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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2012_tcmin0110COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Umstattd presiding Council Members Present: David Butler, Thomas Dunn, II, Katie Sheldon Hammler, Fernando "Marty" Martinez, C. Terry Titus, Kevin Wright and Mayor Umstattd. Council Members Absent: Council Member Dunn arrived at 8:35 p.m. Staff Present: Town Manager John Wells, Deputy Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Town Attorney Jeanette Irby, Director of Planning and Zoning Susan Berry Hill, Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning Brian Boucher, Zoning Administrator Chris Murphy, Senior Planner Michael Watkins, Director of Public Works Tom Mason, Economic Development Manager Marantha Edwards and Clerk of Council Lee Ann Green AGENDA ITEMS 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. INVOCATION: Vice Mayor Wright 3. SALUTE TO THE FLAG: Council Member Butler 4. ROLL CALL: Showing Council Member Dunn arriving at 8:35 p.m. 5. MINUTES a. Regular Session Minutes of November 29 2011 - On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the minutes of the November 29 regular session were approved 5 -0 -1 -1 (Titus abstaining /Dunn absent). b. Work Session Minutes of December 12 2011 On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the minutes of the December 12 work session were approved 4 -0 -2 -1 (Wright, Titus abstaining /Dunn absent) C. Regular Session Minutes of December 13 2011 On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the minutes of the December 13 regular session were approved 5 -0 -1 -1 (Titus abstaining /Dunn absent). d. ADOPTING THE MEETING AGENDA On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the meeting agenda was approved as presented by the following vote: Aye: Butler, Hammler, Martinez, Titus, Wright and Mayor Umstattd Nay: None Vote: 6-0-1 (Dunn absent) 7. PRESENTATIONS a. Business to Business Video 1 Page COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 Marantha Edwards: Madam Mayor and Members of the Council, welcome Council Member Titus. I have with me this evening Becky Campbell from Studio Center. I am here to share with you and unveil our new economic development tool which is a business to business video. It is a little over seven minutes. On the other side, I will answer any questions. I do want to preface it by saying I hope you are as excited as I am about it. I think it tells the best of the best of the Leesburg story on the heels of the improvements we've made to our land management and development process. It is, I will preface it by saying it is unscripted. It is a conversation ... conversations about Leesburg. I have to say that Studio Center was phenomenal to work with. I thank Becky and that group. They were a pleasure, as you can see ... the Mason Enterprise Center, it was a little early in the game; however, the timing was right. We think it tells a good story. As of tomorrow, we will have it uploaded on our YouTube channel, website, all of the folks that are mentioned, all of the folks that are featured, hopefully will make those links on their individual business pages and as a result of this 7 '/a minute video, we will be creating subchapters so that we will have subchapters on entrepreneurial development, on some of the major categories so that we will have those and we will be able to share those with the expanding businesses, the existing businesses and the prospects. 8. PETITIONERS The petitioner's section was opened at 7:48 p.m. Sarah Howard O'Brien: My Name is Sarah Howard O'Brien and I am with Loudoun County Schools. Our address is 21000 Education Court in Ashburn Virginia. I am here this evening to speak on the item on your agenda which I believe is item number 12, which relates to a requested proffer amendment relating to previously proffered funding for schools for capital facilities. I would like to note that Sam Adamo who is the director of Planning and Legislative Services. I work for Sam. He is unable to attend and address you personally this evening because of a school board meeting tonight. The remarks that we would like to place on the record is to ask you to please maintain the proffer that provides for school capital facilities funding. Now, that was the intent of the original proffer and it is very important for us to maintain those funds. I am sure, as you know, wrestling with budgets that public funding for facilities is difficult to come by. We would like to see those funds maintained. In particular with Leesburg, we have a number of facilities, school facilities, in the town that are older that are going to be needing renovations. For example, the Catoctin Elementary School is a good example of that. So, if you need additional information from us, we will be happy to provide it. We do appreciate your time and your consideration. We just ask that you keep those funds for us so that we can continue to provide good schools. Rodion Iwanczuk: Loudoun County Planning Department, 1 Harrison Street, SE, Leesburg, Virginia. I was watching the work session last night and there were a couple of questions that were posed to town staff. I think I may have a couple of answers for you. This is regarding the Village at Leesburg rezoning application TLZM 2010 -0003. Noting the provisions suggested by staff for proffer ten, which was clarified to ensure payment by the applicant for the annexation area development policies defined public 2 1 P �J ky COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 facilities contribution. Councilman Titus, you had a specific question regarding the expiration of the annexation area development policies which were crafted under the 1983 annexation agreement between the town and the county. The town's position is that the agreement expired in 2009. The county staff's position acknowledges the end of the moratorium on seeking city status, but notes that there was a provision in the annexation agreement that precludes the county from taking certain action through... until 2014. Staff analyzing the annexation agreement can't really... it's difficult at best to read the annexation agreement without referring to the policies established, the AADPs as it were. They were established under the annexation agreement. For instance, they establish a joint committee to ... through the policies that review the annexation agreement and the policies and provide a forum for discussion of any issues that may arise under the annexation agreement and it's under this 2014 date in the annexation agreement that the county staff would maintain that the AADPs are still in effect. With that clarification, that staff has offered to the proffers, that the public facilities contribution still be made, county staff is still supportive of the application. Regarding the additional proffer ten revision requested for school capital facility payments, a credit against regional transportation improvements, you also noted last night that you had spoken with Mr. Merrithew of the planning department and he pointed out that several times the Board of Supervisors has granted a credit. That would be on the board's own action against county staff recommendation. Under the proffer guidelines that county staff uses, when it is done it is done on a case by case basis by the board and also as part of original rezoning, not several years after the fact. This proffer was made in the original rezoning. It is a voluntary contribution as was pointed out in the public hearing in December. Per the applicant's January 5, 2012 letter about the age restricted units not generating school children, in the proffer it notes of the 300 such units, south of Russell Branch Parkway, only 80% are so restricted leaving 20% or approximately 60 units that aren't restricted to not having any school children under the age of 18. So, we support town staff continuing to recommend that the school capital facilities proffer remain. Thank you. Milt Herd: Madam Mayor and Members of Council. Happy New Year. Particularly, welcome Mr. Titus. Nice to see you here. I am Milton Herd, 303 Riding Trail Court. As you know, I am a member of the steering committee for the form based code and although I am not here to speak on their behalf, I think what I will say would be something they would generally support because we did reach pretty broad agreement among the committee members in terms of our recommendations to the Council about the code. I'm really an enthusiastic supporter of form based code. I have studied it at the Form Based Code Institute in Alexandria. As a consultant, I have prepared several form based codes for other localities in Virginia and I have taught form based codes as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia. All that experience has lead me to believe that it really is an important tool for most localities... nearly every locality so I commend you all for your patience, your commitment and dedication to grinding through this thing for these last few years. You have been very determined and I really am happy to see you continuing to move forward. I am here tonight to urge you to move forward with the hybrid version of this form based code and while it is not the perfect ideal textbook version of the form based code, I think it's very good for the town at this point in time because it does several things. It retains the essential elements that 3 1 raj COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 are important for a form based code, that is ensuring that buildings are close to the street, that parking is behind the buildings and that you have this interconnected street network of small blocks. Those are the key things. It does that. It also is actually better than the code you adopted last year in that it expands the area of application because it uses the B -2 and that is closer, more in keeping with the crescent district master plan, which is the whole point of this. It also does a very clever thing, which I think sort of hits the sweet spot for this moment in time for Leesburg, and that is it doesn't rely on the conventional regulating plan as a rigid guide. Rather, it uses the comprehensive plan road net as a general guide for the location of roads and buildings. I think that's good because it gets you over the hump of the uncertainty and sort of the concern and risk that the council and some of the staff felt that the rigid regulating plan would bring about. So, I think it's a really clever and practical solution, although I think it's really essential that you not only go forward with the version that the staff brought to you, but also you include the recommendations that the steering committee made because those were very important for making sure it is feasible from an economic standpoint. I think that's a whole package that I urge you to go forward with. I would commend the staff, particularly the planning staff for responding to your concerns from last November. They have wrestled hard with this and they have been balancing multiple viewpoints, not only among council, but also internally with the staff. I think they really have sort of hit the sweet spot here if you add in the committee's recommendations. I really share some of the concerns that Mr. Butler expressed last night. I too am frustrated. He made some valid points. I really sympathize with his frustration, but again, I think this ends up being a win /win. I think some of his concerns, particularly about the regulating plan and how it is applied through the site plan process can be resolved with some refinement of the language and I think your staff can do that. Also, I think your concerns, Madam Mayor, about the heights can be resolved with some additional language. There is lots of tools to mitigate the perceived impact of building heights. You, yourself said last night that you would like to see the expansion of the fabric and character of the historic downtown to the crescent district. That is what this is all about. We can do that if you go forward with the hybrid code with the steering committee recommendations, so I urge you to do that. Thanks again for all your hard work on this. The petitioner's section was closed at 7:59 p.m. 9. APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the following items were moved for approval as part of the Consent Agenda: a. Additional Streets for Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Maintenance RESOLUTION 2012 -002 Requesting the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to Accept Certain Streets b. Initiating an Amendment to the Town Code — Calculation of Personal Property Tax 4 1 Page COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 MOTION 2012 -001 I move that Council authorize Town staff to initiate an amendment to the Leesburg Town Code related to the calculation of taxes for vehicles tangible personal property tax relief C. Accenting the Public Improvements Releasing the Performance Guarantee and Approving a Maintenance Guarantee for Dulles Greenway- Battlefield Parkway Interchange — TLPF 2005 -0015 RESOLUTION 2012 -003 Accepting the Public Improvements, Releasing the Performance Guarantee and Approving a Maintenance Guarantee for Dulles Greenway - Battlefield Parkway Interchange — TLPF 2005 -0015 d. Amending the Council Calendar to add a Regular Session Meeting February 27, 2012 RESOLUTION 2012 -004 Amending the Council Calendar to Add a Regular Session Meeting Preceding the February 27, 2012 Work Session e. License Agreement Between the Town of Leesburg and Shirley Pearson for Town Owned Property RESOLUTION 2012 -005 To Authorize the Town Manager to Execute a License Agreement Between the Town and Shirley Pearson for Town -Owned Property as Part of the Downtown Improvement Project The Consent Agenda was approved by the following vote: Aye: Butler, Hammler, Martinez, Titus, Wright and Mayor Umstattd Nay: None Vote: 6-0-1 (Dunn absent) 10. PUBLIC HEARINGS a. None. 11. RESOLUTIONS AND MOTIONS a. Form Based Code On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Vice Mayor Wright, the following was proposed: RESOLUTION2012 -006 To Initiate an Ordinance to Defer the Effective Date of Ordinance 2011 -0 -004, the Official Zoning Map and Zoning Ordinance for the Crescent Form Based District to a Date on or before July 31, 2013, to Continue to Develop Ordinance 5 1 Pale COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 Amendments for the Crescent Form -Based District or a Variation thereof, and Implement a New Work Schedule with Stakeholder Involvement Martinez: I, like Dave, share his frustration on the form based code and how we are moving down to the hybrid lite. I know one of the things that I get frustrated with this council is we are always changing our direction in midstream. That gets frustrating but I do understand the need that we do not have a clear consensus in which direction we are going to go. We need that if we want this to work. The reason I went ahead and moved the resolution is so that we have some time to formulate a direction. I just don't want it to take another four years. Wright: I would echo a lot of what Marty said. I would ask for one clarification that seems to be implied here is that what we will do ... one, we need to take care of the housekeeping item, which does not have the current code automatically go into effect on March 1, on a date we won't be ready for it. I also understand we weren't quite sure what we were going to do. This is also allowing us the time to figure out what we are going to do to either work to implement the current code or work to implement the hybrid code and have a set of additional work sessions on those items to that effect. With that clarification, and I am seeing head nodding, it works. So, with that, I think this gives us the benefit of time. One other thing is to note ... I think at every one of the steering committee meetings is the timeline for when we want to do this is one we have right. We don't want to force something through and have it not be ready and cause more of an adverse reaction when we are working to create this to create a benefit. We do want to find ... and I am going to steal your phrase and do it repeatedly. We want to find that sweet spot that is a win /win for both the town and the community. I think providing ourselves the benefit of time makes sense. Hammier: Just wanted to say thank you again to staff for bringing back an excellent report on the hybrid approach last night. I thought it was an excellent discussion. I very much encourage the entire business community in Leesburg and those who would be willing to invest in Leesburg to get involved in the further stakeholder discussions. That's the sort of feedback that I will be looking for as a Council Member and want us to stay on a timeline to bring this back at the appropriate time but absolutely agree that this particular date needs to be extended so I will be supporting the resolution tonight. Titus: (inaudible) ... I mean I hope the Council is going to be open to suggestions about form based code and how it is implemented versus B -2. I know you all have been through that before but I have some questions that I don't have an answer to, but we will get to that someday. Mayor: I am going to ask for a very minor friendly amendment. I would like to suggest that we add one comma into Section 2, line 3 and the comma would go after prior date and before the clause "if so enacted by the Leesburg Town Council ". Marty and Kevin, can you accept that as a friendly amendment? Martinez: Yes. I would have preferred a semicolon, but I'll take the comma. I really am glad Terry mentioned the fact about the schedule and that we need to have something 6 1 Page COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 set up as soon as possible. Something we all can work with and live by. Terry, I will say that one of the things this Council does is accept a lot of feedback. Unfortunately, sometimes we react too much to it. We are open and we do get a lot of information given to us. One of the things that you said last night, Terry, that really struck home with me is that we should be taking public input but we should also understand that sometimes the public doesn't have the information we have and is not as technical. They are working more on emotion and feeling than they are on the actual technical aspects of what we are doing so we have to take that into consideration. So, what I would like to do in the schedule, if there are interested people, property owners /businesses that want to get more information on form based code hybrid, maybe we offer a seminar or two between now and 2013, invite the public in and say this is what this is about. This is what we are trying to achieve. Actually, it helps deregulate some of the stuff we are doing and makes it easier, not just for the developer, but it gives us an ability to have the look and feel of the downtown expand outward, so I would think that is something we might want to think about introducing... a couple of seminars that give our public an opportunity to become educated on what we are trying to do. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Butler, Hammler, Martinez, Titus, Wright and Mayor Umstaud Nay: None Vote: 6-0-1 (Dunn absent) 12. ORDINANCES a. TLZM 2010 -0003 Village at Leesburg Concept Plan and Proffer Amendment On a motion by Vice Mayor Wright, seconded by Council Member Martinez, the following was proposed: ORDINANCE 2012 -0 -001 Approving Concept Plan and Proffer Amendment TLZM2010 -0003 Village at Leesburg, Amending TLZM2009 -0008 to Allow an Increase in Density for Office and Retail Uses within Landbays A and B, and to Revise the Layout of Buildings Q and X, Permit Accessory Retail Uses within Buildings CC, DD, and EE and to Revise Certain Proffers of the Village at Leesburg, Located at Crosstrail Boulevard and Russell Branch Parkway Wright: There is a lot about this that is probably not ideal and some in fact goes all the way back to the initial language including when we were debating this in December. I read this at one time and I came to one conclusion and then I read it again and I reached a different conclusion. If we go back to the facts of the case, if you will, town staff had a similar reaction. Unfortunately both those reactions were in writing, which does create some challenges for us with the applicant. If you set the technicality aside, we do also have some of the new events and the new information. We do have a new application where they are making updates to the concept plan to make the project viable. We do have the new information about the cost impact of the changes that were required by VDOT to accommodate the interchange that were above and beyond the requirements of the developer particularly with the sound wall. We do also have the fact that the 7 1 P a g C COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 current area that they have built out is 100% occupied as far as residential and has generated six school kids so indicates the tax revenue that is being generated, the AADP proffers that have come in and the substantial regional transportation improvements that were built up front by this project, the overall proffer package continues to be fair to the town residents. Martinez: When we did this proffer, or when we did this application, we negotiated with the applicant, we asked for a lot and we got more than we asked for especially when you talk about the overpass. You talk about ... they worked with Holiday Inn at our request to accommodate them and the exits. They have done the sound wall. They got rid of our signals. They have done a lot now. All things being equal, they are going to make their profit. But unfortunately, things aren't equal. Unfortunately the economy went down the toilet. Everybody lost. Their vacancy rate at the office buildings is at an all time high. We got Village at Leesburg and the applicants are hurting. I don't think... one of the things I want to stress, though, is that I have been involved in schools. I have been part of the PTAs, Heritage High School... anybody can tell you that I believe in our school system and I believe in supporting it as much as possible, but it's a Catch 22. If we don't have the tax revenues from a project as large as this applicant's, we are not going to be able to help anybody. So, what I am looking at... one, as Kevin says, they have done far more for our transportation in that quadrant than I have ever seen any developer do. They did it with an expectation. We approved it with an expectation and unfortunately those expectations are not met. I think that if we want to be business friendly, business friendly isn't just helping the application process along, but it's also meaning to try to find some way to help our businesses survive and help keep the creditors at bay. I look at this as an opportunity that we now have a chance to put our money where our mouth is. If we want this applicant to survive and we want him to keep going, this is one of the steps we can take to help him out. Believe me, when I came on Council and we started negotiating proffers and stuff, I have always told the developers, I have always told the applicants that my goal on Council is to never leave anything on the table, that we get everything we can possibly get from them and they are happy enough to continue with the development. In this case, I think we got more than we ever expected. For that, I am grateful and for that I am willing to look at this amendment and what really helps is when they are willing to indemnify us and work with us on the litigation, it is kind of like a no risk. I know that there are others that are saying we are still going to be losing money. We are county residents and that is tax revenue that we are going to lose, well when you look at what we gained above and beyond what we had, the whole transportation improvements even if we do approve this resolution, we have still gained. We are still at a plus, from what I have looked at. Butler: I may have missed it at the beginning, but where is Council Member Dunn? Mayor: He had a meeting in Fairfax at 7:15, so he is running late and we don't have an update. Butler: Alright, that's unfortunate. I am going to do something that I don't really want to do, but I think it's fair. Tom showed a lot of enthusiasm for this last night and I think 8 1 Page COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 he should be here for the vote. I'd like to move that we table this until the next Council meeting where we can have all seven members. Mayor: Alright. Is there a second? I will second the motion to table. It's non - debatable. The motion to table or defer to the next Council Meeting failed by the following vote: Aye: Butler, Titus and Mayor Umstattd Nay: Hammler, Martinez, and Wright Vote: 3 -3 Butler: Well this is a difficult decision for me. It is very easy to play politics with this one way or the other but I think that I am in favor of this resolution and the reason is two -fold. One is that as Council Member Martinez pointed out, we did ask for a lot in 2005. I think Council Member Hammler was very instrumental in ensuring that the town got the best deal that they could in these proffers and it was excellent. In fact, it is something that I have criticized the County myself on a few occasions of not getting anywhere near the level of proffers that we were able to get and I say that not as trying to get what we can out of developers, but I think it was getting our fair share has always been a mantra. I think we did in this case, in fact we got more than our fair share. I think what tipped it for me was that this intersection that they built with some encouragement by VDOT, they added more land to the intersection so that in the future when the intersection gets clogged, we can put in loops there and increase the traffic flow. I think that's something that is good for the town that they didn't have to do that happened. It is unfortunate that we are in this position, but the other thing I am struck by is I think there is a reasonable interpretation in both directions on this, that staff has one interpretation and the applicant has another interpretation and it is not entirely clear to me which interpretation is valid and going to court to decide this, I am not sure is in anybody's best interest. Although, if that was the only consideration, I certainly would not have been willing to do that in the past, but given the fact that I do believe the applicant has provided us more than what was required in the proffers and the amount that was more than was required is more than the relief that they are getting. Since that's the case, I feel comfortable moving forward. So, at any rate, that's enough. Thanks. Hammler: Well, I appreciate your heartfelt comments. I was actually going to very quickly move that we actually not accept this based on the fact that there is failure to comply with the town regarding the school capital facilities contribution with the existing proffer. I do and frequently cite this particular development as one of the great success stories in Leesburg and I will frequently compare it, quite frankly to the fact that when Fredericksburg was trying to attract Wegman's down there, they literally relieved them of BPOL taxes for over 10 years in order to bring them to Fredericksburg. But to the extent that this Council accepted what was a voluntary proffer in 2005 in which specific funds were dedicated that were going to be allocated in this case, where we differ in opinion on the dais, towards school capital facilities, it is absolutely critical as a representative of our residents that we continue to not change that in hindsight anymore than quite frankly if they had come forward saying oh, by the way we are not making 9 1 Pa,,e COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 the profit margin that in early years we expected to ... can we please have the BPOL taxes ... you know kind of renegotiate the BPOL taxes ala Fredericksburg. I wouldn't expect the Fredericksburg City Council to do that either. So, one it's voluntary. When I think about how I would articulate to our residents in Old Waterford Knoll, in Exeter, on Plaza Street that the money ... the $2.6 million that could otherwise go to town elementary schools, in this case having talked to Dr. Adamo, to improve the capital facilities of some of the oldest elementary schools in the county, and that those funds would have been allocated towards full day kindergarten and building capital facilities to allow full day kindergarten for children on Plaza Street, I don't know how we would articulate that to our residents that oh, by the way, we are the town not the county and schools are not a town responsibility. So, that was quite frankly something that we were willing to let them off the hook for even though it was an original voluntary contribution. Then, I think about the fact that state wide the Virginia Municipal League has been working for over a year and literally brought in a key note speaker to emphasize how critical early childhood education is in terms of the importance for not just cities, it wasn't that they directed this program and the key note to just cities. It was to cities and towns. If you are going to do anything, municipalities, invest in early childhood education. Invest in your schools and what we are essentially saying on the dais if we essentially vote for this, the way this is worded tonight, to approve amending the original voluntary proffer is it's okay ... that $2.6 million that you did volunteer that was going to go to our elementary schools in Leesburg, it can go back to ultimately improving your profit margin in the early years and again, I am the first to say that it's a wonderful development. We love the amenities there. But this is not a Wolf Furniture issue. This is not a question of they are going to leave. This is not a question of bankruptcy. We have asked those questions. We love the amenities. We want to be as flexible and business friendly as possible with the accessory uses. We asked to please separate the question relative to the concept plan. That was not something that the developer was willing to do, so now it is all bundled together and what we are essentially going to be saying is that $2.6 million that are going to otherwise be going to our Leesburg schools, we are no longer ... we don't want that money anymore even though you had volunteered it earlier and now it's in front of us and technically we have the legislative ability to do that. I would prefer that this move forward relative to we had zoning oversight relative to our interpretation of the original proffers and I stand by town staff relative to their interpretation. So, in closing, I know I have counted heads and I have certainly made my phone calls and I sincerely appreciate my colleagues and where they are coming from in terms of ultimately off - setting the transportation infrastructure investment. I am the first to say, again, that it was an enormous amount of money that was allocated to that intersection, $225 million, but that's what I expected when I voted for it in 2005. I was actually ... I tried hard to get that fourth vote because I knew it was an unprecedented amount of money for an intersection and that we were under so much pressure to put town taxpayer money into transportation. I was pleasantly surprised when it passed but I am also unpleasantly surprised that now that the original proffer was worded in such a way that we did have contributions to Leesburg schools that ultimately we will no longer have that and our town taxpayers are county taxpayers. 10 [� COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 Titus: It has been a very difficult issue for me but looking back at how it happened and the Board policies, the Board of Supervisor policies, the AADPs, I am going to support the resolution and the main reason is the fairness issue. I think this is a fair solution to the town got significant intersection changes to an interchange and lots of other improvements in there that would not have been required by the development itself. Not to say that I am not sympathetic to the school system. I am sympathetic to the school system, but I think this is pretty obvious that there has been a lot of money spent in development of this project for matters that the town of Leesburg would really benefit from. As I said last night, it would be hard to imagine what that intersection would look like, if the interchange was not there. So, I intend to support the resolution. Mayor: Thanks, Terry. Sadly, I will be joining Katie on this vote. It is a wonderful ... it is a beautiful project. It has many, many benefits to it; however, just because the apartments are not generating school children today, doesn't mean they won't be generating school children five years from now and as we have seen at other apartment complexes in Leesburg, sometimes with our changing demographics apartments are generating more school children than single family homes so we can't assume that Village at Leesburg will never generate more than the current nine school children. It could be generating 100 or more at some point a couple of years down the road. The Loudoun County position on the interchange, which is an absolutely beautiful interchange is that interchange was necessary for the success of the project. The elegance of that bridge, I think, was instrumental in bringing some high quality businesses to the Village at Leesburg. If it had not been built, I am not sure that Wegman's or any other high quality businesses would have wanted to move in there. The Town, I think wisely, though some would disagree, and I supported this change, fought hard to make sure that was a diamond interchange and not a cloverleaf because a cloverleaf would have taken out of commission about seven acres per leaf of the cloverleaf, so the developer was able to develop at a higher density than would have been the case if the town hadn't worked hard to enable that intersection to go forward as a diamond. You can always say that we would be more successful if we don't have to pay the $2.6 million that were originally proffered, but there are other arguments to promote the success of a project including office space rent being one and rents are not under the town's control, but if it is rents that need to be adjusted in order to bring more office users in, that is something that can be done by the owner of the project at any point down the road and if it isn't done and the project continues to perhaps not do as well as it could, then I don't know if we are going to be asked to do something else at our taxpayer's expense. At the last meeting, a couple of us had requested that the applicant look at dividing the issues because some of us, and I think Katie would join me in this, would like to be able to vote for the additional uses that have been requested and I would have loved to have seen division of that issue from this proffer issue, but the applicant as it proves wisely because you are going to get your approval tonight, decided to bundle the two together but I don't think they should have been bundled. Having said that, regretfully... Hammler: Madam Mayor, excuse me for interrupting. Excuse me if I am out of order for Robert's Rules, but I would like to try again to table the motion. 11 Page COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 Mayor: Alright, is it to table or to defer? Do you want to table it to another time? Hammler: Ideally, I would like to defer it and I didn't know if I would have comments based on tabling not allowing comments, but I would like to defer quite frankly until _. after the special election, but specifically to allow time ... we have not invited the school administrative officials in to really answer, I think, sufficiently town council questions relative to directing funds within the town boundaries. This is not a school system issue. It is a Leesburg child issue and also it ties into discussions with the county relative to the annexation committee being reinitiated given what we are doing with the Board of Supervisors. So, I'd like to table it to a future meeting to a date yet to be determined. Mayor: Is there a second? For purposes of the vote, I will second Katie's motion to table. The motion to table failed by the following vote: Aye: Hammler and Mayor Umstaud Nay: Butler, Martinez, Titus, and Wright Vote: 2 -4 Mayor: Gentlemen, I am very pleased with your project. I hope the move to alternate uses works well for you. I think that you deserve to have the additional uses, I just wish that these two issues, the $2.6 million in school proffers and the additional uses hadn't been bundled but I am going to turn it over to Kevin for final. remarks. Wright: I think I would agree with everybody up here that we would love for this issue not to be on our agenda and not have to debate this. Politically, there is no upside to this as there are a lot of facts that we can do our very best to explain but Joe and Jane Public will say it was $2.7 and now it's nothing ... good move guys. The other facts that are there is there is an ambiguity in the proffer language that based on how you might read it, the applicant's read of that proffer language is that in as much as the county is willing to grant credits and that the Board of Supervisors has granted credits for regional road improvements and for age restricted facilities, then so should the town. That was not very cleanly worded and thus, we found ourselves in this situation. We have some administrative issues that have also impinged the collection of these proffer dollars. There were no proffer dollars in the town's possession that are being returned to anyone and that provides additional uncertainty. I do highlight the other point and the Mayor and I will respectfully disagree ... I would have expected the number of kids to be higher than it is today where it is currently nine. I would not expect that the ... the demographics of that development to change such ... the demographics that development is likely to attract to change such that it would fundamentally change the amount of school kids generated and I would say as far as the applicant offsetting their impacts for capital facilities there are the AADP dollars. There is also the tax dollars that were saved on the transportation improvements. Anyone would agree that $2.6 million as a capital facility cost for nine school kids is fairly steep. I would clarify those are capital facilities dollars and capital facilities dollars do not fund all day kindergarten. Fair enough, they are not going to fund all day kindergarten. Finally, I would caution the applicant or other applicants, there is a wide range of unique circumstances in the 12 1 Page COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 current mandates. We are all mindful that many may see it as coming in for a change in density, possibly a change of use. You may expect to have the same proffer guideline discussions as relates to (inaudible). Council Member Dunn arrived at 8:36 p.m. Dunn: Let me just read this real quick. Mayor: I don't think you will find anything disagreeable to you in it. The ordinance was approved by the following vote: Aye: Butler, Dunn, Martinez, Titus, and Wright Nay: Hammler and Mayor Umstaud Vote: 5 -2 13. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. None. 14. NEW BUSINESS a. None. 15. COUNCIL COMN[ENTS Council Member Butler: First, I would like to welcome Terry here. Great addition to the council, even if it turns out to be temporary. Glad you are here. The only downside is now I have to find somebody to replace him on the URAC, which is not the most fun task I'll have because it has been tough to find people in the first place. I have two disclosures. One is did talk with Mike Banzhaf and the other representatives of the Village at Leesburg about this application. I also talked with Andy Shuckra from Keane about a special exception for a gas station in Oaklawn. Had fun singing Christmas carols on the Courthouse lawn just before Christmas. That was good. We had a number of people that came out and we were all well behaved, which is good. I also want to wish everyone a happy new year. I did want to mention, John, that I think October 8, we might want to cancel the work session that day or combine it with the next day... it's Columbus Day, so we run into the same issue that we did in the past year. So, that's just something to take into account. I will not be here July 23 and 24. You can tell I was just going through my calendar this year. I will be in Ireland. My wife is singing at St. Patrick's Cathedral all week. There is a group that ... in the summer the regular choir takes off so they invite other choirs from around the world to come in and basically they do all the services there for the entire week. Rumor has it that there is a pub right next door to the cathedral, so when Pam is singing, I may have something to do. Want everyone to root for my Syracuse Orangemen. They are 17 -0. They have been number one in the country for five weeks in college basketball and that's all a good thing. Last but not least, I would like to do a shout out to Tunis Campbell who owns a used car place around near the corner of Davis and King Street. The reason why he gets a shout out is because his daughter owns a limo that is there and she uses infrequently and my son's birthday is today and he allowed us to come down there and tour the limo and take pictures with my son in the limo, using the phone in there and everything else. 13 1 COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 So, he had a great time. The only scary thing about the whole thing is that I now have a teenager living in my house. So, by all accounts, this is the beginning of a potentially scary period, but I am sure that everything will be fine. Thanks. Council Member Hammler: Well, Happy Birthday to your son. That's wonderful. Just a couple quick things. I too, wanted to disclose that I had a conversation with Mike Banzhaf, it was over the phone this afternoon. Welcome, Terry. I appreciate all your time, dedication and willingness to get involved over the next couple of months. I am really looking forward to working with you and looking forward to all again, all your expertise on URAC as we start tackling that issue as well. I also wanted to once again thank everyone who submitted their resumes for the temporary position that we appointed until the special election and just urge everyone to find ways to get involved in the town. Different boards and commission and any other ideas you have. Look forward to the special election coming up so we can fill that seat properly from an elected perspective. Couple of other quick things... wanted to thank staff and celebrate Battlefield opening. This is our first meeting since we officially got together on that cold morning before we all dashed away for the holidays on the 17t' of December, so many friends, neighbors and citizens have come forward just telling me how much they really appreciate being able to continue to drive down Battlefield, so that's a great success. I wanted to say thank you to the Claude Moore Foundation. I was just reading about all the wonderful non - profits. Certainly the ones in town that they are funding, which is a fantastic partnership and helps facilitate the services available to our citizens. Loudoun Youth, ARC, Loudoun Cares, the Loudoun Literacy Council, so some wonderful non - profits have benefited from their generosity. A couple of other final things ... one I just wanted to see if necessary, John, do we need to send another letter to the Board of Supervisors requesting our meeting so that we can ask them about commencing the annexation joint committee again, the Balch Library discussions, PEG programming, we know is top front and center. I know that a couple of folks have mentioned ... I think that must have gotten lost in all the many things they are meeting over. So, we want to put that in the top of the in pile. And, second to last, I was disappointed to hear that Moses has resigned as head tennis pro. I know a number of very active tennis folks are considering this an opportunity to give a lot of feedback back to the town in terms of things they would like see in terms of programming and the overall situation there, so we will very much miss Moses, but hopefully we will turn this lemon into lemonade and look forward to some great community input during this next stage. In closing, happy new year. Council Member Martinez: I also want to extend welcome to Terry. Glad to see you here. John, I am going to always for the next to whenever we get it done, start pinging on bus shelters for the winter. We have been very fortunate. It hasn't been a very cold winter, but we need some bus shelters along King Street and Market for our residents. Disclosure, I did talk with Mike Banzhaf on the discussions that we had tonight. The BCS game last night wasn't a very good one. It wasn't very competitive and I was disappointed. I was looking for a better fight, but congratulations to Alabama. I also want to say a shout out to my daughter, who is finishing up her comprehensive doctorate program for doctor of physical therapy. Her last internship is in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins. When she is done with that, she is done with school and she has to 14 1 Pabe COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 worry about a job. But it has been a full three years of a lot of work and she is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I am really happy for her and proud of her that she is doing this. As I always say, it's never too early for baseball. I want you to know that I had my first men's baseball team meeting so I need any 35 and over baseball wannabes who want to come out and join us old men. You are more than welcome to. I also signed up my grandson and me to Babe Ruth. So we are going to be doing Babe Ruth again. Dave, is it too early for baseball? Butler: Never too early for baseball. Martinez: Never too early. Waiting for the National's draft to see who they are going to get and all the spring training and trading and all that other good stuff. I would also close wishing everybody, and us, a safe and happy new year. Vice Mayor Wright: Will join in all the official welcoming to Terry. I'm glad that you are willing to serve on the Council. I think when I first congratulated him I said I don't know if it's congratulations or condolences on the prospect. We appreciate your service to the town. On disclosures, I did meet with representatives from the Village at Leesburg. The only other comment I'll add since I don't have a mike is I will echo the comments on Battlefield Parkway. Really kudos to Renee and the entire team. They really did exceed expectations. There were a lot of those in the area that felt that we weren't going to hit the deadline. Not only did we hit it, but I think in the opinion of most, Renee will say we hit it because there were minor tweaks and punch list items that were still being done up to the end of the project date, but getting that roadway functional and open prior to Black Friday was a huge benefit to that quadrant of town and the effort that was done to make that project work and get that road open and viable is great credit to our town. Council Member Titus: First, I want to thank the Council for my appointment to this Council. It's something that I toyed with for a long time and said well this opportunity came up and I'll try it. It brings back a lot of good memories. When I was in the Council earlier on and the Planning Commission and the Board of Architectural Review and I can't tell you how much that film reminded me of some of the things that happened and were going on when I was a kid and you could walk down the street and you wouldn't get run over by anybody necessarily. I intend to do what I can to protect the downtown and keep it as best I can. My disclosure is I had discussions on the previous issue with Mr. Banzhaf. I would like, if we can, to get Ms. Irby to give us an opinion on the AADPs. Obviously, there is a difference of opinion and my understanding was they run out after 25 years, but maybe they don't run out after 25 years. I need some guidance. If we are going to play hardball with the county or whoever, we need to know where we stand. I will say this, if I am here when Landbay C comes, I intend to get some of these issues that were up in the air straightened out. I think it's bad to have got in that kind of position and I think it could be done a little better. John and I have talked about lessons learned and those kinds of things and I think we can work on those issues. In addition, I am most anxious to get the schedule for the form based code #2, so that at least I can know what is going on. Last but not least, I can report to you all that my favorite project, the Wage Ann Storm Sewer 15 1 pa C COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 construction continues. John and I have a little wager about when it will be finished and I have to say this. I have moved the date twice in his favor. I'm not sure I'm still not going to win. Council Member Dunn: Well, Terry, those fond memories you have, we will take care of those. My condolences. No, it's good to have you here. I look forward to working with you. I, too, spoke with Mr. Banzhaf about the Village at Leesburg over the last couple of days and I appreciate everyone's patience and my great tardiness tonight. I did not like having to go down to Fairfax Station, which I left by the way at 7:50 and got here at 8:30. Hammler: Tom, I have to tell you. Dave tried to postpone the vote for you. He wanted you to be here for the vote, so you have him to thank. Dunn: Well, good. Thank you. I am sure the applicant has Dave to thank, but it sounds like they were doing just fine without me. Thank you. That's all I have. 15. MAYOR'S COMN [ENTS Happy Birthday, Alex. Terry, it's great to have you here. I really appreciate your perspective and your commitment to Leesburg. You are very kind to have taken this responsibility on. Then, I would like to disclose that I met with Oaklawn representatives, Brian Cullen and Andy Shuckra about their proposal for going forward with the gas station that they had envisioned in that community. We have a closed session, after I turn this over to John for any comments he might have. We do have three items on closed session tonight. 16. MANAGER'S COMMENTS Madam Mayor, very briefly. First, I wanted to provide a response to Mr. Martinez' request. I have been working since he asked for the bus shelter update and I am pleased to give you a quick update. There are three bus shelters that are actively under construction or ready to be constructed at the current time in the town. Those are the North Street project, which puts the bus shelter at the senior center over on North Street. The pad has already been laid and I believe they are working through the final approvals on that. If you have seen the construction of the shelters, they are fairly modular, so they go up fairly quickly. So, I would expect that to be happening fairly soon. Second one is located at the free clinic at the entrance to the old Loudoun Hospital. The third one, that is being worked on is at the Douglass Community Center. Those are the three active ones. There was a memo a few years ago that identified a longer list of potential shelters. There has been some staff turnover both at the town level and at VRTA and the two people who had worked on that directly are not here so we are going back working with them. There may have been progress on some of those other sites. Obviously, in some cases property owners have to be willing to turn over easements. Those three I know are active and imminent. I'll track the other ones down. I know the one that you mentioned that was specifically looked at was the one at Rite Aid. I know that was high on the list and I am not sure... Martinez: And South Street and King right by the walking trail. 161 Paa, COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 Wells: There is a fairly long list of other potential sites. I am going to run them all down, but we did want to find out which ones are most imminent. I'll give the Council a complete update of all of the sites. I know Council Member Butler was also interested. Martinez: John, if I might add, I think I would like to set up maybe a working session sometime when we can to talk about the bus routes and talk about maybe doing a comprehensive study on bus routes and how we can get from point A to point B. The reason I say this is there was a resident that I know of who lives over by Westpark that wanted to go to Wegman's but she had to go to Ashburn to go to Wegman's and that would have taken her three hours by bus. It should be a simple get on a bus, maybe do one transfer to get to Wegman's and back and I don't know what the expected amount of time would take to get there, but three hours is a little much to sit on a bus one way. Butler: I just want to say, John, to help you out ... the discussion that we had with VRT was the first meeting in July 2010 and that came up with a list and Rite Aid was the number one item on the list, so getting status of that one would be helpful. Dunn: How `bout them Broncos? Wells: One last thing I did want to mention, first in terms of Mr. Titus' and my wager, the result does not require me to dress up and walk in a parade. So, I think I have figured that out. That is not a good thing for me to do. And in response to Mr. Dunn, I am counting down the days to spring training looking forward to the Pirates having a winning season this year after 20 years. So, just to flag for everybody, there is an email from Lee Ann earlier today that highlights the location for the Volunteer Fire Department banquet and the Rescue Squad ... it's both. It is at the Double Tree Hotel near the Dulles Town Center. It is on Atlantic Boulevard. The directions are enclosed. Final thing is a reminder, VML Day February 9. I'll be driving so that is always worth the trip to Richmond. You can never tell what will happen on that experience but we think there are some important issues to be dealt with this year. I know Ms. Irby and I and other staff members will be joining. For those who can spend the day, it will be worthwhile. 17. CLOSED SESSION Mayor Umstattd made the following motion: Pursuant to Section 2.2- 3711(A)(1), (3) and (7) of the Code of Virginia, I move that the Leesburg Town Council convene in a closed meeting for the purpose of receiving information and discussion regarding: a. Property sale on Loudoun Street b. Litigation Update C. Town Manager's Contract The motion was seconded by Council Member Martinez and approved by the following vote: Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Martinez, Titus, Wright and Mayor Umstattd 17 1 11 a c COUNCIL MEETING January 10, 2012 vote: Nay: None Vote: 7 -0 The Town Council adjourned to closed session at 8:57 p.m The Town Council reconvened in open session at 9:25 p.m Mayor Umstattd made the following motion: In accordance with Section 2.2 -3712 of the Code of Virginia, I move that Council certify to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed or considered in the meeting by Council. The motion was seconded by Council Member Martinez and approved by the following Aye: Butler, Dunn, Hammler, Martinez, Titus, Wright and Mayor Umstattd Nay: None Vote: 7 -0 18. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the meeting was adjourned at 9:25p. m. Kri`st C. mstattd, Mayor Town of Leesburg 2012 tcmin0110 18 1 Page