Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation May 8, 2019 - 7:00 pm- 10:00 pm Thomas Jefferson ES Media Center (Library) Draft Meeting Minutes Attendance CACT Members Member Present City Staff Andrea Caumont, Chair Yes 1. Jeffrey Sikes 2. Tara Puzin Paul Baldino, Vice-Chair Yes 3. Shelley Mastran Bill Ackerman No Doug Devereaux Yes Addison Heard Yes Shaun Dakin Yes Dave Gustafson Yes Liaisons Liaison Present David Snyder Yes (City Council) Melissa Teates Yes (Planning Commission) Sarah Fong No Colter Adams Yes (Youth Representative) Agenda 1. Public Comment 2. Action Item: Approval of Minutes of April 2019 CACT Meeting 3. Committee Member Reports 4. Staff Reports 5. Information Item: CACT 2019 Priority Tracking Sheet  6. Discussion Items: Comprehensive Plan Amendments: Draft chapters on Housing, Natural resources and Demographics. Shelley Mastran, Presenter 7. Discussion Item: Recommendation for allocating Funds for Walking and Biking Improvements. 8. Other Items not on Agenda 9. Attachments and Correspondence: a. Study to Replace Some Arlington Buses with Uber, Lyft wrapping up Soon. b. County Board Amends, Passes New Bicycle Plan. 1. Public Comment: There was no public comment. 2. Action Item: Approval of Minutes of April 2019 Meeting: Minutes of the April CACT meeting were not yet available for review. 3. Committee Member Reports: Due to length of the discussion on the Comprehensive Plan amendments, member Committee Reports were not provided. 4. Staff Reports: Jeff Reported that Bike Share had officially opened in the City on May 8th, and that there would be an official ribbon cutting at 6:30 pm on May 13th at the Bike Share station next to the State Theatre. He also reported that Bike to work Day was scheduled for Friday May 17th and the Falls Church Pit Stop will be located on W&OD Trail at Little Falls St The recently installed W&OD detour should not affect the pit stop operation. 5. Information Item: CACT 2019 Priority Tracking Sheet: Priority Tracking Sheet was last updated in March 2019, and will be updated for the June meeting. 6. Discussion Item: Comprehensive Plan Amendments: Draft Chapters on Housing, Natural Resources and Demographics –Shelley Mastran, Presenter: The City’s Comprehensive Plan is being amended to add three new Chapters. Shelley Mastran, part-time CPEDS employee and professor from VT presented a brief presentation of the 3 new chapters. The Chapters are scheduled to be adopted by City Council in July after an extensive public engagement campaign.  Environmental Chapter: Highlights include:  -Climate change mitigation and adaption, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, energy, green buildings, sustainability and resilience -Water-water resources, water sheds, floodplains and storm water management -Green Infrastructure – including the built environment, urban forest, open space, green roofs and habitat -Waste Management – industrial, commercial and residential solid waste.  Housing Chapter: Highlights Include: -The chapter was last updated in 2005. -There is rising regional population growth and the City has an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent. There is an increase in multi-family homes ear downs and renovations, but the cost of housing remains high. -Limited options for low and moderate income housing -Housing demand driven by regional economic growth -Housing demand expected to follow recent trends which is 650 to 720 units every 5 years --45% of future households expected to be at or below Area Median Income.  Demographics Chapter: Highlights Include: The Demographics chapter Scope of work contains three elements: -Trends- Recent reports that Falls Church’s growth is related to what is being seen in Arlington and Fairfax Counties. In addition, the trends report identified that Falls Church has recently seen an increase in single person households, that multi-family housing is more widely available and that many residents have jobs in higher paying industries outside the City. All of these chapters have significant implications for transportation in the City. . 7. Discussion Item: Recommendation for Allocating Funds for Walking and Biking Improvements: With the recent rash of pedestrian and bicycle accidents that have injured many and taken the lives of some in the region, the City Council has asked the CACT to propose spot improvements to make walking and bicycling safer in the city. Using $100K just allocated in the FY2020 budget for pedestrian and walkability spot improvements, a brief discussion wa had about possible solutions. Ideas for allocating funds included the following: -install infrastructure to control bike speeds on trial near crossings -install protected bike lanes -complete missing sidewalk connections -require cars to stop at trail crossings -where intersections are not square, use bollards to create temporary bump-outs  -conduct more spot enforcement. These and other ideas will be further discussed at the June CACT meeting. 8. Other Items not on the Agenda: Council Member Dave Snyder mentioned several regional reports or projects affecting the City. He spoke about the Route 7 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project that will run through the City on W Broad and N Washington Street and how there is no room for a dedicated bus lane on these roadways because of limited right of way. He also spoke of a study that looked at the four main causes of traffic fatalities (impaired driving, speeding, distraction and lack of seat belt use). Dave also indicated that a draft of new report called the Bus Transformation Project has been released for comments. Copies of the report will be include in the Committee’s June materials package. .