We want to express our strong support for this proposal. We applaud Prince George’s County and its partners for locating a state-of-the-art new Regional Medical Center at the Largo Metro station. We agree that this new healthcare facility at this Metro location is a game-changing investment for the county. To ensure the full potential of this investment, we need to create pedestrian-oriented designs for buildings, streets, and public spaces.

We are enthusiastic about this project because it takes full advantage of the site’s proximity to Metro and bus lines, employment, services and burgeoning new commercial districts. I will spend the rest of my time discussing our qualified support for the proposed partial off-site compliance for Inclusionary Zoning regulations (IZ), and an affordable housing proffer.

I am writing to express our strongest possible support for the City of Alexandria’s application under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s FY 2015 National Infrastructure Investments discretionary grant program (formerly “TIGER”) for the Potomac Yard Metrorail Station. The project involves construction of an infill station on the Blue and Yellow Metrorail lines in the City of Alexandria, which is one of the core jurisdictions in the Metropolitan Washington region. The station would serve a major redevelopment site within five miles of downtown Washington, DC.

The time is ripe to do this, given the results of the recent Urban Institute assessment commissioned by DMPED which found IZ to be fundamentally sound. IZ is also ripe for revision because now we have enough early experience to see that it is working as designed, but not accomplishing the affordable housing goals we had originally sought to achieve.

We support Alternative B as the best alternative from a smart growth, transportation, economic development and environmental perspective. We recognize that Alternative B will have an impact on National Park Service land, a related easement, and a limited amount of wetlands. However, we support the mitigation measures being proposed and believe that the mitigation, together with the environmental benefits of Alternative B, support selection of this alternative.