|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Diamond Properties proposes shared loading easement
After meeting with downtown business owners, town staff and Herndon planning commissioners, Diamond Properties says it is ready to submit its latest plan to the public at a June 17 meeting.
“The public will be a part of all of this,” said attorney Mark Looney during a Wednesday meeting with commissioners David Swan and Ted Hochstein in council chambers. “I just wanted to show it to you before the work session so you weren't surprised, and to see that there weren't any visceral reactions.”
Diamond's latest endeavor is to establish a parking and loading easement to be shared by the owners of businesses neighboring the Element hotel site being proposed by Diamond.
“We have have been working with property owners and have spoken with [Herndon Director of Public Works] Lisa Gilleran and [Senior Planner] Kaye Robertson, and wanted to talk with commissioners since this will fall under your operations subcommittee,” Looney said. “We want to establish a creative solution on loading space and the placement of dumpsters.”
The “inter-parcel access” plan would create two standard loading spaces, two non-standard loading areas and one drop-off area for use by all the property owners, according to Mike Ibrahim, Vice President of Diamond Properties, who was also at Wednesday's meeting with commissioners.
After meeting with business owners earlier this month, Looney said that they all agreed on an option to allow 40' tractor-trailer delivery trucks to back into and exit out of the shared loading zone via an alley behind the current Nachman building that connects to Lynn Street.
“But Lisa [Gilleran] suggested that we push through and exit as a right-turn only onto Monroe Street,” said Looney. “That is now our preference, all the way to Monroe.”
“You sure are working hard to come up with a solution,” Swan said. “But the property owners are giving something up by agreeing to this easement. Their future development rights are at issue.”
“I am an owner too," replied Ibrahim, “and I am saying you can develop as much as you want, as long as you honor the easement. There are trade-offs, and we will be paving the area and providing Dumpsters.”
Looney said that any adjustments to the shared easement could be made at a later date, but if approved, the easement would be established. “We would also provide a loading management plan as part of our proffers,” he said.
On Tuesday, June 17, the Herndon Planning Commission will hold a special work session on the proposed hotel beginning at 6:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Herndon Municipal Center, 777 Lynn St. in Herndon.
You must be logged in to post a comment.