HomeMy Public PortalAbout2007_07_09
Council Work Session
July 9, 2007
Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Umstattd presiding.
Councilmembers Present: Kelly Burk, Kathryn Sheldon Hammier, Susan Horne,
Marty Martinez, Ken Reid, Kevin Wright and Mayor Kristen Umstattd
Councilmembers Absent: None
Staff Present: Town Manager John Wells, Town Attorney Barbara Beach, Assistant
to the Town Manager Nicole Ard, Assistant to the Town Manager Kathy Leidich,
Director of Planning, Zoning and Development Susan Swift, Director of Economic
Development Betsy Fields, Director of Engineering and Public Works Tom Mason,
Director of Utilities Randy Shoemaker, Director of Capital Projects Management Nagi
Elsewaissi, Senior Planner Scott Parker, Senior Engineer Asghar Pariroo,
Environmental Planner Irish Grandfield, Management Specialist Tami Watkins and
Deputy Clerk of Council Debi Parry.
AGENDA ITEMS
1. Questions on Tuesday Agenda Items
Council Meeting of July 10, 2007
Council Member Wright asked to withdraw the item from tomorrow night's
meeting regarding initiating amendments to the Leesburg Zoning Ordinance to
eliminate allowance by special exception bank with drive through facility and eating
establishment with through facility in the B-2 Zoning District. He stated a special
exception application was filed today which c10uds the discussion of a broader
Town-wide decision. Further, he stated we can discuss this amendment later once
the special exception has made it's way through the process.
Council Member Hammier concurred with Council Member Wright's
comments. She stated Ed McMahon from the Urban Land Institute will be briefing
Council in two weeks to discuss best practices. Further, she discussed the progress
being made in Arlington and Richmond.
It was the consensus of Council to withdraw this item from tomorrow night's
agenda.
2. Work Session Items for Discussion
a. Polling Places Report - Dianna Price, Secretary of the Electoral
Board
Dianna Price, Secretary of the Electoral Board and Judy Brown,
registrar provided a briefing to Council on the polling places in Town.
Ms. Brown stated Loudoun County has adopted changes to split the
two larger precinets, precinct 405 Greenway and 505 Cool Spring. She asked
that Council adopt the splitting of these two precinets and creation of two new
precinets for Town elections so as to Iimited confusion on the part of the
voters.
Mayor Umstattd verified this would create 11 voting precinets in
Leesburg.
Town Council Work Session of July 9. 2007
Page 2
Ms. Price stated the addition of these two precinets will cost $2,000 to
$3,000.
Council Member Burk verified the precinets are bei ng split because
they are very large and will be difficult to run efficiently during the
Presidential election. Further, she stated she will support this decision to
avoid voter confusion.
Vice Mayor Horne stated she is in favor of keeping the voting precinets
consistent. She discussed the way the boundary Iines are drawn for the
Catoctin District stating her neighbor across the creek will vote in a different
polling location.
Ms. Price stated they struggled in finding a boundary for that precinct
as they tend to look for natural boundaries such as acreek.
Council Member Wright asked if the standards for precinct size in
Loudoun County are similar to those used in Fairfax County.
Ms. Price stated there are certain standards that have to be met;
however, precinct size does vary across the state.
Council Member Reid verified there will be a voter education program.
b. Supplemental appropriation for Loudoun Arts Council
Kathy Farmer, Loudoun Arts Council, addressed Council regarding the
request for funding. She outlined the history of the First Friday program
stating the program appears to be declining. Further, she stated the First
Friday Committee has met to discuss potential changes to the program
including the possibility of moving it to Saturday night and eliminating the
months of January thru Mareh.
Ms. Farmer stated improvements have been made to the First Friday
program including partnering with the hospitality industry and adding musical
performers throughout the downtown. She stated the Loudoun Arts Council
did not realize their funding would be reduced by Council. Further, she stated
the original plan was to hire a director to work on the program.
Further, she stated the Loudoun Arts Council feels this is an Economic
Development program and does not fit into the mission of the Council, except
with respect to the entertainment portion. She stated therefore, they are
only requesting $2,500.
Council Member Burk thanked Ms. Farmer for her comments.
Vice Mayor Horne stated it is a good idea to partner with the Arts
Council to help support this; however, the money should be directed more to
Crossroads or the Leesburg Downtown Business Association (LDBA). Further,
she stated there are opportunities to look at best practices to see how other
communities run these programs.
Council Member Martinez thanked Ms. Farmer for her energy and
attitude.
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Paqe 3
Council Member Hammier stated she would like input from the
Economic Development staff to see how we can partner with Crossroads and
the LDBA to help the program grow.
Council Member Wright stated if we are looking at reducing the
Loudoun Art Council's role we need to be sure the LDBA or some other
organization can continue support for this program. Further, he stated he
continues to have reservations about making allocations out of the budget
cycle.
Council Member Reid stated the budget has been set and there is a
lack of equity when certain groups have 15 minutes to address Council while
other social services groups are only getti ng $2,500.
Ms. Farmer stated the Loudoun Arts Council wants to see the program
more forward; however, this is not the group to do it. She stated they can
continue to manage the program for a couple of months.
Vice Mayor Horne asked to defer this item on tomorrow night's
agenda and that the Economic Development Staff provide a report at the next
Council work session.
c. Appointments to the Utility Rate Committee
Council Member Burk stated she planned to bring forward two
names for appointment to the Committee, Dave Butler and a gentleman who
Iives out-of- Town. She stated Ms. Beach informed her that the out-of- Town
resident had submitted all of the Freedom of Information Act requests which
led to the litigation documents.
Mayor Umstattd stated she has asked a couple of individuals to
consider serving.
Council Member Reid stated he will bring forward a nomination
tomorrow night.
Ms. Beach c1arified Council had stated they did not wish to appoint any
person who is an officer of one of the entities suing us.
Council Member Reid stated he would not support appointing anyone
involved in the law su it, including someone who filed the Freedom of
Information Act requests.
Mayor Umstattd verified the residents of Potomac Station are not
involved in the law suit.
d. County Government Center Expedited Review
Mr. Wells stated staff has a draft letter to the County
for consideration regarding our support for the KSI development's
consideration as a County Government Center site. He stated Gary Klaeik is
here to represent the development.
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Page 4
Mayor Umstattd stated at the interchange groundbreaking she was
informed by Kettier that there was feeling among County staff that the Town
could not approve the plans quickly or may be opposed to having the
government center located there. Further, she stated the representatives
from Kettler asked that Council send this letter to the County indicating our
support for the site and ensuring County staff that we will do what ever is
necessary to enable this site to move forward expeditiously.
Mr. Gary Klaeik, representative of the applicant, stated Kettler is
looking for the Town to provide assurances to the County that Leesburg would
be willing to move forward with any rezoning or site plans quickly.
Council Member Burk expressed her support for this request.
Vice Mayor Horne and Council Members Martinez and Hammier
expressed their support and apologized for missing the ground breaking
ceremony on July 3.
Council Member Wright stated it is great to see this moving forward
and expressed support for the request.
Council Member Reid asked if this property would fall into the H-2
Overlay District.
Mr. Klaeik explained there is aproffer stating the project would be
subject to Board of Architectural Review approval.
Council Member Reid encouraged Mr. Klaeik to get a consultant to
critique the properties in Ashburn stating the County is under a false
assumption that those properties would be better suited for the Government
Center location.
Mayor Umstattd ensured Mr. Klaeik is comfortable with the draft letter.
She thanked Mr. Klaeik for bringing this situation to Council's attention.
e. Virginia Department of Forestry Master Tree Planting Grant
Tami Watkins stated matching funds for this grant were allocated as
part of the budget. She stated staff is requesting Council action tomorrow to
allow Mr. Wells to sign the agreement documents for the grant.
Council Member Hammier asked staff to provide an update on the
Memorial Garden at a future meeting.
f. Crosstrail Update
Mr. Wells provided Council with a summary update of the status of the
Crosstrail project.
Scott Parker stated last Friday staff received a new set of plans and
proffers for Crosstrail. He stated the primary focus of Peterson is to get past
County staff's recommendation of denial. He stated the biggest change to the
proffers was the removal of the age restricted component from the 1,000
residential units and the addition of 20 workforce housing units. Further, he
stated the developer has removed the residential units from 100 acres at the
Town Council Work Session of Julv 9. 2007
Page 5
southern portion of the property zoned as JLMA 20 and are proffering 40
acres of land for sale to the Town zoned as JLMA 20.
Mr. Parker stated the remaining 1,020 residential units are townhomes
and multi-family units. Further, Mr. Parker stated some of the encumbrance
language has been removed from the airport property proffer; however, the
language detailing the uses of the property is still included.
Mayor Umstattd stated we've requested 40 acres at pre-rezoning
price; however, Mr. Toth was told that 40 acres would be sold to the Town at
a price in accordance with the plan. She stated she is getting the impression
that this is not a good deal for the Town as we would have to pay what the
market would pay if it were zoned to business community.
Mr. Parker stated the concern is that there is no zoning category
connected to the proffer statement and it could fit under a variety of zoning
categories.
Ms. Beach stated she received a phone call from Jeff Saxe in which he
said his attorney would be in contact to discuss preparing the option
agreement now, meaning there would be a finite deal on the table.
Council Member Burk asked if the traffic study was redone af ter the
age restrietion clause was removed from the housing.
Mr. Parker stated the removal of the age restrietion clause will increase
the County's trip generation calculations; however, he does not know how the
County plans to address this issue.
Council Member Hammier asked the status of reaching 100 percent
vertical integration of these units into the mixed use center.
Mr. Parker stated the application does not support that proposal.
Council Member Hammier asked the status of the discussion that we
as a Town have had conversations related to the fact that Peterson
Companies could save $10 million by naming Leesburg as the utility provider
and that the $10 million saved could then be used for transportation proffers.
Mr. Wells stated their determination is that a joint system could
provide a different set of savings from their perspective. He stated there has
been reluctance to apply those funds in any particular way.
Council Member Hammier stated for the meeting we have with the
Board this week, it would be helpful for us to come with our numbers and
methodology to show the amount saved and how those funds could be
applied to the transportation funding shortfall.
Mr. Wells stated we have plaeed that proposaion the table with them
previously and this could be reiterated again.
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Council Member Wright asked if the County feels the applicant has met
their transportation obligation, or is there is list of outstanding transportation
issues to be addressed.
Mr. Parker stated to the best of his knowledge the County does not
have a list of outstanding transportation issues.
Council Member Burk verified the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) approves of the land purehase option being extended to 10 years.
Dennis Boykin, Airport Commission Chairman stated the FAA has
expressed concern with the land use limitations attached with the proffer for
land purehase.
Mr. Parker outlined the onsite phasing for the application. He stated
the applicant is attempting to get credit against the capital facilities cost for
completion of Hawling Farm Boulevard and Sycolin Road widening Phase III.
Further, he stated staff is concerned that Hawling Farm Boulevard is
scheduled to be completed north to south in two phases and the Sycolin Road
widening Phase III is not scheduled until af ter the 900th home is constructed.
Vice Mayor Horne thanked Mr. Parker for his efforts. She stated she is
encouraged to see some movement from the applicant; however, she remains
concerned about the ultimate cost of the 40 acres for airport use.
Council Member Wright stated it is important to know what the impact
will be on the schools given the removal of the age restricted housing clause.
He stated the harder discussion with the Board will be related to hou sing as
we continue to maintain our position that there should be no residential uses
near the airport.
Council Member Reid asked when the fire and rescue site is proffered.
Mr. Parker stated the site is to be provided to Loudoun County once it
is serviced by water and sewer.
Council Member Reid addressed the need for a fire and rescue site
south of the bypass. He asked if there is room in the development for the
dedication of land for a ramp going north on the Greenway from Hawlings
Farm Boulevard.
Mr. Parker stated nothing in this current iteration has affected that
area. He stated the County has taken no official position on that option.
There was further discussion regarding the Greenway.
Council Member Reid verified staff does not know whether the
Community Finance Corporation would be relocating their offices to Crosstrail.
He stated an active adult community was plan ned for this development and
now that it has been removed we have the new issue of funding for schools.
Further, he asked that staff provide analysis of the water and sewer costs and
whether utility funds from this development would allow us to lower our out-
of-Town surcharge.
Town Council Work Session of July 9. 2007
Page 7
Mayor Umstattd thanked Mr. Parker, planning staff, utilities staff and
Airport Commission for their efforts.
Council Member Reid asked that Council consider requesting a cash
transportation proffer for this project so the funds can be used for any
number of different roads.
g. Establishing a policy for the use and Iicensing of the Leesburg
Star Logo
Betsy Fields stated we had a request from a merchant who would like
to license the logo to put on t-shirts to seil. She stated previously we had to
ask an organization to remove our logo from their website because it was
deemed to be inappropriate. Further, she stated we are still in the process of
getting a federal trademark for our logo; however, we have received state
trademark registration.
Ms. Fields outlined the policy including the list of prohibited items and
design standards. She presented the sample logo agreement form for
cooperative advertising and co-branding stating this form would be used by
organizations using the logo in print ads and on marketing pieces and would
require administrative approval. Further, she outlined the license agreement
to be executed by the Town Attorney for each business or individual seeking
to license the logo for use on merchandise stated a $100 Iicensing fee and
royalty of 10 percent of net sales would be required.
Council Member Burk stated $100 seems high and asked how staff
would determine 10 percent of net sales.
Ms. Fields stated the merchants would have to provide sales data to
the Town.
Council Member Burk stated the Iicensing seems to add an extra layer
of bureaucracy and seems arduous.
Mr. Wells stated the idea of a royalty for the Town was suggested by
the businesses.
Vice Mayor Horne suggested increasing the Iicensing fee to $250 and
eliminating the royalty.
Ms. Fields stated most retailers use a point of sale system to track
their sales for them.
Vice Mayor Horne expressed concern that this would create additional
work for staff. She stated it is important to license the logo as it gives the
Town control over the brand identity.
Council Member Martinez stated he supports the proposal. He asked
how much staff time would be used to monitor the program.
Mr. Wells stated it would be handled by the Town Manager's office. He
stated our greatest opportunities will be associated with Court and Market
Town Council Work Session of July 9. 2007
Paqe 8
Days and the upcoming 250th Anniversary. Further, he stated having worked
with the County's store this process is much better as it can be centralized to
allow for broader distribution.
Council Member Hammier asked if the logo could be used by Iittle
league or girl's softbali teams.
Ms. Fields stated the policy could be amended to allow community
organizations to use if they are non-profit.
Council Member Hammier asked how much revenue is generated from
the County's store.
Mr. Wells stated they break even at the end of the year, but have not
generated revenue to cover the start up costs.
Council Member Hammier stated she would like to see data in the
monthly Town Manager's report regarding who is Iicensing the logo.
Council Member Wright expressed his support for the proposal. He
verified the other Town logo depicting Town Hall is not trademarked. Further,
he stated he would like further information regarding the fiscal policy for the
fu nds received.
Council Member Reid stated if the program goes ahead it should be
done with a flat fee. He stated af ter the anniversary he feels there will be
limited interest in use of the logo.
Mr. Wells stated this is a public relations opportunity for the Town. He
stated one of the big vendors for Loudoun County was the museum.
Council Member Reid stated we should allow businesses to use the
logo for a flat fee.
Mr. Wells stated if we do not license the logo then we do not have
control over its use. He stated there are a list of places where the logo could
show up that would be of concern.
h. Billing inserts update
Mr. Wells stated the business Iicense bills are currently pressure
sealed; however, we still have other billings that have not been converted.
He stated the cost of including an information sheet would be nine cents for
one-sided and twelve cents for two-sided.
Council Member Burk verified a color information sheet would cost
more money.
Council Member Hammier stated we currently have newsletters mailed
from the Utilities and Capital projects Management Departments and asked if
we are going to convert to a Town-wide update at some point.
Mr. Wells stated we are also looking at an annual report in the near
future. He stated there are various wa ys to get information out including the
Town Council Work Session of July 9. 2007
Paqe 9
quarterly Parks and Recreation booklet. He stated the best method would
depend on the type of information we are trying to get out.
Council Member Hammier stated we need to think this through and
come up with a strategie initiative to find a solution to get the information
out.
Council Member Wright stated he thought this program could be used
to provide a flyer that residents could put on their fridge providing
information such as what can and can not be recycled. He stated the real
estate tax and personal property tax mailings could be used for community
information and the business license bills could be used to distribute economic
development information.
Council Member Reid stated this is an excellent opportunity to promote
our upcoming events. He asked if there is any attempt to make the billings
uniform.
Mr. Wells stated we are working towards the pressure sealed mailings
for all bilis; however, if we want to use the billings to distribute information it
may make more sense to use the traditional envelopes.
Council Member Hammier stated people are increasingly paying their
bills on time.
i. Brick Sidewalks discussion
Council Member Burk stated pressed concrete has the look of brick,
but at alesser cost and asked if that would satisfy the ordinance.
Mr. Elsewaissi stated the imprinted concrete looks like brick, but is
harder to maintain. Further, he stated the cost difference is not that
significant.
Vice Mayor Horne stated this policy was implemented 30 years ago
and we still have a long way to go with installing the brick sidewalks. She
stated the brick signals you have come into a very special and unique area of
Town and it is a policy we need to ho nor and continue.
Council Member Martinez stated he has no problem with the brick
sidewalks; however, he is concerned that in many places you can see grass
growing through the cracks and they need to be maintained.
Mr. Elsewaissi stated the brick sidewalks are now being installed with a
concrete base to prevent the growth of grass.
Council Member Wright stated he supports the brick sidewalks in the
Historie District.
Council Member Reid stated the 1980 policy gives more flexibility
where as the 1989 policy dictates that all sidewalks in the Historie District
should be brick. He stated he would support a revision to the policy to allow
flexibility to put brick or stamped concrete. Further, he stated Council
Town Council Work Session of July 9. 2007
Paqe 10
approves all capital projects and can insist on brick sidewalks where
appropriate.
j. Natural Resources Proffer Guidelines
Irish Grandfield stated with adoption of the Town Plan the Council also
adopted an action program for implementation of the various objectives in the
plan. He stated there are 11 objectives in the Natural Resource Section and
14 Natural Resource Action Program items. Further, he outlined Natural
Resource Action items two and three and stated staff has developed sample
proffer language and an environmental assessment procedure to meet the
Town Plan guidance.
Council Member Hammier stated when you look at the big picture of
what things impact the Town's environment it is how we approve subdivisions
which encourage short-term car trips and asked if there is anything else that
could be added to the Master Plan related to cluster developments or reducing
short-term car trips.
Mr. Grandfield stated those are objectives that are c1ear in the Natural
Resources Element of the Plan and will happen less so through proffers and
more so through ordinance changes.
Council Member Wright asked why we are excluding stands of Virginia
Pine over 25 years of age in the Tree Conservation draft.
Mr. Grandfield stated it is not a long living tree species and it is also
subject to wind damage.
Council Member Wright asked why we are encouraging the Silver
Certification in this plan.
Mr. Grandfield stated the Metropolitan Washington Council of
Governments has formulated a committee to look at green building standards
and have prepared a draft report to go back to the Council of Governments.
He stated that is the regional standard other jurisdictions are using. Further,
he stated the Silver Certification is included to be consistent on a regional
basis.
k. Town Plan Monitoring Report
David Fuller stated this also represents an action program item of the
Town Plan progress. He stated this report was provided to the Planning
Commission and has been posted on the Town's website. Further, Mr. Fuller
outlined the various components of the report and the action program items.
Mr. Fuller stated the report for Fiscal Year 2007 should be pressed to
the Planning Commission in September.
Council Member Hammier stated page 10 of the report points to the
number of parks in the Town; however, we have made tremendous progress
with the amenities we are offering which are important to highlight.
Mr. Fuller stated this report is for Fiscal Year 2006 so the discussion of
recent amenities such as new tennis courts will be in the next report.
Town Council Work Session of Julv 9. 2007
Page 11
Council Member Hammier offered other suggestions regarding the
document including itemizing our heritage resources, including information on
the form based code, strengthening the language, itemized percentages
related to housing stock, information on the types of jobs coming online and
percent of time commuting, and detailing our progress on bus routes and
adding mass transit. Further, she asked if Paxton should be included as a
heritage resource.
Council Member Wright stated pages 19 and 20 highlighted the need
for us to focus on our office growth and our commercial development
specifically a lot of our jobs tend to be low wage and do not provide the
quality of life needed for our citizens. He stated the Planning Commission
struggled with determining a way to calculate the jobs to housing ratio to
show how many jobs pay a wage sufficient to live in Town as opposed to
counting the actual number of jobs.
Mr. Fuller stated part of the problem is getti ng the data to calculate
the jobs to housing balance, which is more important than just the ratio.
Council Member Reid echoed Council Member Hammier's comments in
pointing out the conflict in the Crescent District. He stated he would like the
transportation section to be more detailed to show the status of roads in the
Town Plan. Further, he commented on the economic development statisties
stating it would be interesting to see what the Town of Warrenton is doing as
they have more restaurants per capita than we do.
3. For information only:
Preview Topics for July 23, 2007:
a. Loudoun Street Update
There was no discussion of this item.
b. Acquiring easements for the N. King Street Drainage
There was no discussion of this item.
c. Liberty Street Lot Development
There was no discussion of this item.
d. AADP Update
There was no discussion of this item.
New Business
a. NVTA Public Hearing
Mayor Umstattd stated we have a draft letter to vote on tomorrow
night for presentation at the public hearing on July 12.
Council Member Reid asked that the language in the last paragraph be
amended to state "Fair Funding System". He stated it is an excellent letter as
it reiterates how much we are spending on roads and our traffic volumes.
Further, he stated he was disappointed to hear the Loudoun County Board of
Supervisors voted unanimously against the funding implementation.
Town Council Work Session of July 9. 2007
Page 12
Council Member Hammier asked if the letter should be more specific to
which projects we would like them to fund.
Mr. Wells stated staff can add some options for consideration
tomorrow night.
Adjournment
On a motion by Council Member Burk, seconded by Council Member Hammier,
the meeting adjourned at 10:44 p.m.
2007 _tcwsmin0709