Big house on 2nd Street gets council’s OK

By Rachana Dixit

Published: August 19, 2008

They might have done nothing in May, but in a complete turnaround on Monday city councilors unanimously approved a large house and accessory apartment in the city’s North Downtown neighborhood.

“It’s probably not fair to keep prolonging this,” Councilor Julian Taliaferro said.

Some neighbors had expressed fierce opposition to the proposed house and accessory apartment at 509 Second St. N.E., saying its size will dwarf surrounding homes — on average about 2,000 square feet — and that it does not fit the pedestrian-friendly feel of the neighborhood.

Architect Allison Ewing said in an interview last week that the project has been scaled back significantly since it was proposed, cutting off about 2,500 square feet. The empty lot is about 9,800 square feet and includes some parking spaces.

Neighbors duly noted the changes and saw the City Council outcome as a victory because their concerns were addressed.

“We acknowledge that this design meets our central concern, which was the size,” said Kristen Suokko, who lives across the street from the site and was the project’s main opponent.

In May, councilors chose to defer their decision on the project — which originally measured 8,500 square feet, according to a staff report — by asking the Board of Architectural Review to have another crack at the project. Some councilors, including Taliaferro, expressed reservations about the house’s size.

The review board had already approved the project, located in a historic district, in March, which neighbors appealed.

Mark and Barbara Fried, prominent developers who live in Crozet, are looking to build the two-story house with an accessory apartment and a side garage.

The house has gone through substantial design changes since its original presentation — including moving the now two-car garage from the front of the house to the side, and adding a first-floor porch. Additionally, several sustainable measures have been incorporated into the project to reduce its carbon footprint, including a green roof, solar panels and geothermal heating pumps.

“The project as it stands, this is not an entirely new design,” said Fred Wolf, chairman of the architecture review board, during Monday’s meeting. “These are refinements.”

David J. Toscano, who represents the Frieds (and serves in the House of Delegates), said, “The long and short of it is, they liked a lot of the design in the March 18 submittal,” referring to the BAR. But, Toscano said, the new design should be reviewed by councilors to lock in the project’s improvements, such as the scaled-down size and added pedestrian-friendly features.

Residents present at Monday’s meeting — though ultimately pleased with the house’s updates — were concerned about the transparency of the project’s review.

Suokko said the design that councilors were considering was not the one approved by the BAR in June, and that the updated design was provided to neighbors only last week.

“People need to be able to understand and rely on a clear and transparent process, and this has been anything but,” Suokko said.

Jennifer McKeever added, “There is an application procedure for the BAR that includes notice, transparency and openness that I do not believe is in there right now.”

But councilors countered that the proposal in front of them Monday was in essence the same with minor design improvements.

“Ninety percent of it is the same as before,” Councilor Satyendra Huja said.

Councilor David Brown echoed those sentiments, saying that size is an important concern in terms of future of downtown development, and that the new proposal should be considered because neighbors’ objections had been better addressed.

“I sort of agree that this is the same project we considered the last time,” Brown said.