The Penzance developers have asked for comments, if any, on a recent zoning request for the West Rosslyn project.

Penzance states, "We have filed a Minor Site Plan Amendment request to update several items in the project.

First, we are asking to reallocate gross floor area in the East and West Buildings. This will not increase the approved FAR on site, which is 10 FAR. In the East Building, we will convert about 12,400 square feet on the second floor from residential to retail use for a proposed gym facility. The gym user will occupy portions of the ground floor and second floor along the Wilson Boulevard/North Pierce Street intersection. Using this area on the second floor for retail was actually something discussed and approved with the original plan. In the West Building, we are asking for a minor increase in the residential uses (601 square feet) and retail uses (241 square feet). As with any project, some minor changes in the final location of walls or rooms can mean slight changes to the total amount of gross floor area. But will are not increasing the project’s overall density. Instead, we will shift 842 square feet of unused density from the East Building to the West Building, so that we don’t need any additional density onsite. Lastly, our garage level building systems have increased in size due to building code requirements. The Board previously agreed to exclude approximately 15,000 square feet from our density. We are asking them to exclude an additional 11,000 square feet (approximately) for the garage level building systems so that we can meet these building code requirements.

Second, we are asking the Board to relax the window transparency requirements in the West Building along a portion of North Pierce Street near Wilson Boulevard. This is required for CVS Pharmacy, who will be leasing this space. As your members might recall, CVS was always contemplated to be a tenant in this project, since they had a long-term lease in the Penzance building at 1555 Wilson. For the safety of customers and employees working the checkout counter, CVS needs to place a display in this area. The approved site plan conditions require two levels of transparency: 50% overall, and 80% between 3’-8’ of window height. We can meet the 50% overall requirement. However, the display will take our transparency between 3’-8’ down to 54.6%.

Third, we are asking for some minor façade and floor plan changes. Here, I’d refer you to the list in the statement of justification I have attached. Typically, the County would process these as an Administrative Change, since it involves things like reconfiguring the arrangement of rooms or moving a louver.

Finally, we are asking to update a few technical conditions of the 4.1 Site Plan approval to match the latest conditions the County is using in 4.1 projects. For instance, we’d like to be able to provide our neighbors notices by email, since that is often quicker than waiting for USPS. Similarly, we are asking to eliminate certain conditions that County doesn’t use anymore, such as providing a mock-up of the building or requiring water bottle refilling stations."

By August 31, please let the Forum know if you have any concerns about these requests. You can also contact me at joinnrca@gmail.com.

Thank you, John Hummel, President.