Planning commission recommends approval of West Ridge Towns rezoning and development special-use permit after neighbor opposition

The Alexandria Planning Commission voted 6–1 to recommend City Council approval of a rezoning and a development special-use permit for the West Ridge Towns project at 126 Longview Drive and 2921 Nob Hill Court.

The rezoning request would change a portion of the site from R-8 (single-family residential) to RA (multi-unit residential) and the development special-use permit would allow 19 townhouse-style units, three multi-unit buildings and one single-unit dwelling, plus modifications for compact garage parking and bonus density.

The project team and city staff said the development includes one on-site for-sale three-bedroom affordable unit targeted at 70–100 percent AMI and monetary contributions of $143,000 to the City Housing Trust Fund and $12,000 to the public art fund. Leon Vines, urban planner with Planning and Zoning, said the plan provides about 12,000 square feet of open space (just over the required 35 percent), bioretention and other stormwater best management practices that would exceed required phosphorus-load reductions by 14 percent. Staff estimated the development would generate an estimated up to three students and that peak AM and PM vehicle trips would be roughly 11 and 12, respectively.

Neighborhood opposition was voiced during the public hearing. Laurie Cooper, representing the Longview Hill Civic Association, presented a petition she said was signed by 30 of 35 homeowners on adjacent streets opposing rezoning; she said the neighborhood would see a density roughly three and a half times current levels, that townhouse heights of 35 feet would be 16 percent taller than surrounding homes and that reduced setback and compact parking modifications would worsen parking and sight-line issues on streets that Cooper described as already congested.

Nathan Randall, principal planner with Planning and Zoning, told commissioners that staff had requested the case be reheard after the sign-posting notice outside the project incorrectly listed the site address as “Longview Terrace” rather than “Longview Drive.” Randall said no project changes were made after the April 1 hearing and that staff continued to recommend approval subject to the conditions in the staff report.

After limited additional commissioner comment and restatement of positions from the April hearing, Commissioner William Ramirez moved to recommend approval of the rezoning and then the development special-use permit; Commissioner Mark Lanahan seconded both motions. Both motions passed 6–1. Commissioner Brown cast the lone dissenting vote in both roll calls and reiterated continuing concerns about neighborhood impacts.

The project will now go to City Council for final action. Staff materials and the applicant’s site plans remain the primary record of technical design and mitigation measures; the commission’s recommendation does not finalize conditions that will be set by the council.