“This series is a great chance for men, women, children, and families of all ages to increase awareness and raise funds to end a disease that affects one in seven fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, grandfathers, partners and friends,” said Jamie Bearse, the CEO of Zero in a statement.
The event starts with the Superhero Dash, a short sprint for kids ages nine and younger, at 8:15 a.m. Kids can dress up as their favorite superheroes and will receive capes.
The four mile walk/run starts at 8:30 a.m. and will take runners from Pentagon Row courtyard (1101 S. Joyce St.) down Army Navy Drive to S. Adams Street. Runners will turn around at S. Adams Street and finish at Pentagon Row. Participants can select and put on a tie shortly after the one mile mark at the “Tie One of for Dad” transition area (at S. Nash Street).
There will be awards for the top three male and female finishers, top three survivor finishers and top three male and female finishers in each age group.
This year, people can help support the end of prostate cancer from their beds by wearing a “Snooze for Dudes” t-shirt and posting a picture to social media.
Participants can register as an individual or as team. Registration is $40 for the four-mile race, $20 for the one-mile walk, $20 for the Superhero Dash and $35 for Snooze for Dudes.
The race will also feature the “Courage Wall,” a chalkboard wall where people can write what they wish they had the courage to be or do. The wall was created by Del Ray local Nancy Belmont and has since gone viral.
“The run/walk aims to bring together survivors, patients, families, friends and many in the community to raise funds for prostate cancer, and share hope and passion, and the Courage Wall will help us to do that,” said Amanda Pini, the marketing and communications coordinator for the race.
S. Joyce Street, between 15th Street S. and Army Navy Drive, and Army Navy Drive, between S. Joyce Street and 25th Street S., will be closed from 7-11 a.m. as a result of the race.
A rendering of a bird’s-eye view of Courthouse Square, from 2015. (Courtesy of Arlington County)
Rendering of the Metro Plaza (Courtesy of Arlington County)
Rendering of Memorial Grove (Courtesy of Arlington County)
Map of the draft plan
The slip lane by the Courthouse would be removed.
The site of a planned promenade, running from Clarendon to 14th St.
Possible bikes lanes would be added to N. Courthouse Road.
One of the historic trees that would be saved.
Another tree that would be kept because of its history.
The future site of Memorial Grove, which would contain a large open space.
15th Street may be paved to be an extension of the future Metro Plaza.
The site of a future Metro Plaza with a new Metro entrance.
This part of 15th Street would be a loading zone for buses.
A promenade would also go here.
Future site of South Square where new government buildings will be placed.
Concept map for the envisioned open spaces
Concept Map of Envision Courthouse Square
Map of the planned underground circulation, including Metro and parking.
Study area of the Envision Courthouse Square Study
Open spaces, new buildings and wider sidewalks are all part of Envision Courthouse Square, Arlington’s draft plan to create a lively square around the county courthouse.
Arlington residents were invited to the neighborhood Wednesday to see the plans for the area as well as to take a walking tour that highlighted several large changes that could come as a result of the plan.
“I would hope this would be an area, unlike Rosslyn, Clarendon or Ballston, where people can come together and celebrate events in the heart of Arlington,” Jason Beske, the project manager for Envision Courthouse, told ARLnow.com.
Under the plan, multiple new buildings could be constructed some replacing existing structures and some with preserved facades. The vision for the area — which currently includes buildings, parking lots and some small green spaces — would be similar to that of a lively open town square under the new plan.
Before that vision can be realized, should the County Board approve the plan, the county will have to work with developers and building owners to come together and help implement it.
Among changes is a possible move for county government itself. The county office building at 2100 Clarendon Blvd is not currently owned by the county — it’s owned by Vornado — and when the lease is up, the county could choose to move to a building it owns outright, Beske said during the walking tour.
One possible location for this new building would be the new South Square, which is on the south end where the current public surface parking lot sits. Parking would be provided via underground lots, as the current public surface lot is set to be converted to mostly green space — the “square.”
The plan also calls for the transit plaza adjacent to the current county offices to be redone. The new plaza, dubbed Metro Plaza after the Metro entrance, would possibly feature an open Metro entrance similar to that planned in the Rosslyn Sector Plan.
The plaza would be “something that’s kind of lively, exciting,” Beske said.
The current AMC movie theater may be redeveloped into an office building or a building with primary entertainment and retail uses. A rooftop terrace be added to the building, with a view of D.C. and the monuments. Also set for redevelopment: the small, aging Courthouse Square West office building that currently houses county emergency management offices.
The street that currently runs next to the main county office building, 15th Street N., would become a low-speed, pedestrian-centric street. It would feature plenty of street trees, widened sidewalks and possibly granite pavers.
“We want to see this street become an extension of open space,” he said. On the other side of the public parking lot, 14th Street N. would receive a similar “shared street” treatment.
Another other big open space would be the “Memorial Grove.” The large space would have a grove in one of its corners and a possible underground parking lot under it. Memorial Grove would be located in what is now part of the parking lot, across the street from the current emergency winter homeless shelter. A large open lawn area would run from Memorial Grove down to the South Square.
To the south of South Square, in what is currently a public plaza next to the Verizon building and across from Ragtime restaurant, the Envision Courthouse envisions a new building, for public use, county use or both. The building, labeled Verizon Plaza, is one of four buildings — including the aging Courthouse Square West office building, South Square and the AMC Theater site,
Outside of the Courthouse Metro entrance near the Cosi building, meanwhile, is the potential site of a promenade with wider sidewalks, which could possibly extend from Clarendon Boulevard to 14th Street. Across the street, near Ireland’s Four Courts, the county plans for main street feel, with wider sidewalks, more retail lining the street and a possible tree canopy.
While the county is looking to the future with Envision Courthouse, Beske and his team is also trying to capture the past. There are preservation elements to the plan, mostly centered around the strip of older buildings known as Lawyers’ Row. The facades of the buildings housing the emergency winter shelter, Cosi, Jerry’s Subs and Boston Market are all singled out for preservation. A new building could be on top of the existing facades, but a full preservation is also possible, particularly for Cosi building, which used to be a bank.
The county will weigh the historic value of each building in considering its redevelopment, Beske said.
The County Board is expected to consider the plan for approval at its September meeting. Some of the planned changes may be implemented in the next few years, but many of the goals are classified as long term, taking five or more years to implement, often with the cooperation of private developers.
Arlington residents, including two County Board candidates, pleaded with the County Board to save Rosslyn Highlands Park on Tuesday.
The county is considering trading part of the tiny park to a developer in exchange for a new fire station as part of its Western Rosslyn Area Plan Study (WRAPS). Board members unanimously approved the advertisement of public hearings on the plan during the meeting.
“Once this land is gone, it’s gone. The land will always be worth more than the fire station. So let’s hold onto the land and do what is right for the community,” said Michael McMenamin, an independent candidate for County Board. Independent candidate Audrey Clement also spoke out against the plan.
McMenamin was joined by more than a half dozen people who live near the park, including Washington Lee High School junior Johanna Klein and 12-year-old Jim Sharkey. Even more people signed up to speak during the public comment on the plan but left as the clock ticked close to 10:00 p.m. before the item was heard.
Sharkey, who was inspired to research park space in Arlington after learning of the park’s possible sale, said Arlington fares poorly in terms of park land when compared to neighboring Fairfax County.
“If we dramatically shrink Rosslyn Highlands Park, we take away even more park space from Arlington where parks are small and sparse enough already,” he said.
The park holds many memories for Sharkey and Klein, who both say they grew using it. Sharkey’s family is considering moving and he said he believes that the end of the park will only encourage his family to move.
“Rosslyn Highlands Park is not just a part of a number on a graph,” he said. “I believe that parks are important because they’re a good place for people to have fun and bond together.”
In addition to the fire station, the WRAPS plan deals with the replacement of the Wilson School, which will house the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program starting in 2019, the replacement of an aging office building with a new mixed-use development, and a new affordable housing development.
Most of the discussion, however, revolved around the park and what many said was an opaque process of deciding to trade part of it to a developer. Caroline Haynes, a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, called the process frustrating.
“I guess from our perspective, given that residents do feel like they sacrificed something in this and the density is going to be greatly increased in this area, we believe that is going to be absolutely critical to make sure this park is outstanding,” she said. “That what we have there is going to be an oasis in the midst of very high density. And that we really need to dedicate the resources to make this an incredible destination park both for residents and for our community.”
Members of the working group also voiced similar concerns saying that the group and community did not have enough say in the drafted plan.
“From the beginning, the working group expressed a clear goal that open space be a prime directive of the process and not simply residual of what’s left over,” Erik Gutshall, an at-large member of the working group said.
Members of the public will have another chance to weigh in on the Western Rosslyn Area Plan in July. A public hearing will be held before the Planning Commission on July 6 and before the County Board meeting later in July.
“The proposed plan seeks to balance the need for open space in Western Rosslyn with the need for a new school with associated gym and playing field accessible to residents, a new fire station and more affordable housing in collaboration with commercial redevelopment,” County Board Chair Mary Hynes said in a statement.
In a somewhat unexpected move, the County Board has voted 4-1 against the creation of a connector path from the Washington and Old Dominion trail to N. Carlin Springs Road.
County Manager Barbara Donnellan and her staff had recommended the Board approve the connection, which would link N. Carlin Springs Road with the W&OD rail trail.
The proposed connector would have been an eight-foot-wide, 220-foot-long trail that could be used by pedestrians and cyclists to reach the W&OD from N. Carlin Springs Road. The county was seeking the permit as part of a partnership with Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority.
The path is currently what County Board member Jay Fisette called a “cow path,” meaning it is a dirt path stomped down by trail users going to and from Carlin Springs Road.
However, Fisette, who is an avid cyclist, said that paving the path would be unnecessary and encourage cyclists to cross Carlin Springs Road, he said is more dangerous than using an already-established path that’s not too far away.
“I’m going to argue, unless you tell me I’m missing something, that this proposed connector is essentially unnecessary to be paved,” Fisette said.
People can still use the path as a walking path, Fisette said, but he did not see the need to pave it for cyclists.
Board members were not the only Arlington residents against by the potential paved trail. Residents attended the meeting to speak out against paving the path due to environmental concerns.
Buckingham Community Civic Association President Bernie Berne told the Board that paving the proposed path would harm the plant life that existed in the meadow where the pavement would go.
The county had placed chains around the meadow where the footpath was created to block residents from cutting across it and harming the native plants as well as to prevent the county from mowing it too often. If the county had approved the trail, it would have been undoing the county’s efforts to restore the meadow, Berne said.
“The proposed connector trail is a waste of county money,” Berne said.
Instead, the county could use the money to place signs to encourage people away from the meadow and to the existing path, Board Vice Chairman Walter Tejada said.
Tejada, a self-described bicycle fanatic, also failed to see the reason to pave the path because it was so close to the already established connection from Four Mile Run.
“If we are looking for access for both the east and west side of Carlin Springs, we already have it,” Tejada said, calling the proposed path “redundant.”
The distance between the already-established connection from Four Mile Run under Carlin Springs Road and the proposed trail is a short distance, especially for someone on a bike, Tejada said. Cyclists can easily go a little longer to use the established connection.
“If it’s a matter of convenience, I don’t buy it,” Tejada said. “Because it’s just a matter of going around and you are already there.”
Via Twitter, however, former Arlington County Commuter Services Bureau Chief Chris Hamilton criticized the decision, suggesting that the County Board gave in too easily to a few vocal opponents.
Board votes against W&OD Trail Connector, saves "Meadow" http://t.co/JvccbqTQU6 Elected leaders must back up their DOTs and resist NIMBYS!
This week’s Arlington Pet of the Week is Dog, a two-year-old male miniature poodle who likes to hike and jog.
Here is what Dog’s owner said about his pooch’s adventures:
This is Dog. Almost a year ago through Lucky Dog Animal Rescue I picked him up outside of Dogma in Shirlington. Originally, from a high kill shelter in South Carolina the rescue and vet believe him to be a puppy mill dog who outgrew his stay and was abandoned. When I first got him he was very timid and shy and preferred to hang out in the back of his crate. He didn’t like being handled and approached people tentatively. His paws were still pink from never being allowed to walk and play. Today he’s an active, playful, and cuddly monster.
Through training him he acquired his name, “Dog.” “Dog, sit!” “Dog, stay!” “Lie down, Dog,” etc. Dog was a quick learner and is eager to please…especially if there are treats. Dog is estimated to be around two years old and a miniature poodle. Depending on the human, he’s also claimed to be a Bischon, Terrier, or King Charles Cavilier. I don’t care much about his breeding. I just know he’s an amazing pet.
Dog clocks in at a whopping 13.5 lbs. But, don’t let his size fool you he isn’t the typical small dog! He loves challenging hikes and coming with me on jogs around the neighborhood. He’s gone biking, hiking, wine tasting, jetskiing, kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding. e’s also pretty content napping in your lap, chilling in the living to watch tv, or hanging out under chairs while the humans brunch.
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.
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, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Arlington and Northern Virginia.
One possible image of an open-air Rosslyn Metro station
The map of the the Rosslyn Coordinated Redevelopment District
The proposed bike network the in the Draft Realize Rosslyn plan
A vision of the future Rosslyn Plaza park and esplanade
The County Board is considering adopting the Rosslyn Sector Plan, but first it is seeking out residents’ opinions.
The Rosslyn Sector Plan is the county’s long-term goal for the neighborhood, including a new Metro entrance, updated parks and a new pedestrian bridge. The County Board authorized two public hearings — one before the Planning Commission on July 6 and the other before the County Board meeting on July 18 — for residents to speak and ask about the new plan.
The county’s vision focuses on four key topics: parks and open space, transportation, building height and urban design.
“The vision that residents, developers, business leaders, property owners and County staff have worked together on for more than two years is truly transformational,” County Board Chair Mary Hynes said. “Once adopted, we believe it will lead to realizing Rosslyn’s full potential. It will ensure that, as Rosslyn continues to grow and develop, it takes it rightful place as another great Arlington urban village – one where people work, live, learn and play.”
The plan comes out of efforts to move Rosslyn from a car-heavy, office-centric area to a walkable, mixed-use urban center, according to a county press release.
To do this, the planning staff have proposed a new 18th Street corridor, extending from N. Oak Street to Arlington Ridge Road. The plan follows the current recommendation to get rid of the skywalk system in Rosslyn, instead focusing pedestrian activity at ground level.
The new 18th Street corridor would be “a new central spine for Rosslyn that will improve linkages to Metro, the future Central Place plaza, and other public spaces and development,” according to the sector plan.
The plan calls for other significant traffic changes. N. Fort Myer Drive, N. Lynn Street and N. Kent Street, currently one-way roads, will be converted to two-way if the sector plan is approved. Also, the Fort Myer tunnel under Wilson Boulevard — which was intended to help the flow of traffic coming over the Key Bridge from D.C. — is to be removed, according to the plan.
“The tunnel’s promotion of high vehicle speeds, highway-oriented character, and incompatibility with a desirable crosswalk of 18th Street across Fort Myer Drive at the Metro station all lead to the recommendation to remove the tunnel and replace it with an at-grade signalized intersection,” according to the plan.
Rosslyn also is looking at a new Metro entrance. The current enclosed space could be transformed into an open air entrance, similar to the entrance at the Foggy Bottom or Van Ness Metro stations. The plaza outside the entrance would extend to Fort Myer Drive and N. Moore Street.
“The Rosslyn Metro Station is centrally positioned within this public space corridor and will serve as an important center of activity and retail concentration,” according to the plan.
While the plan focuses on making Rosslyn more walkable, it also looks to redesign Gateway and Freedom Parks to fit in with the more urban city plan.
Under the plan, the county would remove the current ramp structure at Gateway Park and turn it into a more typical green park setting, with multi-use courts, more lawn space and a playground. Freedom Park will be made more accessible with small-scale recreation areas and outdoor seating for restaurants.
In addition, the plan calls for the future creation of an esplanade that would run along Rosslyn’s eastern edge, extending from Gateway Park to the River Place residential complex along I-66 and then to the Marine Corps Memorial. The esplanade would also overlook the Potomac River. From the esplanade, there would be a pedestrian/cycling bridge that would link it to the riverfront near Roosevelt Island.
While the main construction of the plan is focused on the ground level, the county is also looking to improve the overall look of Rosslyn by adjusting the current height limit to allow for variation in the skyline.
“In addition, the Rosslyn Sector Plan sets forth a new building heights policy for the RCRD that can more effectively achieve a place with great public spaces, views and view corridors, light and air between buildings, sensitive transitions, and a distinctive and dynamic skyline,” according to the plan.
Ben Frederick won the Most Heroic jersey for the Clarendon Cup.
A Challenge ride participant rides a hand-pedaled bike.
Flickr pool photo by Michael Coffman
Coryn Rivera
Flickr pool photo by Michael Coffman
(Updated at 3:45 p.m.) Hundreds of cyclists took to Clarendon and Crystal City streets as part of the Air Force Association Cycling Classic this past weekend.
The two-day event saw professional, amateur and youth cyclists speed up and down Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards and Crystal Drive. The course also featured several tight turns for participants to whip around. The Clarendon Cup had five of these turns, which makes it one of the more difficult courses of its kind in the United States.
“It’s a really fun, local race. It’s one of the best in the area,” said Mattison Brady, a Washington, D.C. resident who placed second in the Amateur race.
The course’s technical challenges only add to the fun, Brady said.
But for some the two courses proved to be anything but fun. The Clarendon Cup’s challenges turned the race into a “race of attrition,” said Christopher Hair, a local cyclist with the United Healthcare/National Capital Velo Club Amateur team.
“It’s about an hour of excruciating pain,” Hair said. “Most people are smiling because it’s over.”
Riders also fell prey to the courses with multiple crashes throughout the two days. Multiple women hit the pavement during an early crash in the Clarendon Cup and at least two riders hit the ground during the men’s professional Crystal Cup causing a small slowdown.
The event was also apparently hazardous to a County Board candidate. Independent Board candidate Audrey Clement said the road closures from the Clarendon Cup hindered her ability to safely bike to Saturday’s Board meeting.
“As you know, I am an avid biker. I’ve biked to work every day for the past 25 years and I’ve biked to virtually every County Board meeting for the past three years,” Clement said in the meeting’s public comment period. “Yet today, I risked my life to bike to this meeting because the bike race… had blocked off all the streets in Clarendon. This represents not just an inconvenience to pedestrians, motorists and other bikers in the county, it constitutes reckless endangerment.”
For Hilton Clarke, a professional cyclist with United Healthcare, the two-day event was something to celebrate. The 35-year-old Australian cyclist won both the Clarendon and Crystal Cups and the Omnium.
“Well, I’ve been here a few times, and I’ve won now yesterdays race three times, and this race I’ve come in second three times, so it’s nice, even though my teammates normally beat me in this race, it’s nice to get a win here in this event so I’m really happy,” Clarke said.
For the women, Lauren Stephens took the Clarendon Cup after a long breakaway, and Coryn Rivera, a nationally-known cyclist, took the Crystal Cup and the Omnium.
Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.
Eastern Foundry, a government contracting incubator, is bringing a Shark Tank-esque competition to Crystal City in hopes of finding creative solutions to help combat post-traumatic stress disorder.
The first Eastern Foundry Cup, a three-day event, begins on June 18 and leads up to a demo day, where 14 companies will present their ideas for a new product or service to help battle PTSD. A panel of three judges will select the two best ideas.
Each company will have seven minutes to present and three minutes for a question and answer session with the judges. The event is open to the public and attendees will be able to vote for their favorite service or product.
The idea for the Eastern Foundry Cup came from a desire to brings something innovative to the government, Eastern Foundry Cup Founder Geoff Orazem said. The company quickly settled on PTSD as a topic as it was something that touched the four founders, all of whom are veterans.
While the event is a competition, Orazem said he hopes the 14 companies will work together to blend their ideas on helping PTSD.
“We really wanted to take a holistic view on what the veteran needed,” he said.
PTSD is a multi-dimensional issue, Orazem said. While many people see it as a purely psychological issue, the disorder affects multiple areas of a person’s life, including family life, employment and for veterans, reintroduction to society.
Other issues that come with returning from service and PTSD can include anxiety, sleeping problems, drinking problems and family issues, which all start compounding, Orazem said.
“With so many problems people have, it’s treated as a single issue… There are a lot of dimensions that have to be thought of as a total,” he said.
One of the companies uses virtual reality to help those with PTSD overcome panic attacks. Others have services that will speed up or improve therapy veterans receive for PTSD.
While the main event is the competition, the companies will also get to have two days of educational activities. Eastern Foundry is bringing people from the Veterans Affairs and PTSD experts, as well as business experts to help the companies perfect their services and strengthen their companies.
The two days also provide networking opportunities for the competitors to meet each other and people who can help them further their companies.
“You will see a lot of interaction between the [the competitors],” Orazem said.
He also said he hopes there will be interaction among the competitors and the audience members.
“I really hope to see guys who were Vietnam vets, Korea vets, who have been struggling with these ideas [PTSD] for 30-40 years, can come and engage,” Orazem said.
The event is also to help get the smaller companies to connect with larger companies or with the government to help them secure contracts they otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to grab, Orazem said. Looking down the road, he would like to see the competing companies win government or medical contracts in at least six months, he said.
The event is just the first for Eastern Foundry. The company also plans to hold another one next fall. Orazem said he plans to continue to hold these cups, possibly with PTSD as a topic again.
“We’re really excited about this becoming a recurring event,” he said.
Protesters sing while County Board members get settled.
A group of Arlington residents held signs and sang before a County Board meeting to protest the decision to sell Reevesland farmhouse.
The residents were unhappy with the Board’s decision as well as what they described as a lack of transparency surrounding the hastily-called vote to sell.
“The Arlington community was not informed about the vote until only hours before it happened and thus there was zero public discussion of the issue before May 19. The sneaky, unresponsive vote by the Board majority was a complete slap in the face to thousands of Arlington residents,” said Sandra Kalscheur, the chair of the Reevesland Learning Center, during the public comment period on Saturday.
The County Board decided to sell the farmhouse in May after deciding it couldn’t find the projected $2-2.5 million it needed to restore the building for public use. Making the farmhouse available to the public would require a large restoration effort, including strengthening the floors, upgrading utilities and making it compliant with the American Disabilities Act, County Board Chair Mary Hynes said.
The county had been trying for three years to find a community group that could take over the farmhouse.
Protesters sang American classic “This Land is My Land” with words changed to make it “Reevesland is Your Land, Reevesland is My Land.” They also sang the “Ballad of Nelson Reeves” in the lobby before moving into the County Board meeting room.
The Reevesland Learning Center and some residents would like the County to turn the farmhouse into a community space where children could learn more about the farm’s history and healthy eating. It’s a vision that other members of the Arlington community share, Kalscheur said.
“We don’t want an unresponsive Board to sell off our history or sell out our kids,” she said.
The lack of transparency around the decision was another sore subject for the protesters. The five members of the Board acknowledged the problem, saying there would be a review of the process in the coming months.
“As a former government employee, I am surprised and disappointed in the three members whose recent action with no consultation or meaningful opportunity to comment and virtually no notice is a new low in transparency, community involvement and informed decision making. Even the few Arlingtonians that might agree with your outcome have universally condemned your methods,” said Arlington resident Ronald Battochi, who was a part of the protest group.
The Board’s May 19 decision was a 3-2 split of County Board members, with Hynes, Libby Garvey and John Vihsdaht voting to sell the building.
Hynes explained that the costs were too great for the county, but that the Board would be open to having the Reevesland Learning Center fundraise and work with private donors to fund the restoration. However, the group has been against private fundraising, Hynes said.
Despite the building’s sale, the public will still be able to access the lands around the house and see the historic sites, Hynes said. She was backed up by Garvey and Vihstadt, who pointed to the Arlington Arts Center, the Arlington Historical Society and the Arlington planetarium as examples of private groups that have partnered with the county and helped to preserve aging public facilities.
Vice Chair Walter Tejada voted against the sale and emphasized his displeasure with the Board’s decision and process.
“This is the last working farm in Arlington’s history,” he said. “That should mean something.”
The weekend is here, which means Arlington is gearing up for the Air Force Association Cycling Classic.
Put on sunscreen and make your way to the main stage area to watch pro and amateur teams compete on one of the most challenging courses in the United States.
Don’t think competitive cycling sounds that tough or action-filled? Maybe this caught-on-video crash from the 2013 race in Crystal City will change your mind.
There will be multiple road closures as a result of the Saturday and Sunday races, including GW Parkway ramps, Wilson Boulevard, Clarendon Boulevard and Crystal Drive.
Feel free to sound off in the comments about the race or any other local topic that has piqued your interest.
The Bracket Room (1210 N. Garfield St.) is revisiting its plan to bring live music — and some nearby residents are not happy.
The sports bar applied for a live entertainment permit to have up to two acoustic music players in the bar from 8 p.m. to midnight Sunday to Thursday, according to the County Board agenda. County staff recommend that the permit be approved with a review in November.
Residents who live in the Lyon Place at Clarendon Center apartment building, which has rooms above the bar, and across the street at Station Square want the Board to deny the permit. Residents are claiming the additional live music will bring more guests and more noise, which is already a problem, neighbor Joe Morrell said.
Morrell lives in the Station Square building across the street, and while he does not hear noise from inside the bar, he says there are often swells of people outside the bar and there have been fights. Live entertainment will only add to the noise, he said.
Part of the problem is the bar’s location, Morrell said, which is “essentially located in a residential building.”
“It’s not like it’s something like Mad Rose [Tavern] or whatever else is in a commercial building or on its own,” he said.
Morrell plans to attend the board meeting on Saturday to speak out against the permit. He’s not the only one. Other residents at the Station Square will be speaking out, Station Square manager George Pace said.
Pace attributed most of the noise affecting Station Square to the alleged fights and the crowd that hangs outside of the bar. He predicts that live music will only make the already crowded bar more popular.
“It’s always packed,” he said.
The County has also received concerns from Lyon Place residents who live above the bar.
“As of the date of this report, staff has received several comments from residents of the apartment building who are concerned that there will be additional noise impacts caused by the proposed live entertainment. To address those concerns, the applicant has agreed to a condition limiting the proposed live entertainment to two (2) acoustical performers,” according to the agenda report.
According the report, The Bracket Room is aware of the concerns and agreed to making changes in order to reduce noise. Changes including limited performers to only two people and closing the doors and windows when there is live music.
The bar applied for a live entertainment permit in 2013 but withdrew after residents spoke out against it. At the time of the bar’s opening in 2013, the County received multiple noise complaints. However, they have only received one since March 2014, according to the staff report.
(ARLnow.com reached out twice to Jeff Greenberg, co-owner of The Bracket Room, but he did not respond.)
While staff recommended approving the permit, Pace said he does not believe the Board will allow live entertainment at The Bracket Room.
“I don’t think it’s going through again. I doubt it. I don’t know why the Board would change their minds after a year,” Pace said.
Hundreds of runners will celebrate Father’s Day in Pentagon City with a race to help end prostate cancer.
In a somewhat unexpected move, the County Board has voted 4-1 against the creation of a connector path from the Washington and Old Dominion trail to N. Carlin Springs Road.
