"Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who is vying to replace McDonnell as governor, backed another plan, dubbed the conservative alternative, which kept the sales tax at 5 percent and instead indexed the gas tax to inflation."

I like the conservative alternative. But Grover Norquist says this would be a tax increase. Hmmm.

by aaa on Feb 12, 2013 8:30 am • link • report

I like waste-to-energy, I really do. I like diesels, cigarettes, and not washing for a few days as a euro-weenie. But isn't the issue here that the existing waste-to-energy plants aren't making enough money? Trucking it out to fairfax seems like a great solution.

As usual, the politicans in NOVA don't want to actually PAY for the road and transit improvements and blame the gnome called "Dillon's Rule" and Richmond for all the problems.

by charlie on Feb 12, 2013 8:32 am • link • report

That HOA story is unreal. Threatening to put a lien on someone's house because of a campaign sign? Don't these people have better things to do? The article doesn't say too much about why the lawsuit continued. Sounds like everybody lost here.

by MLD on Feb 12, 2013 9:14 am • link • report

That HOA story is the most absurd thing I have ever read. It pretty much sums up everything wrong with NOVA and why I would never, ever, buy a house with an HOA association or fee. Power gets to some people's heads so quickly.

by Nick on Feb 12, 2013 9:18 am • link • report

Also, the Fort Myer/ARLnow link is broken, at least for me.

by Nick P.S. on Feb 12, 2013 9:19 am • link • report

Charlie,

I'm not going to violate the comment policy, but this is what you need to understand. NOVA residents actually support a GAS tax increase if it means that the money stops going to Richmond and we can use it locally. Hence why we have even thought about using INCOME tax to fund transportation.

The problem is the past 3 years Richmond has spent 5 billion in capital projects elsewhere in the state and almost nothing in NOVA complaining they have no money. We in NOVA bank roll both transportation (25% of funds while only receiving 10% of the maintenance/capital spending) and the state itself (returned only 20% of our tax money locally).

So forgive us if we don't want to allow people downstate to drive their massive trucks for free, while we who own regular size cars suddenly have a $100 fee (an equivalent gas tax) and a rise in sales tax 16%.

by Tysons Engineer on Feb 12, 2013 9:23 am • link • report

Sounds like everybody lost here.

Except for those of us that would like to illustrate the absurdity of some HOAs and restrictive covenants!

by Alex B. on Feb 12, 2013 9:29 am • link • report

I read the HOA story yesterday in shock. Congrats to the people involved not coming to blows after all that.

Though, if I was told my sign was 4 inches too high I'd just stake it in deeper, then the psycho who claimed I was ruining property values would then come up with something else. Then I'd always let my dog pee on his tires.

by drumz on Feb 12, 2013 9:30 am • link • report

Also, has anyone here had to sell their house for less than they asking price explicitly because of something ugly or gaudy on your neighbors property?

by drumz on Feb 12, 2013 9:33 am • link • report

RE: FBI

I must be missing something through all this, so someone enlighten me: why attract a large non-taxable federal agency and then put them in an insular suburban facility?

If all they do is drive-in & drive-out, not going out for lunch, then where is the retail kicker? If all you get is attracting residents because they can work there- how does that compete with instead incentivising higher-density private business development on the same site with a mixture of residential, office, and retail that can all be taxed across property, income, payroll, sales, etc...?

by Bossi on Feb 12, 2013 9:35 am • link • report

I am getting a ton of satisfaction with the HOA story. They did what all of us wish we had the time, energy or money to do. I've lived in two HOA's in my life and they were the absolute worst experiences. Petulant, childlike behavior that would make a whiney 8 year old look like a Saint.

Subjective rules, subjective enforcement of rules, cliqish behavior and power trips only outdone by your average Congressman.

Then you have the endless, multiples per day email bombs from members in the association, whining about this, and that "the house at 214 Marker Street had TWO" cars parked in their driveway, we should call the state police" crap.

I vowed never again to live in a house that was in an HOA when I sold my last one 7 years ago.

by HOA on Feb 12, 2013 9:37 am • link • report

It pretty much sums up everything wrong with NOVA

If you think this kind of behavior only occurs in Northern Virginia, you need to get out more.

by Juanita de Talmas on Feb 12, 2013 9:42 am • link • report

Bossi, the GSA site is federally owned. Fairfax can't do anything with it as it is.

by selxic on Feb 12, 2013 9:42 am • link • report

@bossi

if each of the springfield sites was going to be redeveloped as fully taxable dense mixed use, then it would not make sense for FFX to want the FBI there.

However its probably unlikely that that will happen with all the sites in that area, at time in the foreseeable future. A couple of them are not easily walkable to Springfield metro. Ergo, these are properties outside walking distance to the metro, outside the beltway, not in the favored quarter, at a time when the office market is not particularly tight.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Feb 12, 2013 9:43 am • link • report

Issue with the ARLnow link seems to be the tags on the end of the URL. Try this: http://www.arlnow.com/2013/02/11/fort-myer-gate-changes-to-impact-cyclists/

by CapHill on Feb 12, 2013 9:43 am • link • report

I think I've fixed the link now.

by David Alpert on Feb 12, 2013 9:46 am • link • report

That Virginia has resorted to thinking a 1% income tax to pay for transportation is select areas is their only option, shows how wrong things are.

This would be a win for DC though. If VA raises income tax rates by 1%, DC is unquestionably a much more competitive state tax-wise, when you take into account the property taxes in VA. I just can't understand what is so darn hard about tacking on an extra .20c to the gas tax..

by Kyle-W on Feb 12, 2013 9:49 am • link • report

If the FBI moves out of the District, how can it be anything but a failure on the part of those of us who care about the city, whether or not we classify ourselves as "urbanist?"

If it happens, it's just one gigantic failure to me.

by Jazzy on Feb 12, 2013 9:51 am • link • report

Not certain how Northern Virginia could ever agree to raises its income tax rates 1%, absent the rest of the state following suit. If Northern Virginia brings in 300 million through this tax, you can count on the state funding 200 million less to Northern Virginia, and count on more boondoggles downstate.

by Kyle-W on Feb 12, 2013 9:52 am • link • report

"Transportation is supposed to be a state responsibility."

Why? I'm seriously curious...why should Richmond be dictating what northern Virginia does with its transportation money? I like the idea of this plan; it allows much more local control, and allows localities to choose what they want to fund and how they want to fund it. Or is it so much easier to ask that people in Salem and Norton fund roads in Fairfax County?

@MLD: Given what I know of that particular area of the county, I'm not surprised. Not surprised at all.

by Ser Amantio di Nicolao on Feb 12, 2013 9:53 am • link • report

@ Bossi:I must be missing something through all this, so someone enlighten me: why attract a large non-taxable federal agency and then put them in an insular suburban facility?

Because the FBI wants to get out of DC, and live next to a metro stop near the Beltway. Fairfax is sitting on a decaying, nearly abandoned, fenced-off, enormous GSA warehouse. Should the FBI move there, that would mean a lot of jobs moving into Fairfax, and the people and associated business that comes with it. The developers of the Springfield Mall will be very happy renting and selling their new condos and apartments to reliable FBI agents. FBI contracters will be happy to pay ridiculous rents to the new Metro Park business center. With Ft Belvoir and the FBI, south Fairfax would really become a second growth center after Tysons.

Considering the growth of Ft Belvoir and that many FBI workers will move just west and south of Franconia, there will be a very strong case to be made to extend the Yellow Line Along US-1 to Potomac Hell, and the Blue Line along the Parkway west, as well as to beef up service on VRE.

Franconia has the potential to change from a commuter hop-on the metro place to a real destination.

Honestly, if sanity rules, PG County does not stand a chance.

by Jasper on Feb 12, 2013 9:57 am • link • report

As assuredly as the sun comes up in the East, if any NoVA jurisdiction taxed itself to pay for transportation improvements, they would see an equivalent reduction in transportation funding coming from Richmond. And some county in the southwest would get a new 4 lane highway.

by ksu499 on Feb 12, 2013 10:05 am • link • report

Jazzy,

How is it a failure?

Seems like a win/win for the District. They get what is probably the most valuable land ever transferred back to the public tax rolls. A huge parcel of land that will be filled with retail, residents and offices alike, activating that block 24 hours a day rather than just during the day.

Lets also be honest here, while I have no factual data to support it, I would say the bulk of the employees who work at headquarters don't actually live in the District as it is, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

Sure, the nearby restaurants will suffer for a few years for lack of a lunch crowd, but this seems like it came right out of Chapter 1 of the ubanists handbook.

by HOA on Feb 12, 2013 10:09 am • link • report

@Jasper

Just reading through your comment, and noticed none of those were benefits to the FBI or the Federal Government. All of those benefits fell to the state of Virginia and Fairfax County. To then conclude that on that basis, Honestly, if sanity rules, PG County does not stand a chance. is verging on the opposite of sanity.

The Feds are not supposed to be picking favorites. Also, since when has the Federal Government made a big decision like this with any focus on the development that would result? Take a look at the surface lots on some of the most valuable land in America surrounding the Capital and Union Station.

by Kyle-W on Feb 12, 2013 10:10 am • link • report

I actually think the Fairfax site makes sense. I mean I'd rather see it go to PG because there is already disproportionate development in NOVA but it Franconia would make a good reverse commuting site. Hopefully it won't cause Maryland commuters to switch to cars and just take the beltway. On the otherhand it's a VRE station so it could give them a bump. If I was Fairfax, I'd be running a circulator service between the Metro, new HQ, and local businesses.

On a political level though, does the senior staff really want to move that far away from the Capitol/White House?

by Alan B. on Feb 12, 2013 10:19 am • link • report

@Kyle-W:

My guess as to the benefits to the Feds: they already own the land the building would be constructed on. I'd suppose they'd prefer that as they wouldn't have to go wrangling for the land with someone else. Also, I seem to recall reading here that Fairfax has a much more comprehensive plan showing what can be done with the space.

That said: of course I'm gunning for Fairfax: I live there. And this would be a huge boon.

by Ser Amantio di Nicolao on Feb 12, 2013 10:23 am • link • report

@Alan B.: I thought it had been said that they want to be away from DC due to security concerns? Springfield is about as close as you can get and build a properly-secure suburban campus, I think.

by Ser Amantio di Nicolao on Feb 12, 2013 10:24 am • link • report

@Juanita

I suppose you're right about that not only existing in NOVA. My mom dealt with a hilarious HOA in Harrisburg, PA (don't let your damn teenager park his car in the always empty 12 visitor spots, he has to park in the tiny driveway in the way of your car!).

However, when I think of NOVA, especially western and southern Fairfax, I just think of endless cul de sacs of townhomes where stuff like this happens regularly. My wife and I rented in a place like that in Chantilly. Blech. Never again.

by Nick on Feb 12, 2013 10:36 am • link • report

@Ser Amantio di Nicolao

Fairfax does because the old GSA site was once considered the likely candidate for the BRAC 133 move; which went to Alexandria (Mark Center). So they jut have to dust off the old plans.

by RJ on Feb 12, 2013 10:39 am • link • report

@Ser

That is certainly a benefit, if there are no other lots close to metro stations in PG owned by the feds, then that is a factor certainly. My point was the benefits pointed out were all benefits to FFX County and VA, and the related knock-on benefits.

I think this thing goes to PG. It would be better for the region; having the entire state of Maryland commute into VA isn't helping anyone. In addition, Mikulski just got appointed head of appropriations, and if the spots are otherwise equal, MD is going to win.

by Kyle-W on Feb 12, 2013 10:43 am • link • report

@Nick

HOA = Condo Boards; and they can just as hilarious. Anyone remember the great the Whitman Condo blog war of 2007?

by RJ on Feb 12, 2013 10:47 am • link • report

Re: FBI. DC has not been ruled out, but the stated acreage requirement makes any site (even St. E's) difficult.

Re: HOAs. For those of us who want to live at high densities, as at the Olde Belhaven townhouses (its walk score of 60 isn't bad for Fairfax), or for those who want more than the paltry level of services that local governments provide -- HOA-managed recreation facilities have outcompeted many suburbs' underfunded parks departments -- HOAs are a necessary evil.

by Payton on Feb 12, 2013 11:07 am • link • report

@Kyle-W: I don't know - my money's on Fairfax. Not because of my bias, really...I would love to see PG get something like this, but for various reasons I think it's going to go to Fairfax.

by Ser Amantio di Nicolao on Feb 12, 2013 11:09 am • link • report

HOAs are a necessary evil.

True, some entity needs to manage the common areas. But the takeaway from this story (for me) is that HOAs themselves need a lot more structuring and limits based on the public interest.

How are they structured? What powers do they have, what procedures must they follow, what remedies are at their disposal?

This HOA clearly overstepped (as shown by several judicial rulings against them), but there has to be a mechanism to better define the role of the HOA.

by Alex B. on Feb 12, 2013 11:21 am • link • report

Did I miss the details in the HOA article about the roof and a deck?

by selxic on Feb 12, 2013 11:23 am • link • report

Re FBI: It seems like Fairfax is doing a much better job selling themselves than PG is (no surprise there), and they do seem to have the momentum. But I haven't heard anything about them having an answer to the problem of the CIA facility, and since that was enough to veto BRAC redevelopment, I don't see Fairfax winning unless they can solve that problem.

Re HOA: When I read that article, the main thing I kept thinking was how stupid everyone was for letting it continue. I'm sure there were elections at some point during that 4-year legal battle; why was the board allowed to remain in office while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a legal battle over a sign? This was a community failure, and I don't think that article makes anyone look good.

by JW on Feb 12, 2013 11:26 am • link • report

@ Kyle-W:none of those were benefits to the FBI or the Federal Government.

The Feds want:
* near the Beltway - check, bonus: I-95 and I-395 nearby
* near a metro station - check
* not in DC - check
* federal property available - check
* cooperating, reliable local gov't with experience with security theater - check

As far as I understand, the locations in PG County are near metro stations, but farther from the Beltway. They don't have federal property available. And let's say that the FBI is intimately aware of the competency of the PC County government. PG County does have the advantage of pretty much living with the FBI, so the ties are much shorter (puns intended).

by Jasper on Feb 12, 2013 11:31 am • link • report

RE: FBI

I keep reading comments about the FFX site and how it is the best choice. But the arguments aren't compelling. Especially when the traffic on I-95 even on the weekends is insane. Remember the hell the Mark Center caused on 395? And they want to put 12,000 employees right near the mixing bowl? Good luck with that. There's only so many riders that metro can absorb.

I agree that PG county would be the best choice. For starters, it would spread out area traffic patterns. Anyone travel 495 near the I-95 North split? Virtually no traffic in the morning heading toward Greenbelt from the west. In addition, people talk about FFX as if there are no metro stations in PG with undeveloped land. Greenbelt holds enough space for the FBI in addition to housing and retail without having to tear down one brick. The metro is adjacent to an office park, a federal court, and a small neighborhood mall that is in need of redevelopment. The location is also near the Agriculture Center which means the property would be in a less densely populated area with lower traffic flow. Another site people forget about is West Hyattsville (open land), Largo, and New Carrollton (demolition would have to occur). All are well within range of DC and 495 with metro stations.

Yes, NOVA is "used" to getting a large share of the federal space pie. But the arguments for a location in MD, and specifically PG county, are becoming more compelling. PG has more unused space around metro stops, cheaper land, and less traffic. If the FBI chooses FFX, expect there to be a major backlash from speculation of prejudice and favoritism.

by adelphi_sky on Feb 12, 2013 11:40 am • link • report

@ Adelphi_sky:PG has more unused space around metro stops, cheaper land

Cheaper than free? The Feds already own that GSA lot.

by Jasper on Feb 12, 2013 11:47 am • link • report

@Jasper

Google Maps is your friend. :-) You're not looking at the multiple metro stations near 459 in PG with acres of undeveloped space and less traffic than FFX.

The Feds want (PG has)
* near the Beltway - check, bonus: I-95 and I-495 nearby
* near a metro station - check
* not in DC - check
* federal property (not a requirement)
* cooperating, reliable local gov't with experience with security theater - check (ever heard of Andrews AFB, IRS, IARPA, FDA, Army Research at Adelphi, and Archives II? All require security. I think all DC area jurisdictions have sufficient experience with secure federal complexes.

"As far as I understand, the locations in PG County are near metro stations, but farther from the Beltway." Lookup Greenbelt, Largo, and New Carrollton Metro stations.

by adelphi_sky on Feb 12, 2013 11:51 am • link • report

HOA goes bankrupt over a legal dispute that started over an Obama campaign side being 3" too large. Falls into the category of stories that you can't make up, but having sat on a civil jury trial over a compensation dispute that should have been settled long before it got close to a courtroom, I have seen how locked into stupid positions people can get.

If the FBI moves to the Springfield site, that would place them at the end of the Blue Line. Not exactly a short trip for those commuting from the outer stations in MD. And for a Blue line which will be cut to 5/6 trains per hour outside of Rush Plus. If the FBI does move there, I could see it providing a push to extend the Blue Line southward for access from Lorton, FT Belvoir, Woodbridge, etc. Could it also add to support for a Blue Line re-route through the city so the Blue Line would have greater service frequencies?

by AlanF on Feb 12, 2013 11:52 am • link • report

@Jasper

I understand the situation, and what the FBI is looking for. My point was that you pointed out a lot of benefits to VA and FFX County, and then said that that made it a lock. It doesn't, and isn't.

Your points all apply to the two MD locations I have heard are most in the running as well (New Carrolton and Greenbelt)

Both are virtually on top of the beltway, and very close to 295 and 50 respectively. Both are outside of DC. I don't buy your argument about the cooperating local government. If the FBI says jump, PG county and MD will say how high. This isn't a normal business either, they have infinitely more resources and pull in all facets of acquisition and construction. PG's competency with experience with security theater doesn't mean much. The FBI is going to be calling all the shots on the new building. I don't see how the competency of the PG County Government (it seems they have done fine with the U.S. Census Admistrations headquarters in Suitland for the last 70 years) has any effect.

You seem to think this is a slam dunk, and I just don't buy it in the least. I would certainly be surprisd if Mikulski doesn't take this virtual tie, and bring it to Maryland. One of those back-room deals we all hate so much, if you will.

by Kyle-W on Feb 12, 2013 12:01 pm • link • report

@Jasper

Nothing in this world is free. Let's see about that GSA warehouse in FFX.

1. The feds are paying taxes on it. So, it's not really free.

2. The feds would have to pay to relocate whatever is there, tear down the old facility, and erect a new facility. I'm not sure how one sees construction of a facility for 12,000 employees as cost neutral.

3. The new office would demand higher taxes as the space would be more usable than a warehouse. I may be wrong, but I think a leed certified office building would be charged higher taxes than a warehouse.

Does that sound free?

by adelphi_sky on Feb 12, 2013 12:02 pm • link • report

Biggest win is access for the Springfield site to Quantico and training. I'd say at least half of FBI trips in the DC area are between HQ and Quantico.

by charlie on Feb 12, 2013 12:02 pm • link • report

@Jasper

It sounds like the lot you are speaking of currently contains an occupied warehouse. That warehouse isn't just going to disappear. You are talking millions in costs for relocation, acquisition of a new site, and construction of a new building, virtually negating the so-called free land at the current warehouse site.

by Kyle-W on Feb 12, 2013 12:04 pm • link • report

@Adelphi

Feds don't pay taxes... So theres that :)

by Kyle-W on Feb 12, 2013 12:05 pm • link • report

@Adelphi_sky:

As Kyle-W said, the feds don't pay taxes. That is why it will be good for DC when the FBI leaves, that land will be returned to the city's tax rolls.

Also, GSA is planning to give the DC land away to a developer in exchange for the construction of the new FBI HQ, so your 2nd point is also likely moot.

by JW on Feb 12, 2013 12:10 pm • link • report

@Kyle

I had no idae. Learned something new. They do pay leases. How does that work on land they own? Could a developer charge them a lease for the building even though the government owns the land? Or would the feds just buy the building outright?

by adelphi_sky on Feb 12, 2013 12:10 pm • link • report

"Transportation is supposed to be a state responsibility."

Why? I'm seriously curious...why should Richmond be dictating what northern Virginia does with its transportation money? I like the idea of this plan; it allows much more local control, and allows localities to choose what they want to fund and how they want to fund it. Or is it so much easier to ask that people in Salem and Norton fund roads in Fairfax County?

Because transportation projects in other areas of the state are entirely funded using state-wide taxes, while NoVa is funding its projects with additional taxes. And in 5 years, some enterprising SoVa representative will say that since NoVa supplies its own funds for certain transportation projects, it's OK to cut their state funding and reallocate it to the 6 lane highway in southwestern Va.

More broadly, it codifies the resource suck productive areas always experience from less productive areas of a state. If every jurisdiction was on the hook for its own projects, then fine. But that's not what is being proposed.

by dcd on Feb 12, 2013 12:12 pm • link • report

Remember the hell the Mark Center caused on 395?

First, the Mark Center is not at a Metro station unlike the proposed FBI Springfield site. Second, the Mark Center traffic nightmare never materialized:

City official calls transportation situation at Mark Center “a success story.”

When the U.S. Department of Defense opened the BRAC 133 complex at Mark Center in August 2011, local residents and politicians alike predicted a traffic nightmare...More than a year later, officials say the nightmare scenario of clogged neighborhood streets and backups onto I-395 never came to pass.

http://oldtownalexandria.patch.com/articles/brac-and-traffic-one-year-and-counting

by Falls Church on Feb 12, 2013 12:51 pm • link • report

Could a developer charge them a lease for the building even though the government owns the land? Or would the feds just buy the building outright?

The Feds are trading their existing land on Penn Ave for the construction of a new building somewhere else. If the land is already owned by the Feds (like in Springfield) the whole transaction will be virtually free. If they move to someplace in MD where they don't already own land, they'll have to buy the land.

by Falls Church on Feb 12, 2013 1:00 pm • link • report

Aren't they still keeping the parking garage at BRAC 133 mostly empty, though?

by AWalkerInTheCity on Feb 12, 2013 1:01 pm • link • report

Wasn't that stretch of 395 one of the 5 identified as overcongested in that traffic study someone posted last week?

Still you can't compare since Mark Center is nowhere near a Metro or even really high frequency bus service.

I mean I have respect for a lot of city officials, but this isn't the kind of thing you just take their word on.

by Alan B. on Feb 12, 2013 1:06 pm • link • report

@ Kyle-W: If the FBI says jump, PG county and MD will say how high.

If only because the previous PG County leadership is still in FBI custody.

@ Falls Church:More than a year later, officials say the nightmare scenario of clogged neighborhood streets and backups onto I-395 never came to pass.

Isn't that because half the Mark Center is still empty?

by Jasper on Feb 12, 2013 1:23 pm • link • report

adelphi_sky, the commutes you described are reverse commute. That's a positive.

Prince George's still hasn't detailed any sites and for that reason I don't like speculating on any location. Depending on the sites, it could easily be argued the FBI campus would be a waste of prime transit-oriented real estate that could become a taxable privately developed high density mixed-use development.

by selxic on Feb 12, 2013 1:47 pm • link • report

Alan B., the primary problem with 395 is the changing number of lanes. Traffic would be much better if four lanes were maintained the entire route.

by selxic on Feb 12, 2013 1:51 pm • link • report

Yes, Mark Center is still more than half empty. When it's fully populated and there's still no traffic congestion on I-395, then we can declare victory.

by Little Red on Feb 12, 2013 2:11 pm • link • report

Yes, Mark Center is still more than half empty...Aren't they still keeping the parking garage at BRAC 133 mostly empty, though?

I believe all 2000 parking spaces are in use and there are no plans to raise the cap. Congress specifically capped parking at 2000, leaving 1800 spaces vacant. Congressman Moran is a strong supporter of the 2000 space cap and believes that's why a traffic nightmare hasn't materialized. Any additional staff who are located to the Mark Center will have to take transit or carpool.

Wasn't that stretch of 395 one of the 5 identified as overcongested in that traffic study someone posted last week?

Yeah, but 395's problems are independent of the Mark Center for the most part. Terrible traffic is business as usual in much of NOVA.

by Falls Church on Feb 12, 2013 2:26 pm • link • report

Actually, not entirely true about no cap raise:

However, Moran added that if traffic at nearby intersections continues to move freely and doesn’t reach failing levels of service, he would be willing to sit down with representatives from the Defense Department and the Virginia Department of Transportation to discuss incrementally lifting the parking cap.

by Falls Church on Feb 12, 2013 2:42 pm • link • report

To paraphrase an earlier comment if sanity prevails the FBI will move to Prince George's. Both New Carrollton and Greenbelt are perfect locations for multiple reasons:

1. There's plenty of available space at each location, including an empty lot right across from the IRS building at New C.

2. Mikulski (who is probably MD's biggest political jobs advocate) is chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Hoyer pulls weight in the House as Minority Whip

3. Both are huge transportation hubs:

a. Rail- Greenbelt has Metro Green Line and MARC Camden Line. NCR will have four different rail systems Metro Orange Line, MARC Penn Line, Amtrak Northeast Corridor, and Purple Line light rail.

b. Road- Both locations are practically on top of the Beltway and near the Balt-Wash parkway. In addition, Greenbelt is near the I-95 split and New C is adjacent to Route 50/I-595.

4. Most FBI employees already live in MD

5. Close proximity to NSA

by King Terrapin on Feb 12, 2013 5:51 pm • link • report

Putting the MD bias aside for a moment, KT, wouldn't those locations be better off with just about any other type of development?

by selxic on Feb 12, 2013 6:03 pm • link • report

MD has been saturated by residential development, but very little large-scale commercial development. A jobs hub such as the FBI HQ is desperately needed in PG, as well as suburban MD on a whole.

There's also no reason the FBI hq couldn't be built concurrent with other types of development, especially at New Carrollton.

by King Terrapin on Feb 12, 2013 6:42 pm • link • report

Moran added that if traffic at nearby intersections continues to move freely and doesn’t reach failing levels of service, he would be willing to sit down with representatives from the Defense Department and the Virginia Department of Transportation to discuss incrementally lifting the parking cap.

So, here we have a single government representative wasting government money (empty space in a new building) over traffic concerns.

[head explodes for too many reasons]

by Jasper on Feb 12, 2013 8:31 pm • link • report

WMATA just threw its hat in the ring for Greenbelt per the Washington Post.

by adelphi_sky on Feb 12, 2013 9:58 pm • link • report

@adelphi

Nice! at least Metro sees the value in the Greenbelt location, compared to all the others (including those in Southern PGC and the imaginary ones in MoCo)

by King Terrapin on Feb 13, 2013 1:36 am • link • report

@Payton: why does a HOA need to send around paint-color police to manage a rec facility? My community has a community pool (funded by members, not by those who don't want to join) but not a HOA. Seems to work fine.

by Mike on Feb 13, 2013 7:49 am • link • report

Prince George's should consider putting more of its industrial and commercial land on the table for higher and better uses (e.g.re-construction like they propose in Franconia).

Landover industrial area is one of these.

by manning on Feb 14, 2013 1:13 pm • link • report