2/18/2024 0 Comments Takoma metro stationThe irony to all of this is that the neighborhood is struggling to attract businesses to its commercial street where the Takoma station is located. “EYA designed a building for 10 years ago as opposed to 10 years in the future,” he remarked. Grimes opined that the size issues could be remedied by either building the parking below ground or by greatly reducing it. ![]() However, the number of parking spaces has dropped from two per unit in the original plan to 0.7 per unit, and at the same time, the housing that would be available would increase from 90 to 200 homes. He told me that Metro and EYA’s motives are good with this project, as he fully supports development around the Takoma station, but he echoed what other neighbors have said: that EYA’s plan is still too focused on parking and encourages car ownership and driving. It does shift a significant number of parking spaces from public to private use, but will retain the number of Metro parking spaces for riders and expands the number of bus bays serving Metro and Montgomery County’s RideOn.įormer Takoma Park Councilmember Seth Grimes represented Takoma Parkers, who border the site and led the charge opposing EYA’s proposal. This development is adjacent to the Takoma station, where people will have to drive less, not more. The argument that this development will increase parking and traffic is wrong-headed. DC law does allow projects (like this one) to go through a process called a Planned Unit Development, which can give a project some latitude, such as to increase density near a Metro station or for affordable housing. Looking first at the size, even if the neighbors are technically correct that the proposed building is greater than the underlying zoning, a four-story apartment building abutting Eastern Avenue and adjacent to a Metro station is hardly out of character for the neighborhood. The latest development isn’t perfect, but it’s not terrible either. Meanwhile, elected officials of Takoma Park also raised concerns about the size of the proposed building, the location of a loading dock for apartment residents, too much parking and that the plan steals public parking spots for the benefit of apartment residents. ANC4B also raised concerns about traffic and said the size of the proposed building violates DC zoning rules for being higher than 50 feet. The neighbors’ petition cites their concerns over the size of EYA’s proposed building, the loss of green space, and EYA’s use of an above-ground parking garage with the building wrapping around it (rather than underground parking). ![]() The neighbors also managed to garner support from elected officials this time around.Ĭomplaints about EYA’s proposal are varied, but the theme is evident: “it’s too big and has too much parking.” Many neighbors again opposed EYA’s plans, but this time, they had a much more effective online campaign, building and maintaining two separate opposition websites as well as both a Facebook page and Yahoo group. EYA’s revised plan to build apartments by the Takoma station.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |