Wendell Wood’s efforts to build 180,000 square feet of office space and a 120-unit apartment building adjacent to the National Ground Intelligence Center met with another road block at the October 9 Planning Commission meeting.
Wood had previously gotten 15 acres rezoned for the project in August during one of the year’s more bizarre Board of Supervisors meetings, which involved a 45-minute closed-door session with Wood and the county attorney in the middle of a public hearing. Wood says he’s leasing the property to NGIC.
It didn’t have to come back before the Planning Commission, but Commission Chair Marcia Joseph requested that the Commission review the preliminary site plan—only to find that it’s out of compliance with the rezoning.
Wendell Wood has had 15 acres adjacent to NGIC rezoned for 180,000 square feet of office space, but he doesn’t yet have a lease with NGIC that the county will require to allow him to build.
|
The reason is a technical matter involving the location of a stormwater pond, but Wood suggested that the hold-up from the Planning Commission could jeopardize the project.
"There is a time item on this for NGIC, they’re trying to move pretty rapidly," said Wood. He referenced a letter from "the government." "You do have an e-mail from them that they are in support of this and have asked you to move as rapidly as you could."
The commissioners didn’t. All staff had received was a copy of an e-mail from Daniel O’Brien, an Army planner, which confirmed that he and Wood had agreed to easements for stormwater and property access. "We are proceeding with the appropriate actions at an accelerated pace," said O’Brien in the e-mail. "Please keep us appraised of your progress and we’ll do likewise. Look forward to working with you." It doesn’t mention a lease, and it doesn’t ask the county to move rapidly.
Wood has told staff that while the U.S. government hasn’t signed an official lease, he has an agreement with the federal government. "We haven’t seen that agreement. It’s somewhat confidential, I understand," said county staffer David Pennock. "Mr. Wood’s representation was that this agreement gives him a comfort level that he will have a lease at some point." The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) issued a solicitation for bids for approximately 40,000 square feet of office space for NGIC, but GSA did not respond to e-mails by press time about whether the contract has been awarded to Wood.
The lease wouldn’t be an issue except that Wood’s plans are designed to meet federal anti-terrorism standards that are at odds with many principles of the county’s "neighborhood model," which calls for more pedestrian-oriented design. Part of the conditions of the rezoning are that Wood must prove the lease to the county in order to obtain grading and building permits.
| For more NGIC coverage click here. |
But if NGIC is waiting for him to get through the site plan process, the agency will have to wait longer. To avoid a flat "no" from the Commission, Wood had to accept a deferral "for the earliest possible day."
C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.
