County Board members on Saturday (Feb. 22) approved zoning changes needed for Melwood and Wesley Housing to move forward with a controversial mixed-use project near Crystal City.
The 4-0 vote, with one abstention, allows for plans to build a five-story building with 105 committed-affordable units to move forward. It came after nearly five hours of public comment and Board discussion.
The debate pitted advocates for affordable housing and people with disabilities against some nearby residents, who were concerned about the building’s bulk and its implications for future development within neighborhoods.
As was widely expected, Board members sided with Melwood, albeit with some reservations about the final proposal.
“I don’t think they got 100% of it right,” Board member Maureen Coffey said as the meeting wound down. But, she said, “if it’s between a good project that can move forward, and a great project that never happens, I’m with the good project.”
“We are taking a calculated risk,” Board Chair Takis Karantonis acknowledged in approving a building that some in the Aurora Highlands neighborhood have claimed is out of scale with their community.
Board members rebuffed colleague Susan Cunningham’s request to defer action for a month in hopes of tweaking details a final time.
“I’d like to see the design evolve one more step,” she said. “The community and this project deserve [it] to be a great project.”
Cathy Puskar, a land-use attorney representing the applicants, pushed back hard on Cunningham’s request.
“A deferral would be death to this project, potentially,” she said, as the applicants in the next month need to apply for tax credits that will help finance the proposal.
After losing 4-1 on her request for a delay, Cunningham ultimately abstained on the main vote permitting changes to the General Land Use Plan and zoning requirements that will allow the proposal to move forward.
Melwood and Wesley Housing last June filed a site-plan proposal to demolish the century-old existing building on the 1.73-acre site at 750 23rd Street S. It will be replaced with affordable housing and 17,000 square feet of space to be used by Melwood for training individuals with intellectual disabilities.
The maximum building height of 60 feet will be in the center of the project, tapering down as it approaches street level. An underground garage will contain 94 parking spaces.
Dozens of residents and other advocates were on hand in the Board room, hitting one last time on points that have been made throughout the project’s four-year gestation period.
Nicholas Giacobbe, a board member of the Aurora Highlands Civic Association, said refinements to the project’s design didn’t resolve fundamental concerns of neighbors.
“I still think the project is too large, has too many units, not enough parking,” Giacobbe said, warning Board members that a rubber-stamp approval would result in “a loss of confidence that our voices are being heard.”
Not all those living in the immediate vicinity were opposed, however.
“This proposal is going to be a wonderful addition to our neighborhood,” said Ben D’Avanzo, who praised outreach efforts by the applicant.
“Melwood has gone above and beyond in meeting with many of my neighbors,” he said.
Susan English, a resident of Arlington Ridge, said the proposal would advance a number of housing and inclusivity goals that the county’s residents overwhelmingly support.
Among them: Apartment units designed for those with disabilities.
“Melwood’s redevelopment will make a small but significant dent in that huge need,” English said. “It will serve our community well.”
Also still lingering in the background is an application to designate the existing building, a former elementary school, as a local historic district. It could complicate, but likely not derail, the eventual redevelopment.
If the project moves forward, opponents will not hold the County Board’s actions against those who ultimately call the building home, one resident said.
“We will welcome these new neighbors,” Giacobbe said.
