As Arlington County continues to grow in population and in services provided by the county government, the need for more land to support those services is increasing, says County Manager Mark Schwartz.
Schwartz spoke about the land needs in a county-produced video, above, which was released late last week.
He pointed out that only 12 percent of county- and school-owned land is designated for support services — maintenance yards, storage facilities, etc.
“This is not enough space,” Schwartz said.
Putting the need in perspective, Schwartz pointed out that the county last year filled 12,000 potholes over its 975 lane miles of roadway, repaired 271 water main breaks over its 525 miles of water mains, and facilitated 3.1 million rides on its 65 (soon to be 90, by 2020) ART buses.
All of that work and maintenance requires support facilities, and the county’s current facilities are getting too crowded.
Schwartz said that supporting the “needs and wants of this community” is “a real challenge with limited space,” which will require “smart and tough decisions about addressing these needs.”
Arlington County is currently considering a $30 million land acquisition near Washington-Lee High School and subsequent, proposed land swap, which would provide additional property near Shirlington in exchange for a portion of the acquired land.
Together, the two actions would add a net 7.3 acres of industrial-zoned land to county ownership.
In the video, Schwartz said the land swap proposal is “attractive,” but noted that no decisions have been made yet.
“We wanted to be transparent and release the proposal as soon as possible,” he said. At its Dec. 13 meeting, the County Board is expected to direct Schwartz to move forward with negotiations on the proposal.