LTR Report Summary Recommendations 2011-5-23

8/6/2019 LTR Report Summary Recommendations 2011-5-23

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Square 2986 Large Tract Review Subcommittee, Recommendations, 5/23/2011 Page 1

Final ReportSquare 2986 Large T ract Review SubcommitteeSubmitted to A N C4BRichard Layman, Committee Co-ChairFinal Version: May 23, 2011First draft: March 2011Second draft: May 12, 2011Revision 1: May 13, 2011

Revision 2: May 19, 2011

Summary Recommendations

Site Plan and Development recommendations

1. Foulger-Prattshould bestrongly encouraged to createa phased development program for thesite,allowing for theaddi tion of upper-story housing ata later date,as both economiccircumstancesand demand warrants.

2. This will necessitatesome redesign of the building (and thetrussstyle roof designed to retainthe feel of the streetcar barn likely couldnt be retained) including the possibility of some

increase in parking beyond that required by the proposed retail useto servicetheaddi tion ofupper story housing atsome point in the future.* (* An alternativescenario limiting the needfor addi tional parking to support housing is discussed on page 16.)

3. Building thecapac ity for mixed use development in the future li kely would necessitatesomeDC Government financing to encouragethis preferred course of development on thesite.*

4. If Foulger-Pratt is not willing to agreeto a phased mixed use development,thecommitteeassertsthata 75 year lease for this project is not in the public interest,and recommendsthattheOffice of Planning and the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development discusswi th the developersthe factthatashorter leaseterm is moreappropriate,commensurate wi thtypica l time frames for redeveloping similar properties.

5. Economic impactto thecity of asingle use vs.a mixed use project further just if iesa preferencefor a mixed use projectatthissite, further supporting ashorter leaseterm,and the raising ofthis issue wi th the developer.

Building Design Recommendations

6. Walmartshould reorganizethe design and operation of thestoreso thatseparate departments ofthestore,such asthe grocery department, prepared food counters (e.g., most Walmarts haveaquick service food counter, wi th tablesand chairs),are placed with entrances on G eorgiaAvenue,thereby punctuating the faade, providing more openings,and more reasonsto walkalong theentire block of the Georgia Avenue frontage,and better connec ting thisextremelylargesca le building to the otherwise relatively small sca leand punctuated streetscapethatcurrently defines Georgia Avenue.

7. The Missouri Avenueelevation espec iall y, butthe Peabody Streetelevation as well ,should beredesigned to better engage wi th thestreet in keeping with urban design principles focused oncreating greatstorefrontand streetexperiences on the first floors of buildings in urbancommercial districts.


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Transportation Demand Management recommendations

8. Walmartshould provideashutt leservice between their storeand the Georgia Avenue-PetworthMetro Station.

9. Walmartshould offer deli very services for all transactionstotaling at least $50.10.Walmartshould make home deli very servicesa routineand standard part of their service

offering in urban/center city store loca tions, not justatthe Georgia Avenue location, but in allthestores in DC ,and in other urban marketsacrossthe United States.

11.Walmartshould agreeto explore wi th the DC Department of Transportation sett ing up asharedparking situation with the on-sitecustomer parking spaces, perhapsthrough thecreation of atransportation management district to manage this and other transportation demand

management ini tiatives in both thisand the Walter Reed commercial nodes on Georgia Avenue.12.Walmartshould committo the provision of transitand other transportation benefi tsto

employees,to limitthe number of tripsemployees madeto thestore by car.13.Walmartshould committo shifting deli veriesto overnight hours for all of the deli veries from

Walmart distribution centers,and for at least 50% of the deli veries made directly by vendors.14.Walmartshould agreeto not rece ive deli veries during morning (7:00 a.m.to 9:00 a.m.) and

evening (3:30 p.m.to 7:00 p.m.) rush hour traff ic periods.

Traff iccirculation recommendations

15.Thecommitteesupportsthe developer proposal to add 6 feetto the width of thestreet on thesouth side of the 900 block of Peabody Stree t,along theentire length of Lot 35.

16.Eliminate parking on the portion of the 900 block of Peabody Street (from Georgia Avenuetotheeasternmost lot line of Lot 35,to simplify entry into and out of the Walmartstore.

17.Forbid parking on thesideyard of the policestation alongside Peabody Street.18.Install atraff icdiverter midway in the 900 block of Peabody Street, between the Curtis

section and the residential section of Square 2986 to easecustomer traff ic into and out of theWalmart development wi thout imposing on the residential portion of the block and to eliminatecutthrough traff ic on Peabody Street.

19.Consider adding spec ial parking by permi t only to the westside of the 6000 block of 9th Streetthrough thecreation of spec ial perpendicular parking area ,thecost of which should be borne bythe developer.

20.Put restrictions on through-traff ic between B lair Road and G eorgia Avenue,at least forPeabody (if a diverter is not installed) and Quackenbos Streets,and maybe Ri ttenhouse Street,wi th recurring enforcementefforts,to limitthe impact of the Walmartstore in terms ofgenerating cutthrough traff ic on residents.

Transportation planning and enginee ring recommendations

21.Consider reconstructing the Georgia Avenue-M issouri Avenue intersection to improve itsgeometry and capac ity and to reducecongest ion

.

This will bea major undertaking thatcoulddelay the Walmart projec t, but it isan important investment in the revi tali zation of GeorgiaAvenueand Upper Northwest DC ,and would beasignature investment wi th multi-decadeimpact.

22.Prioritizeand commence planning, design,and engineering for streetcar service on G eorgiaAvenue, in order to reduce negativetraff ic impactthat would otherwise occur,asa resul t oflimited transitservice in thecorridor (bus only), north of New Hampshire Avenue untilDowntown Silver Spring.


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23.Makesurethatcurrent road construction projec tsalong Georgia Avenue incorporatestreetcartracksto support development of thestreetcar serv iceand to reducethe need for later and morecostly reconstruction.

24.Consider reviv ing previous plansto providestreetcar servicethrough to Silver Spring inMon tgomery County in order to reducethrough motor vehicletraff ictraveling on GeorgiaAvenue.

25.Allocate fundsand commence planning for thecreation of the Kennedy S treetto W alter Reedsection of the Georgia Avenue Great Streets Master Plan.

Safety recommendation

26.Walmartshould be required to submitasafety and security management plan beforeacertif icate of occupancy is issued for the operation of thestore. Spec ial considerationsshouldbe provided concerning spec ial salesevents.

Neighborhood economic impact recommendations

27.Based on this preliminary review, it is recommended thatthe Office of Planning conductamore detailed and completeanalysis of the neighborhood economic impact of a Walmart

general merchandise/supermarketcombination store in Ward 4,asa legitimate (but novel)interpretation of the provisions of the Large Tract Review processconcerning minimization ofadverse neighborhood impacts. If potentially negative impactscannot beexpected to bereasonably mitigated, denial of theapplication in whole or in partcould potentially be just if ied.

28. A mi tigation program, funded by the developer and/or Walmart,should becreated for Ward 4businesses (aseparate program could becreated for Ward 1, butsuch a recommendation is notwi thin the purview of thiscommittee) to limit potentially negative impacts on extant retailers,as well asto leverageto as greatan extentas possible, in a proactive manner through variouscommercial district revitali zation activ ities,theentry of Walmart into the Georgia Avenuecorridor generall y,and into the Missouri Avenue-Piney Branch commercial district nodespec if ica ll y.

29.Fundsshould be madeavailable for technica l assistanceto merchants, faade improvementprojects, marketing,and other initiatives, in advance of (and after) the opening of the Walmartstore,to better prepare retailersto faceand addresscompetition. (The Main Streetcommercialdistrict revi tali zation program,such asthe program in Old Takoma,serving both DC andMaryland, is onesuch model for thistype of program.)

30.A revi tali zation coordinator should be hired, paid for by Walmart/Foulger-Pratt , for at leastathree year period,to develop and managethis program, in association with merchants, residents,and other stakeholders. This person could be assigned to work as part of the Deputy Mayors

Office for Planning and Economic Development,the Office of Planning, or in the Ward 4Councilmembers Office.

31.A master database of all commercial propertiesshould becreated, wi th data on leaseterms,property size

,

building condition,

revenue potential/s.

f.

and other items,

for use in theexecutionof this program.

32.A recrui tmentand development program to attract new businessesand new developmentshould beexecuted simultaneously with developmentand implementation of thetechnica lassistanceand support program for extant businessesand properties.

33.No tethat whilethe Washington DC Economic Partnership istasked with the development ofmarketing materials for various DC commercial districts,they have notcreated promotional


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materials for the Missouri Avenueto Piney Branch Road commercial node on Georgia Avenue.They should be directed to createsuch materials forthwith.

Recommendations for rectifying gaps in Planning and Zoning regulations

34.The Large Tract Review process does notadequately address potentially negativeeconomicimpact of projects generall y. The LT R process isalso deficient because it isessentiall yadvisory , wi thouttheability to directly mandateac tion or deny approval. These defects in the

Large Tract Review processshould beaddressed and the process made more robust.35.DC should create a new mandatory review process (Large Retail ImpactReview) to address

the variouseconomicand other impacts of largesca le retail projects in excess of 75,000 squarefeet.

36.Arguably,the Georgia Avenuesite on Square 2986 does not havethecapac ity to meetthedemands of uses generating great numbers of automobiletrips,and therefore high traff icgenerating usesshould not beableto be loca ted there. Land useand building useapprovalprocessesshould include provisions for linking useapprovalsto sites wi th thecapac ity tosatisfy transportation demand to a greatextantthrough the use of already extanttransportationinfrastructure. The ABC planning process employed in the Netherlands is a model for how

thiscould be done in practice1.

37.DC does not impose impact fees on new developments. Suburban jurisdictions, includingMon tgomery County2, do imposesuch fees. Collec tion of such monies would provideanothermethod to address mi tigation of project impacts, including thecost of rec tifying the impact ofnew projects on downline infrastructure.

1 http://www.eaue.de/winuwd/131.htm2 http://permi tt ingservices.montgomerycountymd.gov/permi tt ing/pdf/DevelopmentImpactTax.pdf

LTR Report Summary Recommendations 2011-5-23

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