Hi, Yupette,
As promised, Barbara's Donnellan's and Jay Fisette's plans to fast-track New Urbanist 'Development for the Sake of Development' to benefit out-of-state REITs and local developers are entering the charade public meeting phase. Planning Commission and County Staff will hold the meeting at Virgnia Hospital Center's Hazel Auditorium on Saturday, May 31st, at 9AM. The important decisions were made months ago at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard.
As described by several news blogs in March, Donnellan and Fisette are acquiescing to demands from developers who complain that the site plan review process is too cumbersome and is used as a way to pick their pockets for community benefits in exchange for site plan approvals.
The Planning Commission has already been told to approve whatever the County Board pre-approves behind closed doors in the County Board Offices. 'Coordinators' who report to Barbara Donnellan have been assigned to monitor the Planning, Housing, Transportation, and other advisory commissions to ensure their members don't stray from what was agreed-to by the County Board.
Few County Staff (including Donnellan) who are implementing the changes live in Arlington County. It's obvious that the County's bloated CPHD and DES staffs will be among the primary beneficiaries of the changes.
Michelle, 22207
35 comments:
I nominate New Urbanism aka Smart Growth as the "Stupidest Idea of the 20th Century".
They are going to fast-track neighborhood-by-neighborhood redevelopment of Arlington to pay for their Taj Mahal legacy monuments to themselves, then retire to a luxury gated community far far away from anything resembling Smart Growth.
Thinking of buying an older 3-bedroom 2-bath home in a neighborhood of older 3-bedroom 2-bath homes?
Senior County Staff (over 55) who make the decisions already own vacation/retirement homes far far from any Smart Growth redevelopment.
County NEEDS more 3-bedroom 2.5 bathroom ranch/rambler homes for people moving out of condos and retirees downsizing.
These are being bulldozed into McMansions to meet the WANTS of Fi$ette's fellow upscale elite.
Want to live in a 3-bedroom 2.5 bath rambler home? Try HOT Lanes to Spotsylvania County.
How many times has Zimmy lobbied the County Board since he retired from the County Board?
Brought to you by the racist and elitist Planning Commission, Civic Federation, Chamber of Commerce, and local Media.
Fast track more of the same - LEED-certified buildings that aren't energy efficient and affordable housing that isn't affordable.
Stop the LEED charade. Bonus density for LEED Silver certification? A tent can be certified LEED Silver.
Affordable housing? You need to earn $53,500 to be at 50% of area median income and $64,200 to be at 60% of area median income.
LEED is anti-renewable energy on-site.
New Urbanism is an urban planning disaster. How smart is it to gentrify anyone who doesn't earn at least $100,000 per year to suburbs (recently bulldozed out of farmland) via HOT lanes?
In line with the propaganda about 'transit oriented development' Arlington County Government and Arlington Public Schools approved the creation of 15,000 parking spaces in the County over the last 2 1/2 years.
Arlington's air quality is terrible on the way to becoming horrible.
When will it end?
Anyone else notice that all the 'Smart Growth' boosters in the local media left town for the weekend before 'Rolling Thunder' arrived?
LEED is a corporate welfare gift to developers, Dominion, and Washington Gas.
If there is one thing that's prevented widespread on-site renewable energy in Arlington it's LEED.
Look at who's already appointed to the site plan review committee, bunch of Democratic Party hacks who will rubber stamp any site plan put in front of them.
Is it possible to build affordable condos (or duplexes) for people who earn $64,200 per year? If not, why not?
Arlington residential 'teardown' developers are good buds of at least two C.B. members, including Jay Fisetts.
Multiple interacting organizations, several are taxpayer funded, who get the gold mine while older neighborhoods suffer the consequences.
Air Quality? What's Air Quality?
Can we have some transparency regarding what corporate welfare neighborhood redevelopment deals the County Board makes with the REITs behind closed doors in the County Board's offices?
Hey, thanks for this blog. I'm 26, been living and working in Arlington since I graduated from college, and this is not a place where I want to buy a home and raise kids. The fraternity/sorority stuff that passes for a social life here gets really old after about 3 years.
Arlington's so-called "Planning Staff" are arrogant and downright nasty when you ask them what the benefits of their in-fill projects are to our neighborhoods.
Then, when you figure out the benefits, you find they amount to a negative number.
Will Arlington residents, taxpayers, voters, homeowners be allowed to ask questions at Saturday's forum?
Probably not.
Arlington's Site Plan Review Committee is made up of current and former Arlington Democratic Committee members.
I am also 20-something and also "voting with my feet" when looking for my next job.
Residential real estate assessments will rise another 4% or 5% next year.
Next to be bulldozed is the open space at Lubber Run.
Fraternity/sorority stuff that passes for a social life here ---- as promoted by ArlNow.
Like Scott McCaffrey, Scott Brodbeck got out of Dodge before Rolling Thunder arrived.
Another proof of the Fisette-Tejada Theorem: The VIP Decision Makers' enthusiasm for Smart Growth is directly proportional to the distance they live from mixed-use redevelopment.
That the New Urbanists are even considering bulldozing Lubber Run Park to provide more public infrastructure (school classrooms) for New Urbanist massive infill is appalling. Obviously their agenda is to replace existing park land with re-purposed streets, sidewalks, parking lots, street medians, anything else they can reclassify as 'open space'.
'Community Leaders' are going right along with whatever they're told will be the new program at this meeting.
Same old CivFed geezers and geezettes, plus the usual ACDC facilitators for whatever the County Board wants insofar as neighborhood-by-neighborhood redevelopment.
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