Category: MAC zoning

Stumpies, 2/20/2019

The pro-MAC members of Town Council tell you we are going to get some beautiful urban architecture for Maple.  Revitalize the downtown.  And all that.

But the buildings we’re actually getting are “stumpies”.  No doubt, the Town is going to assure us that our stumpies will look better than the neighbor’s stumpies.  But the fact is, they are still stumpies.

This Bloomberg Business Week article, “Why America’s New Apartment Buildings All Look the Same,” by Justin Fox, introduced me to the whys and wherefores of stumpies. Continue reading Stumpies, 2/20/2019

Two public meetings this week, 2/18/2019, NOTICE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

The Board of Architectural Review meeting scheduled for 2/21/2019 will take place as scheduled, and they will accept public comment on the buildings being discussed, including Sunrise Assisted Living (Maple and Center), the Wawa (Maple and Nutley), and the Starbucks drive-through (former Taco Bell).  

This week there are two public meetings regarding MAC zoning. One meeting will be a lengthy and detailed discussion of proposed amendments to the MAC zoning law.  The other will be a first detailed look at the proposed Sunrise Assisted Living facility at Center and Maple.

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

I plan to make audio recordings of both meetings and will post a link to the recordings on savemaple.org.   Listening to those recordings will probably be the best way for you to hear what was said if you don’t attend the meeting.

Cancelled due to wwather:  On Wednesday 2/20/2019 at 6:30 PM, there is a Planning Commission work session on proposed changes to the MAC zoning law.  This meeting may run close to four hours.  You can see my quick take on the proposed changes at: http://savemaple.org/draft-changes-to-mac-zoning-2-17-2019/

Meeting materials, including the draft changes, are here:
https://vienna-va.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=679992&GUID=90BF37F6-A08D-45D9-AF87-F7D2BE2A4554&Options=info&Search=

On Thursday, 2/21/2019, 8:00 PM, the Board of Architectural Review regular meeting will have six items including plans the new Starbucks drive through (repurposed Taco Bell), and Wawa (repurposed Coldwell Banker building), and (last on the agenda) discussion of the proposed 100-bed Sunrise Assisted Living facility at Maple and Center.  

Meeting materials are here:

https://vienna-va.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=679951&GUID=245A8FBF-42E5-4F82-AF3D-49CFAC1B2390&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

That seems like a pretty crucial conjunction, 2/18/2019, EDITS 2/21/2019

Edit 2/21/2019:  Upon reflection, I missed an obvious conclusion.  Whichever conjunction you choose, the phrase in question (in red below) should be removed from the MAC zoning rules.

Original posting follows.

The proposed revision to the MAC statute (.pdf on this page) has this text, with the red sentence being the text they are adding.

"Sec. 18-95.9. - Height limit.
A. The maximum height shall be the lesser of four stories or 54 feet, as shown in Figure 18-95.9.1, Determination of Height. 

The building(s) shall have the appearance of, at most, four stories when viewed from every cardinal direction."

As I have noted recently, that paragraph seems to make no sense.  If a building is no more than four stories tall, it will look like it has, at most, four stories.  Why add the other section? Continue reading That seems like a pretty crucial conjunction, 2/18/2019, EDITS 2/21/2019

Visual preference survey comments analysis tool, 2/16/2019

At the 2/13/2019 Planning Commission (PC) meeting, it was clear that the PC had expected Town staff to analyze, or at least categorize, the comments that were part of the Town’s Visual Preference survey.  E.g., how many people mentioned parking as an issue, that sort of thing.  That appeared to be part of the original plan.  But Town staff dismissed the idea.  Just won’t do it, plain and simple.

So I will. Continue reading Visual preference survey comments analysis tool, 2/16/2019

What seating is there, 15′ from the curb on Maple? 2/15/2019, updated 2/19/2019

All of the new MAC-mandated outdoor dining space adjacent to Maple seems … delusional, to me.  I think that no sane person is going to want eat dinner sitting 15′ from the Maple Avenue curb.  Not if they have any alternative.  At least not until electric vehicles are the norm.  Because with 33,000 vehicles a day,  serving as an artery for all kinds of commercial traffic, the space adjacent to Maple is noisy and polluted.

Edit 2/19/2019:  I was out and about on Tuesday 2/19/2019, around 3 PM, so I decided to record what it would be like to try to sit 15′ from Maple and have a conversation.  I sat in the bus stop (below), and recorded myself talking in a conversational tone of voice, with my cell phone facing me at arms length.   So here’s my best impression of what it will sound like to hold a dinner conversation in the fine streetside dining provided by these new MAC buildings.  (And note, this isn’t even rush hour.) Continue reading What seating is there, 15′ from the curb on Maple? 2/15/2019, updated 2/19/2019

MAC buildings are four stories? Guess again, 2/15/2018

The pro-MAC members of our Town Council have sold MAC as preserving “small town” Vienna.  Putting aside truth or fiction of that claim, one of the key features of MAC buildings used to make that claim is that these buildings are only four stories tall.  (They are four very large stories, but, again, put that aside). Continue reading MAC buildings are four stories? Guess again, 2/15/2018