Public Hearing Tonight to Consider Rescinding Maple Avenue Project

A public hearing tonight (Monday) will determine the fate of a contentious, mixed-use development previously approved by the Vienna Town Council.

The proposed redevelopment would add a mixed-use, four-floor building with ground-floor retail and more than three dozen multi-family residential condominium units to 380 Maple Avenue.

After a long series of delays, the Town Council approved the development in June. A few weeks later, the new Town Council decided to hold a public hearing on possibly rescinding the project’s rezoning application, pointing to the town’s failure to notify the county about the project, along with other issues.

Now, the project faces a joint public hearing by the Town Council and the town’s Planning Commission tonight that will allow community members to give their opinions on possibly adjusting or rescinding the proposal. The event starts at 8 p.m. in the Vienna Town Hall (127 S. Center Street).

The Vienna Business Association will speak out at the meeting against the proposition to revoke the license.

According to a press release from the Vienna Business Association:

The question on July 15th is not whether we support the 380 Maple Avenue development, it’s whether we want to create in our Town the climate and reputation that will ensue from a rescinding vote.

• The rescind motion also raises many questions:
• Can businesses and developers be assured that the town is negotiating in good faith, or will negotiations suffer from a concern of “will they rescind this too?”
• Do businesses and commercial property owners need to take proactive steps to keep their rights from being infringed by adjacent residents?
• What legal liability does the Town create for itself by rescinding? Is the liability limited to the developer’s costs to date, or to the loss of future potential revenue from the development?

A joint public hearing of Town Council and the Planning Commission has been added to the Town calendar for 8 pm this Monday, July 15. The public hearing relates to a motion to rescind and repeal the June 17 rezoning of 374-380 Maple Avenue W to the MAC zone.

— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) July 10, 2019

Image via Town of Vienna