AHCA position on proposed MetPark6/7/8 (HQ2) and necessary community benefits

The following remarks were provided to the Planning Commission on November 25 to express both positive aspects of the proposed MetPark6/7/8 development as well as issues AHCA feel should be resolved prior to approval.

Update 12/3: The Planning Commission voted to support the proposed development with amendments calling for site plan conditions to be spelled out around the park, housing, event space, including a more detailed explanation about who can use it, and about being ready for EV charging stations in the garage. The more substantive issues of failure to evaluate and mitigate the overall needs of the area remain concerns to AHCA.

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November, 25, 2019
Dear Members of the Planning Commission

The representatives of the Arlington Ridge, Aurora Highlands and Crystal City Civic Associations appreciate the opportunity to weigh in on the proposed site plan for Metropolitan Park phases 6, 7 and 8. This proposed site, making up half of Amazon’s second headquarters, stands to both make a major impact on our neighborhoods and will set the pace for future development in the region. Therefore, we ask the Commission to carefully consider how it approaches this site approval.

The contents of this letter track the themed discussions during the Site Plan review process. However, we wish to start with some notes about the processes we have engaged in through 2019.

First, this letter and our recommendations build on the work of the 22202 Livability Framework, which has been released and is available at www.livability22202.org. We believe that this framework is needed, not just in the context of this site, but for the coming deluge of site plan applications expected both in the coming year and in the coming decade. We believe the coming changes, which bring both positive and negative features, must be viewed in the lens of a comprehensive neighborhood vision encompassing housing affordability, fostered community, environmental sustainability, neighborhood mobility and a more collaborative and innovative approach to planning.

Second, we believe that successful planning involves joint cooperation between the county, developer and community members. We appreciate the openness that JBG and Amazon have had to discussing this site plan from the community’s perspective and have hope that that collaboration will continue.

Third, we believe that, while we appreciate the Planning Commission’s leadership, this project has made it clear that the Site Plan Review process has fundamental flaws. Three sessions with abbreviated conversation/input are not enough to fully evaluate this plan. The approach to community benefits is similarly restrained, given the focus on mitigation specifically to the site itself, rather than broader and longer term neighborhood impacts. While this letter proposes community mitigation offsets in line with the current process, we suggest that the committee consider new tools that, as 22202 continues to see development, addresses these concerns.

Land Use

We are glad that approval of this site plan will mean completion of the Phased Development Site Plan (PDSP) for Metropolitan Park, replacing an outdated warehouse with a mixed use development that will help bring together the Pentagon City and Crystal City neighborhoods into a more cohesive downtown. We have raised concerns that while the PDSP envisions 22-story residential buildings, these proposed buildings, due to being an office use, will be significantly taller. This speaks to a need to ensure future long term planning documents that are more specific about expected heights.

The Metropolitan Park PDSP calls for residential buildings at this site. While we do not oppose this office use, which helps break up the block into different use types, the change does demonstrate the need for more housing in the neighborhood, as called for in the planning document. This letter discusses the need to address housing affordability later on.

Building Architecture and Design

We appreciate that the proposed designs offer relief from nearby buildings that share many of the same colors and design features. The glass and fins approach, somewhat similar to Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, offers a pleasing addition to the neighborhood. We regret the boxy and rectangular nature of the massing but do appreciate the limitations, given a particular commitment by the county to an amount of square footage, and a desire to move massing away from the adjacent streets.

We applaud the applicants’ decision to make the buildings LEED Platinum. As our livability framework details, we must address environmental sustainability in a comprehensive manner. In leading by example, Amazon and JBG will hopefully pave the way for all developments in the area to plan to achieve sustainable design.

We are concerned that the crowns of the buildings are not in line with the Metropolitan Park Design Guidelines, which states that, “the building crown shall define the building at the skyline and shall incorporate as appropriate architectural elements to create a memorable image.” As a vertical continuation of the rest of the building, the crowns are neither memorable nor defining. We encourage applicants to sculpt the crowns to make them more visually interesting.

We do appreciate the addition of new retail space to the neighborhood, particularly along South Eads Street. However, we wish to point out that the county’s retail action plan does not envision retail along 15th St. Retail spaces provide great benefit to neighborhoods as well as building occupants, but empty storefronts are a detriment to community viability. Considering increased turnover in retail and failing restaurants around the county, we are concerned about the viability of the large amount of retail proposed. Amazon has hinted that it may provide subsidized rental rates for its retail. We ask that these plans be detailed more explicitly and that alternative, yet still engaging, uses be considered for the retail spaces along 15th Street.

The site plan would include a daycare facility on 13th and Elm streets, addressing a badly needed service in our neighborhood. Amazon has stated that it will not ask the daycare operator to put aside slots for its employees, and we ask that this commitment be explicitly included in the site plan agreement. SPRC members have questioned whether the site plan would provide adequate parking and pick-up/drop-off space for daycare users. We ask you to ensure that the site conforms with the county’s newly adopted daycare regulations.

We also believe the site could go further in envisioning how pick up and drop off will work, both for office users, retail users, and those deliveries not using the loading docks. While the site plan envisions a pick up and drop off space on either side of 14th and Eads, given the increasing

reliance on ride sharing, this may not be sufficient, or actual real world usage may end up sending cars to other locations, such as along 14th street instead.

Open Space

We look forward to the completion of Metropolitan Park, which, in its current state, does not serve the neighborhood’s needs. Its use as a de-facto off-leash dog park, for example, demonstrates that a real one is badly needed. The completed park will be an important feature for both Amazon and community members as a shared space. We also appreciate Amazon and JBG’s comments at SPRC meetings indicating their intent to work with the nearby property owners to re-envision the entire park from scratch.

We do regret the lack of details available about the park and the proposed plazas. While we understand the county’s desire for a more comprehensive park planning process, the incomplete information makes it difficult for the neighborhood to evaluate whether the park fits in with the broader site plan. For instance, the existence of the plazas raises questions about whether they are the best use of space, instead of additional park. We encourage the applicant to better explain how it envisions these plazas will be used and the extent to which green elements will be incorporated.

Transportation

We believe this site should both ensure that all employees and visitors have a smooth way to access both the proposed office and retail space as well as enhance the surrounding transportation network.

Some community members have expressed disappointment at the assumption in the Multimodal Transportation Assessment that 30 percent of office workers will drive, considering both Amazon and the county’s environmental commitments and the plans to build enough parking for that population. At the same, we want to ensure that there are no spillover parking impacts on area residents. We would encourage Amazon to present plans for how it might reuse its planned parking spaces should the rate of drivers fall in the future.

The MMTA assumes that the majority of the office workers will take public transit. Disappointingly, it does not further break down what type of transit they will use, but we believe they most will likely use Metro. There has been no assessment as to whether the nearby metro stations can handle the increased riders. We recommend further analysis of how this site will impact public transportation.

We applaud the applicants for including protected bike lanes on both Eads Street and 15th Street. In particular, the change to include the 15th street lanes is an example of the importance of broad community engagement in the process.

Construction Issues

As discussed at the third SPRC meeting, we ask that the applicants provide a more detailed map of the expected path of construction vehicles. It is concerning that the initial map appeared to send the vehicles down Joyce and 15th Streets, rather than using routes that front fewer residential developments. We do appreciate that the applicants have stated they do not plan to use adjacent streets for staging but plan to instead use the site itself as well as
PenPlace.

We appreciate that the applicant plans to have an on-site community point of contact as well as outreach to civic associations and neighboring residential buildings. We encourage the applicant to develop and share a plan for how rules applicable to construction and noise will be enforced, as well as how contractors will be educated.

We encourage the applicants to plan to minimize the sidewalks and bike lanes that are closed off for construction and to provide alternatives for both, in the event they must be closed. Mitigation should include signs displaying maps of alternative routes and the expected dates of closure.

We also encourage the applicants to keep the community informed about the progress of construction, both through physical signage and social media.

Site Plan Mitigation

We believe that site plan mitigation must include both immediate projects to address the impacts of the site as well as the start of a long-term investment in community features that will extend beyond this site. We acknowledge that some of our inputs benefit both developer and community and thus require some apportioning of the net community benefit.

We particularly wish to emphasize the need to combine mitigation funds from across multiple site plans to achieve the impacts necessary to achieve a livable community. This has been done before in Arlington, although only for specific projects. We believe an innovative, flexible approach to how funds are used will give the county and community the tools it needs to address the expected growth in our neighborhoods.

Priority Items – While we believe all of our highlighted items are important, we have been informed that some level of prioritization would be important. Therefore, the following four items would be those that we suggest be addressed first.

Address the Need for Affordable Housing –We wish to acknowledge and appreciate the county leadership’s stated commitment to addressing the ongoing challenges many face in finding an affordable place to live. While 56 percent of Arlington households are renter occupied, in 22202 that rate is 76 percent. Mitigation funds should ensure that those who live in our neighborhood can continue to do so through some mechanism. This should include not just contributions to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund but also investments in funds that address all potentially impacted populations, such as public employees, current renters and the elderly.

Improve Nearby Metro Stations – Both the Crystal City and Pentagon City metro stations will be handling thousands of new users, and mitigation should reflect station improvements beyond those already planned, such as opening the Pentagon City pedestrian tunnel during all operating hours and modernizing the elevator on the east side of Hayes. We also request a study on the need for and feasibility of a second platform entrance for the Pentagon City Station at 15th and Hayes.

Create a Community Park Fund – As the Pentagon City and Crystal City neighborhoods are wholly lacking in green space, we propose the creation of a green fund to be administered by the County, with required consent from the community on how the funds are used, to purchase public park space or improve existing parks within 22202. The site plan should clearly state how the fund may be allocated to support future projects. In the near term some funding could be used to mitigate Metropolitan Park’s construction disruption by, for example, providing a temporary dog park.

Create Private-Public Data Tracking Initiative – We believe there is a compelling need to establish a publicly available data baseline for tracking environmental, walkability, transportation, and housing factors in 22202. This would include a system to allow continuous collection and modeling of transit patterns.

Additional Mitigation Needs

Improve Metropolitan Park – We believe this site plan should transform this park into one that works for those who live and work nearby. The applicant should work with the community, county and other park landowners to rethink the entire park space, beyond that in the site itself. Potential uses should include a fenced dog park, tot lot, passive space and activated recreational space. The process should align with the previous public engagement process in the park changes reviewed under the Metropolitan Park 6 site plan.

Create a Fund Investing in Additional Future Multimodal Transportation – Given the rapid changes coming to both the neighborhood and to technology and transportation, we believe it is difficult to anticipate all future transportation needs. Therefore, we propose pooling funds that can be used for both transportation mitigation as needed, such as if bus routes become overcrowded, adopting bike infrastructure and for innovative neighborhood projects, such as a neighborhood jitney/circulator as well as incorporation of light electric vehicle (LEV) services.

Build and Support an Arts/Maker Community Space on 15th Street – Amazon and other nearby technology leaders present a unique opportunity to offer their expertise to Arlington. We recommend utilizing the proposed retail space along 15th St for a STEAM focused community space that could combine features of a library, community center and education center.

Allow Access to Conference Space –The proposed conference center should be available at no cost for use by community groups and the county government. The site plan should spell out on which days and hours this space will be made available and the point of contact and process

with Amazon for scheduling the space including the minimum monthly hours, days of the week and hours of the day that use of the space can occur.

Formalize Community Relationship with Amazon – To ensure a long term collaborative relationship, Amazon should be required to appoint one senior staff member as the designated liaison to the community. We appreciate that a position was recently created but suggest that a site plan condition would ensure a long term relationship past this initial startup phase.

Consider Additional Opportunities We have identified additional actions critical to achieving a well-integrated, livable community beyond mitigation funds. The County and applicant should work collaboratively with the community to make progress toward this goal by considering

• An improved bike and pedestrian network
• Attractive but sustainable retail options
• Green space along the site plan itself, including large trees
• Day care facilities open to the community
• Medical and emergency care facilities
• Addressing Route 1 in a way that reflects community needs
• Ensuring construction impact is minimized for the neighborhood

Closing

We express our appreciation to the Planning Commission members for reviewing this letter and for additionally iterating input with us throughout this process. This site plan reflects an important moment for our neighborhood; a point that will dictate how planning stakeholders work together going forward. We encourage the Commission, as well as the applicants and the County Board and staff, to approach this with a spirit of openness and transparency.

Sincerely,
Arthur Fox (Arlington Ridge), Carol Fuller (Crystal City) and Scott Miles (Aurora Highlands)

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