Commission Delays Vote on Pike Area Plan

Public comment on the revised Sign Ordinance (scheduled originially to begin at 7 p.m. tonight) will not begin before 9 p.m. tonight.

Last night marked the second meeting this week that the Planning Commission has had to start discussion on an item but not finish it. By 11:30 they had covered just some of the Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Area Plan before deciding to stop discussion at midnight and pick it up again tonight.

The commission has to look at three major projects and intiatives before the county board meets next weekend: Rosslyn Gateway Redevelopment; Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Area Plan; the county's revised sign ordinance. They had scheduled three nights of meetings for the items, but it looks like three nights might not be enough time.

Although the commission votes on each item, the vote carries little legal weight. The vote is used to offer feedback to the county board which approves or fails the various projects and programs.

The pile-up of agenda items began Monday when the commission fell behind and delayed a vote on the Rosslyn Gateway redevelopment. They did not recommend approval of the Gateway site until after 8:30 p.m. last night, and that delay meant that they did not get to the Pike plan until almost 9 p.m.

Seventeen speakers addressed the commission regarding the Pike plan. Disccusion of the plan started near 10 p.m.

By 11:30, the commission was wondering whether they should soldier on or recess. And if they did recess, did they have to finish all the remaining work during their third scheduled meeting tonight or could they schedule a fourth? (On the agenda for tonight: finish the Pike neighborhoods plan then look at the county's sign ordinance.)

No one knew the best answer.

Presumably a fourth meeting would require a public advertisement, but staff on hand did not know how many days before the meeting they have to post the ad--is there time to advertise and hold a public meeting?

Given other scheduling conflicts, Saturday is being considered.

In the end, they decided to work until midnight with the idea that tonight's meeting would start with the Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Area Plan and then cover the revised sign ordinance.

They will make a decision about a fourth meeting tonight.

"We need to be prepared to stay past midnight tomorrow," Planning Commission Chair Stephen Sockwell said last night.

The commission meets tonight at 7 p.m., in the County Boardroom, 3rd Floor, county board offices 2100 Clarendon Blvd. They have already taken public testimony on the Pike plan; public testimony regarding the sign ordinance will not begin before 9p.m.

Comments (4)

Comment Feed

Pike Transit Initiative

Arlington County has been fortunate that an earlier generation of leaders had a vision for the county that led them to fight for a Metro rail line underneath Wilson Boulevard. As a result, the Rosslyn Ballston corridor is an internationally recognized example of the best in transit oriented development. We are fortunate that our current leaders have learned from that transit project and have envisioned the same benefits for the Columbia Pike Corridor. If you review the vision established for the Columbia Pike Transit Initiative you will recognize the genes that it inherited from the fixed-guideway transit development on the RB Corridor. I support the vision of a livable Columbia Pike Community established to guide the Pike Transit Initiative.

Arlington’s professional transit planning team has applied to the Pike Vision state of the art methodologies and processes including an extensive public participation program. These technical tools are not perfect. The requirements of the Federal Government have been at times ambiguous and always in transition. Nevertheless, in 23 Chapters and numerous charts, tables and other supporting documents the Columbia Pike Transit Initiative has delivered to us a transparent picture of the facts, the assumptions, the evaluation methodologies and the conclusions of the study. They have presented four alternatives for consideration by the county, its citizens and its political leaders.

I know what makes a livable Community. In my career with the Federal Transit Administration I have seen livability in the United States and In Europe. I have tasted it in the RB Corridor. I want it for my East Falls Church neighborhood and I want if for those who inhabit the Columbia Pike Corridor. I have participated in the deliberations of the original Columbia Pike Street Scape Task Force, and the Transit Initiative Community Coordination Committee and the Columbia Pike Implementation Team. I am persuaded that the Light Rail alternative is the only alternative that will bring livability to the Pike and achieve the vision established for the Corridor. And I am convinced that that outcome is worth the anticipated cost.

County leaders knew that an Orange Line in the I-66 median would not achieve their vision of a livable Arlington County and they knew that the Wilson Boulevard Alignment would. They did not let cost stand in the way of the right decision.

As a resident of North Arlington I am willing to pay the cost of the rail alternative even thought I will not benefit directly. I know that everybody along the Pike paid for my livable community along the Orange Line. Now it is my turn to pay for theirs along Columbia Pike.

Respectfully,

Franz Gimmler
6924 Fairfax Drive #130
Arlington VA 22213
703-538-6962

Franz Gimmler 336 days ago

Fair Housing Laws Violated?

It's a serious violation of Virginia's Fair Housing Law to concentrate low income and minority housing into one area, i.e., Columbia Pike

Peter 341 days ago

What Did Pike Residents Have to Say?

What Pike residents have to say about the plans?

K.L. 341 days ago

Enough Development

Time fro a total moratorium on development in Arlington. All more development is doing is benefit developers, almost all of them from out-of-state.

Don 341 days ago