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Office of the City Clerk
September 9, 1999

All Persons, Including Applicants, Wishing
to Speak Before City Council Must Fill Out A
Speaker's Form (Which May Be Found in The
Rear of the Council Chamber) and Present It
to the City Clerk.

If you have a prepared statement, please present
it to the City Clerk.


Special Meeting
Wednesday, September 8, 1999 - - 6:00 p.m.

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Please take notice that City Council held a Special Meeting on the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens Proposal on Wednesday, September 8, 1999, beginning at 6:00 p.m., in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 301 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia, for the purpose of considering the following items.

/s/Vola Lawson, City Manager
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OPENING

1. Calling the Roll.

The Meeting was called to Order by Mayor Donley and the City Clerk called the Roll; all Members of City Council were present.
Council Action:_______________________________________________________________

New Business Item No. #1: Mayor Donley introduced and welcomed a delegation of Russian Rotarians.

REPORTS OF BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES

Planning Commission

2. MASTER PLAN AMENDMENT #99-0004
REZONING #99-0004
3601 JEFFERSON DAVIS HIGHWAY
POTOMAC YARD/POTOMAC GREENS
Public Hearing and Consideration of an amendment to the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens Small Area Plan Chapter of the 1992 Master Plan (1) Coordinated Development District (CDD) Guidelines, (2) Land Use Concept Map, and (3) Predominant Height Limits Map; and public hearing and consideration of an amendment to Section 5-602 of the Alexandria Zoning Ordinance with respect to CDD #10/Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens. Applicant: Commonwealth Atlantic Properties Inc., by J. Howard Middleton, Jr., attorney.
COMMISSION ACTION: Recommend Approval 7-0

REPORTS OF BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES (continued)

Planning Commission (continued)

3. COORDINATED DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT #99-01
3601 JEFFERSON DAVIS HIGHWAY
POTOMAC YARD/POTOMAC GREENS
Public Hearing and Consideration of a request for approval of a Coordinated Development District (CDD) Concept Plan for the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens site; zoned CDD-10/Coordinated Development District. Applicant: Commonwealth Atlantic Properties Inc., by J. Howard Middleton, Jr., attorney.


4. SPECIAL USE PERMIT #99-0020
3601 JEFFERSON DAVIS HIGHWAY
POTOMAC YARD/POTOMAC GREENS
Public Hearing and Consideration of a request for a special use permit for a transportation management plan (TMP) for the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens site; zoned CDD-10/Coordinated Development District. Applicant: Commonwealth Atlantic Properties, Inc., by J. Howard Middleton, Jr., attorney.

COMMISSION ACTION: Recommend Approval 7-0

WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilwoman Pepper, seconded by Vice Mayor Euille and carried unanimously, the Council accepted the recommendations of the City Manager that are set out on pages 1 and 2 of her August 24, 1999, memorandum to Council on the subject of public open space and street trees within the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens coordinated development district, which memorandum is at Tab 1 of the materials that have been distributed to council. The Manager's recommendations in the August 24, 1999, memorandum on parks and open spaces are as follows:

1. Amend Concept Plan Condition 7 (page 44 of the Concept Plan Report/Tab 2) and the applicable Concept Plan Design Guidelines, so that they provide:

a. that the open spaces within the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens CDD that are identified in Attachment A to this memorandum shall be dedicated by CAP to the City, and that the City shall assume maintenance responsibilities for these open spaces. These open spaces are: Howell Park, the finger parks along Swann and Custis Avenues, Braddock Field, the two Monroe Fields, Potomac Yard Park, the 16-acre portion of Potomac Greens Park designated in the design guidelines as an "environmental protection area" and one adjacent acre, and the southern 3-acre portion of Rail Park; and

b. that the open spaces within the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens CDD that are identified in Attachment B shall not be dedicated to the City, but instead shall be retained in non-public ownership subject to a public access easement, to be conveyed by CAP to the City, which provides a right of access to these open spaces to members of the public, and that these open spaces shall be maintained over time by CAP and its successors. These open spaces are: Town Center Plaza, Potomac Plaza, Four-Mile Run Park, [except the northern 1.2-acre portion of Rail Park], and the small neighborhood parks in the CDD (including in Parcels A, H, I and L); and

2. Amend the Concept Plan Design Guidelines so that they expressly provide that any athletic fields to be constructed by CAP within the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens CDD shall be designed and constructed in accord with applicable nationally-recognized standards.

THEREUPON, upon motion by Councilwoman Pepper, seconded by Councilman Cleveland and carried unanimously, with respect to the application for approval of amendments to the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens Small Area Plan Chapter of the 1992 Master Plan, the Council accepted the recommendation of the Planning Commission and approved the amendments to this master plan chapter, as described in the staff report which is at Tab 11 of the materials that have been distributed to Council.

WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilwoman Pepper, seconded by Vice Mayor Euille and carried on a unanimous ROLL-CALL vote, [with respect to CAP's application for approval of a concept plan for the Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens coordinated development district (as the district is defined in footnote 3 on page 34 of the staff's concept plan report)], Council adopted the resolution that was before it, [which approves, with certain amendments the CDD Concept Plan that the Planning Commission has recommended to it, as that plan is defined in Finding F-2 of the staff's concept plan report (which is a part of Tab 2 of the distributed materials), and which includes Council's approval of Concept Plan Condition 1 that provides for the automatic replacement of the Concept Plan with the Alternative Concept Plan, as that plan is defined in Finding F-3 in the staff report, upon the occurrence of the events that are described in that Condition 1.], and added a paragraph (g) on page three to read as follows: "(g) Amended the Urban Design Review Board by increasing it from five to seven members, and the two members would represent the Potomac West area."
RES. NO. 1931

(Mayor Donley summarized the above amendments and Council Member Walker spoke to the amendment with respect to light rail.)

THEREUPON, upon motion by Councilwoman Pepper, seconded by Councilman Cleveland and carried unanimously, with respect to the application for approval of an amendment to section 5-602 of the City of Alexandria Zoning Ordinance, to amend the zoning within Coordinated Development District No. 10, Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens, the Council accepted the recommendation of the Planning Commission and approved the amendment, which is described on page 5 of the staff report which is at Tab 11 of the materials that have been distributed to Council.








WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilwoman Pepper, seconded by Councilman Cleveland and carried unanimously, with respect to the application for a Transportation Management Plan special use permit for Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens, Council accepted the recommendation of the Planning Commission and approved this TMP special use permit, subject to all conditions set out in the staff report which is at Tab 12 of the materials that have been distributed to Council.

Vice Mayor Euille stated that this Council needs to commit itself to addressing transportation and traffic concerns city-wide, and should seriously consider the formation of a Special Task Force on Transportation.

Mayor Donley asked Mr. Middleton, for the record, if his client would be agreeable to state on the record tonight that you will work with the staff and the Alexandria Commission on Archaeology about some suitable recognition of historic sites on the property? The response was "yes."

City Attorney Sunderland noted that there will be a public use easement for the Town Center but the ownership is going to reside with CAP and its successor, so the fee of that land will be with CAP, the maintenance responsibilities with CAP and, in his view, the naming rights are going to go with CAP as well, in consultation with Mr. Snyder.

With respect to the retail mall strip, City Attorney Sunderland stated that there are three different issues on the retail center. One is its length and its life. Second, an enlargement and expansion issue, he referred to the letter he wrote to Mr. Hendrickson in which he stated that he didn't believe that it can be done. The third issue is redevelopment. To him the question then is whether because it is a concept plan use, that redevelopment can be done pursuant to a preliminary development plan and pursuant to a special use permit. In which case, the city would have some control over the redevelopment.

The City Attorney suggested that on all three of these points that Mr. Middleton and he exchange a letter and sign off on exactly what they have consented to and make it a part of the record.
Council Action:_______________________________________________________________

The Meeting was adjourned at 10:50 p.m.



Binder #1
Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens
Staff Reports and Related Documents
Table of Contents

1. a. Memo from the Director of P&Z to City Council providing overview of Planning Commission changes, dated August 24, 1999.
b. Memo from Vola Lawson re dedication and maintenance of open space in Potomac Yard dated August 24, 1999.
c. Memo from the Director of P&Z to Planning Commission providing overview of the issues, dated June 3, 1999.
2. a. Staff report on Concept Plan, including conditions, June 15, 1999.
b. Proposed changes to the Concept Plan Conditions, August 18, 1999
3. Aerial Photograph of Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens
4. Attachment A-1 Staff recommended Concept Plan Sheet
5. Attachment A-2 Staff recommended Concept Plan Urban Design Guidelines (Planning Commission changes are shown in handwritten notation within brackets.)
6. Attachment B-1 Staff recommended Alternative Concept Plan Sheet (straightened bridge alternative)
7. Attachment B-2 Staff recommended Replacement Sheets for the Alternative Plan Urban Design Guidelines (Planning Commission changes are shown in handwritten brackets.)
8. Attachment B-3 Illustration of Portion of the Alternative Concept Plan (area from Howell Street south) [And copy of CAP's plan for the same area, for comparison purposes]
9. Attachment C Route 1/Monroe Avenue Bridge/Potomac Avenue Connection Design Concept - 2 Options (An Illustration of the two roadway configurations to be assessed for costs in determining whether to trigger the Alternative Concept Plan.)
10. Attachment D Possible By-Right Development Plan for Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens prepared by staff showing what can potentially be developed without review by City Council.
11. Staff report on Master Plan Amendment/Rezoning, including land use and height maps.
12. Staff report on Transportation Management Plan, including traffic analysis and staff conditions on TMP.
13. Letters from the public on the proposed development.
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Table of Contents
A. Initial Submission Cover Letter
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Potomac Yard
Community Planning Process
Book I
June 1998 - June 1999

I Overview and Summary of Potomac Yard Community Planning Process
II. Community Involvement 2. Newsletters III. Master Plan and Responses to Community Input
A. Design Principles and Plan Description
1. Illustrative Plan IV. Summaries of Reports & Studies (For detailed information, see Book III) V. Media Coverage
A. Overview/List
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Potomac Yard
Community Planning Process

Book II
Reports & Studies

I. Transportation and Transit
A. Metro
1. Metro Feasibility (White Paper)
2. Metro Funding Meeting
a. Attendees, dates, agendas/handouts
3. Financing the Potomac Yard Transit Project
B. Traffic Impact Study/Transportation Management Plan
C. Route 1/Potomac Avenue Connection Configuration
II. Fiscal Impact Report
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Potomac Yard
Community Planning Process

Book III
Community Meetings

November 2, 1998
November 17, 1998
December 1, 1998
December 16, 1998
January 7, 1999
January l9, 1999
February 17,1999
March 23, 1999
April 21, 1999

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CORRESPONDENCE:

EXHIBIT 6; EXHIBIT 7; EXHIBIT 8; EXHIBIT 9; EXHIBIT 10; EXHIBIT 11; EXHIBIT 12; EXHIBIT 13; EXHIBIT 14; EXHIBIT 15
SUBMISSION BY CHARLES E. SMITH REALTY COMPANIES

This docket is subject to change.

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Full-text copies of ordinances, resolutions, and agenda items are available in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of the Council. Meeting materials are also available on-line at https://alexandriava.gov/council.
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Individuals with disabilities who require assistance or special arrangements to participate in the City Council meeting may call the City Clerk and Clerk of Council's Office at 838-4500 (TTY/TDD 838-5056). We request that you provide a 48-hour notice so that the proper arrangements may be made.
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THE CABLECAST SCHEDULE OF GOVERNMENT MEETINGS ON CHANNEL 11 FOLLOWS:



As of 8/17/99

CABLECAST SCHEDULE OF GOVERNMENT MEETINGS
ON
CHANNEL 11

SEPTEMBER 1999


September 1, Board of Architectural Review - Old & Historic District, 7:30 p.m. - Live

September 2, School Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. - Live

September 7, Planning Commission Meeting, 7:30 p.m. - Live

September 8, City Council Special Meeting, (Special Public Hearing on Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens), 6:00 p.m. - Live

September 9, Board of Zoning Appeals, 7:30 p.m. - Live

September 10, Board of Architectural Review - Parker-Gray District, 6:00 p.m. - Replay of the Sept. 8 Meeting

September 14, City Council Meeting, 7:30 p.m. - Live

September 15, Board of Architectural Review - Old & Historic District, 7:30 p.m. - Live

September 16, School Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. - Live

September 17, City Council Meeting, 6:00 p.m. - Replay of the Sept. 14 Meeting

September 18, City Council Public Hearing, 9:30 a.m. - Live

September 22, Board of Architectural Review - Parker-Gray District, 7:30 p.m. - Live

September 25, City Council Public Hearing, 9:30 a.m. - Replay of the Sept. 18 Meeting

September 28, City Council Meeting, 7:30 p.m. - Live

September 29, City Council Meeting, 6:00 p.m. - Replay of the Sept. 28 Meeting