Takoma Junction meeting schedule
A resident asked me about the city’s schedule for further consideration of Takoma Junction redevelopment options. Here’s information:
There will be a January 5 council meeting, our first after out 2014 holiday recess. Takoma Junction isn’t on the agenda, but attendees are free to comment on the junction during public comment, at 7:30 pm.
The current city “rolling agenda” lists the following —
MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2015 Work Session:
– Discussion of Financial Information related to Takoma Junction Redevelopment Proposals
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21 — (tentative) TAKOMA JUNCTION REDEVELOPMENT PUBLIC COMMENTS, 7:00 p.m. (CC Auditorium)
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3 — (tentative) TAKOMA JUNCTION REDEVELOPMENT PUBLIC COMMENTS, 7:00 p.m. (CC Auditorium)
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 — (tentative) TAKOMA JUNCTION REDEVELOPMENT PUBLIC COMMENTS, 7:00 p.m. (CC Auditorium)
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17 — CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION, 7:30 p.m. (CC Auditorium)
Work Session:
– (tentative) Discussion of Takoma Junction Redevelopment
The tentative January 21, February 3, and February 10 meetings are not city council worksessions. That is, there would not be council/staff discussion although I would assume that councilmembers will aim to attend.
These meetings were laid out in the schedule on the last page of a November 24, 2014 presentation. That presentation was part of a Overview of Community Benefits and Trade-Offs Related to Takoma Junction worksession. Video from that worksession is at online.
On January 12, the council will talk about “some of the specific financial information from the [four finalist] proposals,” according to City Manager Brian Kenner. This numbers will be linked to property status — selling the city lot versus retaining ownership and leasing it to a non-city entity — and to community-amenity trade-offs. We discussed trade-offs on November 24. They could include accepting lower cash return in exchange for inclusion of community space, public parking, and other amenities in whatever’s developed or for concessions such as reduced building height, great set-backs, undergrounding parking, and other steps that add to developer cost or reduce the return to the developer.
Myself, I think it would be interesting to compare the TPSS Co-op’s perspective on Takoma Junction financials, especially since the co-op has reworked its proposed design, to financials associated with the four finalists’ proposals.
I don’t have any further information on these meetings and I don’t see any on the city’s Takoma Junction Web page, but you can visit that page for background on redevelopment discussions to date.
I hope this helps.