Historic Vienna: #1 Vienna Political Blog

Maud Robinson Prefers 1960s Style Strip Malls. Why?

Monday night at a Vienna Town Council work session, the Vienna Town Council discussed the Maple Avenue Vision with an engineering firm proposing a feasibility study for the revitalization of Maple Avenue. During the meeting Vienna's abundance of one-story strip malls was broached and the comparison was made to Clarendon's new low-rise Market Common development. Watch carefully (video) what Maud Robinson has to say about this jewel of Clarendon:

Robinson states on the video:

"...it was very hard to find anyone there on a beautiful sunny day, there were a lot of glitzy shops that didn't seem to have any customers."

This can only be characterized as propaganda. Why would she say something so patently false? It would not be over the top to characterize Robinson's statements as lies. Not only is this development packed with people, restaurants and shops, it has won substantial awards. Does this mean we accept it all for Vienna blindly? No. But why does Robinson have the need to make things up to defend her position? Is her only political skill "fear mongering"?

For example, in defending Vienna's older strip malls, Robinson says they are good for "mom and pop" shops. Last we checked Vienna strip malls housed the likes of Giant, Safeway, Popeyes, Radio Shack, 7-Eleven, Subway and the list goes on and on. Strip malls are ugly, pedestrian unfriendly, parking lot choked eyesores. However, Vienna does not have to be stuck. There are options.

For those not familiar with Market Commons, here are some pictures:

Market Commons in Clarendon, VA

Market Commons in Clarendon, VA

Market Commons in Clarendon, VA

We are assuming Robinson, who is now on the record as favoring 1960s strip malls, would much rather keep this Vienna eyesore of a landmark:

Vienna Strip Mall: An Example of Maud Robinson Preferred Devleopment

Is anyone paying attention to what Maud Robinson is actually saying and doing? The people of Vienna have a clear choice: follow Maud Robinson and likes of Laurie Cole down dead ends OR accept the real world and make Vienna a better place.

Vienna Strip Mall: An Example of Maud Robinson Preferred Devleopment

Laurie Cole at Work Session Monday Night. Cole is a Maud Robinson Protégé.

Posted by Historic Vienna at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Laurie Cole voted against this house, but here is her million dollar Vienna castle:

Laurie Cole Million Dollar Castle Built by Steve Bukont

Here are two other views of the Cole Castle: View 1 and View 2. Can't see what that little sign in her front yard says? Click here. "No Growth" signs in the front yard of Cole's Castle (706 Spring Street, SE).

How many hundreds of thousands of dollars did Council Member Laurie Cole pay Chairman of the Windover Heights Board of Review Steve Bukont to build her house? Does any one know how many votes Laurie Cole has cast for and against Bukont development projects in the Town of Vienna? We assume it would be hard for Cole to vote to fire Bukont now - given their cozy relationship.

Laurie Cole Voted Against This House for No Reason,
But She Got Her Big House on the Hill

Posted by Historic Vienna at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a telling piece of 2005 video. The video is from an appeal before Town Council. Carey Sienicki (green tank top) and George Lovelace debate while Laurie Cole watches bored. Beyond the comedy of it all, why is this important? Sienicki sits on Windover Heights Board of Review. None of what Sienicki says to Lovelace is ground in law. She makes up rules.

Posted by Historic Vienna at 04:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We recently wrote about Frank and Joan Lillis attempting to lower property values.

Unfortunately, they had backing from the Vienna Town Council in the form of Maud Robinson, George Lovelace and Laurie Cole. These members of Vienna Town Council voted in 2004 against the now completed $1.8 million dollar house. Here is the gorgeous new house:

Click to Enlarge

What sane person would vote against this house? Cole, Robinson and Lovelace did. They should be ashamed. They had no legal reason to vote against it. Here is the house torn down before the new one.

Next time you think about voting for Laurie Cole, Maud Robinson or George Lovelace don't forget their vote to lower property values. These three if left to their own devices would make your house worth less money. How can George Lovelace expect to get elected Mayor in 2006 campaigning to lower property values?

Here is the type of house Lovelace, Cole and Robinson would prefer at 313 Windover Avenue. Does any of this make sense?

Posted by Historic Vienna at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Council Member Laurie Cole's (706 Spring Street, SE) views and actions in regards to the Windover Heights Historic District are especially egregious.

Consider a 2001 question Laurie Cole, then as a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals, asked the Town Zoning Administrator:

"The Town's designation of the Windover Heights area as an historic area, does that impose any strictures [restrictions] on subdividing land, tearing down houses, protecting houses. Its not a preservation district is it?"

The Town Zoning Administrator responded:

"No. It's not. A good example is 308 West Street which was removed perhaps 2 years ago and there are two new homes in its place."

Laurie Cole clearly knows the Windover Heights Historic District is not a zoning ordinance. But that doesn't stop her from making these outlandish statements in this 2004 video.

We suggest Mrs. Cole review her question above from 2001. She might also seek the advice of the current Vienna Town Attorney Steve Briglia (Briglia & Hundley, P.C.) who would tell her that the Windover Heights Historic District has nothing to do with zoning.

Steve Briglia Vienna Town Attorney
(Law Practice and Potential Conflicts)

She should also refresh her memory with the words of the former Town Attorney:

"The act of including or not including the property in the historic District is not a zoning or rezoning action and therefore, cannot be spot zoning. The age of the structure has no bearing on whether or not it should be included in the district. Your attention is invited to Section 18-280.2 of the Town's zoning ordinance concerning the boundaries of the Windover Heights Historic district. You will note that it is a historic district created by boundary and makes no reference to the age or character of the structures within the boundary.

Posted by Historic Vienna at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recently Laurie Cole was asked at a Town Council meeting:

"Mrs. Cole, you brought up the idea of natural wood...As you're sitting up here tonight — all seven of you — how do you determine whether or not natural wood is more appropriate versus painted green or painted red? How do you determine one is better than the other, one is more appropriate, one is more historic? How is that determined?"

Town Council members were instructed not to answer by the Town Attorney. Why did he do this? Three cheers for open and honest government! Does it make any sense that this Town Council can't legislatively fix their laws? Why do they need to waste tax dollars to defend lawsuits on laws they already know are broken? Why not just fix the problem?

Posted by Historic Vienna at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)