After many months of heated debate by residents, civic groups, and the Board of Architectural Review (BAR), the proposed changes to the Old Presbyterian Meeting House were finally approved by the Alexandria Planning Commission.
The concern during the final discussion remained the impact the increased facilities would have on parking throughout the area.
Several speakers noted that church activities take place throughout the week, and this increases the competition for parking between residents and the congregation.
To counteract this argument, attorney Duncan W. Blair, representing the church, pointed out that arrangements had been made with both the Safeway on Royal Street and St. Mary's Church for overflow parking. He also noted, "The congregation has remained steady at approximately 1,100" in recent years.
Fearful that approval of the project, with a reduction in the parking requirement, might set a precedent for future applicants, Commissioner H. Stewart Dunn Jr. pressed that the vote contain a clause that "this is not a precedent" and pertains to this situation only.
Commission chairman Eric R. Wagner argued against the inclusion stating that the conditions imposed by the planning staff had accomplished the same result. By a vote of 6-0, with one abstention, the expansion of the church and the alterations to the Elliott house were approved. The one abstention was Commissioner Richard Leibach.
THE CONTROVERSY has swirled around the church's proposal to convert the Elliott house, which has been owned by the church since it was willed to them on the death of Jane Elliott, into an administrative headquarters and to expand the present church's facilities to an area beneath the courtyard.
In a memorandum to the Commission dated Aug. 23, Eileen Fogarty, director, Department of Planning and Zoning, explained that this item had been deferred at the June 2002 meeting, "as a result of an appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals." This appeal "challenged the opinion of the director of Planning and Zoning that the pre-Elliott-house church facilities were grandfathered as to the parking requirements. At the July 11, 2002, Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, the Board unanimously upheld the decision of the director."
In recommending approval, the Planning and Zoning staff set 38 conditions to be met by the church. During Thursday's hearing it was noted that the church has agreed to all of these, which "will add approximately $67,000 to the construction costs."
Most of the controversy has been over the historical significance of both the Elliott house and the church, as well as the potential loss of open space. The house was originally constructed in 1844 and the church in 1774. In the courtyard are the graves of John Carlyle, Dr. James Craik, and the Tomb of the Unknown Solider of the American Revolution.
After completing their extended docket, the Commission returned to the application to develop 5.14 acres within the Eisenhower Avenue Coordinated Development District, CDD#2, known as "Mill Race." Debate on the subject had consumed more than three hours of their Tuesday night meeting, ending in a 5-1 vote for deferral.
Thursday's deliberations were confined to the Commission and the subjects of parking and affordable housing. After further discussions on those items, the Commission approved the project, subject to the staff conditions, by a unanimous vote of 7-0.
IN OTHER ACTION, the Commission approved the following:
* Construction of a private community center at Jamestown Village;
* A change in the zoning ordinance allowing some commercial buildings along King Street to be converted from commercial to residential use;
* Revising the regulations pertaining to ATM machines within the Historic Districts;
* Vacation of the city's public right-of-way easement for South Street to accommodate the proposed widening of I-95 as part of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project.