Author: Airey

Some County Basketball Referees Are Still Not Paid for Last Season’s Work

By Airey

Some referees who worked for Arlington’s youth basketball games have still not been paid for the winter season.

The lack of pay continues five months after officials said they were “looking into” the issue caused by the company Mid-Atlantic Coast Referees, which Arlington contracted with to manage referees.

“Arlington County does not know the number of officials who haven’t been paid, as the officials are not employees of the County and Mid-Atlantic is responsible for payment,” county spokeswoman Jennifer Smith said Tuesday, when asked how many referees are still awaiting wages.

During Saturday’s County Board meeting, one 16-year-old girl asked the County Board to help her get paid.

“Like a lot of the other teenage referees, this was supposed to be my first paying job,” she said. “Yet I was never paid.”

“I believe Arlington County owes me the $255 in wages and it is not the responsibility of teenage workers to chase down this county contractor,” she said.

“I’m really sorry that you had this incredibly negative experience with what I presume is one of your first jobs,” replied Board Chair Christian Dorsey.

Dorsey said that officials found out that the head of Mid-Atlantic suffered “a catastrophic health issue” that caused a backlog of payment requests, among other record-keeping issues. The county is in contact with relatives of the company’s founder, who have helped with the business and paid all of the unpaid referees they were aware of, Dorsey said.

“What is challenging for us… is that we paid the vendor,” said Dorsey, adding that Board has a duty to prevent taxpayers from “paying twice” for the service.

In total, the Department of Parks and Recreation paid Mid-Atlantic $163,269 for the season through April, according to records ARLnow obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. County spokeswoman Erika Moore said Arlington did not seek any money back from the company, explaining that the county’s “payment obligation was to Mid-Atlantic for services rendered to Arlington County.”

Arlington’s Resident Ombudsman and Director of Constituent Services Ben Aiken told ARLnow that he also recently contacted the company.

“As a courtesy in my role as Ombudsman, I emailed on behalf of two constituents, including the former referee who spoke at the September public comment,” Aiken said. “Those messages were sent yesterday (Monday, Sept. 23), and I have not yet received a response.”

Mid-Atlantic could not be reached for comment.

Smith said the county terminated its contract with the company in May and put out a bid for a new contractor this fall. In the meantime, the county tapped NOVA Refs (which also provides youth football flag referees in Arlington) for the job.

“The County procured interim services using a Quick Quote contract method to ensure the summer and fall season were not impacted,” she said.

“We’ve learned some lessons on how we contract outside vendors,” Dorsey noted Saturday. “We do learn our lessons when things go wrong.”

The youth basketball leagues are offered to students in grades 1-12 and are run by volunteer coaches, according to the county’s website. For the 1st and 2nd grade level league, the volunteer coaches also act as referees, per the website.

“Don’t be afraid to be a ref again, please, we need refs,” said Board member Erik Gutshall to the teenager who took to the podium on Saturday. “I hope you enjoyed the experience, although not the aftermath.”

Image via Flickr/Karl Baron

County Board Approves Holiday Inn Redevelopment, With Conditions

By Airey
1/10

The Rosslyn Holiday Inn is one step closer to becoming a two-tower mixed-use development, albeit with some changes ahead.

The Arlington County Board unanimously voted to move the development project at 1900 N. Fort Myer Drive ahead during its meeting Tuesday night, including a proposal to sell a parcel of public land near Lee Highway to developer Dittmar. However, Board members required the developer take several actions related to the parking, traffic, and architectural elements of the plan following complaints from residents.

“This redevelopment of a highly visible site in Rosslyn is an important step toward achieving the community’s vision of a more vibrant and walkable urban village,” said Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey in a press release.

Dittmar first submitted site plans last year, aiming to build a 25-story tower facing N. Nash Street with 500 housing units and a second, 38-story tower facing N. Fort Myer Drive, with a 344-room, higher-end hotel. The pair of towers would be conjoined by a 10-floor building with conference and retail space, as well as a three-level parking garage.

The Board’s latest changes require the developer to:

  • Accommodate buses in the parking plan
  • Develop an option for better vehicle turning on the N. Nash Street side of the lot
  • Share design options for the side of the complex that will face N. Nash Street
  • Share design options for the pedestrian passageway

Dozens of residents took to the podium during last night’s meeting to express concern over parking and traffic congestion from the development. One N. Nash Street resident said the project was “a disaster waiting to happen” if the Board didn’t follow the amendments the Board agreed upon, adding that the original plan would make walking, driving or living on his street “pure hell.”

As part of the development, Dittmar has pledged to fund $4.5 million for several transportation improvements.

Additionally, in exchange for the greater density the developer requested for the plan, Dittmar is offering to make part of its conference center public, contribute $5 million for open space in the neighborhood, and provide $4.5 million to the county’s affordable housing fund — money officials say will have a “Rosslyn-first” preference. Dittmar will also seek to earn a LEED Gold green energy certification for the building.

Dittmar is the same company that originally built the existing Holiday Inn in 1972.

A representative of the company cited a letter of support received from Nestle, which recently relocated to Rosslyn and is now expanding its local presence, arguing that “allowing new top-tier, world-class facilities for conferences at the location of the exiting Holiday Inn would make Rosslyn an even more attractive space both for business and leisure.”

New Food Truck Regulations Could Mean More Trucks, Longer Hours

By Airey

Food trucks lovers in Arlington may now have more opportunities to buy their meals on wheels thanks to newly loosened regulations.

The Arlington County Board approved a series of code changes during its meeting this weekend that open up more parking areas for food trucks and also allow the trucks to operate later into the night. Members voted unanimously in support of the changes as part of their consent agenda for the Saturday, September 21 meeting.

Under the updated regulations, food trucks will be now be able park in places with sidewalks at least 6 wide, down from 10 feet. The amended code also clarified that trucks are can in certain cases operate past the standard business hours of 7 a.m.-8 p.m.

In a report to the Board, county staff noted that the changes will provide “greater flexibility in establishing on-street vending zones.”

The 10-foot sidewalk requirement previously barred trucks from otherwise desirable areas. One example was 15th Street N. in Courthouse, which officials said could accommodate five food trucks were it not for the 7.5 foot-wide sidewalk not meeting the 10-foot requirement.

Food truck owners have, in the past, butted heads with the county and police over parking time limits and parking locations.

Community: Amazon Headquarters Needs Protected Bike Lane, More Buses

By Airey
1/7

Plans for Amazon’s new headquarters in Pentagon City are taking shape, but community leaders want the company to look beyond cars.

Several dozen residents and community group representatives urged the company to take a stronger stance on pedestrians and public transit during a site plan review at the Aurora Hills Community Center (735 18th Street S.) Tuesday night.

Cars and parking

Planners shared several car-oriented transportation plans during the presentation, including:

  • A pick-up and drop-off zone for ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft at the intersection of Eads Street and S. Elm Street.
  • A drop-off zone for a daycare center in the park, also located on S. Elm Street.
  • Street parking for cars along S. Eads Street, 15th Street S., and S. Elm Street.

Amazon’s plans for its new headquarters, including an underground parking garage with 1,968 parking spaces, remain unchanged.

“We believe the parking is the right size to accommodate the number of people working in the building,” traffic engineer Dan VanPelt, with transportation planning firm Gorove/Slade Associates, said during last night’s meeting. 

The company has previously pledged to provide transit benefits to its eventual 25,000 employees to allay county fears of traffic jams near HQ2. Transportation Commission Chair Chris Slatt suggested the company charge for parking on a daily basis to further encourage employees to choose transit.

“Arlington’s own research has said the amount you pay for parking at your workplace is the number one determinate if you drive to work alone or not,” Slatt told ARLnow, referring to a 2013 Mobility Lab study.

When asked, VanPelt said Amazon is planning to charge employees for parking, though he was not sure how much. He was also not sure if it would charge for the spaces designated for electric vehicles — a travel type county officials are betting will become more common.

Site Plan Review Committee members, however, expressed concern that the plans did not give same level of accommodation to pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users.

Safer Bicycling

VanPelt highlighted the 500 long-term and 120 short-term bicycle parking spaces slated for the property, and noted that each of Amazon’s buildings will have bicycle entrances. 

“It shows the commitment to accommodate cyclists in the project,” said VanPelt.

The tech and retail giant is also planning to install a protected bike lane on the west side of S. Eads Street that runs along the project, which several people commended for its use of concrete curbs to separate cars from cyclists.

However, Amazon will not be giving 15th Street S. the same treatment, despite advocates urging the company to implement protected bike lane on the busy road.

The plans shown for the existing 15th Street S. bike lane would keep it unprotected from cars, and would add street parking next to it.

Several audience members shared safety concerns over the 15th Street plan, with one cyclist saying it was “unsafe” considering the amount of near-misses he had already experienced on the roadway.

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County Board to Consider Selling Public Land to Rosslyn Holiday Inn Redevelopment

By Airey
1/10

The redevelopment of the Rosslyn Holiday Inn into two tall towers could take a big step forward tonight.

At its Tuesday evening meeting, the Arlington County Board is poised to sell a section of land on the north side of the lot to developer Dittmar, helping to transform the property into a massive housing-hotel-conference-retail complex.

Plans submitted in July indicate the hotel company intends to replace the existing hotel at 1900 N. Fort Myer Drive with two towers. One tower will be 25 stories and face N. Nash Street, featuring around 500 housing units. The other tower will be 38 stories, face N. Fort Myer Drive, and contain a new, 344-room, higher-end hotel.

The two towers would be joined at the base by a 10-story building with 47,450 square feet of conference and 14,000 square feet of retail space, as well as a three-story underground parking garage.

The Board is now considering whether to sell a parcel of public land that lies just south of Lee Highway from N. Nash Street to N. Fort Myer Drive to the developer. Selling the land — currently a patch of grass next to a surface parking lot — would allow Dittmar to move the building closer to Lee Highway, according to a staff report to the Board.

Board members are scheduled to vote on the sale during their meeting today, Tuesday, September 24.

If the Board approves the sale, the developer will eventually pay the county around $1.18 million for the land. But first, the county will have to pay the state $1.18 million for the right to sell it for development instead of its intended open space purpose, per the staff report.

The strip of land itself was obtained by the state during construction of I-66, but when crews didn’t end up needing the space, the state ceded the land back to Arlington for free in 1984, with the condition it be used for “park, beautification and open space purposes.” Staff note in the report that using it for development purposes instead has drawn some criticism over the “loss of open space.”

As part of the project, Ditmar has proposed building an east-west pedestrian pathway through the property connecting Fort Myer Drive to N. Nash Street and featuring public plazas with access to the development’s retail space — a recommendation from the 2015 Rosslyn Sector Plan.

Elsewhere in Rosslyn, developers are also working on redeveloping the Art Institute Building (1820 N. Fort Myer Drive), as well as the Key Bridge Marriot (1401 Lee Highway.) Eventually, the old office buildings at 1401 Wilson Blvd and 1400 Key Blvd are also expected to be replaced.

Images via Arlington County, Google Maps

Ballston Church Affordable Housing Project Moving Forward

By Airey
1/9

A Ballston church is now one step closer to transforming into an affordable housing complex.

The Arlington County Board unanimously approved a proposal to allocate $3,082,319 to an all-affordable housing project in Ballston that would replace the current Central United Methodist Church building at 4201 N. Fairfax Drive with a new eight-story building and two-story underground parking garage.

Plans of the project include 144 housing units, a number the church raised in July from its original proposal of 119 units. The majority of the planned units are two-bedroom apartments. The building designs also include a new church space with 200 seats, a daycare for 100 children, a pre-school, and office space for a charity.

The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) is developing the property for the church after taking over the project from another developer, the Bozzuto Group. The head of organization said she was “thrilled” to hear that the project was moving forward.

“This is an extraordinary project that will include a new worship space for the church, the return of Kinhaven Preschool, and 144 affordable apartments,” said APAH President and CEO Nina Janopaul said today (Monday.) “We are grateful to the County for its commitment to Arlington’s low-income residents.”

The $3 million funding is the same amount the Board approved for when the church initially proposed setting aside only certain number of units (48) as affordable in 2017, before later deciding to build only affordable units.

With an estimated 20,000 Arlington households at risk of displacement, leaders have recently launched programs, studied zoning changes, regional partnerships, and faced political heat as they’ve struggled to slow the loss of affordable housing stock.

The Board’s approach allows the the county to loan $3 million to the project via its Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF). The same funding mechanism is used for affordable housing projects countywide, including the nearby American Legion redevelopment in Virginia Square.

The Ballston project’s overall financing, including funding from the state, is likely to take another six months to finalize, meaning construction would not begin until after July 2020. In total, the construction is expected to take two years with units on the market by fall 2022.

Previously, some criticized the plan for its potential to disturb the historic Robert Ball Sr. Family Burial Ground underneath the site. (Not to be confused with the Ball Family Burial Grounds on N. Kirkwood Street which also faced uncertainty amid the Virginia Square redevelopments)

Others flagged design issues with the Ballston project’s parking and open space requirements.

The County Board gave its blessing for the overall project in 2017 after designs preserved a portion the cemetery, and an attorney representing the church’s nonprofit leading the development said that crews would examine the site and exhume, examine, and re-inter any remains discovered.

Crystal City BID Expands, Seeks to Rename Itself “National Landing”

By Airey
1/2

(Updated at 12 a.m.) The Crystal City Business Improvement District is set to absorb parts of Potomac Yard and Pentagon City, and could be eying a name change.

The Arlington County Board approved a 76% increase to the land included within the BID’s boundaries during its meeting this past Saturday, September 21, after the BID gained the required support from commercial property owners.

The new area encompasses parts of Arlington’s Potomac Yard and Pentagon City neighborhoods, including Amazon’s planned permanent HQ2.

But that’s not the only change afoot in Amazon’s new backyard.

“We anticipate that this Board may be soon asked to consider whether a different name should be applied to the BID to reflect the expanded area,” Board Chair Christian Dorsey noted from the dais this weekend.

“Given the combined area’s size and scale as a major downtown district — the largest walkable downtown in Virginia — the BID believes an umbrella term to represent the unified area is critical to elevating the district and appropriately identifying the organization and its focus,” said the BID’s President and Executive Director Tracy Sayegh Gabriel in a statement.

“Exploration of this umbrella term has been underway since the launch of the BID’s strategic planning process in April 2018,” she added. “While the BID sees value in adopting National Landing as an overarching name for the district to complement the individual neighborhood names of Crystal City, Potomac Yard and Pentagon City, we continue to engage the community and area stakeholders on this topic.”

The name “National Landing” first first emerged with Amazon’s announcement it was heading to Arlington. The name — conjured up by a combination of Arlington and Alexandria economic development authorities, property owner (and Amazon landlord) JBG Smith, and the BID itself — was used to refer to the Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Potomac Yard area in and around the company’s headquarters.

Thus far the name has been used informally — without public hearings, and input from community groups — but its potential use as the BID’s new identity could solidify its emergence in the pantheon of local place names.

Recently, ARLnow learned via state records that JBG Smith created a “National Landing Business Owners Association Inc.” to take advantage of a new law allowing customers buy beverages and wander as they shop in malls.

A BID document included in a staff report to the Board this weekend said the renaming was its “highest priority” after expanding its boundaries:

Once the Area-Wide BID is approved by the County Board, a full rebranding of the district will be the highest priority initiative for implementation as per the Strategic Plan. In April 2019, the Crystal City Business Improvement District selected a branding consultant and kicked off the initiative with an Area-Wide Branding Committee. The goal of the effort is to create a new visual identity — including brand story, logos, signage, and place branding. The branding initiative will focus on both the BID organization and the area-wide name as well as the neighborhoods of Crystal City, Pentagon City, and the Potomac Yard-Arlington. The goal is to launch the new identity as early as July 2019.

Renaming a BID would require the Board’s approval, as well as the BID to work with the County Manager’s Office to hold public engagement sessions to gather residents opinions, according to Dorsey. During the public engagement process, residents will have the opportunity to suggest their own names, as well.

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County Board Signs Resolution Committing County to Racial Equity

By Airey

Arlington will soon be studying how to factor racial equity in policymaking thanks to a new resolution passed this weekend.

The Arlington County Board unanimously adopted a resolution its meeting this past Saturday, September 21, committing the county to gathering data on racial inequality in Arlington, creating a “scorecard” to track progress made, and designing a tool to help officials consider race during policy and budget decisions, among other actions.

The three-page resolution is part of the county’s participation in a training program with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) and the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), a national racial justice organization from University of California Berkeley’s racial justice institute and activist organization Race Forward.

As part of the the nine-month program, county officials will design the racial equity tool for policymaking, aimed at improving currently unequal policy outcomes based on race.

“Arlington County has achieved great success in attaining ‘secure, attractive, residential and commercial neighborhoods’ with engaged citizenry and resilient, sustainable communities, but recognizes this is not the experience of all Arlingtonians,” reads the Saturday resolution.

County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said that many “grassroots” efforts have existed in Arlington to address racism and unequal access to resources, but that’s an imperfect system.

“We weren’t hitting everything,” he said. “It was not comprehensive.”

“The pervasiveness and the systemic nature of inequity in our society means you can’t pick and choose where you want to make a difference,” added Dorsey. “You have to actually make that difference enterprise-wide, community-wide.”

Board member Katie Cristol praised county staff for their work on the project, and said staff buy-in was essential because everything local government does from “filling pop-holes to renewing library books” touches themes of racial equity.

Officials noted during the weekend discussion that the commitment to equity is designed to build on the county’s existing equality initiatives dedicated to housing, health, childcare, and internet access. Research previously found a 10-year life expectancy gap between some Arlington residents depending on where they live and that students of color faced higher rates of obesity, teen pregnancy, and lower rates of care for mental health.

“Simply put, it’s about meeting people where they are,” Assistant County Manager Samia Byrd said of the new initiative. “And beginning to open doors to provide access to pathways that have been traditionally or systematically blocked.”

Byrd said Arlington will assemble an interdepartmental task force to address racial inequities that will include Arlington Public Schools, which has faced accusations of racial bias in student discipline, and settled a lawsuit with the Department of Justice over inadequate support for English-language learning students.

“The vast majority of our history is one where government has played a role in creating and maintaining racial inequities,” said GARE Director Julie Nelson. “And so for us it’s really important for us to recognize what our vision is, and what our values are, and to act accordingly.”

GARE currently works with local governments in around 40 states, including Virginia and Maryland, according to its website.

“The current paradigm is challenging the premise of equality and instead considering equity,” Byrd noted.

“Frankly this is a step forward for the families that [the Arlington Food Assistance Center] serves,” said AFAC’s Executive Director and CEO Charles Meng.

“This isn’t about feeling good,” said Board member Libby Garvey. “It’s about making it better for everybody.”

Arlington Building Owners Are Often Struggling to Fill Vacant Retail Space

By Airey

Owners of mixed-use buildings in Arlington are struggling to find tenants for ground floor retail space, and instead have been seeking permission to fill the space with other uses.

The Arlington County Board will consider three such requests — from office buildings in Rosslyn and Ballston and Le Meridien Hotel in Rosslyn — at its meeting on Saturday.

“It is definitely a trend,” said Michael Smith, director of real estate at Bethesda-based retail strategy firm Streetsense. “We are at a point in time where we have a lot of retail space and a decreasing number of prospective tenants to fill those spaces.”

The owner of the Ballston Pointe building at 4300 Wilson Blvd (which once housed Ted’s Montana) is asking permission to convert its 2,132 square-foot ground floor space into a gym for residents and office space.

Likewise, Le Meridien seeks to convert its 900 square-foot retail space into offices, and the 1776 Wilson Blvd building in Rosslyn (home of Quinn’s and formerly of Kona) wants to cast a wider net for “retail equivalent” tenants like education organizations to fill its 22,829 square feet of unused retail space.

County staff wrote in a report to the Board that the Meridien vacancy is “due to a combination of design and location factors the site has not been a successful retail space” and in another report, that 1776 Wilson “cited difficulty retaining leases with tenants that meet the definition of retail.”

“Municipalities are trying to encourage ground floor retail environments to create sense of place, but the reality of it is that there is only so much of it going around,” said Streetsense’s Smith.

He cited millennials’ penchant for prioritizing experiences over things as one reason retail has been declining over the last decade — leaving fewer prospective tenants. Another problem with filling ground-floor retail space is that not all spaces nor streets are ideal areas to attract shoppers.

That contrasts with an aggressive, former Arlington County policy dubbed “retail everywhere,” which was replaced in 2015 with a more “curated” approach.

Restaurateurs have long bemoaned certain portions of the county, like the western side of Glebe Road in Ballston, as places businesses struggle. The old adage of “location, location, location” applies in Arlington, but sometimes it’s hard for businesses to figure out what will work in which places.

Smith said buildings in Arlington’s neighborhoods like Rosslyn, which is hillier and sleepier at night compared to places like Clarendon, typically have a harder time finding and keeping retailers. However, he noted the Rosslyn Business Improvement District’s community events and artwork are steps toward making the area more attractive to people and businesses.

“While we would all want our streets lined with beautiful boutiques or cafes, that’s just not the reality,” he said.

The County Board has issued approvals for retail space to be turned into alternatives like medical offices for years. Members have also OKed converting office space back to retail space, though that process is sometimes fraught.

An auction by East Falls Church bookstore One More Page recently generated discussion on whether the county also had an obligation to help ground floor retailers weather rising rents.

Smith said that government-led programs or economic incentives only make sense “if the numbers pan out and its win-win for everyone.”

“The best thing you can do is turn the faucet off, and put retail where it belongs,” he said.

Arlington to Celebrate Clarendon Day And Two Other Festivals Saturday

By Airey

Clarendon Day and two other festivals will take to Arlington streets on Saturday, prompting celebrations, road closures, and delicious food all around.

The massive Clarendon Day street festival which draws tens of thousands of attendees will run from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. this Saturday, September 21, and will feature food trucks and booths from vendors like donut maker Good Company, live music, arts and crafts vendors, and dance performances.

The annual Clarendon Day races will also return. Participants can sign up for the 5K race at 8 a.m., and a 10K race at 9 a.m. starting at Wilson Blvd and N. Fillmore Street, with both finishing in Rosslyn at Wilson Blvd and N. Fort Myer Drive. Runners also have the option of running both races.

Children can take part in their own, 713-foot race around the plaza driveway of the Market Common. The race, which starts at 9:30 a.m., welcomes parents along with kids and does not require separate registration for both. All kids who join the race will be awarded for their participation.

Registration costs $15 for the “Kids Dash” race, $45 for the 5K, and $50 for the 10K. Runners interested in both the 5K and the 10K can pay $55 for both races.

ACPD will close several streets from 3 a.m. until approximately 10 p.m. to make room for the festival, including:

  • Wilson Boulevard between Washington Boulevard and N. Garfield Street
  • Clarendon Boulevard between Washington Boulevard and N. Garfield Street
  • N. Highland Street between Washington Blvd. and N. Hartford Street

Police will also close additional roads for the races from 5-10:30 a.m.:

  • Wilson Boulevard, between N. Garfield Street and Route 110
  • N. Kent Street, between Wilson Boulevard and 19th Street N.
  • The entirety of Route 110 northbound, from Route 1 to Wilson Blvd. Southbound lanes remain open to traffic.

Elsewhere, near Columbia Pike, police will close 9th Street S. between Walter Reed Drive and S. Highland Street from 7 a.m.-11 p.m. to make way for the Prio Bangla Multicultural Street Festival, which celebrates pan-Asian and Latin American cultures and runs from 12-9 p.m.

The all-day festival will feature vendors with traditional foods, as well as handcrafts, clothing, and jewelry, paintings and henna art, and representatives from local businesses.

“By simply the trading and transferring of ideas, customs, beliefs, cultural habits etc. between diverse cultures living here in the USA, we would be able to accomplish our vision of living in harmony in this community,” organizers wrote on its event page.

Meanwhile, the newly renamed Green Valley neighborhood will also be throwing a celebration of its history and culture from 12-6 p.m. at Drew Elementary School (3500 23rd Street S.)

The community party will feature a DJ, a basketball tournament at 2 p.m. for youth and service workers, as well as a fish fry and barbecue.

“Today, residents pride ourselves on being part of a community where all are welcome,” organizers wrote in an email announcing the event. “Despite development, migration and gentrification that have altered the demographics drastically, we are determined to retain our unique identity as Green Valley continues to be one of ‘Arlington County’s Finest Communities.'”

Local Students Planning Climate Strike Tomorrow in Courthouse

By Airey

A group of local students is organizing a demonstration in Arlington tomorrow (Friday) as part of a nationwide climate change strike ahead of the UN Climate Change panel.

Teenage organizers of the Northern Virginia effort say they’re organizing a teach-in about environmentalism from 8-11 a.m. at American University, followed by a rally beginning at 11:45 a.m. outside Arlington County government headquarters (2100 Clarendon Blvd) in Courthouse, to help the planet they’re about to inherit.

“The most important thing is to educate,” said organizer and Yorktown High School student Hannah Knittig. “That goes for government officials and also to the public.”

The students organizers are working with the Northern Virginia chapter of the Youth Climate Strike organization, and is hoping to attract attendees and passersby to the Courthouse rally with speeches, a voter registration table, and posters the local effects of climate change.

“I hope they can see that they can get involved from home where they live,” said another organizer, Cecelia O’Sullivan, 15, at the Potomac School in McLean. “They can see that this is really an accessible moment happening all over the country.”

The teen organizers who spoke to ARLnow cited concerns about global warming raising flood threats and spawning more extreme storms, also noting how activities like fracking pollute the environment and contribute to the problem.

“Our water supply and our excessive need of products in Arlington impacts people who live in Blacksburg and all over Virginia,” said Knitting. “I definitely know that my lifestyle, and my family’s lifestyle, does impact other people.”

“Seeing all these very small occurrences, which at first they don’t link immediately link to climate change. But once you dig deeper, you just see it’s all part of that larger effect of climate change,” said Saahithi Achanta, 17, who is also helping organize the event from Chantilly High School.

Knittig, 16, said that around eighty students from across the Northern Virginia area have signed up to join the Arlington strike, and another 80 students have pledged to attend the same-day sister strike in Richmond.

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