Politics & Government

Density Decreased on Herndon Metro Area Study

The newest version of the Herndon Metro Station Area Plan includes only 38 acres that will be considered for redevelopment, down from the previous plan's 110 acres.

The scope of the Herndon Metro Area Study has changed once again, and the study area has been decreased from 110 acres to 38 acres, which includes nine properties.

In and consultants Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., went back to rework the plan to correct the mistakes. The new plan was presented to the public for the first time at Monday night’s Planning Commission public hearing.

 

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SMALLER STUDY AREA, LESS DENSITY

When the planning process first began from Van Buren Street to Spring Street. The plan now only includes the 38 acres on the south side of Herndon Parkway, north of the Dulles Toll Road, from Van Buren Street to the Fairbrook property.

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Kay Robertson, senior planner for the Town of Herndon, said the key to the plan is to find the right balance of density, traffic and fiscal impact. She said the revised study found that the proper balance is achievable with about 7 million square feet of development, all on the 38 acres south of Herndon Parkway.

Cutting down the scope of the study area and the square footage will minimize the impact on traffic and the cost to the public, Robertson said. She said 7 million square feet of property would generate about $11.5 million in revenue for the town, with the cost of services to those properties being about $4.8 million.

Currently there is about 900,000 square feet of development in that land area, Robertson said. She said those buildings will likely be demolished and rebuilt. Buildings in the area will be between 10-15 stories tall, including parking garages. The tallest buildings would be closest to the station, tapering down in height going toward the east and west, she said.

The last version of the Metro Station Area Plan called for an FAR of 4.5 on the land between Herndon Parkway and the Dulles Toll Road. A floor area ratio of 4.5 means the building constructed on the land can be 4.5 times the size of the square footage of the land unit it sits on.

The newest version of the plan calls for the buildings closest to the station to have an FAR of 4.3, while the buildings not adjacent to the station will have an FAR of 3.8.

By decreasing the study area and density, growth of workers and residents in the study area has dropped by about half, Robertson said. Employees traveling in and out of the study area has decreased from 28,122 to 14,849.

The cost of capital improvements has decreased as well. Robertson said the last version of the plan called for about $77 million in capital improvements, such as upgrades to roads, and water and sewer systems. Under the new plan capital improvement costs have dropped to about $40 million, she said.

The area will still require a number of road improvements, including a right turn lane from northbound Van Buren Street to eastbound Herndon Parkway, which is already in the works, Robertson said. She said the cost of road improvements has decreased by about a quarter of a million due to reducing the study area.

The west side of the study area will receive an extension of Worldgate Drive from Van Buren Street to Herndon Parkway. The east side of the study area, near Spring Street will, will require a number of additional turn lanes, and although traffic is improved from the last plan, some intersections are still rated D.

Because only the land on the south side of Herndon Parkway will be most likely to be redeveloped in the newest plan, the majority of the changes to the streetscape will occur on the south side of the parkway.

Robertson said the south side will include 11 feet of sidewalk, a 5-foot planting strip, an 11-foot shared-use path, and a 5-foot safety zone. The north side will have a 15-foot sidewalk and a 12-foot drop-off lane for car and bus traffic across from the walkway to the Metro Station. The promenade leading to the Metro station is now slated to be 75-feet wide, rather than the previously planned 100 feet.

Pathways will provide bicycle and pedestrian access from the study area to Van Buren Street connecting to the W&OD Trail on the west, and through or along the Fairbrook property and Sugarland Run Stream Trail on the east to the W&OD Trail.

 

LOCAL RESIDENTS PRESS FOR HIGHER STANDARDS

During the public hearing, Herndon resident Tom Kellner said he hasn’t yet heard how the plan will benefit current Herndon residents and businesses. He said the level of service at intersections around the study area is still unacceptable and the Planning Commission and Town Council should be asking themselves if the quality of living of Herndon’s residents, now and in the future, will be better or worse by the adoption of the plan.

Barbara Glakas said she finds the new study numbers acceptable and believes it is a reasonable amount of density to attract developers and create the synergy needed for the development to succeed. She said the Planning Commission should work to include language that encourages charging stations for electric cars.

Doug Schuster, of Herndon, said this plan is a little bit better, but still demonstrates sloppy work on the part of VHB. He questioned how they came back with a new plan so quickly after the last one took many months of work and analysis. He said he isn’t sure why the consultants are still being used, and he would have had them removed immediately after the mistake was found in November.

Schuster said VHB took the easy way out by reducing the study area, cutting down the FAR and then cutting down the assumptions used in the study to make the numbers fit. He said a D rating on an intersection should not be acceptable to the town and the town should set a standard acceptable level of service for the entire town.  

Dennis Baughan said he encourages the Planning Commission not to pass the Herndon Metro Area Study until the town-wide traffic study is finished so they can see what kind of impact the Metro redevelopment will have on the rest of Herndon’s roadways.

Baughan said the town is short on open space and there isn’t land to create more open space in Herndon, which will be necessary with new development. He said while he is impressed with what was presented at the meeting, there still needs to be more public outreach in the effort.  

Herndon residents and business owners will have , as well as the consultants working on the plan, at a public hearing on Monday, Jan. 23 at the Herndon Municipal Center. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the lobby of the HMC, located at 777 Lynn St. For more information on the plan, visit the study website or the Town of Herndon's website


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