Author: Matt Blitz

Arlington is back to fully celebrating July 4 for the first time since 2019

By Matt Blitz
Fourth of July fireworks from the Iwo Jima memorial in 2021 (Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf)

For the first time in a couple of years, Arlington is back to fully celebrating America’s Independence Day.

In both 2020 and 2021, the pandemic led to the canceling of a number of official July 4 events as well as many of the local holiday festivities.

But, for the most part, Independence Day events, parades, and firework shows are back this year in Arlington.

The fireworks on the National Mall are set to start shooting off at 9:09 p.m. on Monday, July 4 and there are plenty of local spots to watch them without heading to the District.

  • Gateway Park and the Key Bridge in Rosslyn are both popular viewing spots for viewing and will be open to the public. There’s no seating on the bridge, however.
  • Gravelly Point, just north of National Airport on the George Washington Parkway, is a National Park Service site and will also be open to the public. No “hard perimeter” or “physical security checkpoints” will be in place, a NPS spokesperson tells ARLnow, though certain areas may be roped off to help with crowd control.
  • Long Bridge Park in Crystal City will be open to the public for firework viewing. Arlington County police will be on hand “conducting road closures and providing safety and security” on-site, a county spokesperson tells ARLnow.
  • Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) near Rosslyn is one of the most popular spots to watch fireworks outside of the National Mall. No “hard perimeter” or security checkpoints will be in place, though it might get crowded and certain areas could be roped off.
  • Mount Vernon Trail along the Potomac River near Roosevelt Island provides “uninterrupted views” of the District’s skyline. Though, the best views are on the trial which is only accessible for bikes and pedestrians.
  • Prospect Hill Park near Pentagon City is a small county park from which one can view the fireworks, though it is only a half-acre and mostly used by nearby residents.

The Air Force Memorial, another popular viewing spot, will be closed this year due to “safety and security concerns” related to the ongoing Arlington National Cemetery expansion project.

The View of DC observation deck on top of the CEB Tower at 1201 Wilson Blvd also will not be open this year for fireworks viewing, closing at 5 p.m. on July 4, an employee confirmed to ARLnow. In years past, residents were able to enter their names into a lottery to watch the show 31 floors up, but that isn’t the case this year.

The Washington Golf and Country Club off of N. Glebe Road is again set to have its own fireworks show, though it’s only open to members and their guests, we’re told.

For those looking to head downtown for the fireworks, Metrorail will be operating until midnight, with trains every 20 minutes on the Blue and Orange lines and every 15 minutes on the Yellow Line. Trains will arrive every 7 minutes at the downtown stations serviced by several lines.

Several Arlington communities and neighborhoods are back to holding parades and festive events this year as well:

With all of this going on, there will also be road closures including Arlington Memorial Bridge and Arlington Memorial Circle starting at 6 a.m. on July 4.

(more…)

Local Oyster in Ballston appears to have closed, after another seafood spot ran aground

By Matt Blitz
Local Oyster in Ballston appears to have closed (staff photo)

The catch is a little bit less fresh in Ballston with the likely recent closing of another seafood spot.

The Local Oyster at Ballston Quarter appears to have ceased operations in recent weeks. Its former stall in the back right corner of the downstairs food hall is now dark and cleared out, with signs removed and the walls blank.

The Arlington location is also no longer listed on the website of the Baltimore-based restaurant.

ARLnow has reached out to the restaurant to confirm and ask why it closed, but has yet to hear back as of publication.

The Local Oyster first opened in Ballston over three years ago, in April 2019. It couched itself as “no frills seafood” that sourced oysters locally from southern Maryland.

Last month on Instagram, restaurant founder and co-owner Nick Shauman advocated for the replenishing of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and asked customers to reach out to a number of senators to help pass the bill.

“This is our last chance to save thousands of restaurants from closing their doors for good,” he said in the Instagram video.

The legislation ended up not passing.

Local Oyster isn’t the only seafood spot at Ballston Quarter to shutter over the past few months. Slapfish also closed its doors in late December, the franchise owners confirmed to ARLnow.

Slapfish in Ballston is now closed (staff photo)

Slapfish, billing itself as “sexy” seafood, opened three years ago on the first level of the mall at 671 N. Glebe Road, near Chick-fil-A but otherwise a bit removed from the mall’s more highly-trafficked corridors. The restaurant chain was founded by Andrew Gruel, known for his occasional turns as a judge on food competition shows.

The Arlington location was owned by Raghu Reddy and several partners. They wrote to ARLnow in an email that they closed because of high rent and insufficient marketing by the mall.

“Landlord wants pre-COVID rent and has not promoted the mall,” they wrote. “There is no foot traffic and the rent was very high.”

There are no plans to open another Slapfish in Arlington.

A number of restaurants have opened at Ballston Quarter recently, including JINYA Ramen Bar and British cuisine purveyor Salt Pop Kitchen.

Ultramarathoner Michael Wardian is almost back in Arlington, after journey across America

By Matt Blitz
Ultramarathoner Michael Wardian on his journey across America (photo courtesy Michael Wardian/Instagram)

Ultramarathoner Michael Wardian has almost made it home to Arlington.

The 48-year-old local resident began his Forrest Gump-style run across America back on May 1. Fifty-eight days later, he’ll arrive in Arlington today (Monday) with only a little more than 100 miles left to go in his journey.

Wardian plans to make a pit stop at South Block in Ballston around 5:30 p.m. before continuing on to Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach in Delaware to dip his toes in the Atlantic Ocean. The aim is to get to the shore by July 1, several days ahead of his original July 4 goal.

“I’m so Team America right now,” Wardian told ARLnow from a West Virginia mountaintop, taking a quick breather from running to talk with a reporter over the phone. “Really, I’ve been impressed with just what a beautiful country we have and how much hospitality there is.”

He has run 50 miles every day, which takes him about 12 hours. He often starts at 6 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. Besides a few blisters, he’s “feeling good” even after running a total of 2,600 miles over a nearly two-month period. He’s cataloged much of it on his Instagram account, as well.

There have been challenges, of course. Hundred-degree heat, road construction, rocky terrain, a tweaked hamstring, a hail storm, and even snow in Colorado all had to be navigated.

Ultramarathoner Michael Wardian running through the snow on his journey across America (photo courtesy Michael Wardian/Instagram)

There were also drivers trying to run him off the road and at least one flying hamburger.

“Someone threw a half-eaten hamburger at me two days ago,” Wardian says. “It hit the girl I was running with right in the chest.”

Overall, though, he’s been heartened by the experience. So far, Wardian has raised about $50,000 for World Vision, an organization that provides clean drinking water to families around the world. The goal is to raise $100,000, with all of the proceeds made during his visit to South Block today being donated to the cause.

Wardian has also been met on his journey by many looking to show their support or run alongside him. In Missouri, he had even had a special running mate — a dog.

“I ran 40 miles with a stray dog that I called ‘Yellow,'” he says. “He just followed me.”

The canine loved to drink out of streams and lay in puddles when it got too hot. But he would always catch up to Wardian. Eventually, “Yellow” was adopted by one of the people in the running group and was renamed “Miles.”

This is not Wardian’s first claim to fame, of course. He has run seven marathons on seven different continents, ran across Israel pre-pandemic, ran 260 miles in loops around Arlington Forest during the pandemic, and is becoming pretty well-known in the local pickleball scene as well.

Wardian actually planned to run across America in 2020, but Covid delayed the feat for two years.

He says he’s probably going to be “emotional” when he makes his way into Arlington later today after thousands of miles on the road.

“Running all the way home to Arlington has just been a lifetime goal,” Wardian says. “It just shows you like you just keep putting the work in and you’re consistent… everything is possible.”

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema aiming to have its Crystal City premiere in October

By Matt Blitz
Rendering of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Crystal City (Photo courtesy of Cojeaux Cinemas)

The new Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Crystal City is hoping to open in October.

The Texas-based movie theater chain expects to complete construction on its nine-screen, 50,000-square-foot complex at 1660 Crystal Drive by late September, co-owner Joseph Edwards tells ARLnow, meaning it could open to the public in October.

Franchisee Cojeaux Cinemas will operate this location, as is the case with the other Alamo Drafthouses in Virginia and D.C.

The October debut is a bit of a push from its original timeline. Last year, it was initially hoped the movie theater would open by late spring. Edwards told ARLnow back in February that supply chain issues and “construction feasibility” were the cause of the several-month delay.

At the moment, the exterior of 1660 Crystal Drive remains rather blank, but signage is currently being manufactured, Edwards says. Interior construction, though, is progressing.

“The inside is moving along nicely and starting to look like an Alamo Drafthouse. We have risers ready and drapes installed in the auditoriums,” he says. “We will begin installing seats, screens and projectors in early July then as the kitchen continues to take shape through July, equipment will begin delivering in August.”

Many of the features at the Crystal City theater are already installed in the D.C. locations. That includes Barco Laser projectors, a QSC sound system, and what’s being deemed the “Big Show” — a large format auditorium with a 66 foot screen and more than 70 speakers.

A few other items have been updated since the theater chain first announced its expansion into Arlington last year, says Edwards. There will be a rollout of new recliners complete with a swivel table (as opposed to fixed) and server call buttons.

The theater recently applied for a state permit in order to serve alcohol at a themed bar, complete with cocktails, wine, and local craft beers on tap. The bar’s exact concept has yet to be announced, however.

Cojeaux Cinemas had been looking to bring an Alamo Drafthouse to Arlington for about a decade before signing on the dotted line with property owner JBG Smith in 2017. The theater is opening in a newly-renovated retail plaza known as Central District, which also includes a Solidcore, a CVS, and a now-confirmed Amazon Fresh. It’s 3-4 blocks from the future, 25,000-employee Amazon HQ2.

The Crystal City location is one of four Alamo Drafthouses that are set to open in various parts of the U.S. over the next 18 months. It will be the third in Northern Virginia.

Sneaker shop Legend Kicks finds a new home on the Pike

By Matt Blitz
Legend Kicks has moved across the Pike (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

Legend Kicks has found a new home across the Pike, after moving because of Fillmore Gardens Shopping Center’s pending redevelopment.

The sneaker reseller and clothing store has moved from its home for the past four years at 2609 Columbia Pike to a storefront about a half block away at 2514 Columbia Pike, a few doors down from the Celtic House.

The shop opened its doors at its new location this past weekend, according to an Instagram post.

The step was necessitated by imminent demolition and redevelopment of Fillmore Gardens Shopping Center. In March, the Arlington County Board approved replacing the one-story, aging retail strip with “The Elliott,” which will feature 247 market-rate apartments, a renovated CVS, a relocated Burrito Bros, and a new grocery store that could end up being an Amazon Fresh.

Legend Kicks first opened on Columbia Pike in 2017, but in April 2018 the store fell victim to arson. It reopened four months later a few doors down. Now, four years later, Legend Kicks is on the move again, but this time it’s because of redevelopment.

In an Instagram video from late last week, owner Layth Mansour claimed he was only given a few days to move.

“The first Legends got burned down. The second Legends I put so much money into, but then I got a letter saying that someone bought the whole building and I got three or four days to move,” Mansour says in the video. “Literally, I got a new place in, like, two days.”

Legend Kicks owner Layth Mansour on Instagram talking about Legend Kicks’ move (image via @legends_va/Instagram)

That timeline may not be totally accurate. ARLnow reported in January that all tenants received a notice that told them they needed to vacate by May 31. In those preceding six months, a number of businesses have since closed or moved including the Columbia Pike Partnership, the Black Heritage Museum, and Atilla’s Restaurant.

ARLnow has reached out to Mansour and Legend Kicks several times but has yet to hear back.

Mansour also owns the alcohol-free restaurant Eska on Columbia Pike. In April 2021, he took over the troubled, former location of Purple Lounge with the pledge to make it “family-friendly.” However, more than a year later, that restaurant has yet to open despite hopes it would be in business by February 1.

With Legend Kicks moving out, the only remaining tenant remaining in Fillmore Gardens Shopping Center is CVS. It’s not immediately clear when the store will make the planned shift to a trailer in the parking lot next door.

Though no demolition permit application has been filed for the now-mostly abandoned building, a county spokesperson says that work should begin late this year after all the needed permits are obtained.

If that timeline is followed, The Elliott could be completed and be move-in ready by early 2025.

Union Kitchen employees in Ballston have officially unionized

By Matt Blitz
Union Kitchen in Ballston (staff photo)

Union Kitchen employees, including those at the Ballston location, have officially won their election to form a union.

Yesterday (June 21), employees at five Union Kitchen locations announced that a majority voted in an election to unionize with the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400. This includes employees at the Ballston retail shop and restaurant located at 4102 Wilson Blvd.

The final count was 20 votes in favor of unionizing and 11 votes against.

The vote comes about five months after employees first announced their intent to form a union. The vote took place back in March, with the election being conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). But results were delayed due, in part, to management challenging the eligibility of a number of ballots, as reported by DCist.

The workers cited pay cuts, lack of sick leave, and staffing shortages as the major reasons for organizing. Also, they’ve alleged that management has retaliated against workers for unionizing, an act that would be in violation of federal law. By unionizing, employees will now be able to negotiate as a unit.

The union’s main requests when they go to the negotiating table will be to start pay at $22 an hour and to increase staffing by 20% due to the stores being “severely understaffed,” union organizing committee member and former Ballston employee Mckenna Willis tells ARLnow.

In a press release, UFCW Local 400 called on Union Kitchen’s owner to come to the negotiating table.

We are pleased to announce that Union Kitchen is now unionized! After management spent the last few months attempting to postpone this result, all votes have finally been counted. We won our union.

We would like to thank all of our customers, elected officials, community allies, fellow union members and supporters everywhere who never stopped believing this day would come. We know we can count on you moving forward.

Now, we call on owner Cullen Gilchrist to respect the outcome of this election, cease his delay tactics, and finally sit down with us to negotiate a union contract.

ARLnow has reached out to Union Kitchen management and Gilchrist, but has yet to hear back as of publication.

Union Kitchen first began as an accelerator a decade ago, helping food startups by providing expertise. It has since grown into being a retail shop and restaurant. The Ballston location opened in August 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, selling a variety of coffees, convenience items as well as a takeout menu with sandwiches, pizzas, salads, and breakfast.

When ARLnow first spoke with Willis back in March, she was working at the Ballston location. She’s now a former employee, after making the decision to leave the about two weeks ago. It had become a “really difficult work environment” and was “taking a toll” on her, she says. Back in March, Willis accused management of cutting her hours after a meeting where she brought up her concerns.

“We’ve all been waiting so long,” she said of learning about the unionization vote. “When I got the text, I almost started crying. So many of us put hours and hours of work into this. For the workers that are there, it means that they have representation and the power to not be scared anymore.”

The effort follows a nationwide and local trend of employees deciding to unionize. Employees at a Starbucks in Merrifield voted to form a union in April. Late last year, employees at the bookstore Politics and Prose in D.C. also voted to unionize. Just last week, Apple store workers in Towson, Maryland became the first employees at the company to unionize.

In recent months, she says that a number of customers have approached her and co-workers at the Ballston location to express their support.

“We’ve had just overwhelming community support from Arlington,” she said. “So many people have just stopped in to say that they’ve heard about the union… that’s what brings us our strength.”

Westover staple The Forest Inn, one of Arlington’s last dive bars, is closing

By Matt Blitz
1/3

(Updated at 2:00 p.m.) The Forest Inn in Westover, one of Arlington’s last dive bars, is closing next week, general manager Ken Choudhary confirms to ARLnow.

The long-time Westover bar and grill on Washington Blvd first opened in 1981, and initially named The Black Forest Inn, where the post office used to be. In 1994, it moved a few blocks to its current location at 5849 Washington Blvd. Now, though, the Forest Inn is closing because its landlord — Van Metre Commercial — is declining to renew their lease, Choudhary says.

“It’s not a lack of funds or anything money-wise. Everything was right on the table [from us],” he tells ARLnow sitting in a booth on a recent night with a few regulars laughing in the background. “I just think they want something new over here. Something that’s not a bar.”

They initially were told that the Forest Inn had until at least the end of July, but ownership was told late last week that they needed to be out by the end of this month because a new tenant needed time for construction.

The Forest Inn is hosting a going-away party on Sunday, June 26 with the last day of operations currently set for Wednesday, June 29, Choudhary says.

While sad and disappointing, it’s not necessarily a surprise to ownership. The bar attempted to negotiate a new lease two years ago, but Choudhary said, but the landlord decided to put them on a month-to-month lease. To Choudhary, this was a clear sign that they were looking for a new tenant.

Owner Nick Sharma — Choudhary’s cousin — told ARLnow that both the 2019 flood in Westover and the pandemic-related shut down about eight months later hit the bar hard.

For one, records were lost in the flood, including several relating to the lease. What’s more, Sharma says that Van Metre made a deal with Forest Inn that they could pay $500 in rent for the several months they were shut down in 2020 as long as they promised to pay back rent as business normalized.

It’s only been the last few months when business has gradually returned to what it was pre-pandemic and, Sharma says, they are nearly done paying off the back rent.

“I feel like they stabbed us in the back,” he said.

Choudhary also says that Van Metre has accused the bar of attracting a “rough crowd,” which he says is an unfair characterization.

“To me, our customers are real people. [The landlords] need to come in here and start a conversation with them,” Choudhary says. “[Our regulars] are all very friendly. And if you don’t introduce yourself, they’ll introduce themselves to you.”

Both the owner and general manager says the regulars are taking the news pretty hard.

Van Metre declined to specifically comment on the lease negotiations to ARLnow.

“The details about the Forest Inn’s tenancy at Westover Shopping Center are confidential business matters and consequently we can’t comment on those details,” a company representative said. “Thank you for your consideration in this regard.”

The Forest Inn has earned a reputation as one of Arlington’s last dive bars, a badge that ownership, employees, and a number of regulars wear with distinction.

“This place is real and authentic,” says Audrey, a regular who’s been coming here for more than a decade. “Everyone in the neighborhood comes here.”

Plus, it has the best burger in town, she says.

“It’s close, has Budweiser, and a jukebox,” John says, laughing. He says he remembers when The Forest Inn had green carpet, a cigarette machine, and was full of tobacco smoke.

This a place where everyone knows each other, good conversation rules the day, and isn’t politically correct, said one regular who’s been coming to the Forest Inn for three decades. But Arlington no longer values those things, another man said.

“They don’t want dive bars,” said the man, who declined to give his name. “They want everything to be bougie and foo foo.”

Henry, another regular, says he’s been coming here ever since he turned 21, about six years ago. While he attended Washington-Liberty High School, this was the bar that all the students looked forward to going to when they turned of drinking age.

“It’s really sad that this part of Arlington history is closing,” he said.

(more…)

Arlington Rotary Club’s youngest and first Black president hopes to inspire more to join

By Matt Blitz
1/2

David Baas may be the youngest and first Black president in Arlington Rotary Club‘s 94-year history, but that’s not going to change how he’s going to do the job.

The 28-year-old will take over as president for a local chapter of the Rotary Club early next month, becoming possibly the youngest person to lead the chapter as well as likely the first person of color. His agenda includes modernizing operations, forming new partnerships, and finding ways to make the club more accessible to a younger generation.

While he’s proud to be the first on a couple of levels, Baas tells ARLnow that it doesn’t change the task at hand.

“I don’t want to make it too much about me being young and being Black,” he tells ARLnow. “I’m going to be doing the same job as the past 94 presidents.”

The Arlington Rotary Club was founded on July 4, 1929, according to the organization’s website. It was the first Rotary Club based in Arlington, though there are now two other chapters: Rosslyn-Fort Myer and Pentagon-Crystal City.

In total, there are about 30,000 local Rotary clubs in 200 different countries. The Club’s overall mission is to “make a difference in the world” through service projects and charitable contributions with a focus on education and health. Among other goals, the organization has made a major effort over the last several decades to eradicate polio.

“Each local club and each local district has their own initiative,” says Baas. “For our club, a lot of what we do has to do with scholarships and financial assistance to low income populations in the community.”

Baas was born in Ethiopia, where his father was the U.S. ambassador from 1992 to 1994. When he was four years old, his family returned to the United States and settled in Arlington. He attended the Spanish immersion program at Key Elementary School, then Gunston Middle School and Wakefield High School.

While at Wakefield, he helped host 40 exchange students from Pakistan which was a project that was sponsored by the Pentagon-Crystal City Rotary Club. It was an amazing experience, he said, and one that led him to attend his first Rotary Club meeting, three blocks from his parents’ house, right after graduating from college.

But he noticed something instantly.

“When I first walked into the Rotary Club meeting room, I was easily the youngest and definitely the only member of color,” he says.

That’s changed somewhat in recent years, but Baas’ aim is to broaden the club’s reach even more. One of the first things he wants to is to make meetings more convenient for younger professionals by having them in the evenings and accessible via public transportation. Prior to the pandemic, meetings were often held in the middle of a weekday at the Washington Golf and Country Club in North Arlington.

He’s also looking to update the club’s website and social media channels. Plus, the organization is discussing creating new partnerships, including with the NAACP, Baas says.

Baas isn’t the only younger person to take on a leadership position in recent years at an organization that has traditionally skewed older, white, and male. Last year, Arlington County Civic Federation’s efforts to have more diverse leadership also bore some fruit.

“I hear that question a lot… ‘Is the Rotary Club just for old, white guys?’,” he says. “There’s definitely that perception, but we’ve come a long way.”

(more…)

‘Like a puzzle piece fit’ — Arlingtonian finds her father through ancestry test

By Matt Blitz
Connie Freeman with her dad Richard Ziadie (courtesy of Ancestry.com/Connie Freeman)

Editor’s Note: The following article first appeared in the ARLnow Press Club weekend newsletter. Thank you to Press Club members for helping to fund our in-depth local features.

When Claremont resident Connie Freeman met her father last summer for the first time, it all started to make sense.

“This may sound kind of crazy and you may only know if it’s happened to you, but I felt like a puzzle piece fit,” she tells ARLnow. “I felt like I had the wrong piece in there my whole life.”

Connie Freeman is a 62-year-old county employee, working as a community outreach specialist for nearly three decades, and has lived in Arlington most of her life. And, up until last year, she had never known her father.

Her mom had gotten pregnant as a teenager in the late 1950s and her father had just never been part of their lives. But with her mom getting older, it became clear that now was the time for Connie, along with her own son Noe, to rediscover their family’s history.

Using AncestryDNA testing, together they discovered some surprising clues. For one, she was a quarter Lebanese. Considering that her mom was not Lebanese — “my grandmother has green eyes and blond hair,” says Noe — that was an interesting development. Their DNA results also turned up a name that was unfamiliar.

“At 11 o’clock at night, [my son] is emailing me, texting me, and calling me,” Connie says. ‘”Mom, I think I found your brother.'”

Using social media, Connie tracked down that person and a number of others the DNA results had cited as connected to them. Then, she made an unusual decision, at least, by today’s standards.

She reached out by handwritten letter, believing that the extra personal touch was more likely to get a response.

“The letter was very specific and it said I’m trying to find my father and, if he’s alive, I’d like to meet him,” she says.

Also included in the letter were some possible genetic and identifying details. Like, for example, her love of black olives and Noe being a fantastic soccer player. She additionally included where she was born, where she lived now, and that her mom always told her that her dad was in the military.

The letter worked. Within days, she got a call from an 84-year-old man named Richard Ziadie.

She admits getting that call was a bit surreal and hard to comprehend, but she made plans to meet Richard at his home in New Jersey on August 16, 2021 — on his 85th birthday.

Connie Freeman, her son Noe, and her dad Richard (courtesy of Connie Freeman)

When they met, it was immediately evident to Connie that this man was her father. He loved to spend time outside, in his garden, and had quite a green thumb.

“My son loved to garden as a kid and now owns his own landscaping company. Now, I know he got that from his grandfather,” she says.

He was also a people person and a fantastic host, just like his daughter.

“That’s something my mom does consistently, she always has people over,” Noe says. “They are both very charismatic.”

In photos of the three, the resemblance is also striking. Further DNA results confirmed that they were truly family, Richard was Connie’s dad.

“It all made sense,” Connie says.

(more…)

Arlington emergency personnel recognized for service at Public Safety Awards

By Matt Blitz
Arlington fire truck (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A firefighter who rescued a construction worker in cardiac arrest via a crane. Police officers who tased a knife-wielding man outside of police headquarters. Paramedics who saved a woman’s life after she was accidentally run over by her own vehicle.

These were among the first responders who were given accolades at this morning’s annual Public Safety Awards, organized by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.

Thirteen first responders and public safety workers were awarded for their efforts over the last year in helping, saving, and protecting members of the Arlington public.

  • Dr. Aaron Miller — Director of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management — meritorious award for his work organizing the distribution of personal protection equipment and at-home Covid testing kits to the public, as well as managing public testing sites.
  • Corporal Shellie Pugh-Washington — Sheriff’s Office — meritorious award for her 30-year career, first as a corrections officer and now as a background investigator.
  • Deputy Babatunde Agboola, Deputy Christopher Laureano, and Deputy Seaton Sok — Sheriff’s Office — life-saving award for saving the life of an individual in law enforcement custody who was found bleeding and unconscious.
  • Master Police Officer Tara Crider — Police Department — meritorious award for her work in the crime unit investigating forensic evidence as well as teaching others about her job.
  • Officer Jesse R. Brown, Corporal Thomas C.J. DeNoville, and Corporal Juan P. Montoya — Police Department — life-saving award for successfully de-escalating a situation involving a knife-wielding man outside of police headquarters.
  • Captain Cheryl Long — Fire Department — meritorious award for her work devising a system that helped organize first responders’ mandatory days off, saving hours of administrative work.
  • Firefighter/EMT C.J. Kretzer and Firefighter/EMT Aaron Scoville — Fire Department — life-saving award for saving a woman’s life after she was accidentally run over by her own vehicle, partially severing one of her legs.
  • Firefighter/Paramedic Jeremy Tate, Fire Department — a valor award for rescuing a construction worker who had gone into cardiac arrest at an excavation site, using an industrial crane.

ACPD provided additional information about each of the police awards above via social media.

The program was hosted by ABC7/WJLA reporter Victoria Sanchez, who noted that both her father and husband were police officers.

“I know how hard you guys work. When you go home today, thank your [family] for supporting you,” she said. “Your job is so difficult and they worry about you, just like I worried about my dad and my husband every single time they went out on patrol.”

2022 Public Safety Awards issued by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce at a virtual event (courtesy photo)

Prior to the awards being announced, County Board Chair Katie Cristol provided a 12 minute “State of the County” address.

Cristol spoke of continuing recovery from the pandemic, office vacancy rates, Crystal City becoming a transportation hub, approving salary increases for first responders, and — notably — the missing middle housing study.

With the average sale of a home in Arlington spiking to beyond a million dollars, there are now “existential questions,” she said, about who Arlington will be for “if only the wealthiest can buy homes here.” Cristol said that legalizing alternate forms of housing on a single lot may not fix everything, but it could help.

“It can unlock opportunities that are currently off limits for far too many of our neighborhoods and make homes affordable to significant percentages of our black and Latino populations, affordable to moderate income earners like teachers,” she said. “It creates a pathway for innovations and ownership tools like community land trusts or expansions of the Moderate Income Purchase Assistance Program.”

County Board Chair Katie Cristol delivering her 2022 State of the County address (courtesy Arlington Chamber of Commerce)

After her address, there were several pre-selected questions including one about making temporary outdoor seating areas for restaurants permanent. Cristol noted that she was in favor of doing that, but cautioned that sidewalks and curb space where many of these seating areas are much desired.

“I joke that these are some of the most hotly contested areas of real estate in the county,” she said. “It’s about how we use sidewalks and manage that space between everything…from street trees to ADA accessibility to parking to bike lanes. So, it’s really about trying to balance all of those different interests.”

More on Cristol’s address from a Chamber of Commerce press release, below.

(more…)

County Board member talks ‘missing middle’ housing on WAMU

By Matt Blitz
Takis Karantonis (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

County Board member Takis Karantonis says if the county has the “political will,” a sufficient amount of affordable and “missing middle” housing can get built.

Karantonis appeared on Friday’s “Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi” on public radio station WAMU. In addition to housing, the discussion touched on a new redistricting lawsuit, the Washington Commanders’ increasingly unlikely move to Virginia, and the bear that was roaming Arlington last week.

The trio spent a majority of time talking about the newest draft proposal of the county’s Missing Middle Housing Study, which calls for amending the zoning ordinance to allow housing types that are denser (like duplexes, townhomes, etc.) but not larger than single family homes. The proposal was released last month and has, since, picked up several notable endorsements.

After what promises to be a contentious community engagement process, the County Board is expected to vote on whether to amend the zoning ordinance this fall.

On the radio program, Karantonis described his and the Board’s efforts “to lift barriers” that might better allow young families, middle class households, and seniors to afford buying a home in Arlington County. As the study proposes, that could mean building duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, and other smaller-scale multi-family dwellings on lots that were previously zoned for only a single family house.

“More than 70 percent of Arlington are single households [or] detached family homes. And it’s absolutely not available [for more households],” he said. “It’s outlawed to be able to have more households in these buildings.”

While Karantonis continued to tout the potential plan, both Nnamdi and frequent program guest Tom Sherwood pushed back a bit.

Sherwood, a long-time local reporter and political analyst, noted that, since such a large portion of Arlington’s residential property is made up of single family homes, this plan may not have as broad support as the County Board may hope.

Additionally Sherwood played the role of devil’s advocate by asking if “economic forces” are so strong that no matter what local government enacts in terms of housing policies, it won’t be enough.

“That’s either a very pessimistic or very cynical take. I think that governance matters and we can deliver a lot,” Karantonis said in response. “It’s a very difficult thing but we can do it. The question is whether we have the political will and whether we have the anchorage in our community to honor these priorities.”

Nnamdi asked for the Board member’s thoughts on the criticism that this change in zoning won’t lead to more broadly affordable housing, as “missing middle” housing is likely to be priced significantly higher than levels typically seen for subsidized affordable housing in the county. Karantonis responded that dealing with the zoning ordinance question doesn’t mean the Board’s work is done on this matter.

“Once we find a way that is tailored to Arlington and works for the housing environment, I can imagine that there will be a very long to-do list that would be looking at housing affordability in these districts, as well,” he said.

(more…)

View More Stories