Author: Airey

Commonwealth’s Attorney Candidates Disagree Over Role PACs Play in Campaigns

By Airey

The race to see who will be the next Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington and Falls Church has generated its share of fireworks, but the issue of campaign finance may ignite even more.

Incumbent Theo Stamos and challenger Parisa Dehghani-Tafti have already clashed over Tafti’s criticism of Stamos’ handling of cash bail and prosecution for some first-time marijuana-related offenses. Tafti also drew heat from county public-safety groups and her opponent for a campaign mailer they said mislabeled a fatal, officer-involved shooting as “police brutality.”

Recent filings shared by the non-profit Virginia Public Access Project have illuminated a new flash point: money from political action committees (PACs).

PACs are political organizations that donate money to campaigns on behalf of individuals or groups. Several have donated to Arlington state Senate and Delegate candidates, but few have donated to local races.

Only one of the Commonwealth’s Attorney candidates has received PAC money, according to VPAP. Tafti accepted research and polling services worth $51,235 from Justice and Public Safety, a PAC funded by George Soros. The billionaire philanthropist has donated to several progressive candidates nationwide.

The donation makes up about half of the $108,355 the Democratic challenger fundraised between January and March. After spending $76,179 of that money, Tafti’s campaign ended March with $50,202 in its coffers.

Another PAC that donated to Tafti’s campaign was the Justice Forward Virginia PAC, which advocates for criminal justice reform. The PAC is led in part by Brad Haywood, Arlington’s chief public defender and vocal critic of Stamos. The committee donated $600 to Tafti’s campaign.

Senior Assistant Public Defender Allison Carpenter also donated $50 to Tafti’s campaign. Carpenter was one of signatories of a letter released last month blasting Stamos for overcharging crimes, among other issues.

Stamos previously told ARLnow the donations from the letter’s signatories prove it was a “political hit job.”

In addition, Tafti last year received $600 from the Alexandria-based Brass Ovaries PAC, which funds female Democratic candidates in local races and hosted a fundraiser for Arlington candidates last September.

In a statement, Tafti told ARLnow:

In our first filing, I outraised the incumbent almost 6 to 1 with all individual donations, most of which were small amounts from local residents. I have since earned the support of numerous local organizations — including unions, activist groups, the Arlington Education Association, and civil rights organizations — that represent thousands of Arlington and City of Falls Church residents. They support me because they recognize that our community is lagging behind on criminal justice reform and that we need a Commonwealth’s Attorney who represents our values. Only after our campaign had significant grassroots support, and extensive research into my opponent’s record opposing reform at every turn, did Justice and Public Safety PAC offer its support. Reform doesn’t always come easy, and I welcome the support of individuals and organizations, especially an organization backed by one of the world’s foremost promoters of democratic values, that want to help our community live up to its ideals.

In contrast, Stamos’ campaign has collected no PAC money so far this year, according to VPAP.

“I have grassroots support and I think that speaks to the depth and breadth of my support in the community,” Stamos said, when asked whether she intentionally eschewed PAC money.

Several groups have come out in favor of Stamos, including 50 local attorneys who signed a letter in support earlier this year. One of them, Arlington divorce lawyer James Korman, donated $625 to her campaign during this quarter.

(more…)

Renderings Show Luxury Amenities for New Rosslyn Condos

By Airey
1/6

(Updated at 3:40 p.m.) New renderings show one of the three luxury condo buildings being built in Rosslyn.

The Pierce is part of the Highlands development of three high-rise housing buildings on 1555 Wilson Blvd, which is slated to include 884 luxury housing units and 40,000 square feet of retail space when it’s completed.

At 27 stories tall, the Pierce will include a total of 104 one-, two-, and three-bedroom condominium residences, according to a spokeswoman for the developer Penzance. The size of the units range between 1,266 to 2,403 square feet.

The project originally faced opposition for replacing what was once recreational space and Arlington Fire Station 10. In exchange, Penzance pledged to build a new fire station on the ground floor of the new development, along with a landscaped public plaza and an extension of N. Pierce Street to 18th Street — a deal the county accepted in 2016.

A new 360-tour using renderings of the luxury units in the Pierce building show 10-foot ceilings, quartz countertops, and windows facing the Potomac or Rosslyn. A spokeswoman added that bathrooms in the units will have heated floors.

Other renderings show such building amenities as a gym, pool, and rooftop space for residents. In total, the building offers 2,250 square feet of outdoor amenity space, and an additional 8,600 square feet of shared amenity space when you include the rooftop pool in the adjacent Evo building.

The project recently generated some controversy after the developer asked the County Board to extend permitted construction hours by one hour in the mornings, to 6 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. weekends, through the end of the year. The developer previously said the project is slated to finish in 2021.

Some in the area are unhappy with the proposed extended hours.

“This will be disruptive to all in the area, including businesses, residents, and the already increasing traffic issues,” one tipster told ARLnow. “I also want to note that this is yet another time Arlington County Board shows a disregard for the community in the area.”

The County Board is scheduled to vote on the new hours during a meeting this Saturday. The item is currently included in the meeting’s consent agenda, which is typically reserved for matters expected to pass without debate.

Images courtesy of Neoscape

Arlington Pet of the Week: Riley

By Airey
1/3

Arlington’s latest Pet of the Week is Riley, a two-ish-year-old Pit Bull-Terrier mix who was found as a stray in West Virginia and adopted from Homeward Trails in Fairfax.

This is what Riley’s owner, Jess, had to say about how the pooch gets the most out of Arlington’s 26 square miles:

Riley adores dogs and humans alike and gets lots of attention wherever we go. She loves going to the dog park and is often found playing and rolling around in the dirt with dogs twice her size. Some of her other favorite things include peanut butter Kongs, lounging in the sun, any sort of attention, belly rubs, and going on walks along Columbia Pike. Her agility is impressive and she almost gave her mom a heart attack once when she jumped over a 5-foot high fence in a friend’s backyard in hot pursuit of a squirrel.

Riley loves meeting new people, so please say hello if you see her out and about! But, be forewarned, she may not stop giving you kisses!

Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Please don’t send vertical photos, they don’t fit in our photo galleries!

Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks. Becky’s Pet Care is the winner of six consecutive Angie’s List Super Service Awards, the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year and a proud supporter of the Arlington County Pawsitively Prepared Campaign.

Becky’s Pet Care provides professional dog walking and pet sitting in Arlington and all of Northern Virginia, as well as PetPrep training courses for Pet Care, CPR and emergency preparedness.

JUST IN: State Transportation Officials Approve Jefferson Davis Highway Renaming

By Airey

(Updated at 5 p.m.) Arlington will now join Alexandria and Fairfax in renaming Jefferson Davis Highway as “Richmond Highway.”

Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board unanimously approved changing the name for the highway, which is also known as U.S. Route 1, earlier this morning.

The state Board’s approval was the last step in the months-long process to strip the Confederate president’s name from the roadway. The Arlington County Board unanimously approved a renaming resolution last month.

One of the attendees at this morning’s meeting asked the CTB “what the direction was for the future” considering that renaming one highway may lead the Board to “be overrun with requests for the future.”

CTB Secretary Shannon Valentine responded by sharing a passage from a letter Gov. Ralph Northam sent the group urging them to approve the name change.

“While it is necessary for us to honestly discuss and interpret Virginia’s history, I feel strongly that commemorating the president of the Confederacy through the name for a major thoroughfare is not appropriate,” Valentine read.

The Arlington Chamber of Commerce shared the news on social media, calling it an “action to support businesses.” The Chamber said hotels along Route 1 have lost business due to the Jefferson Davis Highway name, according to WTOP.

In their request to the state Board, Arlington County requested the CTB change the name to either Richmond Highway or Richmond Blvd.

The county argued to CTB that renaming would help “to avoid confusion and promote consistency” for motorists and businesses.

It’s the same argument local officials used before their own vote last month and one that potentially counters the historical preservation arguments that opposed other local Confederate renaming resolutions like changing Washington-Lee High School to Washington-Liberty.

The county estimated last month that the costs involved in rolling out the new name would be around $17,000.

“No street numbers will be changed, and the United States Postal Service will, in perpetuity, continue to deliver mail to the businesses and residences along the highway addressed to Jefferson Davis Highway,” an April county press release on the name change read.

The General Assembly renamed the highway to honor Davis in 1922. Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey spoke at the CTB meeting, which was held at a Crystal City hotel, and told the Board that the Jefferson Davis’ name “symbolized white supremacy in a Jim Crow south,” reported WTOP.

The Crystal City BID thanked the Board for its Wednesday vote in a tweet, sharing applause symbols with the message.

Google Maps already renamed the highway on its maps several months ago.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, whose legal opinion in response to an inquiry from Del. Mark Levine allowed Arlington County to seek the renaming, called the CTB’s vote “a step in the right decision.”

Near the end of the meeting, Valentine said the CTB is considering forming a “task force” to handle future Confederate re-naming requests and create guidelines.

County Board To Vote on Madison Manor Park Renovations

By Airey

(Updated at 10:15 a.m.) The Arlington County Board is set to vote on planned renovations to Madison Manor Park.

Board members will decide whether to approve a $2.82 million contract for upgrades to the 5.4 acre park at 6225 12th Road N., in the Madison Manor neighborhood, along the W&OD Trail.

County staff members have discussed the upgrades with residents since 2017. The final version of the plans shared in a staff report to the Board include:

  • Renovating and painting the basketball court for basketball and volleyball
  • Renovating the combination athletic field, picnic shelter and playground
  • Installing some fencing around the playground, athletic field, and basketball court
  • Landscaping improvements with 70 percent native species

If approved, the Board would award the contract to Gaithersburg, Maryland-based construction company Highway and Safety Services, Inc.

The playground, picnic area, walkways, signage, and parking area are also listed in the project’s description but no details were shared on the intended changes to those parts of the park.

The county has said one goal of the renovations is to better comply with the standards from the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The county’s Department of Parks and Recreation designed the new park upgrades, according to its website on the project.

Photo via Arlington County

ART To Build Bus Sculpture from Canned Foods in Ballston

By Airey

(Updated on 05/17/19) A new bus will arrive tomorrow in Ballston, but the only place it’s going is to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC).

Arlington Transit (ART) is organizing a “food drive” for AFAC by building a 10’x10′ bus sculpture from canned food to celebrate the transit agency’s 20th anniversary, per a press release. ART will then donate the food to AFAC after disassembling the sculpture.

ART staff and volunteers will start building tomorrow at 1 p.m. inside Ballston Quarter mall, nearly the newly-opened, health food-focused True Food Kitchen.

The construction is part of AFAC’s annual slew of “Canstruction” food drives. In the past, architecture groups have built elaborate sculptures from thousands of dollars worth of canned goods at the Dulles and Reagan National airports as part of a national movement of donation-by-can-sculpture.

In 2016, the American Institute of Architects Northern Virginia Chapter built a lighthouse out of soup and bean cans in the Ballston mall for one of the building competitions.

Image via Twitter

County Board To Vote on Nauck Town Square After Years of Planning

By Airey
1/4

Plans to construct a public park in the center of Arlington’s Nauck neighborhood may move forward this week after decades in development.

The Arlington County Board will consider awarding a construction contract during its meeting this Saturday, May 18, which would turn an area of what is now mostly empty land, at 2400 S. Shirlington Road, into a town center park.

The contract would provide “construction of park improvements, utility undergrounding, street improvements and street lighting” in the space.

The county’s website lists a 2020 projected finish date for the park, dubbed Nauck Town Square, and says construction will include an outdoor stage, a plaza, on-street parking, and tables.

McLean-based concrete contractor Ardent Company LLC is the winner of the county’s competitive contract process for the project. The company would be awarded $4,853,460 for the work if Board members approve the contract, per the staff report.

Discussions on the project date back to the 1998 Nauck Neighborhood Comprehensive Action Plan. The project area includes the former Lucky Seven food market site; the store caught fire in 2012 and was torn down.

Board members originally approved the town square project as part of the 2004 Nauck Village Center Action Plan. It is described in the recent report as “an anchor project to serve as the social and cultural center of the neighborhood.”

In 2013, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Arlington $75,000 for public art as part of the town center project.

The county tapped artist and landscape architect Walter Hood for the project’s design, which then-Public Art Administrator Angela Adams said was one of the reasons Arlington won the federal grant.

“I think that what we’re going to get with Walter’s involvement is a very sophisticated design that continues to make great public spaces here looking contemporary and fresh, but also reflective of the community,” Adams told ARLnow at the time.

The item for Saturday’s discussion is currently included in the Board’s consent agenda for the meeting — a placement usually reserved for items expected to pass without debate.

It’s unclear whether the town square will retain the Nauck name after completion. Last week, the Arlington County Civic Federation approved the Nauck Civic Association’s request to change its name to the Green Valley Civic Association — a move the County Board is expected to consider in the coming months.

Images 1, 2, 3 via Hood Design Studio, image 4 via Arlington County

Neighbors Needed To Discuss Lee Highway Development Plans

By Airey
1/3

Arlington County is seeking volunteers to participate in focus groups and provide feedback on proposed changes to Lee Highway.

Residents can sign up online if they want to represent their neighborhood in discussions about future plans for the roadway and land use around it.

Last August, former Board member John Vihstadt called Lee Highway “the next big planning frontier” but said it was important to be “sensitive” to the neighborhoods bordering the roadway.

Feedback formally kicked off in February, when the county began hosting “Plan Lee Highway” community events to discuss ideas for redeveloping housing and retail areas along the corridor between the East Falls Church Metro station and Lyon Village near Rosslyn.

The area’s many single-family home neighborhoods and possible increases in density will likely be a topic for discussion now that Amazon’s 25,000 newly promised jobs is a done deal.

“Plan Lee Highway will meet with community members over the course of the planning process to get feedback on proposed potential areas of change along Lee Highway and the types of change that should be planned for in these areas,” notes the county website.

Those who live in the neighborhoods or own businesses along Lee Highway can sign up to join focus groups, and those who don’t but are still interested in the process can sign up to be “notified of other engagement opportunities.”

Previously, the Arlington County Board considered spending millions for dedicated bus and HOV lanes along the highway to move more people and reduce congestion, among other improvements.

Images via Arlington County 

Arlington Ranked Fittest ‘City’ in the Country

By Airey

Arlington County is ranked the fittest “city” in America, according to a new report by the American College of Sports Medicine.

“Arlington, VA’s balance of both healthy behaviors and community infrastructure earned them the #1 overall rank,” reads the 29-page American Fitness Index report released today (Tuesday)

The American Fitness Index scored the nearby District of Columbia at No. 6.

Arlington ranked as high as it did in part because 92.6 percent of adults reported exercising in the last 30 days. By comparison, 75.7 adults in D.C. reported exercising in the last 30 days.

Arlingtonians also ranked the highest in terms of health, with 71.4 percent of people recorded as being of “excellent” or very good health.

Other specific data helped improve Arlington’s ranking, including the low number of smokers (6.5 percent), and a low pedestrian fatality rate of less than one fatality per 100,000 people.

Pedestrian fatalities is a new variable for the study, which this year also added criteria to the ranking based on bicycling, air quality, and street infrastructure.

The study was funded by a grant from the Anthem Foundation.

Flickr pool photo by Chris Rief

Board Vote Would Move County ‘One Paddle Closer’ to Rosslyn Boathouse

By Airey
1/2

Arlington County Board is scheduled to vote on the latest step in the decades-long plan to build a Rosslyn boathouse.

On Saturday, members are set to consider a “programmatic agreement” to build a boathouse at 1101 Lee Highway in Rosslyn, which would allow non-motorized boats like kayaks to launch into the Potomac from Arlington’s shore.

The county purchased land south of the Key Bridge in 2014 to help hasten the permitting process with the National Park Service, which is overseeing the project.

County spokeswoman Jennifer Smith said this agreement, if approved, would bring the country one paddle closer to a boathouse:

The Programmatic Agreement is a routine element of the environmental review process and reflects the intent of National Park Service and the various regional parties involved in development of the project to cooperate in implementing it. The Board vote is required to authorize the County Manager to sign the agreement. This administrative step, if approved by the Board and by other regional entities, would allow for the National Park Service’s Environmental Assessment to be completed. Completing the EA is an important next step in the project’s timeline. A public process for development of the boathouse would be established separately.

A copy of the design plans shared in a staff report to the Board call for:

  • a 14,000-square-foot boat storage house that’s designed to be flood-resistant
  • a 300-foot-long dock for non motorized boats (like kayaks)
  • a building for bathrooms, locker rooms, educational rooms, and offices
  • an ADA-compliant parking area
  • a 300-foot-long emergency vehicle access lane

“The Arlington County and Vicinity Boathouse project is included in the Adopted Fiscal Years (FY) 2019-2028 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which envisions $500,000 in FY 2022 for development of the management model and formulation of the long-term use arrangement and $2.245 million in FY 2026 for the final design of the Boathouse project,” the staff report says.

It’s been almost 25 years since the “boathouse task force” formed to propose the idea, but the project didn’t gain momentum until 2012 when the National Park Service began studying potential environmental impacts. The study was put on hold several times, before resuming in 2016.

At the time, the Park Service worried about how construction could affect flood plains along the river, as well as species that called the waterway home.

In this week’s staff report, a resolution says that the Park Service determined that the boathouse could “have a direct adverse effect on the George Washington Memorial Parkway Historic District and an indirect adverse effect on Theodore Roosevelt Island.” However, it approved going forward provided the following steps were taken to reduce impact:

  1. Restricting and minimizing ground and vegetation disturbance during construction, including limiting tree removal.
  2. Minimizing the size of construction equipment and using minimally invasive construction methods.
  3. Developing a “light on the land” facility with a minimal footprint and massing that is in scale with the surrounding landscape.
  4. Limiting the depth of excavation to avoid disturbing any unknown archeological resources below the depth of previous testing.
  5. Keeping a 50-100 foot area of protection around known archeological sites where heavy equipment is not allowed to help avoid compression/compaction.
  6. Applying avoidance and minimization strategies to staging and storage areas as well.

The project has many fans in the county’s rowing community, which recently banded together to reinforce their support for the water sport after APS threatened to cut the high school teams from the county’s budget.

The Arlington Boathouse Foundation writes on its website that although the county was among the first to introduce rowing teams to its high schools, teams for many years have had to launch crew boats out of D.C. “The George Washington Memorial Parkway severed Arlington’s access to its own shoreline,” the foundation notes.

Since the D.C. boathouse serves multiple jurisdictions, accessing those facilities can be tricky.

“Some area boathouses have a two- to three-year waiting list for membership and an additional waiting list for storage space for a single scull,” the National Park Service wrote on its website about the Rosslyn plan.

CorePower Yoga to Open New Studio in Ballston Exchange

By Airey
1/3

CorePower Yoga may be opening its third Arlington location soon in Ballston.

Black wrapping paper behind the new Ballston Exchange studio’s front doors reads “Coming Soon.” The announcement comes a month after the county approved a building permit for the new studio.

“The Ballston studio is set to open late this summer,” a company spokeswoman told ARLnow, adding that she was unable to share more details.

Construction crews could be seen today (Monday) working between the metal framing inside the space. The construction will include  “non-structural partitions” and hanging new doors, according to the building permit.

The studio is located at 4201 Wilson Blvd and joins CorePower Yoga’s Pentagon City studio, which opened in 2016, and the company’s Courthouse location, which opened in 2015.

The Denver-based CorePower Yoga specializes in “high intensity” classes offered in heated rooms designed to make participants sweat, according to its website.

CorePower Yoga is the latest addition to Ballston Exchange, which also recently welcomed health-food eatery Dirt and the Bearded Goat Barber Shop.

Hat tip to Craig W.

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