ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA County Board Agenda Item Meeting of July 10, 2004 DATE: June 30, 2004 SUBJECT: SP #380 SITE PLAN (CARRY-OVER) for five town homes with existing dwelling located at 4717 North 24th Road and 4733 Old Dominion Drive. (RPC #05-005-002, -092, -117, -118) Applicant: Arlington Designer Homes, Inc. By: William Moore 4717 24th Road North Arlington, VA 22207 C.M. RECOMMENDATION: Deny the site plan request. ISSUES: 1) Does the proposed site plan meet the intent of Residential Cluster Development? 2) Is the proposed front-loaded townhouse design, with garages facing the street appropriate for this location? SUMMARY: Arlington Designer Homes, Inc. has submitted a proposal for a residential cluster development in the block bounded by 25th Street North, Old Dominion Drive and 24th Road North, in the Old Dominion neighborhood. The proposal includes a site plan to construct five townhouses with 17 parking spaces (at grade and in garages) and to maintain an existing singlefamily dwelling. Staff recommends denial of the request since it is inconsistent with the intent of the Residential Cluster Development (Zoning Ordinance Section 31.A8) and other policies, including, but not limited to, the following: County Manager: County Attorney: Staff: Wei H. Smith, CPHD, Planning Division, Sara Benson, DPW, Planning Division Tunji Akiwowo, CPHD, Housing Division PLA-3727
Standards for Planting and Preservation of Trees on Site Plan Projects; Front-loaded townhouse design is contrary to the County s desire for creating pedestrian friendly, appealing neighborly streetscapes; Compatibility with the single family neighborhood adjacent to the site; Open space to be preserved is insignificant and not easily accessible. The site plan was deferred in April to allow more time for the applicant to significantly revise the site plan. However, the applicant has made no changes to the site plan since the last deferral; therefore, staff recommends denial of the site plan request. BACKGROUND: The subject site is located in the Old Dominion neighborhood, and is currently developed with two single-family houses that were built in the 1930s and a landscaped area with mature trees and shrubs. The houses and the garden do not have significant historical value. This site plan was previously deferred twice at the March 13 and April 24, 2004 County Board meetings to allow more time for staff and the community to review the revised plans. The Planning Commission recommended denial at its April 12, 2004 meeting, concurring with staff s original recommendation. The applicant subsequently requested deferral of the site plan at the April 24, 2004 County Board meeting. The applicant has not made any changes to the site plan but has partially cleared the subject site to prepare for construction. The applicant previously agreed to withdraw the site plan request but later rescinded the decision. Site: The site is surrounded by 25th Street North, Old Dominion Drive, and 24th Road North. It is situated across Old Dominion Drive from St. Marks Church, and across 25th Street North from the County maintenance facility and salt pile. The site s frontage on 25th Street North also faces the entrance to 25th Road North. The streets leading into this neighborhood 25th Street North, 25th Road North and 24th Road North are dead end streets. Missionhurst Missionaries, a retirement home for missioners, an office building, and a chapel, is located at the end of 25th Street North. To the north: To the west: To the east: To the south: 25 th Street North. The County maintenance facility and salt pile is right across the street from the subject site. 25 th Road North joins 25 th Street North to the rear of the salt pile. Several single family homes are located along 25 th Street North on both sides of the street to the northeast of the subject site. Old Dominion Drive (Route 309). Across from the Drive, there is the St. Marks Church and its parking lot. The John Marshall office building and its parking lot is diagonally across from the subject site to the northwest. Single-family dwellings, of which 4710 and 4714 25th Street North were built recently. 24 th Road North and single-family dwellings along the street. Zoning: The site is currently zoned R-6 One-Family Dwelling Districts. SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 2 -
Land Use: The General Land Use Plan designates this site as Low Residential (1-10 units/acre). Neighborhood: The site is located within the Old Dominion Civic Association. Existing Land Use and Development: There are two existing single-family dwellings, 4733 Old Dominion Drive and 4717 24 th Road North, located on this site. The site is populated with 17 mature trees, and many shrubs, mostly in fair to good condition. Development in the Old Dominion neighborhood is predominantly single-family houses, with occasional church or office uses. Four sites in close proximity to the proposed site plan were approved, at least ten years ago mostly through the special exception process for cluster development. These are: Rixey (U-2280-81-4, 2626 Glebe Road), the Birches (U-1977-74-2, 2307 and 2325 North Glebe Road), Anolostan (U-2391-83-1, 4615/4619 24 th Street), and the Harlan property (SP #295, 4749/4753 Old Dominion Drive). The Harlan project was approved by the County Board in 1991, but was never built as the County acquired the property in 1992. These projects were relatively large with an average of 20 units, except for the Harlan project which was approved for six (6) townhouses. Proposed Development: The applicant is proposing to construct a five-townhouse cluster development, with the retention of a single-family dwelling (4717 24 th Road North) and the demolition of an existing single-family dwelling at 4733 Old Dominion Drive. Additionally, the applicant proposes retention of most of the buffer along Old Dominion Drive and preservation of 12 of 17 mature trees on the site. A private driveway would be installed to connect the five town houses to the main entrance on 25 th Street North while the remaining single-dwelling house maintains its own access to 24 th Road North. There would be two new entrances to the site in addition to the single-family house s own driveway, one vehicular entrance at 25 th Street North and one pedestrian entrance at 24 th Road North. There would be no curb cut onto Old Dominion Drive. Under the by-right option, the site can be developed with a maximum of six (6) singlefamily dwellings. The following table sets forth the preliminary statistical summary for the proposed site plan. Site Area Density Total Residential GFA Total Residential Units Townhouse (building 1-5) GFA Single-family Dwelling (building 6) GFA 46,181 s.f. (1.06017 acre) Permitted / Required Proposed 7 units (min. 6,000 s.f. per lot) 22,660 s.f. 6 units (5.66 du/ac) 19,440 s.f. 3,220 s.f. SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 3 -
Building Height Average Site Elevation 414.875 feet Townhouse Main Roof Height 30.635 feet Single-family Dwelling Main Roof 35 feet (midpoint of 27.0 feet Height the roof) Number of Stories 2.5 stories Parking Total Resident Parking 15 spaces 17 spaces Townhouse Parking 3 space/unit (15 spaces) Single-family Dwelling Parking 2 space/unit (2 spaces) Resident Parking Ratio 2.5 space/unit 2.8 space/unit Common Open Space 6,000 sq. ft. 8,900 sq. ft Coverage Max. 50% 40% LEED Score 20 points Density and Uses: The proposal includes a total of six (6) units, for a total project density of 5.66 dwelling units per acre, which is generally consistent with site s zoning and General Land Use Plan designations. Site and Design: The general layout of the site plan contains five components: a tree buffer along Old Dominion Drive, approximately 23-foot wide private pavement driveway with the site s main vehicular entrance at 25 th Road North, five (5) 62-foot deep townhouses, 25-foot deep backyards and decks, and one (1) existing single-family house and the adjacent landscape area and pedestrian entrance on 24 th Street North. In order to preserve most of existing trees and shrubs along Old Dominion Drive, the five townhouses are situated away from Old Dominion Drive with their garages facing the private driveway parallel to the principal arterial road. Therefore, there would be no vehicular access from Old Dominion Drive to the site. The landscape buffer and the proposed private driveway would create a setback distance of 45 to 65 feet between the front of the townhouses and Old Dominion Drive. The applicant is proposing to provide 8,900 square feet of common open space that will be located in the front landscape buffer along Old Dominion Drive and the area between the single-family house and the townhouses. The applicant is proposing to place amenities such as pedestrian walkways and benches in this common open space. There would be a continuous four-foot tall wrought iron fence and landscape barriers along the site s periphery. A total of 17 parking spaces are proposed, including six (6) surface parking for the townhouses residents, which would be located adjacent to the buffer area. There would be SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 4 -
15 parking spaces for the townhouses, in addition to the remaining single-family house s two (2) existing parking spaces. The townhouses would be three stories tall with two-car garages, basements and decks. The primary exterior building material would be brick. The applicant has indicated his intent to market the new townhouses as senior friendly. For example, each townhouse would have the option to install elevators. LEED Scorecard: The applicant s proposal would result in 20 LEED points. Affordable Housing: Due to the small scale of this site plan, the applicant is not proposing any on-site affordable housing units. Based on the recently approved interim Affordable Housing Guidelines for Site Plan Projects, a contribution to the affordable housing funds would be required. The contribution would be the greater of the following: $4,500 per residential unit $4.00 per square foot of gross floor area Equivalent value of affordable housing existing on the site Therefore, the contribution for this proposal would be $77,760.00 if a project was approved. Transportation: The Master Transportation Plan Part 1 classifies 25 th Street North and 24 th Road North as neighborhood-minor streets, while Old Dominion Drive is classified as a principal arterial. Other arterial roadways in the vicinity are North Glebe Road (Route 120) and Lee Highway (Route 29). Trip Generation: A Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) was prepared by a transportation consultant for the applicant to assess the impacts of the proposed and by-right development options on the adjacent street system. Trip generations were determined for the AM and PM peak periods, as well as daily weekdays and weekends. Future Levels of Service (LOS) were evaluated for all study periods for both the proposed and by-right development scenarios. The proposed development of five townhouses is estimated to generate five new trips during both the AM and PM peak hours. The daily weekday trips generated would be 30, daily Saturday trips would be 29, and the daily Sunday trips would be 25. All trip generation is based on the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual (7 th Edition). The proposed five townhouses would have one (1) common shared drive located on 25 th Street North, opposite 25 th Road North, while in a potential by-right development of six (6) singlefamily detached homes, three (3) would have accesses off 25 th Street North. Therefore, the three single-family homes were compared with the proposed five townhouses for traffic impacts on the adjacent street system. Because single-family dwellings generate more trips than townhouses, three by-right single-family houses would produce the same number of trips as the proposed five townhouses (according to the ITE Trip Generation Manual [7 th Edition]). The expected SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 5 -
additional traffic from the proposed or by-right development will not significantly impact the street system. Parking: Access to the parking for residents and visitors would be from a driveway entrance off 25 th Street North. The proposed development s 17 parking spaces are distributed as follows; two spaces per townhouse unit for a total of 10 spaces; five on-street visitor spaces, which would be located on the internal street; and two spaces for the single-family home. The proposed parking supply ratio of 2.8 spaces per dwelling unit exceeds the zoning ordinance requirement of 2.5 spaces per unit. Streets: The applicant proposes a private internal drive which serves as access to the frontloaded townhouses. The driveway currently meets subdivision ordinance section 23-5(18)(b) which states that Easements or common ways for vehicles shall be paved to a minimum of 23 feet-wide and be built to the requirements of the street and storm sewer construction specifications of Arlington County as from time to time in effect for the construction of county streets. Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Program: Consistent with previous townhouse site plan development and the County s adopted TDM Policy, staff does not require that the developer implement a TDM program to meet the TMP goals. This particular site is being marketed as senior-friendly housing, so if approved staff would recommend that the developer provide the townhouse purchasers with a new resident package, at no cost to the developer and provided by Arlington County, that would include site specific transit-related information. This information is briefly summarized below: Bus route maps and schedules for all pertinent routes, such as Metrobus 22F, Metrobus 23A, Metrobus 23C, and ART 51. Information on the Arlington County para-transit program, Specialized Transit for Arlington Residents (STAR). Metrorail information, including nearest metro stops, fare information, and SmarTrip card sign-up information. Information on Commuterpage.com. Streetscape: There is no existing sidewalk on 25 th Road North and the existing sidewalk along Old Dominion Drive is approximately three (3) foot wide. The applicant s proposed Old Dominion Drive streetscape consists of a five (5) foot wide sidewalk and a four (4) foot wide utility/planting strip adjacent to the back of the curb, except at the location of the existing 36- inch caliper elm tree. Along the tree a five (5) foot wide sidewalk and a two and one-half (2.5) foot wide utility/planting strip adjacent to the back of curb. This sidewalk design complies with the vision of the County s undergoing Old Dominion Drive streetscape study; however, it would result in an insufficient tree protection area for the trees along Old Dominion Drive. The applicant has proposed to provide a streetscape along the frontage of the site along 25 th Street North. This would include a five (5) foot wide sidewalk and four (4) foot wide SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 6 -
utility/planting strip adjacent to the back of curb. Included in the planting strip are street trees and Carlyle street lights. Along the private internal drive, the streetscape section includes a four (4) foot wide continuous sidewalk, as well as a proposed four (4) foot wide trail between the internal drive and 24 th Road North. Public Transit: The site will be serviced by existing Metrobus routes 22f, 23A and 23C, as well as Arlington Transit (ART) bus route 51. The nearest Metro station is Ballston, which is approximately two miles away. Utilities: Adequate water and sanitary sewer system capacity is available to serve the proposed residential development. Consistent with site plan development and the Underground Utility Policy, new site plans and major amendments have included a contribution to the Underground Utility Fund at $1,667 per dwelling unit. These funds are utilized to enable the County to fund underground utility projects along other undeveloped properties in the area. The contribution from this project would equal $8,335. DISCUSSION: In general, staff believes that the proposed site plan does not attain the goals of the special exception Residential Cluster Development and does not provide a significant and justifiable improvement over by-right development. Adopted Plans and Policies: Residential Cluster Development Requirements: The purpose of the Residential Cluster Development, according to the Zoning Ordinance, is to preserve, maintain and enhance the character of single-family residential neighborhoods. It is intended that such clustering shall result in the preservation of natural land form, irreplaceable historical features, trees and foliage, and permit the preservation of major common open site area without increasing the overall density of land use otherwise allowed for the site (Arlington County Zoning Ordinance, Section 31.A8). A cluster development can consist of townhouses, attached or detached singlefamily dwellings, or a mix of all three. Issues: Comparison of Development Options: The site allows the applicant three (3) development options according to Zoning Ordinance. They are: by-right option, Unified Residential Development (URD) through use permit, and Residential Cluster Development through site plan. The by-right subdivided single-family development of this site would allow the applicant to construct a maximum of six (6) single-family houses. The two by-right subdivision options are attached with this report, which both call for the demolition of the existing house of 4717 24th Road North, in order to split the lot for two houses. Each single-family house would require its own curb cut and driveway. Tree protection is not required under the by-right scenario. The two special exception options, URD and site plan, allow the applicant to lay out the houses SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 7 -
in ways more accommodating to the existing landscape. The applicant could construct a maximum of six single-family dwelling homes with the URD or the Residential Cluster Development site plan option. Although the proposed site plan development is consistent with some of the zoning requirements, GLUP designation, and the applicant has agreed to the standard site plan contributions, overall the proposed plan does not represent a sufficient improvement over byright option to justify the development of townhouses in a predominantly single-family dwelling neighborhood. In fact, the site plan detracts from the single-family dwelling character of the neighborhood, which violates the purpose of Residential Cluster Development. The applicant was asked to explore other layout designs; however, an alternative design was never fully developed. Inconsistency with Residential Cluster Development Provisions: Although the applicant stated that the initial rationale for the proposed townhouse design is to protect existing trees on-site and maintain the single-family character in the neighborhood, staff does not consider that the proposed plan achieves these goals of Residential Cluster Development. On the whole, three out of the five major components in the project s design, the tree buffer, the driveway, and the townhouses, all vary from the intent of the Residential Cluster Development provisions: One primary purpose of Residential Cluster Development is to preserve trees and foliage. The applicant claims that the site plan would preserve 70% of the existing trees with trunks over 6-inch in diameter on site. However, staff considers the applicant s tree preservation plan to be inadequate to actually protect the trees. The existing trees conditions are considered fair to good (see attached tree survey), although some of them have been covered by ivy for a long time. The County s Urban Forester reviewed the applicant s tree survey and determined that the critical root zone / tree protection area of the existing trees, as proposed, is below the County's standard: o Trees 8" and smaller of diameter breast height should have a tree protection area of 8 feet radius. o Trees 8" to 30" should use the formula 1" diameter = 1' of tree protection area. o Trees over 30" should use the formula 1" diameter = 1.5' of tree protection area. The largest tree on site is the elm (T17) along Old Dominion 36" in diameter. Most other trees proposed to be preserved are over eight (8) inches in diameter which would require a tree protection area of over eight (8) feet. The proximity (less than eight feet) of the sidewalks, the internal road and guest parking space to the trees of the project, prohibits the plan for protection of most trees from meeting the tree protection standard. The proposed tree protection plan, while purporting to preserve more trees than might be protected by-right, is insufficient. The Residential Cluster Development regulations call for the preservation of major common open space areas. The common open space is not required to be accessible to SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 8 -
the general public. The proposed site plan provides 8,900 square feet of open space; however, this open space is scattered into three separate areas (5,000 square feet, 3,000 square feet, and 900 square feet) connected only by narrow landscaping throughout the site instead of being in one major and continuous area. The pedestrian entrance at 24 th Road North opens up to a short pedestrian trail that leads to nowhere. Most of the project s open space, as currently designed, would function similarly to a private yard for the single-family dwelling (4717 24 th Road North). Overall, the proposed open space is limited and not very usable to the residents. Therefore, the proposed site plan does not achieve the intent of preserving major open space. Under the by-right scenario, each single-family house would have its own curb cut and driveway. While the shared driveway under the proposed site plan would limit the curb cuts to only one on 25 th Street North, it would also require a large continuous portion of the land to be paved. This 23-foot wide driveway would impact the trees in the buffer area adversely even if pavers are used instead of concrete, because such road construction involves grading that would damage the trees roots and would result in soil compaction. Furthermore, the sizable driveway does not present a single-family neighborhood appearance. The purpose of Residential Cluster Development is to preserve, maintain and enhance the character of single-family residential neighborhoods. The proposed townhouse design does not achieve this purpose. Although there are existing townhouses in the Old Dominion Neighborhood approved over ten years ago, they are not located on the blocks adjacent to the subject site. Given the uses near the site, there is little possibility that any future townhouses would be developed. Because of the site s proximity to Old Dominion Drive, such a townhouse project would notably change the character of the neighborhood as a single-family residential area. The proposed site plan s main vehicular entrance on 25 th Street North is marked by gate-like identification signs that give the site an appearance of private land and a gated community. Moreover, the open space is bounded by a continuous fence along Old Dominion Drive. These measures further the isolation of the site plan from the rest of the neighborhood. Site Layout and Building Design: The site plan is proposed with front-loaded garages facing Old Dominion Drive. This design does not further the County s current policy to promote townhouse facades that have a more pedestrian friendly street presence. The Old Dominion Citizens Association and some attendees at the SPRC meeting also found the front-loaded configuration less aesthetically pleasing and not neighborhood or pedestrian friendly. In addition, the SPRC asked the applicant to consider placing the garages and the driveway in the rear of the units. The applicant has declined to change the orientation of the garages. Staff has concluded that as a whole, the site plan is not cohesively designed. The single family dwelling and townhouse components seem to function as separate parts instead of cohesive elements of the site plan. In addition, there is no obvious relation or interaction in layout and building design between the remaining single-family dwelling and the five new townhouses. SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 9 -
Old Dominion Neighborhood Conservation Plan: The Old Dominion Neighborhood Conservation Plan was adopted by the County Board in November 2002. The general goal of the Plan is to preserve and improve the essentially single-family character of the neighborhood, which the proposed site plan does not further. Community Process: The applicant has met multiple times with the Old Dominion Citizens Association and has had one Site Plan Review Committee meeting since October, 2003. The Old Dominion Citizens Association has voted 63 to 18 to support the proposed site plan. The majority of the voters believe that the proposed site plan provides a good transitional use for this site. However, the Association also raised the following issues about the proposed plan: The appropriateness of such a townhouse project in a predominantly single-family neighborhood. Another concern raised was that introducing this site plan into this neighborhood would set a precedent for developments the community does not desire. The increase of traffic on 25 th Street North, a narrow dead-end street. The Old Dominion Citizens Association pointed out that the traffic on 25 th Street North is already heavy due to the location of Missionhurst Church at the end of 25 th Street North. Pedestrian traffic is also heavier on sidewalks along 25 th Street North than on 24 th Road North. Additionally, the proposed site plan places its vehicular entrance less than 40 feet from the intersection of Old Dominion Drive and 25 th Street North. The County truck traffic to and from the Salt Dome during the winter season and the activities of the Montessori School at St. Mark s Church across Old Dominion Drive occur near the intersection. The community is concerned that the proposed site plan s main vehicular entrance is too close to the intersection, which would only make the intersection more congested. Staff agrees that the closeness of the entrance would cause some confusion at the intersection. The Civic Association s Majority and Minority reports are attached. Site Plan Review Committee: At the January 15, 2004 SPRC meeting, the proposed site plan s layout was considered insufficient to convince the SPRC members that the trees would be properly preserved, because of the close proximity of the sidewalks and driveway. The SPRC encouraged the applicant to explore the one-family dwelling option and other possible layouts. Transportation Commission Recommendation: The Transportation Commission met on April 7, 2004 and reviewed the proposed site plan. The Commission voted 8-0 to recommend that the County Board reject the proposed site plan. The overwhelming reason was that garage-front townhouses are not appropriate for this or most Arlington neighborhood contexts, and that the proposed plan further suburbanizes the site by separating it with a four-foot-high fence. Other issues the Transportation Commission raised include the County arborist's dispute of the quality and likely survival of some of the trees to be preserved, and the lack of sidewalk connection at the 24th end of the pathway. SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 10 -
Housing Commission Recommendation: The Housing Commission will meet on April 15 to discuss the proposed site plan. Planning Commission Recommendation: The Planning Commission heard this proposed site plan at their April 14, 2004 recessed meeting. The Commission voted 10-0-1 to support staff s denial recommendation. The major reason was the inappropriateness of the front-loaded design of the townhouses. In addition, the Commission questioned the suitability of townhouse development in this one-family dwelling residential neighborhood. CONCLUSION: The proposed site plan meets some of the quantitative zoning requirements, but overall it is inconsistent with the purpose of the Residential Cluster Development, which is to preserve, maintain and enhance the character of single-family residential neighborhoods. This type of development should result in the preservation of major common open space, which the proposed site plan does not provide. In addition, its front-loaded townhouse design is not appropriate to create a neighborhood and pedestrian friendly neighborhood. Although staff does not disagree that the proposed site plan would provide some community benefits, these benefits are not compelling enough compared to its issues to make it approvable. In addition, the applicant has made no changes to the site plan following the deferral by the County Board at the April 24, 2004 meeting. Therefore, staff recommends denial of this site plan for a residential cluster development. SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 11 -
PREVIOUS COUNTY BOARD ACTIONS: March 15, 2004 April 24, 2004 Deferred SP #380 to April 24, 2004 County Board meeting. Deferred SP #380 to July 10, 2004 County Board meeting. SP #380 Lyonhurst Residential Cluster - 12 -