Thursday, September 20, 2012
The McLean Planning Committee discussed the utility project on Wednesday.
The project to bury power lines underground in downtown McLean is moving forward ahead of schedule, the McLean Planning Committee discussed on Wednesday evening at the McLean Community Center. Next spring, several sidewalks around the intersection of Old Dominion Drive and Chain Bridge Road will be converted from cement to brick, too. Grant money will be used for "streetscaping," including lighting design and pedestrian crosswalks. In other business, the committee passed a resolution asking the Virginia Department of Transportation to conduct a traffic study by counting cars on several congested McLean streets. The group also expressed concerns about the traffic and the amount of parking at the new Chipotle, located at 6707 Old Dominion Dr…
Monday, June 25, 2012
MPC roundup
Winnie Pizzano, a retired federal worker, is the newly elected president of The McLean Planning Committee that makes recommendations on developments in downtown McLean. She succeeds Ghassan Abukurah, a McLean architect, in the office which has a one-year term. Richard Salopek, a former MPC president and an architect, was elected vice-chairbat last week's MPC meeting. Pizzano, who now works as a health care delivery consultant, lives in a neighborhood adjacent to downtown. The MPC is comprised of sixteen members: Four each from the surrounding Homeowner Associations, the McLean Citizens Association, the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce, and the McLean Commercial Landowners Association (downtown business owners). MPC reviews proposed …
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Comments on Iconic Building Proposed for Elm Street
A Washington developer formally unveiled plans in March for a new apartment building in downtown McLean that would resemble the Williard Hotel and classic apartment buildings along Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C. The McLean Planning Committee then commented on those plans in a letter to the developer JBG. Ghassan Abukurah, chairman of the McLean Planning Committee, asked McLean Patch to share a copy of the letter with McLean residents. Here is the letter verbatim and a copy of the letter accompanies this story: 6862 Elm Street ‐ Preliminary MPC Commentary April 18, 2012 6862 Elm Street: McLean Planning Committee Preliminary Commentary Approved by vote of the MPC on April 18, 2012 The developer, JBG, presented a conceptual design …
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Saga of Elm Street development continues
The McLean Planning Committee has told a developer its proposed iconic apartment building in downtown is too bold and daring for McLean. McLean's citizen-planners also encouraged the developer to substitute a park for proposed stores. A Washington developer, JBG, formally unveiled plans last month to the planning committee for a new luxury apartment building in downtown McLean that would resemble the Williard Hotel and classic apartment buildings along Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C. Last week, committee members expressed its concerns over the architectural character of the residential complex. The group described it as "excessively ornate" and "distinctively different" from surrounding buildings. "The current design should be …
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Board decision means multi-million surplus remains in the bank
The McLean Community Board voted Monday night to return to its plan to try and build some kind of facility some where in downtown as a way to spend its estimated $10.7 million surplus. This the latest development in the long-running saga of the MCC Board, its surplus and the stalled redevelopment of downtown McLean. The MCC's latest decision comes four months after board members raised serious doubts and questions about the feasibility of a downtown project. Monday night board members agreed that little has changed in downtown: Developer Dan Montgomery, who owns much for downtown McLean, still has his redevelopment plans on hold. MCC still has no site. The staff has told the board that its plan for a building that would include perhaps …
Friday, March 2, 2012
Newest proposal for Elm Street parking lot
The owners of a parking lot in downtown McLean are talking to McLean officials and residents about a proposal to build a seven-nine story apartment building on the site. The proposal is the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of what to do with the large parking lot behind 6862 Elm St. that is owned by JBG, a development company. This is the same site where two years ago JBG and townhouse developer EYA proposed building 49 townhouses and a large garage along Elm Street. The McLean Planning Committee, a citizens advisory committee on downtown development, truly disliked that idea. Several members of Planning Committee kept asking for a larger development like an apartment building. Representatives of JBG briefed Supervisor John Foust and a …
Bendy Viragh
8:36 pm on Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Good question, Citizen E. What used to be, to normal people like you and I, hidious, has become "cool". If it is really weird, then it is elevated to "imaginative" or (stealing from the French to sound cool) "avant garde" or "innovative". Generally, all that means is that it is in bad taste, ugly to look at, and out of touch. My own "innovative" question is, why do we need more buildings? How … more ›