Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

June 2024 Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation Meeting Minutes 1) Meeting is called to order at 7:00 p.m. 2) Administration a. Roll call a. Arthur Agin (Chair) – Present b. Stuart Whitaker (Vice Chair) – Present a. Erin Kampschroer (Member) – Absent b. Jessica Hegenbart (Member) – Present c. John Bentrup (Member) – Present d. David Beddoe (Member) – Absent e. Sarah Myers (Member) – Present f. David Snyder (City Council Liaison) – Absent g. Andrea Caumont (Planning Commission Liaison) – Absent h. Jenna Brummond (Planning Liaison) – Absent i. Haejin Kim (DPW Liaison) – Absent j. Kerri Oddenino (Principal Planner) – Present (Filling in as Planning Liaison for Jenna Brummond) b. Agenda Adopted c. Review of May Minutes a. May Minutes approved with 5-0 vote. d. Changes to CACT Membership a. Introduction of new CACT member, Sarah Myers. Welcome Sarah! 3) City Council Liaison Report a) Councilman Snyder is on international travel and will give a report at the next meeting. 4) DPW Update a) Haejin Kim was unable to make the meeting due to sickness, but forwarded a presentation to share with CACT. Kerri Oddenino presented that the Rapid Response Crew is at 90% completion with the installation of light solutions at E Columbia Street and Lawton Street, Virginia Avenue and Great Falls Street is at 25% completion, and City Hall restriping has not started yet. i) Chair Agin commented on sightline issues at the corner of Virginia Avenue and Great Falls Street and how the lines should be farther out. Staff to follow up with DPW on how the design was made for the bump out at this corner. b) For the Annual Paving Update, the contractors Finley and Espina are working on several streets. Finley is working on W Jefferson Street, Liberty Ave & Douglass, and E Annandale Road. Espina is working on Rollings Street, Gibson & Shirley Street, and Wallace Street. Additional paving from Finley on S West Street, Parker Street, Ellison Street, and Railroad Ave due to the pipe bursting project. i) John Bentrup commented on adding more information with street width and highlighting the current condition level. c) For the HAWK Signals, Ardent began construction on June 3rd. Construction expected to conclude by the end of November 2024. The three HAWK Signals are located along Broad Street near N Oak Street, N Fairfax Street, and Buxton Road. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5297 TTY711.  i) CACT concerns included avoiding sidewalk obstructions from the signals. d) For the W&OD Trail Crossings Update, the concrete work and pavements at Little Falls and Great Falls have been completed and temporarily open to traffic. Lighting installation to be completed by August 2024. Contractor working on Oak Street as first phase of construction to be completed by September 2024. i) Chair Agin commented on the four-way stop signs, and Kerri Oddenino noted it will be a separate project. ii) Jessica Hegenbart commented that Tara Hoff reached out to the resident who was involved in a crash at Cherry and Broad. The City hired a traffic signal consultant to look at the signal and stop light timings. 5) Bicycle Master Plan Update (Verbal) a) Kerri Oddenino presented that several meetings are scheduled with yard signs out to advertise and in the Focus. The meeting for the East West Connection is next Thursday, June 20th. The meetings will be hosted in the streets and include a walking tour. The three streets include the East West Connection, N West Street on June 25th, and S West Street on June 27th. The other three streets (E Broad Street, Great Falls, and Park Ave) will be happening at a different time. b) Capital Bikeshare stations were discussed and Kerri Oddenino noted that a new station will be located at the West Falls Development. 6) Work Session Item: Proposed Zoning Updates Around Nonconforming Commercial Parking a) Jack Trainor presented on the proposed text amendment around offering some relief and commercial parking for new uses that move into existing commercial buildings. City Council received a presentation from Newmark in October 2023 and highlighted the City’s commercial/retail buildings are older and ask for lower rents with smaller spaces. Many of these buildings were built before the adopted parking ordinance in 1969 and are required to meet parking requirements which could be a barrier to local businesses. Several benefits of rethinking parking requirements include encouraging adaptive reuse of buildings and maintaining architectural character. b) The amendment is trying to remove parking as a barrier by removing the first 1000 sq. feet of new commercial uses where there is not enough parking to meet the zoning code requirements. The caveats include: i) Building changing use doesn’t have a site plan with an approved transportation demand management or parking management plan. ii) The new use space is not within a shopping center, and the new use off street parking requirements are calculated using sq. feet. c) John Bentrup commented that not everyone can bike or walk to work and the lack of paid parking spaces in the City. Chair Agin commented that parking could spill over to residential streets if parking is restricted or reduced at businesses. Jack Trainor noted that the new use would have to demonstrate they qualify for the reduction, and the proposal is aimed at the City’s smallest spaces as the parking reduction would get smaller as the space gets bigger. Chair Agin also suggested two restrictions for parking: to not allow parking restrictions outside of posted business hours, and to not restrict parking for more than 50% of their parking spaces. 7) NTC Monthly Update a) Staff presented recent progress with NTC cases. Greenway Downs is waiting for approval of the final estimate and 100% plans from VDOT. E Columbia light solutions are at 90% completion. The heavy solutions for E Columbia did not pass the 51% threshold for the  neighborhood vote: 10 property owners responded and only 50% approved. CACT inquired if the committee can override the vote, but Staff confirmed CACT does not have the authority to override the vote per the updated NTC Handbook. Staff to send out neighborhood vote by mail for heavy solutions for E Jefferson Street, both property owners agree on sign placement and the working group reached consensus. Staff are weighing traffic calming solutions and bicycle facilities and are waiting to receive feedback on the upcoming meeting for S West Street. Staff conducted a neighborhood working group meeting for N Roosevelt Street and site visits to discuss potential solutions. 8) ACTION ITEM: Poplar Drive Hill Prioritization Memo a) Staff recommends pausing the case for 6 months due to the “low” priority result. CACT noted to share the provided information and recommendation to the requester to give opportunity to provide public comment at a meeting. Jessica Hegenbart suggested compiling the table in the memo to include only current cases to help determine priority. b) CACT voted to pause the case for 3 months, passed 5-0. 9) ACTION ITEM: Sherrow Avenue Prioritization Memo a) Staff recommends pausing the case for 3 months due to the “medium” priority result. b) CACT voted to pause the case for 3 months, passed 5-0. 10) Committee Member Roundtable a) Jessica Hegenbart has made updates to the Oak Street Elementary School Memo, and working to socialize it with the school. b) Chair Agin presented that he went to City Council and presented the CACT 2023 Annual Report. As a summary, Councilmember Underhill raised the question of how CACT could help with education on traffic calming with the Greening of Lincoln. Mayor Hardi suggested Staff to help with the transportation dashboard. 11) Agenda Setting a) CACT members discussed assisting DPW with the ADA Transition Plan or receive an update. Jessica Hegenbart suggested having a transportation education campaign and an update on the Missing Links Program. 12) Correspondence a) Attachments included links to HAWK instructions for pedestrians and motorists; how to report streetlight outages; and how to report a concern. 13) CACT voted to extend the meeting at 9:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m., passes 5-0. Meeting extended at 9:30 p.m until 9:45 p.m, passes 5-0. Adjourn (approx. 9:48 p.m.), passes 5-0.