On Second Vote, Silberberg, Chapman Support Affordable Housing Project
First-time councilmembers granted revote after initially voting against Reed Avenue complex.
Photos
Alexandria City Council approved plans Saturday to construct a new affordable housing complex at the corner of E. Reed Avenue and Route 1 with a vote that was conducted twice, after the two dissenting council members asked to vote again so they could support it.
The project submitted by nonprofit AHC calls for a three- to five-story building with 78 affordable housing units that will be marketed to residents with incomes up to 60 percent of the area’s median income for 60 years.
The hang-up for Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg and Councilman John Chapman—two members of council serving for the first time who both campaigned for more affordable housing in the city—was on parking at the complex.
As part of a financing package for the project, AHC will charge residents $35 a month for parking in a below-grade garage. Several residents of nearby Lynhaven expressed concerns the new renters would park for free on already crowded streets to circumvent the parking fee in the new building.
The city’s Planning Commission agreed with the Lynhaven residents at a Jan. 4 hearing, recommending parking at the complex be made free to residents.
The parking fee was seen as an integral part of the financing and tax credits for the project.
Silberberg offered a motion to uphold the Planning Commission’s recommendation. Chapman supported it, but the five other members of council voted it down. Both argued some of the tenants the building is trying to attract simply need cars for jobs and the cost of parking might be too much.
“Parking is an issue we will discuss,” Mayor Bill Euille said. “I honestly believe [the project] is something we need to do. If we don’t do it, it sends a message we don’t care. We do care about providing affordable housing.”
Silberberg and Chapman later voted against a motion without the commission’s recommendation.
During a lunch break after the vote, Euille asked Chapman if he realized he had just placed a vote against affordable housing, according to The Washington Post. Silberberg told Patch on Monday that Euille asked her the same question.
The pair asked for a re-vote, which was granted at the end of the meeting. Chapman and Silberberg then both voted in favor of the project without the Planning Commission recommendation.
“I think this was probably one of the first times I have gotten lost in the weeds,” Chapman said after the revote, adding while pursuing affordable housing, it’s important not to get hung up on “sort of the small issues” like density, transportation and, in this case, parking.
Silberberg urged and encouraged AHC not to charge for parking when she voted for the project.
She told Patch on Monday she felt council should have approved the project with the Planning Commission recommendation.
“Did I err in my [initial] vote? I am proud of my vote and John’s vote,” Silberberg said. “We have to do the right thing not only for the AHC residents but the people of Lynhaven.”
Silberberg said she received indications from Euille that he agreed with her perspective. She thought there was a way to work out a deal on the parking and there would be discussion of several more options.
“Discussion was so fast and furious and I tried to usher in my motion,” Silberberg said. “I voted for the project because I wanted to be on record of supporting affordable housing. That’s the right thing to do.”
Jeff Parker
6:26 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
This article is inaccurate. Not only "several" residents, but the Lynhaven Residents Association spoke up against the paid parking requirement. The council voted to ignore the wishes of local residents and it's own planning commission with the promise of other fixes to the parking issue. So many people spoke against the project without free parking, that the planning commission voted to require free parking. Our council voted to ignore the residents of Lynhaven.
Drew Hansen
8:52 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Thanks for the comment, Jeff. I was referencing the speakers at Saturday's hearing. By my count, there were six speakers on the issue Saturday. Five of them were Lynhaven residents, including Joe Bondi of the Lynhaven Civic Association. More residents spoke at the Planning Commission meeting earlier in the month. There is a link to our article about that decision from the Planning Commission in this story.
Margo B. Owen
3:43 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Rock on Jeff!!!
Alex-n-Alexandria
7:59 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
"small issues"??? Does he really have a grasp of the situation? Denisty and parking in Potomac Yards!!! Not a problem...when you don't live in the City. Maybe he can vote a 3rd time.
Chapman said after the revote,....it’s important not to get hung up on “sort of the small issues” like density, transportation and, in this case, parking.....
Jim Roberts
8:49 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
If the car parking revenue is essential to paying for the project to provide housing to families of modest means, and If the residents in this brand new apartment complex simply can't afford the modest monthly parking fee, then proffer the parking spaces to the Lynhaven neighbors. For $35 a month to have a guaranteed parking space in a street-crowded, soon more-densely populated part of Alexandria, I suspect they'll be snapped up quickly.
Drew Hansen
8:56 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Thanks for the comment, Jim. Council added this condition on Saturday: "Upon full occupancy, in the event that there are available residential parking spaces, the applicant may lease those parking spaces to neighboring residents. Residents of East Reed Multifamily will have priority for the leasing of parking in the building."
Jay Ray
9:29 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
I spoke at the meeting. I didn't expect for any major changes to the proposal but I was surprised how blatantly the council ignored the current residents' appeal for free parking in the garage. The direct correlation that not fully supporting this project or asking for amendments to their parking plans means you don't support affordable housing, is pure politics at play. Euille putting the screws to Chapman and Silberberg--saying that by supporting the neighborhood concerns, they were not supporting affordable housing--is a shady move. It saddens me that Chapman and Silberberg did not stick to their guns and advocate for us, instead of AHC and these nonexistent future residents.
SYSM
9:42 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
$1650/mo for a 2-br is "affordable housing"?!?!? Ridiculous...
Michael Peter
10:10 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The two new Council members appear to not have realized what their initial vote was going towards. I live in Hume Springs and understand the parking issue. I think it is an issue that can be dealt with in a reasoned way by the associations working with AHC and with the city on enforcement of current parking rules. To vote against this project was a vote against the future and against keeping a balance of economic diversity in our area. I am disappointed with the new Council members.
Gail G
10:14 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
If someone can't afford $35 a month for parking, they can't afford these apartments.
Sandy Levy
10:17 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Blind ideology trumps. So if, quite unfairly, one is made to look like one is against affordable housing, that would be what, a career killer? Grounds for exile?Shameful, and just another example of the problems that arise from having a council elected at-large, and now elected in November when less attention is paid to local issues. No system can guarantee fairness, but how does one begin to fight the whole council, especially when it is of one party?
Jonathan Krall
11:29 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Unfortunately, parking is an emotional issue for people who do not like the changes that come with development of Potomac Yard and the coming of a new metro station. This vote is a positive step forward for affordable housing and for managing the parking problem (but more will be needed there).
However, because car-ownership is so expensive, one key to affordable housing is to make it easier for residents to live easily without a car. Sadly, the city has seen fit to design the entirety of Potomac Yard without a single on-street bike lane, so that approach to car-free living is being discouraged.
Meredith
1:14 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
I live in Lynhaven, and I supported the project for the same reason as the Council: I support affordable housing. The parking situation in Lynhaven is not as bad as some residents make it seem. When they say, "There is no parking in Lynhaven," what they mean is, "I sometimes cannot park exactly in front of my house exactly when I want to" or "There's no parking on one side of the street because the opposite side is being swept in the morning, and I will have to move my car to an empty space before the no parking deadline starts." The parking situation in Lynhaven is not Midtown Manhattan; it's not even Old Town Alexandria. If parking does become a problem after the project is built, then Lynhaven can seek a residential permit. Everything will be fine.
Kathlynne
1:58 pm on Sunday, January 20, 2013
If we could get people to clean up after themselves and stop littering we wouldn’t have this problem added to the parking situation.
Have NEVER lived anywhere where the streets have had to be cleaned on a weekly basis because people are so inconsiderate. It’s embarrassing.
<<<<no parking on one side of the street because the opposite side is being swept in the morning>>>>
JB
1:54 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Silberberg and Chapman knew exactly what their first vote was for: in favor of helping the CURRENT tax-paying residents and their clogged streets. The fact that they were politically pressured into asking for a re-vote to be on the record as in favor of affordable housing is a shame. Not one person in the process has spoken against affordable housing. Not one neighbor, not one Planning Commissioner, not one City Councilor. There were reasonable solutions to this problem that would have continued to support--even enhance--the cause of affordable housing in Alexandria. Unfortunately, those were not accepted by the City or AHC or both. And so we move to plans B and C and D.
What Meredith means above is there is no parking problem on her street, in front of her house. There will be when there is no more parking on Lynhaven Drive, a reality were are not far from.
amy lu
1:22 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Drew, is there a DSUP condition excluding the AHC project's residence from eligibility for a permit if a residential parking permit district is created?
If not, shame no one thought to ask for it.
Current residents are told "there will be no adverse impact" because the parking ratio formulas are outdated and experience shows a smaller parking demand from affordable housing occupants.
But in reality, Council doesn't want to get mired in revising parking ordinance.
My experience: the Old Town Parking Study (OTAPS) recommended few changes and the Mt Vernon Ave/Del Ray study consultant conclusion is based on faulty data collection.
Sigh.
Drew Hansen
2:56 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Amy, if you click on the link in the second paragraph that says "The project," you can view the memo on the entire project. But because people want table service around here, here is just part of the parking conditions:
"Provide a Parking Management Plan with the final site plan submission. The Parking Management Plan shall be approved by the Departments of P&Z and T&ES prior to the release of the final site plan and shall at a minimum include the following:
a. Implement incentives as part of this parking plan to maximize the use of the
parking garage by residents of the building.
b. Provide controlled access into the underground garage for vehicles and
pedestrians. The controlled access shall be designed to allow convenient access to the underground parking for residents and visitors.
c. Include a plan of the garage facility, a description of access control equipment and an explanation of how the garage will be managed.
d. Within 18 months of 90% occupancy of the rental units, a review of the parking
management will be required to determine that the parking is being managed as agreed to. Changes to the parking management plan may be approved administratively by the Directors of T&ES and P&Z."
Drew Hansen
2:57 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Also, there was a request that City Manager Rashad Young include analysis and a recommendation on the implementation of a residential parking district, the implementation of a restricted overnight parking district and the creation of additional street parking on Reed Avenue.
Sherry Henderson
4:16 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013
I wonder how Frank Fannon would have voted on this issue. Frank, I can only imagine, would have been for it and asking the right questions to staff. Oh well, I guess we'll never know.
Hey, I thought Frank would be on council, now, but even Alicia Hughes beat him in votes (which shocked me), and now I'm sure he's back to 'making the big bucks' over at his office at SunTrust Mortgage.
My point is that at least with Frank Fannon on the Alexandria City Council, there was someone who was a businessman, who dealt with housing, with his job, who could quite often put the pieces together, much faster, than most people, because it was all second-nature to him.
I'm a Democrat who hopes that Frank Fannon runs for a seat on the Alexandria City Council in 2015. We need some 'balance' on council, which we don't have now.