Notes from the

RTF Steering Committee Meeting

March 23, 2011
Prepared by Terry Maynard

Summary: After some important feedback from Chairman Nicoson on developments in Metrorail
planning, the Steering Committee spent the entirety of its meeting wrestling with two related issues:
What should be the balance of residential vs. office space in various parts of each TOD area? Should the
residential:office ratio be required at the parcel, landbay, or overall TOD area level? The meeting did not
reach any conclusions although it tended toward an overall balance of residential and office space
allocated across the entirety of the TOD area. DPZ was asked to prepare a strawman based on the
committee’s discussion for next week’s meeting.

Present: Patty Nicoson, Peter Otteni, Kohann Williams, Greg Riegle, Bill Penniman, Van Foster, Robert
Goudie, Paul Thomas, John Carter, and Mark Looney. Also present were DPZ staffers Fred Selden, Heidi
Merkel, Faheem Darab, and Richard Lambert. The audience included several citizens and developers as
well as Goldie Harrison from Supr. Hudgins’ office.

Metrorail
Chairman Patty Nicoson ran through a series of meeting and conversation results concerning Metrorail,
highlighted by the fact that MWAA deferred a final decision on the location of the Dulles airport
Metrorail station until its April 6 meeting. It remains unclear whether the MWAA Board will pick an
above ground or an underground station with the estimates of the extra cost ranging from $240-350
million. She also noted that the vote for a new MWAA CEO was 7-6, including the votes of two DC
representatives attending a Board meeting for the first time. She reviewed some of the results of the
Virginia House Transportation meeting (see notes here).

She commented on a Loudoun County budget meeting she attended, noting the resistance to the extra
costs of the Dulles Metro station. Several times Board members pressed MWAA CEO Lynn Hampton for
a less expensive aerial station. Nicoson added that the Fairfax County Board had earlier sent a letter
favoring the low cost option.

Ms. Nicoson noted that the schedule for opening Phase II of the Metrorail had been deferred until 2017
—early or mid-year depending on the Dulles option selected. She added that there has been some
question about when Fairfax and Loudoun counties could back out of the deal to help finance Phase II
construction. MWAA CEO Hampton said that the 90 days decision period would begin when the
preliminary engineering of Phase II was completed in July 2011—putting the decision framework up
against this fall’s Board elections.

Residential: Office Mix Allocation

Heidi Merkel, DPZ, led a discussion the balance of the meeting on how the residential portion of each
TOD area should be allocated. While nominally working from a discussion document she provided, her
central question was whether the SC was putting too much emphasis on balance in individual
developments, and wouldn’t it be better to emphasize office development near the Metro stations. She
cited a 2006 WMATA study that she said reported that 35% of employees will walk ¼ mile to work from
a station, but only 10% will walk a ½ mile, an important argument in focusing office development near
Metro stations. (Here is the table from WMATA’s 2005 Development-Related Ridership Survey—Final
Report she was referring to.)

The discussion shifted the problem of requiring res:off allocations at the parcel level because “not all
parcels are equal.” In general, parcels at RTC and H-M are much larger than those in the Wiehle Avenue
area, especially just north of the Metro station there. It was generally agreed that looking at allocations
at the landbay level would be more constructive. Others thought that the full TOD area would be a
better choice. Also suggested was a “stair steps” approach to allocation, with different specific
allocations at different distances from the station.
 In discussing the small parcel problem, Greg Riegle noted that planning elsewhere in the County
was fairly rigid in these situations. Fred Selden noted that there are two tools for these
circumstances: (1) a land consolidation requirement with mix of uses (MOU) and (2) concurrent
applications with MOU.
 Fred also noted the difference that may need to be made between infill development and
redevelopment. Infill could achieve a MOU, but at an overall lower density than
redevelopment.
 Several expressed concern about a “race to the court house” if specific allocations were
required across landbays (which is already apparently occurring in Tysons). Those who arrive
first can build what they want, forcing others to build what is left over.
 There seemed to be some agreement that a 1:1 off:res space ratio was appropriate Reston-
wide, but the TOD areas would be hardpressed to achieve 2:1 even long term. Mr. Goudie
noted that RTC is now at 19:1.

When questioned by Greg Riegle whether it was the intent to have the Steering Committee produce a
specific policy proposal on the issue, Ms. Merkel responded that there were many plan objectives, of
which mix was one. Others included open space, transportation, etc., but focusing office space near the
Metro is the highest objective, and the SC needed to consider how the others fit with that objective.

Also noted was the fact that the three areas didn’t necessarily need to fit the same mold from an
allocation perspective. Robert Goudie noted (again) that RTC would be Reston’s downtown and the
others wouldn’t be.

Mark Looney asked if there would be a mechanism in place to handle “trading” of allocations, if that
were a preferred method of proceeding. The question wasn’t really addressed, although the idea of
establishing “TDRs” was raised.
Toward the end of the discussion, it was fairly clear that the SC had not and maybe could not arrive at a
consensus on mixes and their allocation. The committee ask the DPZ to prepare a strawman—not a
recommendation, but a discussion document—that the committee could use for its next meeting.

The committee agreed to meet on the evening of March 29, 2011, at a place to be determined, and
adjourned.