Two developers are proposing changes to existing comprehensive plans so they can build new homes in the Lee District.
Both proposals, submitted as part of the recent South County Site-Specific Plan Amendment (SSPA) process, are just south of the Capital Beltway and east of South Van Dorn Street.
Currently, 5400 - 5605 Oakwood Road is occupied by wooded lots, a Suburban Fuel Co. lot, a now-closed construction company and a few homes that appear to be unoccupied.
On Monday night, residents had an opportunity to learn more about both proposals during a virtual meeting hosted by the Lee County Task Force for the SSPA process.
5605 Oakwood Road
The first proposal was for 5605 Oakwood Road. The project nominators, represented by David Gill of Wire Gill LLP, would like to amend the existing comprehensive plan, which currently says the land must be used for office space with some mixed use for office, hotel and retail with the potential for a residential component.
This existing plan has phasing requirements that require offices to be built prior to any residential units. The current plan allows for the potential of up to five office buildings of up to eight stories.
Instead, the nominators would like to get rid of the phasing requirements and use the area for primarily residential as well as some office and self-storage mixed use.
During his presentation, Gill pointed out that the land has remained undeveloped for 30 years under the current plan and that it is not an ideal location for office space. The area has no amenity base and competes with better opportunities located along Metro's Silver Line. In addition, he pointed out that the way people work and live has been significantly impacted by COVID-19 and the demand for office space is not what it was previously.
He proposed working together with the surrounding neighborhoods to come up with a better solution for the use of the land and create a viable, transit-oriented community. The nominators are supportive of creating better access to public transit and see most of the residential units being three-story townhouses.
Members of the nearby neighborhoods presented a number of concerns at the meeting. They voiced concerns about the creation of cut-through roads in their neighborhood that would cause extra traffic as new residents use them to get to school or work and avoid the busier main roads. They also are worried that if the land is developed as mostly residential it will only increase commute times, traffic and Metro use in an already volume-heavy area.
School overcrowding at nearby Bush Hill Elementary was also brought up because new residents would place an extra burden on the school, which already uses trailers and has parking issues. In addition, they are concerned that the proposed self-storage would be visually unattractive. Concerns about noise and stormwater management were also mentioned.
5400 – 5604 Oakwood Road
Lynne Strobel, of Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh PC presented on behalf of nominators for the 5400-5604 Oakwood Road proposal. Similar to the previous proposal, they would like to remove the phasing requirements in the existing plan which currently calls for office, hotel, retail and residential mixed use.
The new proposal would be for residential mixed-use development with the possibility of office, institutional and/or industrial use. The proposed residential mixed-use would be comprised of both single family and multifamily units.
Like Gill, Strobel also emphasized wanting to work with the community to come up with a solution that would benefit everybody. She reminded attendees that this meeting was only the first step in a long process towards development.
Some community members said they would like to see efforts to make the area more transit-friendly before adding density. Nominators for both proposals said they were open to working with the community but wanted to eliminate existing phasing requirements because they were outdated and not reasonable or appropriate for development. They also wanted to work together and hoped that due to their similarities, both proposals would be considered together in the future.
The Task Force passed a motion that both proposals be considered together as part of a larger work program that also includes developing a connector between Oakwood and Vine Streets over Interstates 95 and 495. As part of the next step in the nomination process, the Lee District Task Force will submit their recommendation to the Planning Commission.
More information about the 2019 - 2020 South County SSPA Process can be found here.