DEFER APPROVAL OF THE CENTER STREET REDEVELOPMENT PLAN

We the undersigned OBJECT TO APPROVING THE CENTER STREET REDEVELOPMENT PLAN ON OCTOBER 26

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SIGNIFICANT OPPOSITION TO REZONING AND PLACEMENT OF  MEGA-APARTMENTS AND A MASSIVE GARAGE IN HISTORIC DOWNTOWN is being IGNORED.

First, we think it is important to point out  that while the present contractor worked with the city for an extended period to obtain information for their complete, detailed and complex design, COMPETITIVE BIDDERS WERE GIVEN ONLY 45 DAYS!!! This is not right.  The ridiculously short time made it all but impossible to get competitive bids that could compete with the very detailed plans submitted by the contractor.  We think this was the intended result.

 We object to the blatant disregard for the Density and Height limitations for the HISTORIC downtown set forth in the Comprehensive Plan. These limits were based on OVERWHELMING SUPPORT BY MANASSAS CITY RESIDENTS, who are now being ignored. The Council plans to erect a five- and six story building containing 162 rental apartments on Center Street in the old MIFCO lot, right up against the historic and beautiful 165-year-old Meredith House, which will be dwarfed by the massive size of the project.

We object to the End Run around these carefully vetted height and density limits ATTEMPTED by the Council by simply rezoning this CENTER STREET area, which completely kills  limits that Manassas residents have demanded. If rezoning is approved, it will have a RIPPLING EFFECT on future development and planning. The Council could rezone any area where they wish to put a high density, high-rise building; and thereby build whatever they choose wherever they choose. Future ideas will not be restricted by rules in the Comprehensive Plan of Manassas if the City Council can simply disregard/REPLACE whatever rules they don’t like.  

We object to the blatant disregard for the studied and carefully researched Architectural Style and Materials rules for building structures amid Manassas historic buildings:

“Rather than a modern corporate look, the developer [in this case, Penney Design Group and Mid-Atlantic Land Group] must utilize traditional facade modulations, and decorative historic porticoes.” The drawings so far submitted for Council approval, do not have any traditional facades, any sign of planned historic porticoes, or any other effort to avoid the “modern corporate look”. (Residents of Manassas have commented, on seeing the drawings, that the planned 162-apartment building looks like various things, including “a factory,” “a prison,” “an old hospital.”)

We object to the careless way the Council is ignoring some of the dangers associated with their plan to increase suddenly by 50% the population of the historic district.  First The traffic load is already far too heavy for small-town transit; it stops, backs up, and waits at the crossings morning and evening. This is more than annoying; it is dangerous. Second The sewer system was near its limit of capacity for water treatment even before the Council announced its plan to increase the population of the historic district by half; in 2023, the city’s Utilities Director said Manassas was already at 95% usage, and that “one rainy stretch could have triggered the building moratorium in the UOSA,” and that the city would run out of capacity by 2030. Today, in 2026, we do not know how much capacity is left for 162 apartments and a new hotel, because the City Council has not told us.

With exceptionally high inflation, and economic instability, it is NOT THE TIME TO TAKE ON MASSIVE DEBT!

It is not prudent to take on over 13 million in debt at a time when the price of building materials is skyrocketing.  Who will bear the cost overruns?  Not the contractor to be sure. 

There is ABSOLUTELY NO URGENCY TO BUILD NEW APARTMENTS AND A MASSIVE GARAGE. All of the same benefits were touted and remain unrealized when the City Council approved Messenger Place across from the present proposed apartments. Most units went unrented and unused for a long time up to this day! The store fronts are not a success either. COUNCIL ACTS LIKE THE PROJECT IS A FIRE THAT MUST BE DEALT WITH IMMEDIATELY. 

DEFER THE VOTE, LET THE NEW CITY COUNCIL DECIDE.  It would be prudent to have an independent accountant look at the financial soundness of the plan.

City Council does not have the right to blatantly ignore and disregard the RECENTLY PASSED Comprehensive Plan for our city, which was diligently and legally established by the work of large numbers of city residents.