Beauregard Rezoning Group Discusses Design Guidelines for Parking, Block Sizes

The Beauregard Rezoning Advisory Group is preparing to send a letter to city officials including the decisions made by the group and questions raised by group members or issues raised by community members that the advisory group acted upon.

On Monday, the advisory group opted to have an open discussion of the letter at its Feb. 28 meeting. The group plans to publish a draft letter online before the meeting.

Jeff Farner, deputy director of planning for the city of Alexandria, and group Chairman David Baker cautioned that the letter will reflect the decisions made by the advisory group as a whole and not the opinions of individual residents.

“It the recommendation of this group, ultimately, to council,” Farner told residents.

Also Monday, Marina Khoury, a partner with DPZ, the project's planning firm, received the group’s approval for revised design guidelines mandating block sizes have a maximum perimeter of 1,600 square feet to ensure walkability and ground-floor residential uses have a finished floor height above average sidewalk grade of a minimum of 12 inches with a setback and 18 inches without a setback. The guidelines also now state that parking structure design be similar to adjoining buildings and allow greater flexibility in the width of vehicle entrances to parking lots.

The group also debated whether to mandate rounded curb extensions called bulb-outs for intersections and crosswalks. Farner said the bulb-outs, which are absent in Old Town, would be a good fit for the Beauregard development. The group voted to include bulb-outs in the design standard.

Group members also reviewed streetlight guidelines to mandate standard city light fixtures.

During a public comment portion of the meeting, Roger Sullivan of Seminary Park praised the creation of a buffer zone between Seminary Park and new construction, adding he would like to see something similar for the Seminary Heights neighborhood.

Annabelle Fisher, a West End resident, asked whether housing would be torn down to accommodate new development at the Shops at Mark Center. Group member Cathy Puskar said the new retail center will be built south of the current shopping center in the development’s first phase, and the current shops will be redeveloped in later phases.