A proposal to add seven new townhomes on Seminary Road is headed to the Planning Commission this week (docket item 9) and has stirred up some controversy in the neighborhood.
The plan by Verity Builders LLC is to build six market-rate townhouses and one affordable townhouse at 5216 Seminary Road. Each home will be three stories plus a roof deck and garage.
Part of the development special use permit is a request for a reduced setback on the front yard, from the required 20 feet down to 3.6-5.7 feet.
“Staff do not have concerns with the proposed modification,” the report said, “because it allows for rearloaded townhouses served by a single drive aisle versus front-loaded townhouses with four curb cuts on Echols Avenue and a diminished driver and pedestrian experience.”
The staff report included a recommendation for approval of the development special use permit and associated special use permits. The report said the new project is visually consistent with nearby homes.
“While the applicant is proposing contemporary rear-loaded townhouses, the design and materials complement the townhouses in the immediate neighborhood, creating a visual link among the townhouses of differing periods,” the report said.
Letters to the Planning Commission expressed strong disagreement with that sentiment.
“As a 26-year resident of Echols Avenue in Alexandria, I am writing to express my alarm about the proposed building that is planned for a lot on our block,” nearby resident Linda Powell wrote to the Planning Commission. “My concerns include destroying 34 mature trees, exacerbating an already challenging parking situation, and building a warehouse-type structure that looms over the street in an older neighborhood, where dwellings are set back at least 20 feet.”
Lexow Grant, another Echols Avenue resident, describe the townhomes as a “warehouse-style building” shoved into a beautiful, leafy street with “vaguely federalist” townhouses in a matching style with matching setbacks.
“The ambiance, the pleasant look, the ‘trade dress,’ if you will, of this family oriented, peaceful neighborhood is to be taken away from us under legal pretexts of several highly questionable zoning waivers and permits , each one of which demands further adjudication,” Grant wrote.
Grant expressed concerns about the absence of yards, the cost hike associated with rental units along the street and the possibility of those units becoming Airbnbs.
Owen Curtis, President of the Seminary West Civic Association, said the scale of the project and the lack of a front yard were among the many concerns nearby residents had about the project.
“Please do not approve this proposal,” Curtis wrote. “Please send it back so that the developer, City, and affected neighbors can work out a plan for the right number and form of townhouses on this parcel that makes sense, fits in with existing development, and becomes an asset for the City and Seminary West.”
The project is scheduled for review at the Thursday, Nov. 7 meeting of the Planning Commission.
