Author: Vernon Miles

Arlington County Board Considering Banning Firearms From Public Property

By Vernon Miles

The County Board last night unanimously approved consideration of a new ordinance that would effectively ban carrying firearms on county-owned property.

The move is the first step towards making the ordinance part of county policy, though it will still need to undergo a public hearing and a vote at the Board’s next meeting.

According to a staff report:

The proposed ordinance would restrict the possession, carrying or transportation of any firearms on specified locality property. Buildings and other property will be posted to notify the public of the restrictions. The proposed ordinance provides for a Class 1 Misdemeanor penalty for violations.

The ordinance would ban carrying or transporting firearms in buildings owned, leased or used by the County as well as in parks, recreational or community facilities owned or used by the County. Staff clarified that in buildings only partially used by the County, the restriction would be in effect for parts of the building the county government was operating out of.

“The legislation also authorized these prohibitions in public streets where there is a permitted event, whether or not the event actually received its permit,” the staff report said. “We believe this added authorization allows the County to enforce this prohibition on public streets during an event operating under a Special Event Permit.”

Those not affected by the ordinance would include:

  • Military personnel acting within the scope of their official duties
  • Sworn or retired law enforcement officers
  • Private security personnel hired by the County
  • Historical reenactors and those possessing inoperative, unloaded firearms when such persons are participating in or traveling to/from special events that involve the display or demonstration of these firearms
  • Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs and intercollegiate sports where the sport includes the use of a firearm

The move comes after the General Assembly approved legislation allowing localities to adopt certain prohibitions on firearms. The first advertisement for the proposed ordinance was at a County Board meeting Wednesday night, with a full public hearing scheduled for Sept. 12.

The legislation is nearly identical to similar legislation passed recently in Alexandria and is shaping up to face similar opposition. County Manager Mark Schwartz vowed to craft the ordinance to be in-line with policies in neighboring jurisdictions.

During the public comment yesterday, there were roughly 60 speakers, with County Board Chair Libby Garvey noting that an unusually high number of speakers who were not Arlington residents.

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The Pinemoor Opens in Clarendon With a Nervous Eye Towards Future

By Vernon Miles
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Reese Gardner had planned to open The Pinemoor in March but… well, you know. After months of pandemic-related delay, Gardner said today (Thursday) is finally the day to throw open the new Clarendon restaurant’s doors.

For a little over a year, signs have announced that The Pinemoor would be inhabiting the space that was once Clarendon Grill at 1101 N. Highland Street. Gardner said the restaurant is launching today with its full menu after months of consideration for when the right time would be to reopen.

Eventually, Gardner said he had to reckon with the fact that there likely wasn’t going to be a better time to open in the near future.

“We don’t see anything going back to normal,” Gardner said.

Opening with the current restrictions aimed at curbing the likelihood of spreading coronavirus means an expectation of lower-than-hoped-for revenue.

“The Pinemoor has two bars, an outside bar and an inside bar,” Gardner said. “The set up for restaurants is [for customers] to enjoy a cocktail or glass of wine while the table is getting ready. When you remove that from the restaurant experience they end up sitting at their table longer and it takes away 25-30% of your numbers off the top.”

At least at first, Gardner said the focus will be on the in-person restaurant experience with appropriate social distancing and utilization of the restaurant’s patio, as opposed to trying to subsist on takeout and delivery, as others are doing.

“We’re going to focus on in-restaurant experience for the first couple months,” Gardner said. “It’s a scratch kitchen with a protein-heavy menu — all à la carte — and family-style sides like truffle mac and cheese… We’re focusing on the in-dining experience over the next sixty days and then probably roll out to-go and cocktails.”

Gardner said he’s also hopeful that the brunch menu will be a draw early on.

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. during the week and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on weekends.

Today’s opening will be very different from those of Gardner’s other restaurants, like Copperwood Tavern and Dudley’s in Shirlington. There’s a lingering concern that an uptick in local cases could trigger rapid changes in how restaurants are required to operate. Gardner said he still has to order perishable food items every day assuming that the restaurant will be open the next.

On the plus side, coronavirus cases have been trending down in Arlington lately and Clarendon has been drawing large weekend crowds.

“It’s all nervousness,” Gardner said. “The nerves are there. With COVID, you want to make sure your staff is safe and your customers are safe. It’s very unpredictable. It’s going to be an interesting next three weeks.”

Photos courtesy The Pinemoor

Pentagon City Gelato Shop Offering Half Off, Courtesy of Express Lanes Operator

By Vernon Miles

On a hot summer day, gelato shop Amore Congelato in Pentagon City wants locals to celebrate the things to be thankful for: like express lanes.

The deal is part of a sponsorship by Transurban, the Australia-based company that operates the 495/95/395 high-occupancy toll lanes.

“Amore Congelato in Pentagon City today launched a half-price promotion for customers who share their love of the Express Lanes,” Transurban said in a press release. “Visitors to Amore Congelato will receive 50 percent off the standard price of any purchase when they say ‘I love the Express Lanes’ at checkout.”

The idea of the partnership is to support local businesses and boost whatever support for toll roads gelato-hungry customers can muster. Like an E-Z Pass, the gelato fund is stocked with a set amount of funds and the promotion will end when those funds expire.

“Transurban provided Amore Congelato with a sponsorship to apply to customer balances to support a loved local business during these difficult times and make it easier for Northern Virginians to get relief from the summer heat,” Transurban said.  “Discounts will apply until Express Lanes’ fans have exhausted the funds. Discounts will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis, so we suggest you hurry on over.”

Amore Congelato is located at 1201 S. Joyce St. in Pentagon City and is open:

  • Monday to Wednesday from 4-7:30 p.m.
  • Thursday from 4-8 p.m.
  • Friday from 4-9 p.m.
  • Saturday from 12:30-9 p.m.
  • Sunday from 12:30-8 p.m.

The gelato shop is also on our list of Black-owned businesses in Arlington. Owner Thereasa Black, a Navy veteran, opened the shop last year after a 13-month deployment “as a promise to her daughter that she’d never deploy away from her again.”

Photo via VDOT

Bob and Edith’s Diner on Lee Highway Planning Early August Opening

By Vernon Miles

After some setbacks, including minor delays caused by the pandemic, Bob and Edith’s Diner owner Greg Bolton said he’s planning to open his new Lee Highway location (5050 Lee Highway) at the beginning of next month.

Bolton says the pandemic delayed the diner’s opening by, at most, a few days. If everything goes smoothly over the next few weeks, he said, the new location should be open on August 1. The diner will replaces what was once Lee Highway restaurant Linda’s Cafe.

COVID-19 has still impacted the diner — with locations on Columbia Pike and 23rd Street S. in Crystal City, as well as in Huntington and Springfield —  in other ways. Bob and Edith’s has had to reduce its reliance on in-person dining and boost its pick up and delivery business.

“When coronavirus hit, Bob & Edith’s made a quick and crucial pivot to implement new technology, update packaging to better accommodate pickup and delivery, create a digital-friendly menu and utilize third-party delivery apps,” a PR rep said. “Bob & Edith’s created their own personalized app through ChowNow, an online food ordering service that allows the diner to keep menu prices the same as dine-in prices and keep 100% of the proceeds.”

“Today, they are operating at 50% dine-in sales and 50% off-premise sales, a true transformation compared to just one year ago,” the rep said.

Bolton said the diners have had to adapt to required distances between staff and customers — not easy for small spaces.

“Because of social distancing, we can’t use the counter,” Bolton noted. Despite that, Bolton says in-house dining has been growing every day.

“Everything has changed,” Bolton said. “Hopefully it goes back to somewhat normal. Everyone will move forward and we’ll do whatever we have to. But it may never go back to the same. We may have to keep six feet apart. Things have changed, it’s going to be harder to run a business.”

Coronavirus hasn’t been the only challenge for the diner in recent months. Bolton said the heatwave has stunted what had been burgeoning outdoor dining demand. Diner food and hot weather “don’t really mix,”  he said, but the restaurant chain is hoping to keep a long-term focus on outdoor dining even after the pandemic recedes.

Arlington Receives Grant for Jail-Alternative Mental Health Treatment Program

By Vernon Miles

Arlington County has accepted a grant that will help expand the county’s Behavioral Health Docket program — a service that diverts people with mental illnesses into treatment rather into jail.

The program accepts people who have diagnosed mental illnesses and have been charged with misdemeanors. Last November, a requirement for those in the program to plead guilty was eliminated.

The $146,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services will primarily go to funding a full-time therapist position for two years. According to the staff report:

The position will assist program participants in developing and enhancing skills related to self-care, physical wellness, development of family and peer leisure pursuits, conflict resolution, stress management, positive peer modeling, developing a greater level of independence, improving treatment compliance, and increasing access to recreational groups and self-help groups (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous). Projected caseload for this position is 16-20 clients based on benchmarking and past experience.

“[This is] going to expand the behavioral health docket program services,” said County Board Chair Libby Garvey, “something advocated for and needed for quite a while.”

The staff report says that other parts of the grant funding will go to:

  • Medications
  • Group materials
  • Emergency housing placements
  • Transportation
  • Cell phones
  • Incentives
  • Clothing
  • Obtaining proper identification cards
  • Behavioral intervention consultation

Staff photo by Jay Westcott

Longtime Lee Highway Shoe Repair Shop Closing Soon

By Vernon Miles

It would be easy to blame closing down shop on COVID-19, but Jojo Tchalekian doesn’t. When Sam Torrey Shoe Service at 5267 Lee Highway closes on July 31 after 75 years in business, Tchalekian says it will be a long time coming.

Tchalekian is closing down the brick and mortar location that he and his father took over in 1986 from the original owners — who founded the store in 1945 — but he said he will continue to work on garment repairs remotely.

“I’ll still be resuming business, but not in the storefront,” Tchalekian said. “Everything is going to be online.”

Tchalekian is planning to move to the Outer Banks area of North Carolina. The closure had been in the works for a while, but Tchalekian admitted that coronavirus sped things along.

“We haven’t had much business in five months, which gave me the opportunity to clean up the backlog and I was able to do this now. It made more sense.”

Customers can keep in contact and send things in for work by contacting [email protected], though Tchalekian said that’s a holdover until he can get a new website and email up and running.

The Lee Highway community around the store is still the same one Tchalekian has known and loved since he took things over, but he said the nature of shoes have changed.

“Nothing’s really changed except for the industries; they’re making shoes different,” Tchalekian said. “They used to be a lot more leather, now it’s synthetics. That’s hurt our business a bit.”

Shoes were the “sole” of the business, with lots of gluing soles and heels and such back together, but the store has also provided a wide array of repairs to things like purses, belts, luggage and briefcases — fixing busted zippers and the like.

The impending closure has led to an outpouring on social media, as long-time customers lament the loss of a trusted local business.

“Everybody’s been sad and I totally get it,” Tchalekian said. “It was a tough decision but it was one that had to be done and now was the time to do it.”

Photo via Google Maps

Arlington Startup Aims to Help People Build Connections With Homeless Neighbors

By Vernon Miles

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. Monday Properties remains firmly committed to the health, safety and well-being of its employees, tenants and community. This week, Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1000 and 1100 Wilson (The Rosslyn Tower).

Givr started with a sermon that founder Mark Ferguson just couldn’t get out of his head.

While attending church in 2019, Ferguson said his pastor gave everyone two minutes and told them to write down the names of eight neighbors. He couldn’t, and neither could many of his fellow parishioners.

The second part of the idea came when Ferguson switched jobs and started walking to work in Arlington.

“It coincided with me changing jobs and walking to work,” Ferguson said. “For the next few months, I was thinking about [the sermon]. I downloaded a neighborhood app, I was inviting neighbors to dinner. But as I was walking to work, I realized my viewpoint on who was my neighbor changed.”

Ferguson said he began to see the same people on the streets around Clarendon, and in talking to coworkers and friends said that many of them saw the same people as well, but didn’t know their names. After Ferguson was laid off from a venture capital firm in March, he said he felt an obligation to do something about the idea that had been rattling around in his head.

With Givr, subscribers can receive two care packages per month to distribute to neighbors dealing with homelessness. The packages are $22 per month, or less with other subscription plans, and contain food, clothing, hygiene items, and seasonal needs like winter clothing or sunscreen.

Givr was started not just as a way to help people experiencing homelessness — local nonprofits like Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) are experienced and uniquely situated for that — but as a way of connecting people to their neighbors.

“When you look at us you might say ‘this is a way to distribute aid’ as the actual product or something, but we don’t think about it like that,” Ferguson said. “We will measure bags and care packages distributed, but what we really care about and track on our end is names learned. It’s less about how much aid we can provide vs how much community we can build.”

It isn’t a new idea, Ferguson acknowledged. He said his girlfriend has been packing bags like this for months with items like socks and granola bars, to be thrown into her car and distributed. Churches and rotary clubs put similar packages together. What Ferguson said he hopes Givr can accomplish is taking the assembly stage out of it and using the startup model to spread the implementation.

“What we do is we assemble these care packages and ship them on a monthly basis to givers who sign up for our service,” Ferguson said. “You sign up and we’d send you a care package, which would include items that people experiencing homelessness really and truly need.”

As he and his co-founders started putting together the project, one of the big lessons Ferguson said he learned was that food is not always the most essential need.

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Zoning Board to Double Up on Meetings in August to Address Backlog

By Vernon Miles

Some Arlington property owners who hoped to make changes or additions to their property earlier this year have been left in the lurch, but there could be relief in sight as the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) prepares to add more meetings to address the backlog.

“The last BZA hearing was held in February and all cases were heard,” said Jessica Margarit, a spokesperson for the Department of Community Planning, Housing & Development. “Due to pandemic, the County suspended in-person public meetings in March. This did cause a delay in hearing BZA cases.”

Since then, Margarit said a virtual hearing process has been developed that will allow board members, applicants, and the general public to join in a video conference. The County Board has been holding similar, virtual meetings for months, but it took time to figure out how the BZA could conduct its business responsibly.

“Contactless public notices will be distributed to affected properties via mail, which the BZA feels is a necessary step prior to moving forward with a public hearing,” Margarit said.

The delay in BZA meetings has caused problems for some homeowners and builders.

“They are so behind,” one frustrated local told ARLnow. “Their inability to figure this out is hurting Arlington home building businesses. Our family personally has a project… but we are in an interminable wait due to BZA not meeting in anything close to a timely manner. We know our builder is trying to keep his employees busy (many of whom are local residents), so this delay hurts many people in the community.”

The first virtual BZA meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 29. There are eight items on the docket, primarily residential adjustments like requests related to new accessory dwelling units or to install a new deck. Some of these items are carried over from the February meeting.

“To speed up reviews for those who have been waiting during the pandemic, we anticipate holding two additional meetings in early-to-mid-August to reduce the backlog of applications,” Margarit said. “Agendas for the August meeting dates have not yet been set. If additional meetings are needed to eliminate the backlog, the Board will evaluate the remaining number of cases and determine whether to schedule additional hearings at more frequent intervals.”

File photo

School Start Pushed to September With Online-Only Classes

By Vernon Miles

It’s official: Arlington Public Schools will now open on Sept. 8, and classes will be held entirely online.

Superintendent Francisco Durán announced his decision to host online-only classes on Tuesday, at least for the first half of the fall semester, and spoke in more detail about the plan at a School Board meeting yesterday (Thursday).

School Board chair Monique O’Grady said that the decision to go online-only fell within the superintendent’s domain as an operational decision and would not be voted on at the meeting. What the School Board did unanimously agree to was pushing the start date back from Aug. 31 to Sept. 8 for students.

The change was suggested by Durán, who said that if the it was approved the teaching staff would still start on Aug. 24 for training and professional development. The implementation of a hybrid in-person model would be delayed.

“The health and safety of our students has driven our decisions,” said Durán. “Beginning virtually allows us to monitor COVID-19… I believe it is the right thing to do for the health and safety of our students and staff.”

Durán said APS is still committed to resuming in-school instruction as soon as it was safe, which he said the schools were currently eyeing as the beginning of the second quarter of the school year, provided the COVID-19 situation has sufficiently improved by then.

“As of Monday, there is still community-wide spread of COVID,” Durán said. “We are definitely far from normal. Given that information, really important we pause and ensure the safety of all is at the forefront.”

Durán said that instruction will all be live with students graded on their work and attendance taken. That contrasts with the last quarter of the 2019-2020 school year, when schools closed and students engaged in remote learning activities but were not taught new material.

While the School Board did not vote on Durán’s plan to go all-online, O’Grady said the decision had the support of the School Board.

“[The Board] honors and values experience the experience of the superintendent and has hired him to make those decisions,” O’Grady said.

The only concerns about the plans voiced by the School Board were from Reid Goldstein, who said he didn’t like the idea of putting out the information item and taking action in such a short timespan, but also added that he recognized that “sometimes exigent circumstances require taking action more quickly.”

Approval of pushing the start of the school year back to September was approved in a 5-0 vote.

More on the decision, below, from a School Talk email sent to APS families this morning.

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Gender To Be Added to Identities Protected from Discrimination Under County Code

By Vernon Miles

A new change to the County Code under review at the upcoming County Board meeting on Saturday (Jul. 18) would add gender identity to the list of identities protected from discrimination.

The move follows the approval of a similar state-level change that prohibited discrimination in public employment, housing and credit to Virginians on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The classifications fall under the county’s human rights ordinance, which authorizes the Human Rights Commission to investigate and resolve complaints of ordinance violations through the Arlington County Office of Human Rights.

The change was advocated for by the Human Rights Commission at its July 7 meeting.

Sexual orientation was added to the county’s human rights ordinance in 2019 and the proposed change in Arlington would also update the County’s definition of sexual orientation to match the state’s.

According to the ordinance, gender identity is defined as:

The gender-related identity, appearance, or other gender-related characteristics of an individual (including but not limited to transgender status, gender fluidity and gender expression), without regard to the individual’s designated sex at birth or as further defined by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia or the United States.

The amended sexual orientation clause now defines it as:

A person’s actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, or homosexuality or as defined by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia or the United States.

The proposed changes to County Code were made possible by the recent state legislation; Virginia is a Dillon Rule state in which localities cannot make laws not specifically delegated by the Commonwealth.

“The Virginia General Assembly’s amendment of Virginia Code during its 2020 Session to include ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ as bases protected from discrimination made it possible for the County to expressly include these protections n its Human Rights Ordinance,” the county noted in its preview of Saturday’s County Board meeting.

File photo

Sweet Science Coffee Hopes to Open Java Shack Replacement in September

By Vernon Miles

Despite everything, Sandra Wolter is hoping to have a coffee shop up and running in the former Java Shack space by Labor Day (Sept. 7).

It’s been a long few months for Sweet Science Coffee, which Wolter co-owns. The local coffee brand launched its own location in D.C. after years in shared spaces just months before the pandemic hit the region. The hopes were to get the location up and running by March, but even the hoped-for September opening is tentative.

“It’s hard to say with everything going on,” Wolter said. “Ideally shooting for Labor Day weekend, roughly two months from now. The groundwork is laid so I carefully say COVID-willing, if nothing happens, we should be able to make that timeline.”

The permitting has taken about 4.5 months, Wolter said, though she’s unsure how much of that is due to COVID-19 and how much of that is the process.

“We’ve applied for permits to upgrade the space,” Wolter said. “We just got those permits last week, so we can move forward with plumbing and electrical work. It’s an old building, so there’s a lot to be done.”

Sweet Science Coffee has also applied for a license to serve wine. The location, at 2507 Franklin Road near Courthouse, has an outdoor area that Wolter is hopeful can be turned into an outdoor patio. The cafe could also potentially focus more on home delivery of items and pre-orders for popular pastries, if in-person business is light.

Wolter said she is lucky that the former Java Shack space won’t have to undergo too many adjustments, with takeout coffee already planned before the pandemic.

“Coffee is a grab-and-go thing early in the mornings, so that works in everyone’s favor,” Wolter said.

What will be put on the back burner, Wolter said, are plans to offer classes for home coffee brewing and other coffee-related events. Those sorts of classes often require close contact and sharing of objects that just don’t work amid a pandemic.

“It’s a weird mixture between excitement and fear,” Wolter said of the opening. “With everything that’s happened… we’re excited to be moving forward. A lot of people in Arlington really like the space and would like it to be a coffee shop again. We’re happy to be able to get back to that and do something. But as a business owner you always crunch the numbers — like what we’re able to do.”

Photo via Sweet Science Coffee/Facebook

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