My audio file, an Excel workbook that shows what was discussed when in the meeting, and the meeting materials are available from this Google Drive directory.
Author: chogan@directresearch.com
Planning Commission work session 3/13/2019
I attended the 3/13/2019 Town of Vienna Planning Commission work session. The purpose of this was to review proposed changes to the Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zoning law. This page is a summary of the high points. I will post my audio file of the meeting, with index, as soon as I have processed it to remove noise.
Briefly: Five floors, cram ’em in, and pave it over. And hurry up about it. That’s pretty much the gist of the proposed changes. There was a rear-guard action by Commissioners Gelb and Kenney to slow that down. But that’s definitely where the Planning Commission and Department of Planning and Zoning are headed.
“Public” meetings and a Town that still just doesn’t get it, 3/13/2019, updated 3/14/2019
This evening, I went to Town Hall to attend and record the 5:30 PM meeting of the “Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) Design Guidelines Working Group“. I am fairly sure this constitutes an open public meeting, under the definitions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. And it was, in fact, announced on the Town Calendar.
Reston rethinks increased density. Vienna doesn’t. 3/13/2019
Just in case you may have missed it, there’s been quite a controversy going on in Reston over increased building density. The County was on a roll to rewrite the zoning there to allow higher density (more persons and dwelling units per acre). They got a lot of pushback from the citizens. And now, that plan for increased density has been indefinitely deferred.
It’s not clear at this point whether that deferral will be the sort of sham that the Vienna MAC moratorium is shaping up to be. But there is at least the possibility that they may genuinely try to rethink higher density in Reston. (See this page for my talk with a Board of Supervisors candidate Parker Messick, whose main platform plank is opposition to excess development in the Hunter Mill district.)
You may wonder why I call the MAC moratorium a sham. Well, there are a lot of reasons. Unlike my usual writing, I’m not even going to provide citations as to source (links) here. If you’ve been reading my website, you’ll know that I have been pointing out these facts (with a handful of guesses) for some time.
Continue reading Reston rethinks increased density. Vienna doesn’t. 3/13/2019
Vienna public meetings on MAC zoning, week of 3/11/2019
This week there are three Town of Vienna public meetings regarding changes to Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zoning.
On Wednesday 3/13/2019 at 5:30 PM, the “Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) Design Guidelines Working Group” will meet in Town Hall. (I have no idea who they are, or what they do.)
The notice for this meeting — but no other materials or explanation — can be found at this URL:
https://www.viennava.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=4905&month=3&year=2019&day=13&calType=0
On Wednesday 3/13/2019 at 7:00 PM, the Planning Commission will discuss proposed changes to MAC zoning, in Town Hall.
The materials for this meeting can be found at this URL:
https://vienna-va.legistar.com/DepartmentDetail.aspx?ID=35871&GUID=5F43A6E1-E522-486D-A271-B83ED29861B9
The Town should post an audio recording of this meeting within two days, which you should be able to find by looking under the Media column on this page:
https://vienna-va.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
On Friday 3/15/2019 at 8:00 AM (note, AM), the Board of Architectural Review will have a work session discussion of the proposed MAC design guidelines.
The materials for this meeting can be found at this URL (although all you have is an agenda that says they will discuss the design guidelines).
hhttps://vienna-va.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=683425&GUID=D5684B63-B335-454D-B745-B121C7F99703&Options=info&Search=
The Town should post an audio recording of this meeting within two days of the meeting, which you should be able to find by looking under the Media column on this page:
https://vienna-va.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
Separately, Tonight, the Town Council will meet at 8 PM (3/11/2019) to discuss the operating budget for the coming year. If you have an interest in where the Town gets and spends its money, this is the place to start. A video of this meeting should be posted by the Town within two days of this at https://vienna-va.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
The Town reserves the right to change or cancel meetings on short notice, so check the Town’s general calendar before you go, at this URL: https://www.viennava.gov/
Capital Bikeshare, trip flow visualizations 3/11/2019
Links to a flow map of the entire Capital Bikeshare system added 3/14/2019.
Reston and Tysons Bikeshare Flows
The links below take you to maps showing the average daily flow of trips, for the Reston and Tysons Bikeshare network, for 2018. I only show the 20 most-frequently-used origin-destination pairs, separately for Reston and Tysons, separately for each map. Continue reading Capital Bikeshare, trip flow visualizations 3/11/2019
Dockless Bikes as an alternative to Capital Bikeshare, 3/10/2019
After analyzing the data and writing extensively on Capital Bikeshare — a bike sharing system using dedicated bike “docks” — I decided to take a quick look at dockless bike rental alternatives.
In a nutshell, dockless systems — where the bikes can be parked anywhere, and you can rent them using an app on your smart phone — have some huge advantages over docked systems like Capital Bikeshare. I summarize those advantages below. But they can cause a mess if people park them willy-nilly. Most of the cities that have allowed dockless bike rental have ended up passing significant laws to regulate them — particularly, to regulate where you can leave them parked.
Detail follows. Drop down to the paragraph in red to see my summary. Continue reading Dockless Bikes as an alternative to Capital Bikeshare, 3/10/2019
Board of Supervisors candidate Parker Messick, 3/7/2019
I had the privilege of chatting with Parker Messick earlier this week, at Caffe Amouri. He’s one of four candidates seeking election to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from the Hunter Mill district, following the announced retirement Supervisor Catherine Hudgins.
This was a first for me, in many ways, so let me share a few things that I learned. Continue reading Board of Supervisors candidate Parker Messick, 3/7/2019
Bioretention, 3/7/2019
A colleague asked about the “bioretention area” in the 380 Maple West proposal (Maple and Wade Hampton, 40 condos). I had to learn about this topic nearly ten years ago, for a construction project at the church I was attending. On this page, I’ll try to put that learning to use, and explain what that bioretention area is, what key role it plays here, and what the potential drawbacks are. Continue reading Bioretention, 3/7/2019
Capital Bikeshare rack location, data analysis, 3/8/2019.
On this page, I describe the issue facing Vienna, and then profile the typical Capital Bikeshare user and analyze data on Capital Bikeshare use in Tyson’s Corner and Reston. See a separate page for a quick summary of dockless bike alternatives.
Gray pins in the map below flag the low level of use of Capital Bikeshare bike racks (“docks”) installed around the Tysons and Reston Metros, in 2018
Continue reading Capital Bikeshare rack location, data analysis, 3/8/2019.