The Planning Commission has put together a big vision for the Potomac Yard shopping center. The North Potomac Yard Small Area Plan reflects over a year of work on a very complex challenge. Three issues that are critical to the success of this plan remain unresolved. Our Mayor and City Council must ensure that these financial and quality of life issues be resolved before approving the Small Area Plan and rezoning the land bay:
1) An unambiguous plan for the mix of office and residential space:
We do not want a repeat of what Mayor Euillie calls the “missed hopes and dreams” at Carlyle. In the latest plan, 3.5 million of the 7.5 million square feet of development planned for north Potomac Yard is simply listed as “either office or residential” with no further guidelines. If this space becomes office space, the percentage of residential space in north Potomac Yard will actually be lower than that in Carlyle. Such an environment will not create the real, living community we want — evenings, days, and weekends — and the traffic from this commuter-only center will make our existing neighborhoods less livable. The City Council should require a clear, maximum percentage for office space in these currently undesignated blocks.
2) A detailed plan for how east-west traffic will be pushed through our existing neighborhoods:
Vice Mayor Donley makes clear there’s going to be a cost of additional traffic but it can’t come at the expense of neighborhoods to the east and west. The City has not produced an adequate plan for how roads will be changed to accommodate traffic and protect neighborhoods. The current traffic study looks at too narrow an area and is too general in its recommendations to make clear the impact on surrounding neighborhoods and roads commonly used as cut through streets such as Commonwealth, Russell, Monroe, Lloyds, Windsor, and more. A last minute decision to connect Commonwealth Avenue directly to Route 1 hasn’t even been discussed with neighbors. The City Council should require a complete traffic analysis and road improvement plan before approving the master plan and rezoning for north Potomac Yard.
3) A responsible schedule for investment in the new metro station:
Today is not the right time for the City to take on a huge, speculative real estate investment. The City’s ability to pay for the $250 million metro station is premised on tax revenue from all the planned office and residential buildings. If that new real estate development fails to happen as fast as the City predicts, you and I will have to pay for the station from our property taxes. Once the project starts, these debt payments are locked in and we can’t avoid them. We’re facing a terrible economy, the worst real estate market in generations, and a large deficit in the City budget. While a new metro stop is a great long term idea, investment in the metro environmental study and construction should wait until the real estate market rebounds and future development can be predicted with much more confidence.
We are creating a 30 year vision in this plan. We should not rush past the tough questions now, when changes to the design can still be made easily, and pay the costs later. I hope the Mayor and the City Council will take action on these issues. And I hope you will join me in writing and calling the Mayor and the City Council to make clear that we want these issues addressed to ensure smart, successful development at Potomac Yard.
Jim Rosenberg
1 W. Bellefonte Avenue