Recap of City Council Public Hearing Meeting
held January 20, 2018
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On Saturday, the Alexandria City Council held their regular monthly public hearing meeting, where they made decisions on new Commercial Parking Standards and a Development Special Use Permit for Blocks 4 & 5 in Eisenhower East (Stonebridge Carras development anchored by Wegmans). The details of the decisions made can be found below, and past recaps can be found by following the link below.
Item: Commercial Parking Standards
Action: Approved by a 6-1 vote
Next Steps: The new standards become effective immediately- new commercial uses applying for building permits, special use permits, or development approvals will be reviewed for compliance and projects that are currently under review with City Staff have the option of applying either the new or old parking requirements, recognizing significant investment in the design of a building and site may have occurred using the previous standards.
Description: A collection of changes and updates to the City’s parking standards for Office, Hotel, Retail & Restaurant uses. The standards have not had a comprehensive review since the 1960’s, and do not reflect existing parking demand and market trends. Full staff presentation.
Details & Issues of Interest:
– The public hearing consisted of 2 speakers, to include the chair of the Commercial Parking Standards WorkGroup
– New standards adjust parking minimums and create parking maximums for hotel, retail, restaurant and office uses
– Encourages shared parking between different uses
– Small business friendly- eliminates common ‘parking reduction’ requests and related costs incurred by small retail/restaurant/personal service businesses
Item: Hoffman Town Center – Blocks 4 & 5 (Wegmans)
Action: Approved by a vote of 7-0
Next Steps: The developer, StoneBridge Carras, will apply for a Stage II Development Special Use Permit (DSUP) for final site and building design- with public hearings expected in March 2018. Following approval of Stage II, the project will proceed to construction.
Description: Stage 1 changes and approvals for vacant parcels at the Eisenhower Metro station to allow for development of a mixed-use project by StoneBridge Carras. The 1.7M square foot project includes several residential buildings atop a retail podium and will include a Wegmans grocery story.
Details & Issues of Interest:
– The public hearing had no speakers
– CDD amendment and Stage 1 Development Special Use Permit (DSUP) allows for a combined development option for Blocks 4&5, permits 834,554 SF of residential, 252,421 SF of retail & 622,006 SF of parking floor area for a maximum number of parking spaces of 1,546
– Issues to be resolved before Stage 2 is approved:
affordable housing (on site or contribution)
connection of open space areas on top of the retail podium
allowable uses on second floor of ‘retail’ space
Land use items we are tracking in February:
– Restaurant Special Use Permits in Old Town for Taco Bell Cantina (417 King Street), Urbano 116 (116 King Street) and Sancerre (1725 Duke Street)
– Restaurant Special Use Permit for Glory Days Grill (3141 Duke Street)
– Development SUP at 203, 205, 211 Strand Street – The Strand, a waterfront residential and retail project by the IDI Group Companies
The Planning Commission docket has information on these proposals, and can be found online here.
Weigh in on these issues!
Contact the Planning Commission – PlanComm@alexandriava.gov
Contact the City Council – Call.Click.Connect.