Maple Avenue Zoning Returns to Vienna Town Council for Debate Tonight

After a fall and winter spent reviewing public feedback on the Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zone regulations, Town of Vienna staff think the controversial regulations are ready for the limelight once again.

At tonight’s (Feb. 11) Vienna Town Council work session, the council is scheduled to review the updated design guidelines and amendments to the plan. A moratorium on new proposed developments was imposed last year after new developments sparked extensive controversy.

According to a staff memo, staff looked at the proportion and scale of Church Street, which runs parallel to Maple Avenue, to see how guidelines there could be applied to Maple Avenue. How the new guidelines differ from the existing ones is not immediately obvious reading through the presentation, but the changes will likely be the topic of discussion at tonight’s work session and several meetings planned over the next month.

Andrea West, a planner for the Town of Vienna, said in an email that tonight’s meeting will focus on the process of approving the regulation changes, while the changes themselves will be the subject of a Planning Commission meeting next week.

The new guidelines will be scrutinized at a Planning Commission work session on Feb. 13 and the Board of Architectural Review on Feb. 15.  After review at the individual boards, a joint work session is scheduled for March 6, followed by community workshops later in March.

The planned workshop will include a mock-up of a sidewalk section with moveable parts and building blocks showing proposed setbacks and roof lines.

Image via Town of Vienna