Workshops To Detail Maple Avenue Commercial Zone Guidelines

VIENNA, VA—The Town of Vienna will hold two community workshops on the proposed guidelines for the Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) Zone and MAC ordinance amendment. The workshops will happen Friday, March 29 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday, March 30 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry Street SE.

The workshops will have an open house style, meaning there won't be a formal presentation. Instead, the workshops will be hands-on so residents can see and feel the proposed changes, which include setbacks and sidewalks widths. Residents can also ask questions and provide feedback about the proposed guidelines and ordinance amendments.

After temporarily suspending the MAC Zone ordinance last fall, the town updated the guidelines with public feedback. The temporarily moratorium is in effect through June 27, 2019.

Town officials developed the updated design guidelines after collecting public feedback from a survey, according to a staff memo. The survey, open from Oct. 10-Nov. 12, 2018, asked respondents to rate 41 images involving placemaking and building and site design. Officials used the 10 highly-rated images as a guide, as well as looked at the proportion and scale of Church Street to see how these could translate for Maple Avenue.

The MAC Zone will be designed to encourage "compact, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development and redevelopment along the commercial corridor to reinforce Maple Avenue’s role as the Town’s main street," according to a statement from the town.

Residents can view the proposed guidelines for the MAC Zone on the town's website. Comments on the proposed guidelines and amendments can be sent by March 31 to dpz@viennava.gov with "MAC comments" in the subject line.