent to deceive, because, clearly, nobody pays the slightest attention to this  notice.  Surely nobody within Town government, and I would guess, nobody (but me) outside of it.  I checked an earlier year, and I’m pretty sure their calculation has been wrong for some time now.

That said, at some level, this is all of-a-piece.  Five floors is really four floors.  A building the size of a football field preserves “small town” Vienna.  And a 5.6% increase in taxes is actually a 3.1 percent tax cut.  It all meshes together.

Detail follow.

Continue reading Post #218: 2019 real estate tax increase – or – The Vienna School of Algebra

Post 216: Accidents involving cars and trucks along Maple

This is a continuation of the prior two posts, same data source.  I’m just going to put up three maps showing 2018 reportable accidents along Maple.  The number of reportable accidents involving bicycles or pedestrians is tiny compared to the total number of car crashes annually on Maple.  As with the prior maps, a “reportable” accident is one involving injury or at least $1500 in property damage.

All (blue = injury, green = property damage only)
Bicycle
Pedestrian