Author: Heather Mongilio

Arlington Residents Voice Criticism of VDOT Plan for I-66 Tolls

By Heather Mongilio
1/11

(Updated at 2:50 p.m.) At a public forum last night, Arlington residents spoke out against the Virginia Department of Transportation’s plan to turn I-66 into a toll road during rush hour.

VDOT officials met residents at Washington-Lee High School (1301 N. Stafford Street) to discuss the I-66 Inside the Beltway project, which would convert the highway into a toll road during rush hour by 2017 and increase the HOV requirement to three people by 2020.

While some Arlington residents have spoken out in the past about the HOV changes, the audience’s attention was on the dynamically priced tolls proposed by the transportation authority. Members of the audience — who mostly identified themselves as Arlington residents — had a chance to comment on or ask about the plan.

Not one person supported the tolls, even though the biggest impact is likely to be felt by commuters from the outer suburbs.

“The public isn’t benefiting from the HOT lanes, only the wealthy and the privileged,” said one person.

Under VDOT’s plan for I-66, during rush hour both directions of I-66 would be tolled, with the cost depending on the level of demand for the road. During the presentation last night, Amanda Baxter, a VDOT official, said tolls could be as high as $9 for the eastbound morning commute.

I-66 would be tolled for four hours during each rush hour period, possibly from 5:30-9:30 a.m. and 3-7 p.m., Baxter said.

The idea behind the I-66 project is to reduce the amount of congestion on the road, allowing people to move more quickly during rush hour, said VDOT official Rene’e Hamilton.

“Time is money, and basically we are giving people a reliable trip that they can calculate how much time it would actually take them to go through the corridor and to their destination,” she said.

The project aims to improve mass transit, as well, since buses get caught up in the rush hour traffic too, causing daily bus riders to be late to work at least once a week, said Kelley Coyner with Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.

“The same things that hold you up in a car, hold you up in a bus,” Coyner said.

Using the tolls and converting to HOV 3 likely means fewer cars will use I-66 during rush hour. The goal is to have cars and buses consistently traveling at 45 miles per hour during rush hour, Hamilton said.

Currently, speeds can be as low as five miles per hour during evening commutes and 25 miles per hour in the morning. Other times, speeds are as high as 55 or 60 miles per hour, leaving people with an unreliable way of measuring how long their daily commute will be, she said.

“Tolling the facility will help to manage the congestion along the facility and create a reliable trip,” Hamilton said. “That 45 miles per hour that HOV facilities are required to meet.”

The audience mainly took issue with the price of the dynamic tolling, saying it would hurt people who can’t afford to pay $9 every morning.

“These tolls are for a reliable trip for the wealthy,” a resident said.

Another compared paying to use a road to paying to send a child to a public school.

“I’m opposed to tolls,” she said. “I feel roads, like our schools, should be paid for by our taxes.”

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Nighttime Bike Rides to Explore Arlington Neighborhood ‘Secrets’

By Heather Mongilio

"Secrets of Crystal City" graphicGroups of cyclists will get to explore the “secrets” of three Arlington neighborhoods this month.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is organizing the 5-6 mile evening rides with Bike Arlington.

First up tonight is the Secrets of Crystal City. The ride will start tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Crystal City Water Park, on the 1700 block of Crystal Drive, and end just down the street at TechShop around 8 p.m.

“On our ‘Secrets of Crystal City’ ride, we’ll open your eyes to a whole new side of one of Arlington’s signature neighborhoods,” WABA said on the event’s website.

The rides continue weekly, with a tour of Shirlington on Oct. 14 and a ride through Ballston on Oct. 28. Another ride will take cyclists across the river on a haunted ghost ride on Capitol Hill in D.C. on Oct. 23.

Reservations for each tour costs $10, but it’s half off for WABA members and free for Capital Bikeshare members. Participants must provide their own bikes and helmets. The rides are open to anyone over 14 years old.

The tour is also accepting walk-ups depending on the amount of available space in the tour group. Walk-up riders can participate for free.

North Arlington Church to Honor Lives Lost to Gun Violence With T-Shirt Memorial

By Heather Mongilio

Gun violence memorial at First Presbyterian ChurchThere will be 155 t-shirts on display on the lawn outside of the Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ starting Sunday, a memorial to those lost to gun violence in the D.C. area.

Each t-shirt represents a victim of gun violence in the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia in 2014. Each will have a name, age and date of death on it.

“The display is set up to encourage people to walk among the shirts and reflect on those victims and their loved ones,” Rev. Kathy Dwyer said.

The T-Shirt Memorial to the Lost will remain in place from Oct. 11-24. It’s part of a project led by Heeding God’s Call, an organization that advocates for “common sense” gun laws. The church has asked its members to help it set up the display after morning services this Sunday.

“It seems like every time we turn around there’s another act of senseless violence,” Dwyer said.

There will be 75 white shirts for D.C., 23 yellow shirts for Northern Virginia and 57 blue shirts for Maryland. Outside of the District, the victims are from places like Arlington County, Alexandria, Culpepper and Woodbridge in Virginia and Laurel, Ellicott City, Columbia and Gaithersburg, Maryland. Baltimore, which has a high rate of gun violence, is not included.

This is the second time the t-shirt memorial has been erected in Arlington, Dwyer said. First Presbyterian Church held the memorial last year. This year there are 11 fewer shirts.

Dwyer will discuss gun violence as part of her sermons on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Members of the congregation have told Dwyer they want to do more than pray for a solution to gun violence, she said, a call that sparked the church to hold the memorial.

“[We see people] really reacting to the violence we see with more violence, and we want to be part of a different path,” she said.

The church has included national issues in sermons and discussions before. The church previously had talks about the intertwining of race and religion, which concluded this past Sunday.

New Shirlington Pool Hall Looks to Open Next Week

By Heather Mongilio
1/3

Billiards may return to Shirlington as a new pool hall looks to open next week.

Chester’s Billiards Bar & Grill is opening in the same building that housed pool hall Lucy’s ARL until 2013, said co-owner Derrick Fulghum, Sr.

The restaurant hopes to have “a busy atmosphere with great food,” said Fulghum. It’s currently waiting on some permits from the county before it can open, but hopes to have those by Thursday.

In the meantime, Chester’s owners are hanging the restaurant’s new sign and putting the final touches on its menu.

The menu currently includes appetizers like chicken tenders, buffalo wings and crab cakes, salads, soups and a raw bar. The restaurant is opening with a special of barbecue and “all you can eat salad” for $8.75.

The menu will mostly contain American cuisine, “and everything is pretty much under $10,” Fulghum said.

Once open, the restaurant is planning to serve food from 11 a.m. midnight Monday through Wednesday, and until later at night on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It will be open until 11 p.m. Sunday, according to Fulghum.

Ballston Watch Store Moving to Pentagon City Under New Name

By Heather Mongilio

Swiss Time at Fashion Centre at Pentagon City (Courtesy of Eric Kim)(Updated at 12:00 p.m.) Watchstyle, a luxury Swiss watch store, is closing down its store in Ballston Common Mall ahead of major renovations that are coming soon to the aging shopping center.

The store will close this coming Sunday, said owner Eric Kim. He plans to open a new store called Swiss Time in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City five days later on Friday, Oct. 16.

Kim changed the name of the store because the storefront at new location is much more visible to customers walking in the mall, and he wanted to emphasize the Swiss brands of watches he sells, he said.

The new store in the upscale Pentagon City small allows Kim to sell some of his higher-end luxury Swiss watches, he said. Watchstyle was already one of the most expensive stores in Ballston Common Mall without selling his full stock. At Swiss Time, watches will be priced at anywhere from a couple hundred to thousands of dollars.

Despite the new location and new name, Kim plans to honor warranties on watches bought in Ballston, and customer service will stay the same, he said.

“I worked very hard to be the only five-star rated watch store in Arlington, and I plan on keeping it that way,” Kim said.

The watch store owner plans to return to Ballston Common Mall once the mall is renovated. He anticipates opening his second Swiss Time around April 2018 in Ballston.

“The Ballston mall management has been very kind to me,” he said.

Shirlington AMC Theater Closes for Renovations

By Heather Mongilio

AMC Theater in ShirlingtonThe AMC movie theater in the Village at Shirlington (2772 S. Randolph Street) will be closed through November for renovations.

The movie theater is expected to reopen mid to late November, said AMC Theatres spokesman Ryan Noonan.

Once renovations are complete, the movie theater will have plush reclining seats in all of its auditoriums, new bathrooms and hot food options like chicken fingers and french fries.

AMC may also add a bar that will serve cocktails, wine and beer, Noonan said.

“The entire movie experience will be enhanced,” he said.

The company expects business to pick up in Shirlington as a result of the changes, Noonan said.

“We found that guests love our upgraded movie-going,” he said. “People really enjoy the recliner seating.”

The theater will offer reserved seating. Moviegoers will be able to choose their seats when buying tickets online or at the box office.

“The easiest way to make sure everyone gets a ticket and everyone gets the seat they want is to use reserved seating,” Noonan said.

An AMC theater in Courthouse went through similar renovations in 2012.

Beer and Wine Likely Coming to Two S. Arlington Starbucks Stores

By Heather Mongilio

New Starbucks on Columbia Pike

Starbucks customers may be able to order a glass of wine with their Pumpkin Spice Lattes at two Arlington locations in the next few months.

Starbucks has filed liquor license applications for its new Penrose Square (2413 Columbia Pike) and Arlington Ridge Shopping Center (2925 S. Glebe Road) locations. If approved, the stores will be able to serve beer and wine, in addition to the coffee and tea drinks the company sells.

Starbucks is offering beer and wine at select stores as part of its new “Starbucks Evenings” service, which also includes small plates.

According to a sample menu, the coffee chain will sell various red, white and sparkling wines by the bottle and glass, as well as craft beers. Small plates include truffle mac and cheese, bacon-wrapped dates, chicken skewers and truffle popcorn. Menus vary by region.

License applications for the two stores are currently pending, according to the Virginia Department of Alcohol Beverage Control.

Wine and beer will come to the Long Branch Creek location in “probably a few months,” said a supervisor at the store but she could not provide any additional information. USA Today reported in August that Starbucks is launching Starbucks Evenings at more than 2,000 of its 12,000+ U.S. stores, with many opening by the end of the year.

A Starbucks spokesman stopped short of confirming that the two South Arlington stores will in fact be serving beer and wine in the near future.

“Just as each customer is unique, so are our stores and we consider a broad range of products and experiences for each neighborhood,” said the spokeswoman. “And, as you’ve probably seen, we’re in the very early stages of considering our stores at 2413 Columbia Pike and 2925 S. Glebe Road for the Evenings menu. It’s a long and thoughtful process and the permit filing is just one of many steps we take.”

Fundraising Startup Helps Arlington Schools Raise Money

By Heather Mongilio

Startup Monday header

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, plus other local technology happenings. 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.

Edbacker fundraising campaign page (Courtesy of Gary Hensley)A company dedicated to helping schools fundraise has moved to Crystal City.

Edbacker, founded by former California teacher Gary Hensley, provides a online platform for schools to host their fundraisers. By running the campaigns online, parents are easily able to donate by using their phones or going to the Edbacker website.

“There are some really neat stories that come out of these organic campaigns,” Hensley said.

The goal is to help address the gap in funding for schools.

“This is a real need,” he said. “A real problem we could solve.”

The company is now used by schools in 24 states, Hensley said, including Arlington County, which the company considers its home base.

“Arlington has been incredibly supportive out of the gate,” he said.

Arlington fundraising page (Courtesy of Gary Hensley)

Hensley decided to build a platform to help schools fundraise easier after being frustrated with his own attempts to raise money for his daughter’s school, he said. The first school to use Edbacker was Arlington Science Focus Elementary School, which needed help raising money for a new classroom.

“They just needed 200 people who were interested in that thing related to STEM,” he said.

Edbacker typically has about 160 campaigns running at a time, Hensley said.

To donate to a school’s campaign, people go online to the Edbacker and explore campaigns. The company also helps work with local and national businesses, helping them to donate either to a specific campaign or to a general fund that can be spread out among an area’s schools.

Fundraising campaigns tend to have a cyclical fashion based on the school year. In the beginning of the school year, campaigns usually do membership campaigns and “no frills” campaigns. The “no frills” campaigns ask people to donate money to the school instead of buying the wrapping paper that students sell or buying baked goods at a school bake sale.

Edbacker communication campaigns (Courtesy of Gary Hensley)

In December, schools typically run coat collection campaigns and specific community projects. At the end of the year, people raise money for class gifts.

“[Arlington schools] are all pretty active,” Hensley said.

Swanson Middle School is currently running a “no frills” campaign using Edbacker. The school is asking for $20,000 and has already received donations from 200 people. The school’s campaign has 25 more days to raise around $5,000.

While Edbacker helps other companies with fundraising, the company’s primary focus is schools.

“The thing about education is it’s the heartbeat of the community,” Hensley said.

Edbacker works out of the new 1776 Crystal City, after moving from the D.C. 1776 location, and is one of the companies funded by 1776’s new seed fund.

County Board Candidates Split Over Affordable Housing, Vow to Fix ‘Arlington Way’

By Heather Mongilio

Mike McMenaminAffordable housing continues to divide the candidates for County Board, with the two Democratic nominees supporting the Affordable Housing Master Plan and the two independents proposing alternative methods at a debate over the weekend.

The County Board candidates all announced varying degrees of support for increasing affordable housing in Arlington, but disagreed on the best way to implement it during a candidate forum held by Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement Sunday evening.

“Everyone’s in favor of everything, and that’s the balancing act in this community,” said independent candidate Mike McMenamin.

The county needs to focus on geographic distribution of affordable housing units, said McMenamin, who has previously said affordable housing is not one of his priorities. The county should also go back and address its 2003 targets for the amount of affordable units, which it only met twice, he added.

McMenamin, who does not support the Affordable Housing Master Plan passed by the County Board last month, said that the County Board needs to look at how to add affordable housing and address school capacity, without sacrificing parkland for more affordable housing units or more schools. Finding the money to support all of these plans is also a challenge, he added.

Audrey Clement

One of the high costs to the affordable housing plan is the choice to increase the amount of committed affordable units (CAFs) instead of trying to incentivize market-rate affordable units (MARKs), said Audrey Clement, the other independent candidate.

“There is a serious question of whether CAFs are the way to go,” Clement said.

The new Affordable Housing plan calls for 15,800 affordable housing units, and making them all CAFs would be too expensive for the county, she said, arguing that MARKs are cheaper.

“Private developers can build units much more cheaply than the county can, so limit new construction to onsite units in market-rate developments,” she said.

Clement has spoken out against the Affordable Housing Master Plan, and if elected, plans on creating a housing authority to oversee all housing concerns in Arlington, similar to the authorities in Fairfax County and Alexandria.

Both Democratic nominees, Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey, reaffirmed their support in the affordable housing plan.

Beyond affordable housing, candidates all addressed community concerns about the disconnect between Arlington residents and the Board. The “Arlington Way,” the county’s system of community involvement in decision-making, needs some retuning, candidates said.

Christian DorseyIt is on the community’s shoulder to tell County Board members what the problems are in the county, Dorsey said.

“It’s not what I am going to do. It’s what you all are going to do, and everybody else in Arlington. You all are going to tell us what is necessary to make sure every voice counts,” he said. “It does not work if elected officials tell you what they are going to do to listen. You have to tell us what we need to do to make sure your voices are heard.”

It’s also about going to meet the community where they are, Dorsey and Cristol said.

“We have to get rid of this excuse that they don’t come to our meetings,” Cristol said.

Increasing community engagement means making meetings at times that are reasonable to community members and personally inviting leaders to come to meetings, she said.

It’s also important that the public is brought into the process at the beginning, not the tail end, said McMenamin, citing the recent discussions about Fire Station 8.

If elected, he plans on going to community meetings, talking to people at farmer’s markets and even knocking on people’s doors to get their opinions about bigger decisions, he said.

“You have to listen to the neighborhoods and do what’s right,” he said.

Katie CristolIn addition to fixing the “Arlington Way,” all candidates pledged to focus on the school capacity crisis and the commercial vacancy rate issues that are plaguing the county.

Addressing the school capacity rate needs to be figured out by both the Arlington School Board and the County Board, Cristol said, adding the community has to be involved from the beginning.

“To me, this issue is one of how do we manage our growth,” she said.

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Lights Out Along Washington Blvd Due to Fallen Tree

By Heather Mongilio
1/6

Lights are dark along Washington Blvd in Ballston after a tree fell, pulling power lines down.

A large tree fell across N. Stuart Street, bringing power lines down and causing a power outage. N. Stuart Street is currently closed to traffic.

Power is currently out from N. Stafford Street to N. Glebe Road. Police officers are directing traffic at the intersection of N. Glebe Road and Washington Blvd.

Dominion is reporting 188 customers out of service, with an estimated restoration time between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. Washington-Lee High School is also out of power, according to a police officer working security at the school.

New Pizza Restaurant Replaces Little Caesars on Lee Highway

By Heather Mongilio
1/4

A new pizza joint has opened on Lee Highway, replacing a Little Caesars franchise location at the corner of Lee Highway and N. George Mason Drive.

Fillmore Pizza opened its second location at 5175 Lee Highway five days ago, said owner Bahruz Ahmadbayli. The Lee Highway location is the restaurant’s second in Arlington — the first is at 923 S. Walter Reed Drive.

The new restaurant sells pizza, pasta, sandwiches, salads and wings and uses high quality and expensive ingredients, Ahmadbayli said. A small, 10-inch cheese pizza sells for $7.75, while a extra large, 18-inch pizza costs $14.95. Fillmore also sells gourmet pizzas, which start at $11.75 for a small, 10 inch pizza.

“The pizza is totally different from other stores,” he said.

The reason the pizza is better than other places is because of the cheese Fillmore Pizza uses, Ahmadbayli said.

“The main ingredient in this business is cheese,” he said. “Our cheese is the best quality and expensive.”

The restaurant runs daily pick up and delivery specials, and customers can order online. The new Lee Highway restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

The Little Caesars, which previously occupied the space, opened in 2013. The company has another Arlington location on Columbia Pike.

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