After sparring about noise from potential police motorcycle training, the Vienna Town Council voted 5-2 on June 3 to have town staff apply for a conditional-use permit that would allow for increased parking and a range of interim activities at the 3-acre “annex” property at 301 Center St. S.
The Council on Aug. 31, 2020, purchased the former Faith Baptist Church property for $5.5 million and temporarily moved the police department there while its new station was being built next door.
The Council decided against renovating the church building, which was in poor condition, and instead had it demolished earlier this year. The land area formerly occupied by the building now will be planted with grass seed to await future governmental uses there.
The Council will decide the annex site’s long-term use at a future date, but in the meantime, because the property is zoned for single-family residential use, must obtain a conditional-use permit to allow temporary activities there.
These could include everything from farmers’ markets, camps, classes and overflow parking for events and sports activities to short-term accommodation of public-works materials and police motorcycle-training exercises.
Neighbors suggested parking, a unique playground, picnic tables and benches, camps and other programming, said Vienna Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Herman.
Town staff on June 3 presented the Council with three options for the conditional-use application. The option selected by Town Council members (“Exhibit 3”) showed the same front parking lot and fenced storage area as proposed in the other options, and also would remove the site’s curved driveway. But the sidewalk from the rear parking lot would be straight instead of curving around a mature holly tree, which would be removed.
Under this option, if 7,670 square feet of pavement were added to the rear parking lot, the town could stripe four rows of 90-degree parking, resulting in 118 spaces.
Some Council members worried about potential impacts on neighbors, and especially were concerned about noise from the police department’s motorcycle training.
Town Manager Mercury Payton confierred with Vienna Police Chief James Morris during the meeting, and the chief said the training only occurs when officers are preparing for motorcycle tests at the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy.
That training, which occurs rarely, only takes place for two hours a couple of times per week, Morris said.
The town’s new zoning code requires buffering between different uses, said Deputy Planning and Zoning Director Kelly O’Brien, addressing Council members’s concerns about noise and visual impacts.
The Council voted down an amendment, proposed by member Roy Baldwin and seconded by Council member Sandra Allen, to prohibit police motorcycle training at the site. Those two members then cast the two votes against Exhibit 3.
Council members do not have the authority to approve the conditional-use permit on their own. The application will be reviewed by the Vienna Planning Commission and then face a final decision by the town’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
