The Observer Newspapers |Planners Defer Diamond Project

May 9, 2008

Planners Defer Diamond Project

By Rebecca Plevin

Observer Staff Writer

During the Planning Commission's public hearing Monday night, town staff, commissioners and town residents discussed whether the proposed Diamond Properties hotel should complement the buildings of Herndon's past or should serve as the first step toward Herndon's future. The commission deferred a vote on the project until its July 7 public hearing.

Town planner Bryce Perry, who works with the Heritage Preservation Review Board, said the hotel's architecture should resemble the existing historic buildings in the downtown, but town residents and local business owners who spoke in unanimous support of the project signaled that the building's historical features were not their top priority. The speakers urged the commission to approve the project and said the extended-stay hotel would bring much-needed revenue and energy into Herndon's downtown.

"Simply build it," said town resident Melissa Jonas, who said that to lose the project, "will be a mistake we'll pay for for years to come." She said she hopes the hotel serves as the "beginning of a vibrant rebirth of our downtown."

The hotel would "help kick-start us into the next decade," said town resident Paul Olsen. He said the hotel could provide mentorship, scholarship and employment opportunities for the town's youth.

"This is a moment of truth for us to really get a catalyst" in the downtown, said Don Owens, president of the Herndon Downtown Alliance. Owens, vice president of Griffin-Owens Insurance in downtown Herndon, said the town must support a development project that brings critical mass to the downtown and makes it a destination.

Resident John DeNoyer, a former member of the Town Council, said there was "too much looking backward, and not enough looking to the future." He encouraged the planners to picture the downtown not as it is today, but as it will be in 50 or 100 years.

After hearing the public testimony from 10 residents, commission member Robert Burk said the overwhelmingly positive feedback for the hotel was "amazing." "I hope the public doesn't take any scrutiny as negative," he said. "We have to make sure we're getting what we hope we get."

The proposed project would bring a high-end, 163-room hotel to the corner of Elden and Monroe streets. The project would also include about 6,000 square feet of retail space, including possibly a high-turnover restaurant, and an underground parking lot, according to the staff report.

Perry said the HPRB did not believe the hotel project is architecturally appropriate to the Heritage Preservation district because the project's height, mass and scale might overwhelm neighboring buildings and the existing downtown. He said the HPRB promotes the use of details traditionally used in the downtown and believes the hotel should look more commercial and less like a series of townhouses. "The use of residential forms for a commercial property is not a trend that has been used traditionally in downtown Herndon," he said.

Chairman Carl Sivertsen asked Perry which downtown buildings the hotel should complement, and offered the Pines Shopping Center and Anita's restaurant as options. Perry said the buildings should be similar in design to historic-style buildings in the downtown, like the Nachman building on Lynn Street and the properties along Station and Pine streets.

"What perspective do you adopt when seeking to analyze how this project fits into the town's fabric?" Mark Looney, an attorney for Diamond Properties, said Wednesday. He said the town staff and residents could choose to compare the hotel's architecture to what is "directly next door today, or anticipate that this building will be the catalyst for future development opportunities, like the redevelopment of the Pines Shopping Center."

Commission member David Swan said he was less concerned about the project's architectural details, but he was still worried about the developer's proposal to build only one loading dock for the hotel, restaurant and retail shops, instead of the four loading spaces required in the zoning ordinance. Under the current plan, delivery trucks would need to turn onto Lynn Street and then back up about 180 feet into an alley to reach the loading dock, possibly impeding traffic on Monroe, Elden and Lynn streets.

Swan said he was very concerned as to "how you will operate this facility with that sort of loading dock." Having one loading space for various retailers "can be a significant challenge," he said. Commission member Paul LeReche also said his main concern is the loading dock situation.