| The city supports redeveloping the
Upper Wisconsin Avenue corridor as a pedestrian friendly,
vibrant streetscape with locally serving retailers and greater
housing options.
Redevelopment is guided by the Comprehensive
Plan and the zoning code.
Our city's Comprehensive
Plan indicates the character of development and
redevelopment. The new Comprehensive Plan, adopted
in December 2006, calls for a mix of uses along the
Upper Wisconsin Avenue corridor and protection of adjacent
single-family neighborhoods. The previous
Comprehensive Plan was outdated and basically called
for leaving Upper Wisconsin the way it is.
The new Comprehensive Plan calls for
locally serving retail (instead of big box stores or chain
stores, which generate more traffic) with housing above to
create a mixed use environment. Redevelopment should occur
at a moderate density in order to support locally serving
retail.
The closed Left Bank Cafe at Tenley
Hill is a good example of why moderate density along Wisconsin
Avenue is needed to support new shops and services:
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| Left Bank Cafe, Tenley Hill development |
Letter about the cafe's closing (read
the letter) |
Zoning
Our city's zoning code indicates the
scope and type of what is built.
Most of Upper Wisconsin Avenue is zoned C-2-A, which calls
for low to moderate density and allows for mixed use development.
While C-2-A isn't ideal for the redevelopment the city hopes
to encourage, it does mean that developers would have to go
through the Planned Unit Development ("PUD") approval
process to do most redevelopment.
The PUD process allows for extensive review by city agencies
and the public, a project built as a “matter of right”
means that there are no public review requirements, and all
the developer needs to build are permits. A PUD process gives
us the advantage and allows us to negotiate with developers
for the community amenities we want.
The City of Arlington used this strategy to ensure good design
of the redevelopment in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. It
also allowed Arlington to maximize the community amenities
provided by developers.
You can look up zoning information for specific parcels along
Wisconsin on the Office
of Zoning's website.
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