City of Alexandria, Virginia
________________
MEMORANDUM
DATE: DECEMBER 7, 2021
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Authorization for the Early Acceptance of a Portion of Wesmond Drive Roadway.
BODY
_________________________________________________________________
ISSUE: Acceptance of City ownership of a portion of Wesmond Drive roadway, earlier than anticipated under the conditions of APTA’s DSUP approval and North Potomac Yard Small Area Plan
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
1) Agree to accept the portion of the Wesmond Drive roadway consistent with the terms outlined below; and
2) Authorize the City Manager to execute the necessary documents.
BACKGROUND: The issue for consideration relates back to the approval of the APTA development at 3030 Potomac Avenue (DSUP#2017-00017) and the 2017 update to the North Potomac Yard Small Area Plan. The City adopted an updated street layout with the small area plan update that aligned Wesmond Drive as an east-west street with a northeast jog east of Dogue Street toward the future Potomac Yard Metrorail Station and Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. The realigned segment of Wesmond Drive between Dogue Street and Potomac Avenue allowed for APTA to obtain additional land area for a publicly accessible plaza for its development site.
Due to the realignment of Wesmond Drive and the development of APTA’s site based on existing parcel lines, portions of APTA’s site (a portion of the plaza) are located on property owned by CPYR, the adjacent property owner to the north which owns the Potomac Yard Shopping Center. Additionally, portions of the adjacent Wesmond Drive roadway segment are located on APTA’s property. A subdivision was approved by Planning Commission in 2018 to facilitate a land swap between APTA and CPYR to allow for APTA to consolidate its site and for CPYR to consolidate control of the Wesmond Drive roadway segment and operate the roadway under a public access easement. The applicant for the subdivision, JBG Smith (representing both APTA and CPYR), did not record the subdivision and the approval expired in 2020. The applicant has submitted a new subdivision application under consideration by Planning Commission on December 7 (SUB#2021-00008). As part of the preliminary subdivision plat, the applicant has delineated areas for Wesmond Drive right-of-way dedication to the City. The sidewalk and streetscape constructed as part of APTA’s DSUP approval will be dedicated to City pending final subdivision plat approval.
As part of the subdivision approval, the applicant is requesting a 282 square-foot portion of the Wesmond Drive roadway that is currently part of APTA property be dedicated to the City. This portion of roadway was originally included in the roadway public access easement area to be owned by CPYR, though the applicant has recently identified issues with the conveyance of this property to from APTA to CPYR because of deed restrictions that would require consent of other Potomac Yard property owners to remove. For the portion of roadway property to remain owned by APTA would require APTA to own and maintain this portion of property for several years until the redevelopment of the Potomac Yard Shopping Center and City acceptance of the full Wesmond Drive right-of-way.
DISCUSSION: Planning Commission is set to review the proposed dedication of the Wesmond Drive roadway portion as part of a City Charter Section 9.06 review (case #2021-00008) concurrently with SUB#2021-00008. In the staff report, staff discusses its support of the roadway dedication due to its consistency with the North Potomac Yard Small Area Plan and the proposed alignment of Wesmond Drive. While the proposed dedication is earlier than anticipated, the City plans that this portion of roadway will be City right-of-way in the future. The roadway dedication area is adjacent to the Wesmond Drive sidewalk and streetscape that is to be dedicated to the City per the APTA DSUP approval.
Staff has conditioned CPYR to maintain this portion of roadway as part of the SUB#2021-00008 approval. In response, the applicant offered private maintenance of this portion of roadway as part of CPYR’s maintenance of the Wesmond Drive roadway segment between Dogue Street and Potomac Avenue (which will have a public access easement) until such time that the CPYR-owned Potomac Yard Shopping Center redevelops per the North Potomac Yard Small Area Plan.
FISCAL IMPACT: The City will not need to utilize City resources to maintain the dedicated portion of roadway until the City accepts the full right-of-way segment when constructed with the future shopping center redevelopment.
ATTACHMENT: SUB#2021-00008 and City Charter Section 9.06 Case#2021-00008 staff
report to Planning Commission
STAFF:
Emily A. Baker, Deputy City Manager
Joanna Anderson, City Attorney
Karl Moritz, Planning Director
Christina Zechman Brown, Deputy City Attorney
Michael Swidrak, AICP, Urban Planner III