Many Alexandria residents are distressed at the idea of a nine-story building on the site of Metro’s Kiss ‘n Ride lot and therefore are opposed to a zoning change that would permit it. For the reasons cited below they believe that a zoning change at this time is 1-PREMATURE and 2- ADDS TO THE CONGESTION OF AN ALREADY CONGESTED AREA

-- CHANGING THE 1992 MASTER PLAN.

The 1992 Master Plan was five years in the making and the result of hard-won compromises. One of the primary goals of the Master Plan for this area is “to ensure that development protects and enhances the character of the City, its landmarks and its neighborhoods.” To this end, even though maximum densities around Metro stations are desirable, high rises were rejected. In fact, in 1992, fifteen-story buildings were considered and rejected but their attendant densities were accepted. Many who were involved in the development of the1992 Small Area Plan assert that the densities around the King St. Metro were acceptable in part because of the open space at the Kiss ‘n Ride lot. The open space was necessary to support the ring of tall buildings surrounding it. Others say the Master Plan doesn’t call for that space to remain open and therefore it was intended that “something” be built there.

There is much specificity in the Master Plan. It seems that if a large multi-story building was envisioned for that property some mention or provision would have been made in the Plan. If built, “The Plaza” (142,647 net sq.ft.) would equal Embassy Suites (155,643 nsf) and the building across the street which houses Joe Theismann’s restaurant (147, 830 nsf.) If you compare gross sq.ft. “The Plaza” (188,147 gsf) would be larger than the Time-Life building on Duke St. (156,270 gsf, 137,176 nsf). Because of this project’s size, it does not seem to be that insignificant “something” which would have little impact on the Master Plan.

If a project of this size had been thought acceptable for this location would there not have been restrictions preventing two 82 ft. buildings from facing each other across a street the width of Diagonal Road?

Alexandria attempts to

marry urban development with that small town feeling which its citizens

so desire, and visitors find so attractive. The character of this part of the City will be changed if there are multi-story buildings on every square inch of land creating urban canyons with their attendant wind tunnels. Deviations from the spirit and the letter of the Master Plan would be understandable if major changes had occurred in the City, but except that traffic has worsened, Alexandria is not essentially different than it was in 1992.

Another of the Master Plan’s primary goals for this area is “to create lively, mixed use office, retail, residential and hotel development supported by open space, recreational, entertainment and cultural amenities” Some argue that there is insufficient residential development in the area to achieve the mixed-use envisioned in the Master Plan. The area abuts several residential neighborhoods. Also there are other sites in the area, such as Table Talk or the Hoof property, which are zoned OCH and might someday, if warranted, be developed as residential properties. We have to keep in mind not only the present situation but any future development that can take place “by right”.

In most large American cities the streets and sidewalks are wide and lined with tall buildings, The King St Metro area has narrow streets and sidewalks. To compensate for this, open space, like that provided by the Kiss ‘n Ride lot, is needed to support and appreciate the urban landscape that we have already created. Therefore, there should be no zoning change for the King Street Kiss‘n Ride lot.

— TRAFFIC

The King Street Metro area is a congested area. One of the main goals of the King Street/Eisenhower Ave Metro Station small area plan is “to ensure that adequate transportation facilites are available to support development and to minimize traffic impact to neighborhoods” The many development projects now taking place in the immediate area and in the Duke Street corridor and Eisenhower Valley have brought and will bring more traffic into the area. The roads converging in the area cannot be appreciably changed. The developer points to the Colecroft project near the Braddock Metro as evidence that the type of residential development he intends doesn’t create a traffic problem because the residents will mostly be metro users The Braddock Metro area cannot be compared to the King St Metro area. This area is looked upon as an extension of Old Town. Realtors say that those who rent in this area are usually attracted by the proximity of Old Town and Metro is only a big plus.

This development will inevitably spew out more cars. The argument then becomes how many more cars does it take to make a sizeable difference. Perhaps we are asking the wrong question. Since a zoning change is involved, the question should be “ Will this project contribute to a decrease in traffic?” Any avoidable project that brings additional traffic to the King St Metro area should be rejected. Therefore, there should be no zoning change for the King Street Kiss’n Ride lot.

--INTRA MODAL MASS TRANSIT HUB

The City and Metro on contract from the City are presently engaged in a study of the King St Metro area to solve the problem of pedestrian safety and to improve transit facilities. Already some interesting statistics have emerged from this study and many more revelations can be expected as to exactly how this mass transit hub is used For example, one interesting statistic is that there are 355 bus trips by three different bus companies into the King St Metro station per day. 20% of the bus passengers continue on to Metrorail. A small fraction of the remaining 80% are transiting from one bus to the another. Therefore, the majority of the bus riders are making Alexandria their destination. We do not envision the demand for bus service to decrease. On the contrary, as the construction of the many development projects in the area is completed, more bus service will be needed to bring employees and customers to the area and hopefully to discourage the use of private vehicles. In the future, other projects in the metropolitan area not serviced by metro stops, such as National Harbor, will heighten demand for bus service by tourists and employees alike. Since we are fortunate in Alexandria to have a train station in the immediate vicinity of a metro stop, WMATA has said that we should consider the use of both as an intra modal mass transit hub. To this end, some of the bus traffic might use Union Station. If the present study of the area were to suggest changing the bus traffic patterns, widening or narrowing some of the city streets to create better and safer traffic patterns, there is very little land left to accommodate any change. The Kiss ‘n Ride lot and the triangular lot across the street from the emerging Hilton Hotel are the only areas of flexibility. Re-zoning to permit the construction of “The Plaza” would severely limit the options. Therefore, there should be no zoning change for the King Street Kiss ‘n Ride lot.

— PARKING

Parking is presently at a premium. Over 200 parking spaces have been lost to the public when the Colonial parking lot was replaced by Metroplace. Some who lost their spaces became desperate enough to rent space from the residents of the condo at 1600 Prince St. These are spaces vacated during the day. The demand has been greater than the supply in the condo. There are few public parking garages in this area. New retail stores and restaurants will be part of the 3-building Metroplace project. In order for retail shops and restaurants to succeed, there must be sufficient parking for those who are not served by mass transit. Many of the houses in the surrounding neighborhoods have no off-street parking. They have “permit” parking. The residential areas of Old Town are in much the same situation. In recent years, the rest of Alexandria has watched as Old Town residents who desire to park somewhere near their homes, are pitted against the business community’s desire for parking places for their employees and customers. It is hoped that this problem will not be transplanted to another part of the City. The residents of the proposed apartment buildings will have one parking space per apartment. Even though it is hoped that these apartment dwellers would be heavy Metro users, it still is to be expected that more cars will be brought into the area. Colecroft is a case in point. Residents who cannot find sufficient parking space within the complex are finding space for their extra cars on the surrounding neighborhood streets. Additional parking space requirements added to the King Street Metro area should be avoided. Therefore, there should be no zoning change for the King Street Kiss’n Ride lot.

— PEDESTRIAN SAFETY

It is hazardous to walk from the surrounding neighborhoods to the King Street Metro. This project proposes that all buses use the King St. entrance. Pedestrians find the crosswalk near this bus entrance to be especially hazardous and the buses make it even more difficult. Either the crosswalk or the bus entrance needs to be relocated. If this doesn’t occur, the situation will become even more dangerous during the construction to widen the railraod overpass. If this proposed project is approved it would: 1-preclude or severely hamper the relocation of crosswalks or any widening of Daingerfield between King St. and Diagonal Rd., 2- deny buses an alternative entrance to Metro during the construction on the overpass.

The proposed project does improve the pathway along the taxi stand to King St., but it still does not direct tourists to where they want and constantly attempt to cross the street. Until the serious problem of pedestrian safety is solved, nothing that might exacerbate the problem should be approved.

One of the transportation goals of the 1992 Master Plan for this area is “to provide safe, convenient pedestrian bicycle access to metro” When people can safely walk to Metro then they will be able to bicycle there safely. This is a goal shared by both Metro and the City Therefore, there should be no zoning change for the King Street Kiss’n Ride lot.

Kiss’n Ride lot.

— CRIME

Early in April this year an article on the front page of the Washington Post detailed the rate of violent crime among the various Washington area suburban jurisdictions. The article noted that Alexandria was one of only three suburban jurisdictions of sixteen in the area that enjoyed a significant decline in its crime statistics. This is a message that we should all be pleased with, so far as it goes. But we also should not lose sight of the fact that, in spite of a 23% drop in its own numbers, Alexandria still has the dubious distinction of having one of the highest per capita rates of violence among suburban jurisdictions. The City’s per capita rate is the highest of any local Virginia jurisdiction, and is well ahead of most in Maryland as well.

What was not lost on the author of this article is that population density clearly emerges as a factor which accounts for higher per capita crime rates. Higher density increases potential for conflict and the attending assaultive behaviors which conflict engenders. Higher concentrations of pedestrians and stores present inviting targets for robbery. The higher population turnover common in dense areas, already high in Alexandria, makes it difficult for populations to come together and maintain a community strategy against crime. These rental units will certainly ratchet this rate even higher.

The impact of population density on law enforcement is multi-faceted. It is not simply an issue of traffic gridlock, which engenders anger and frustration and delays emergency vehicle response. The King Street Metro intersection is a primary gateway for police response to many parts of the city, and it is dangerously clogged now during many daytime commuting hours. Increased population increases consumption of already stretched services. Beyond this, the conflict fostered by overcrowding manifests itself in a multitude of formats. City prosecutors note that most violent crime scenes in Alexandria have one thing in common: they are all places where too many people are living in too small a space. Similar observations are made about neighborhoods rife with drug abuse, which in turn is identified as a leading primary cause of most other crime.

Alexandria is already one of the most densely populated cities in the country. The road to making it number one in that category is a road that is traveled one step at a time . From a law enforcement perspective, every step we take which results in more and more people moving into the same few square miles needs to be considered with extreme caution. Therefore, there should be no zoning change for the King Street Kiss ‘n Ride lot

--FINALLY

This has not been an argument about the uses of the proposed project; residential versus office versus hotel, though one might ask how this project furthers the goal of home ownership in the City? Nor has it been about the design elements of the project It has been about changing the Master Plan, at this time, to accomodate a building of that mass and scale at that location.

We are compelled to ask “What great benefit does this project bring to the City and its citizens that warrants changing the Master Plan?” Some argue that notwithstanding the heavy opposition to this project for many different reasons the increase to the City’s tax base is the only consideration that matters. That increase unfortunately has offsets such as the occupants’ demands for City services and the added strain on aging water and sewerage systems.

Alexandria has become a model

city for many urban planners because of its mix of historic preservation, livable neighborhoods and commercial development. At the recent “Quality of Life” summit we heard much about sustainable communities and the balance that needs to be maintained beween the old and the new to retain that essential Alexandria “character.” This can be achieved by insisting on the goals and objectives inherent in the Master plan for Alexandria.