Author: chogan@directresearch.com

Go to this page if you want to listen to an audio recording of the meeting.

Before I provide commentary, I should briefly describe what this meeting was about.

The first section of the meeting was a presentation on revising (what used to be called) the Vienna citizen’s guide to traffic calming.  This document lays out the process by which citizens can ask for traffic-calming measures on their streets.  For example, a change in speed limit, speed humps, caution signs, and similar.

The second section of the meeting was an introduction to the new “visual guidelines” for MAC buildings.  This was the part I was there to hear, and most of my comments focus on that.

The final section of the meeting was a discussion of the process by which the Town may accept “proffers” from builders.  This part of the session was motivated by the irregular manner in which the Town accepted a last-minute proffer from the developers of 444 Maple West (Tequila Grande) before passing that proposal.

Commentary follows. Continue reading My comments on the 2/11/2019 Town Council work session, 2/13/2019

I made an audio recording of the 2/11/2019 Town Council work session.  You can download this recording of the meeting from Google Drive, at this link.    There are three MP3 files for the three parts of the meeting, plus copies of the Town’s documents for the meeting.  These were recorded at very high volume, so turn the volume down on your device before you play them.  

This work session dealt with the new “visual guidelines” for MAC zoning (and to some degree, with changes in the MAC rules).  There was also a section on proffers (voluntary offers by developers to make their developments more attractive to the Town).  And there was a section on the Town’s guide to traffic calming. Continue reading Audio recording, Town Council work session 2-11-2019, links to all audio added 2/13/2019

This week there are three public meetings regarding MAC zoning. One meeting will include a discussion of the proposed 40-condo building at 380 Maple Avenue West (corner of Maple and Wade Hampton). All three meetings will include discussion of the Town’s process for revising the Maple Avenue Commercial zoning regulations over the course of the next few months.

All meetings are in Town Hall. You may attend these meetings, but you will not have any opportunity to speak. These meetings will not be videotaped or live-streamed by the Town.

Tonight (Monday), 2/11/2019, 7:30 PM, Town Council work session. This is the kickoff for the Town’s efforts to revise the Maple Avenue Commercial zoning rules. Town staff will present a schedule for making those revisions. The Town Council will also discuss the conditions under which developers can make “proffers”, i.e., offers of money or other contributions designed to make their proposals more attractive to the Town.

Meeting materials are here:
https://vienna-va.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=654189&GUID=C5C898D9-E1E2-4322-A562-324ECE3B4ECC&Options=&Search=

Wednesday 2/13/2019, 6:30 PM, Planning Commission work session. The Planning Commission will have an hour-long discussion about the proposed new 40-condo building for 380 Maple West (corner of Maple and Wade Hampton). Then, at 7:30, they will get their own briefing, from Town staff, on the schedule for revising MAC zoning regulations.
Meeting materials are here:
https://vienna-va.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=673395&GUID=8D035A53-35AA-4F67-9D80-11A40105A330&Options=info&Search=

Friday 2/15/2019, 8 AM (NOTE that this is AM, not PM), Board of Architectural Review work session. The Board of Architectural Review will begin to discuss the new guidelines for MAC buildings and revisions to the MAC zoning regulations.

Meeting materials are here:
https://vienna-va.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=678627&GUID=32374BC4-ED55-4E99-B05C-8ED3E026DAD4&Options=info&Search=

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/Calendar.aspx?NID=1&FID=220

I have reports that the stakes holding up my green savemaple.org yard signs are breaking.  I would like to keep these signs up through the May 7 2019 Town election.

I have bought replacement stakes and have left them at the end of my driveway at 226 Glen Ave SW.  If the metal stake for your sign has broken, please drop off the broken one and pick up a new (but somewhat smaller) one from the end of my driveway. Continue reading Replacement yard sign stakes, 2/10/2019

The proposed MAC design guideline for sidewalks is the first little ray of light I have seen, from the Town, in this entire MAC debate.  You can see my cynical overview of the entire process generating these guidelines on this page.  And, bear in mind as you read this that a) these guidelines are not final, and b) they are only guidelines, not requirements.  But at this point, I’ll take any sunshine I can get. Continue reading MAC sidewalk standards, 2/9/2019

This is a continuation of this post, about the Town’s incorrect information on its own meeting schedule, and this post, about what citizens would like to see changed about MAC.  Both posts are from earlier today. Continue reading The new MAC design guidelines, 2-8-2019, CORRECTED 2-10-2019

The Town is, in theory, in the process of revising the guidelines for the look of MAC buildings.  It’s not clear what this is supposed to accomplish, because, first and foremost, these are guidelines.  They aren’t zoning law.  They are voluntary.

But the Town did its visual preference survey, and now they are going interpret the resulting chicken entrails as if they have found out something about what the citizens of Vienna want.  As I have noted, it’s tough to get any information whatsoever out of a visual preference survey.  Doubly so when your survey uses pictures of cute little buildings that have nothing to do with the reality of these large MAC housing projects. Continue reading What do the citizens of Vienna want, 2/8/2019

I just wanted to bump this to the top of my menu for a couple of days.  I have a much earlier post about the Chick-fil-A/Flagship Car Wash building.  This post is just here to remind you that, as that building seems to get bigger, and the towers get taller — you still ain’t seen nothing yet. Continue reading Chick-fil-A — you still ain’t seen nothing yet, 2/8/2018