Arlington County and the rest of the D.C. metropolitan area is under a Code Orange alert today (Friday) for its air quality.
With temperatures and humidity expected to build today and continue through the Fourth of July holiday, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments issued its alert, warning that sensitive groups could be affected and should avoid strenuous activity or outdoor exercise.
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments in association with Maryland Department of the Environment, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and District Department of Environment has issued a Code ORANGE Air Quality Alert Friday for the DC metro area.
A Code Orange Air Quality Alert means that air pollution concentrations within the region may become unhealthy for sensitive groups. Sensitive groups include children, people suffering from asthma, heart disease or other lung diseases and the elderly. The effects of air pollution can be minimized by avoiding strenuous activity or exercise outdoors.
For more information on ground-level ozone and fine particles… visit www.cleanairpartners.net.
MWCOG forecasts that the air quality will drop down to moderate levels this weekend.
Image via Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow service
A pair of Arlington County Police officers rescued a dog from inside a parked car yesterday morning (Wednesday) in Courthouse.
The officers responded just before noon for reports of a dog crying inside the vehicle parked at the county’s surface parking lot, on the 1400 block of N. Courthouse Road. They removed the dog from the car and handed him over to animal control.
A police spokeswoman said it’s up to animal control officers whether to charge the dog’s owner with a crime. The Animal Welfare League of Arlington did not respond to requests for comment.
More from ACPD’s Ashley Savage:
At approximately 11:46 a.m. on June 28, the emergency communication center received a report that there was a dog crying inside a parked vehicle in the 1400 block of Courthouse Road (this is the surface parking lot located across the street from the police department). The caller advised that the windows were slightly cracked but the dog appeared in distress. Responding officers were able to rescue the dog and transfer him to the care of the Animal Welfare League of Arlington.
Animal control officers from Animal Welfare League of Arlington are charged with the enforcement of all Virginia state and Arlington county laws pertaining to the welfare, care, and control of all domestic and wild animals. They will investigate to determine if any charges are appropriate.
Even on relatively mild days during the hot summer months, children or animals should not be left unattended in a car, regardless of whether the windows are cracked, officials say.
Even on less humid days the temperature in your vehicle quickly rises. Officers rescued this puppy from a parked vehicle in Courthouse. pic.twitter.com/ZkoHLSqrtA
Continental Beer Garden will open tomorrow in Rosslyn
The space includes two bocce courts
It will seat 150 people outside and 30 inside
On Thursday, workers were putting the finishing touches on the space and moving in the beer barrels
The garden also has an extensive food menu (courtesy photo)
The beer garden is at 1901 N. Fort Myer Drive
A new beer garden in Rosslyn will open tomorrow afternoon, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday celebrations.
The Continental Beer Garden at 1901 N. Fort Myer Drive will open to 3:30 p.m. on Friday, June 30. Its regular hours will be 3:30-11 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. It will have space to seat 180 people: 150 outside and 30 inside.
Also outside are two full-sized bocce courts, with picnic tables and other seating dotted around the space. Work included a full renovation of the former service station located under the office building.
As of Thursday, workers were putting the finishing touches on the outdoor seating area and bringing in barrels of beer and other drinks.
Beers from Virginia and Germany will be served by the pint or pitcher, while wine can be ordered by glass or carafe from kegs. A slushy machine will also be among the drink offerings.
On the food menu is a selection of sausages including bratwurst with sauerkraut and a classic D.C. halfsmoke with grilled onions and cheese. There will also be other snacks, entree salads, a selection of skewers served over basil quinoa salad and hot sandwiches like grilled cheese and pulled pork.
The beer garden is owned by Curt Large, who also owns the nearby Continental Pool Lounge. The project received support from the Rosslyn Business Improvement District and landlord JBG.
A new name will appear on the ballot for November’s Arlington County Board election, as independent Charles McCullough II has thrown his hat in the ring.
The 10-year resident of Arlington Ridge and self-described progressive will join Democratic nominee Erik Gutshall and independent Audrey Clement on the ballot.
McCullough currently works as a consultant, having previously represented the Australian Embassy in D.C. on education policy in the United States and Canada, worked as an attorney for D.C. Public Schools and been part of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
He said one of his main priorities is to ensure residents’ voices are heard. He said the so-called Arlington Way should be restored in their favor, rather than what he said he perceives as a bias towards developers and planning decisions that have already been made.
“What is this Arlington Way that drives these bargains that favor developers, that only call upon certain communities when it comes to decisions being made?” he said. “I hear people say, ‘We’re not actively consulted, we’re not meaningfully consulted.’ I hear from other folks in North Arlington, who say, ‘When I am consulted, the decision’s already been made. What Arlington Way is this?'”
McCullough was especially critical of the county’s decision to woo Nestle to Arlington with a package of incentive-based grants, and suggested instead that money could be invested to help grow and retain small businesses.
McCullough said one of his other major priorities is adding to the county’s stock of affordable housing, and ensuring more seniors can keep living in Arlington and are not priced out. He suggested following other communities’ lead by expanding the housing voucher program, and requiring that new developments have more affordable units than currently called for by county code.
He added that older citizens must be able to stay in the county, and added that maybe Arlington should look at providing more communities for seniors.
JFAC chair Ginger Brown and vice chair Greg Greeley
County Manager Mark Schwartz
County Board vice chair Katie Cristol
County Board chair Jay Fisette
County Board member Libby Garvey
The Arlington County Board and school board agreed Tuesday night to further study three possible scenarios for the Buck and Virginia Hospital Center sites, as recommended by the county’s Joint Facilities Advisory Commission.
Of the options, whittled down from a list of 10, two could allow for a building to be used by Arlington Public Schools. They could also provide space for the Office of Emergency Management and other public safety agencies, while some offer bus parking for both APS and Arlington Transit (ART).
Two scenarios for the VHC property remain under consideration, while just one is now being examined for the Buck site.
JFAC also formally recommended that the county acquire both sites. The Buck property is located near Washington-Lee High School, while the VHC site is at 601 S. Carlin Springs Road, and the county holds options to either buy the land outright or swap for them.
During the further study on the three remaining options, JFAC will explore how best to make the bus parking fit in. But County Manager Mark Schwartz said his preference would be for Arlington to purchase the current ART bus parking area at 2629 Shirlington Road given that bus dispatch is run from that location. Schwartz and staff will assess their options on that site too in a separate process.
JFAC chair Ginger Brown said residents had raised concerns about using one of the two properties for bus parking due to extra noise, traffic impacts and the need for security lights.
“Thank goodness buses don’t have feelings,” joked County Board chair Jay Fisette. Fellow County Board member Christian Dorsey said bus parking is necessary, and it can work within a community.
“These really can fit very well, but I don’t want to give anyone the impression that we’re looking to dump anything in the Nauck or Shirlington area,” Dorsey said. “This is something that can fit in well with a revitalizing area with planned future development…It’s not an evil thing that is going to disrupt how people live their life.”
The possible swap of a swath of industrial land owned by Arcland Property Company in Shirlington remains on the table, and will be studied for possible long-term uses.
“Maybe there’s some negotiations, some things that can make people more comfortable, but we need that land in Shirlington,” said County Board member Libby Garvey.
Members of both boards agreed that the Buck and VHC sites could be used to help ease APS’ capacity needs, with enrollment set to keep growing.
School Board chair Nancy Van Doren asked that staff from the county and APS work together closely to plan for the sites’ futures. But several urged caution as the schools review their enrollment projections. All agreed on the urgent need to manage the enrollment growth and provide a seat for every student.
“We really need to come to grips with how we’re growing as a community, where we’re going and when we’re growing and the criteria we’re growing and what we’re getting in return,” said County Board member John Vihstadt.
JFAC will now evaluate the short list of three remaining options, develop some rough cost estimates and go into finer detail on what can be done there. That next phase is set to begin as early as next month.
County Board chair Jay Fisette gives the State of the County address
More than 100 attendees listened to Fisette’s final address before he retires
In his final State of the County address before he retires at year’s end, Arlington County Board chair Jay Fisette said he is proudest of providing stable leadership during the county’s transformation.
Fisette, in his fifth annual address before the Arlington Chamber of Commerce as chair since coming onto the Board in 1998, said he believes his legacy will be the way Arlington has become more urbanized and expanded its population while staying true to its values.
“For me, it would be helping to guide the 20-year transformation of the community into an urban success story that we are,” he said. “Change is hard, and doing that in a way that has resulted in a community that’s a model in so many areas of public life, while at the same time protecting the connectedness and the compassion of a small town. There are a lot of things that have to happen to make that kind of recipe work.”
In his remarks before more than 100 business leaders, elected officials and other attendees Wednesday morning, Fisette touted various successes in his tenure as the current Board’s longest serving member.
He noted the 9.5 million square feet in new office space and 2.5 million square feet in new retail space, 2,700 additional hotel rooms, more than 29,000 new homes and other indicators, all while the unemployment rate stayed largely consistent at 2.5 percent, among the lowest in Virginia.
“In short, the state of the county is really good,” Fisette said. “In my view, Arlington works.”
But, Fisette said, Arlington faces numerous challenges, including on affordable housing, Arlington Public Schools capacity and an 18 percent office vacancy rate among others. He said the county has faced problems on his watch, like the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the loss of thousands of jobs through Base Realignment and Closure, but has always come through.
And despite those challenges, Fisette said the relationship between the business community and the county government remains strong, “[e]ven when our relationship is one where we don’t agree,” like the recent spat between the Chamber and Board over proposed changes to the towing ordinance.
Fisette had 10 recommendations for county leaders, after the jump:
Columbia Pike Premium Transit Network presentation slide
County Board vice chair Katie Cristol
County Board member John Vihstadt
County Board member Christian Dorsey
County Board member Libby Garvey
County transit bureau chief Lynn Rivers
County transportation director Dennis Leach
(Updated at 11:25 a.m.) Dedicated lanes look unlikely for the proposed “Premium Transit Network” along Columbia Pike, which is set to open next summer after delays.
Staff from the county’s Department of Environmental Services studied the feasibility of dedicated lanes along the Pike, but at a work session on Tuesday said they would likely not work.
Transportation director Dennis Leach described Columbia Pike as a “challenging corridor” for dedicated lanes and priority traffic signals for buses, like the Transitway between the Braddock Road and Pentagon City Metro stations. He said that the configuration of the road would not work for dedicated lanes, while they may also violate form based code that regulates development on Columbia Pike to make the area more walkable.
“There are no easy solutions. there are lots of tradeoffs, and some options would make things far worse,” Leach said. He added that giving traffic signal priority to buses might cause problems at some cross streets with Columbia Pike, especially those with heavy traffic.
Board members said they would like to see further study, and that such plans should not be ruled out even if in just one area of the Pike if it provides a benefit.
But the buses could be in for a unique look like the Transitway, which would mark them as separate from the other Metrobus and ART services along the Pike. Staff recommended pursuing a distinctive bus appearance, while using Metro’s standard stock of buses rather than ones powered purely by electricity or hydrogen due to cost.
Arlington’s buses could also be set for more advertising after staff issued a Request for Information last week. Responses are due from vendors by July 13 as staff gathers information about what could be done to generate additional transit revenue.
A separate suggestion by the Board to have buses arrive every six minutes on the Pike even in off-peak hours comes with a heavy price tag, as DES staff said it would cost an extra $2.5 million and require buying another bus. Staff also said demand might not be enough to help defray those costs.
But Board members said providing more service could help encourage more people to take the bus. Vice chair Katie Cristol said the idea is “also trying to induce demand,” especially when considering statistics provided by staff that show many bus riders in the area go to points along the Pike rather than beyond it.
“The objective here is not simply to meet current demand, but to create a transit system in which people can go to their bus stop, get on their bus and know they will be able to ride to where they want to go at some point,” Cristol said.
Board chair Jay Fisette agreed, noting that there is an “expectation” among Columbia Pike residents that transit improve. When the proposed streetcar was cancelled in 2014, Board members promised a system that would be just as good, if not better.
Cristol agreed, and asked why the county needed to wait for increased demand, or could “make a stretch, or place a bet?”
The new bus service is on track to open next summer. The county will engage in meetings with Fairfax County on the project, and is set to submit a version of it to WMATA’s Board of Directors to vote on ahead of finalizing a service plan later this year.
Also delayed but moving forward: the construction of 23 “premium transit stations,” along the Pike. The successor to the nixed $1 million “Super Stop,” the new stations will be factory assembled to save money.
The county will be issuing a Request for Proposals for the stations later this year, according to a staff presentation, with the goal of wrapping up installation by the second quarter of 2021 in coordination with multimodal improvements along the Pike.
The softball fields at Virginia Highlands Park, in 2017
The fields are used by various adult and youth leagues
The softball fields at Virginia Highlands Park, in 2017
The softball fields at Virginia Highlands Park, in 2017
(Updated at 9:35 a.m.) Neighbors of Virginia Highlands Park are accusing Arlington County of ignoring a proposal they put together for the park’s future.
Last year the Aurora Highlands Civic Association submitted a plan for the permit-only softball fields on the west side of the park at 1600 S. Hayes Street to be converted into open space, without any set programming.
“The fields are significantly underused relative to other facilities and especially to open space,” the proposal says, noting that use of the fields is seasonal. “Each field is used for approximately 600 hours per year out of a potential of 4,380 hours (12 hours a day), a total of less than 14% of the time.”
The county is at the beginning of what it says is a “community-wide conversation” about the park’s future and developing a comprehensive plan.
But some residents are critical of staff at the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation, saying that staff has not adequately considered their proposal nor communicated with them, despite an “extraordinary effort” on the part of community leaders “to ensure that there was little to no miscommunication in this process.”
“Attempting to develop a long-term plan for the park that fails to openly and honestly consider the needs of all park goers over existing facilities and their usage, as well intentioned as it may be, will just reshuffle that poor planning with some prettying around the edges,” the group Friends of Aurora Highlands Parks said in its latest newsletter.
ARLnow columnist Peter Rousselot wrote in a recent opinion piece that a member of DPR staff said the softball fields “are needed” and would not be removed.
A county spokeswoman, however, said that while there is no set timeline for planning for the park’s revamp, the civic association’s proposal is still on the table.
“The Aurora Highland Civic Association did provide a plan for the neighborhood’s vision for the park,” the spokeswoman said. “When the county begins the framework plan for the park, the civic association’s plan as well as other community-wide inputs will be considered. County staff is now working with the County Board to determine next steps.”
The softball fields at Virginia Highlands Park are used by a variety of leagues across age groups, from youth to adult.
The D.C. Fray adult league — formerly known as United Social Sports — begins a new eight-week season on July 7 at the fields. Founder and CEO Robert Kinsler said the league “strongly supports maintaining and expanding the fields available for organized sports in Arlington and specifically at Virginia Highlands.”
“We permit and use the parks as much as availability and DPR allows and often have to turn away players due to lack of field space in the area,” Kinsler said. “Any loss of the softball fields would be a huge lost for the activity community that lives in the area.”
Theodore Roosevelt Island closed yesterday for tree removal
The closures could last up to three weeks
Among the changes could be a move away from ash trees, some of which were destroyed this year
Roosevelt Island (photo via Google Maps)
Theodore Roosevelt Island closed for up to three weeks starting Monday while crews remove diseased trees from the nearby trails.
The National Park Service said the closures, which began yesterday, come after a survey found damage from the invasive emerald ash borer.
Sections of the island’s trails will reopen on a rolling basis as diseased trees are removed. NPS announced last week the island would close as the storms that hit the area could have brought down some of the diseased trees.
From a National Park Service press release:
Starting Monday, June 26, 2017, Theodore Roosevelt Island will be closed for the removal of diseased trees from along the maintained trails. As diseased trees are removed from sections of maintained trails, those sections will be reopened. Work is weather dependent and should last about three weeks.
A recent tree survey on Theodore Roosevelt Island found extensive damage to trees along the island’s trails from the invasive and deadly emerald ash borer. To facilitate the removal of these hazardous trees and reopen sections of the island more quickly, contracted services as well as park staff, will be working throughout the island.
Theodore Roosevelt Island is one of many parks in the Greater Washington Area hit hard by emerald ash borer. The island has many ash trees throughout its 88 acres that have been infected with the exotic beetle. The pest is highly destructive, killing ash trees within two to three years once infected. Dead ash trees rapidly become dry, brittle and hazardous. There is no known cure; once a tree is infected, it will die. Emerald ash borer is almost always fatal.
We are now more than 10 years into the emerald ash borer invasion of the National Capital Region. White ash was the tenth most common tree species in the region based on data collected between 2006 and 2009. In some areas of the region, the number of white ash trees decrease by a quarter between 2009 and 2016.
Rangers remind you to that you can do your part! To help prevent the spread of emerald ash borer and other pests, buy firewood where you intend to burn it, and do not take firewood or logs from home when you travel. Invasive species like the emerald ash borer cost the United States billions of dollars in damages every year.
Soon, some parts of Arlington will be just a walk away from the latest Wawa location.
The convenience store with a cult-like following announced today (Monday) it will open a new store at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue NW and Prospect Street NW in Georgetown. That is within blocks of the Key Bridge and about a mile from the center of Rosslyn.
Wawa said it expects to open the store by the end of next year.
In a press release, Wawa promised the store will “feature the latest Wawa offerings with an upscale, urban feel, including customized architectural elements that meet the historical needs and requirements of the Old Georgetown Historic District.”
The store will include Wawa’s food and drink offerings as well as custom salads and nitro, cold brew coffee. It will be another one of the company’s “urban” stores, as it moves away from its suburban model where a gas station is attached.
Wawa earlier this month announced its first location in the region at 1111 19th Street NW, near the Farragut North Metro station. The push is part of the company’s efforts to add between 30 and 50 stores in the Washington region.
“This second location is one more step in Wawa’s overall D.C. expansion as we continue to look for sites and with the goal of opening numerous locations throughout the city over the next few years,” said Brian Schaller, Wawa’s chief real estate officer, in a statement.
Wawa officials say they are actively pursuing sites in and around D.C., potentially to include Arlington.
“Wawa will also continue its ongoing expansion in the surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia to further our brand expansion,” the company said.
Average house prices in Arlington County have recovered to or exceeded what they were before the 2008 financial crisis, except in eight neighborhoods, according to new findings.
Randy Smith, a senior fellow at the D.C. Policy Center and a GIS specialist at Hood College in Frederick, Md., found that on average, houses in the following neighborhoods have gone down in value since 2007:
Arlington Forest (-1.83 percent)
Bellevue Forest (-8.2 percent)
Dominion Hills (-16.19 percent)
Foxcroft Heights (-20.9 percent)
Gulf Branch (-22.85 percent)
Old Glebe (-5.11 percent)
Rock Spring (-2.42 percent)
Riverwood (-33.1 percent)
All other neighborhoods have seen average home values either reach or exceed their pre-crisis levels, with the likes of Buckingham, Madison Manor, Glebewood and High View Park seeing increases of more than 50 percent on average.
On average across the county, property values have steadily ticked upwards. Earlier this year, the county said values rose 2.6 percent over their 2016 levels.
In an interview, Smith said the slight downward trend for some home values could be due to a lack of sales in those neighborhoods, or a lack of amenities that make them an attractive and convenient place to live in.
“Just because there’s not much to do and not much local resources: you have to drive further for grocery shopping, for any retail that you would have to go and buy normally,” he said. “Overall, I would think that the time spent having to drive to do anything would contribute to that part.”
Smith also found that foreclosures on county homes peaked during the financial crisis, but since then have stabilized with the local economy.
“It was fairly stable through that time period to begin with, as it wasn’t as affected as the rest of the country,” Smith said. “I’m guessing that’s why it wasn’t any crazy numbers per month for foreclosures, but I’m guessing people are more encouraged to start buying again in the area.”
Smith said he does not expect a slowdown in increasing property values in Arlington, due to the relative strength of the local economy and various other factors that make it attractive.
“There’s a fairly good job market, there’s a lot of people that want to move there, it’s close to D.C., good transportation,” Smith said. “Maybe that’s what’s influencing it…But I don’t see any reason that sales prices aren’t going to stop increasing in the near future.”
Smith’s interactive map of home value changes in Arlington, sorted by neighborhood, is below (after the jump).
