News

BREAKING: Arlington County Board gives green light to hearings on Missing Middle

By Jo DeVoe
The Arlington County Board on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023 (via Arlington County)

(Updated at 8:20 p.m.) The Arlington County Board has taken the next step toward potentially allowing Missing Middle housing.

This evening (Wednesday), during its third meeting on a request to advertise public hearings regarding the proposed zoning changes, the Board voted unanimously to kick off two months of public discussion on a proposed set of options and alternatives.

The Board will reconvene to consider adopting a final proposal in March.

Opponents and some proponents of Missing Middle housing expressed disappointment with the proposal, which does not include 7- or 8-unit buildings.

The advertised change would allow small-scale multifamily buildings, from duplexes to townhouses to 6-plexes, in areas that are currently only zoned for single-family detached homes. The Board’s vote took off the option to prohibit additional housing types on sites larger than one acre.

The Board must consider some type of parking minimum going forward, as the only option not to have any minimums was struck from the proposal.

Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said he is “deeply disappointed in the advertised ordinance.”

“I’m disappointed that the limited nature of what will be offered today doesn’t give us the ability over the next two months to do the best policy,” he said. “That’s a profound disappointment for me but not certainly not enough to vote against it.

“The most affordable units that could be made available are taken off the table for the biggest lots in Arlington that could accommodate them, limiting the opportunity to further provide attainability for people being able to achieve economies of scale and subsidize on a per-unit basis in a very cost efficient way,” Dorsey added.

Board member Matt de Ferranti was more supportive.

“My policy goals are the same as they were in December 2019 and in the scope that we wrote in September 2020: affordable homeownership, 3-unit type family dwellings and flexibility in housing types and residential uses in single-family neighborhoods,” he said. “The RTA moves us forward to that goal.”

“I think we need to move forward with what we’ve done,” de Ferranti continued. “We must move forward because my grandparents benefitted from single-family zoning in New Canaan, Connecticut and Pittsfield, Massachusetts and the grandparents and parents of many Arlingtonians of color did not. Move forward because there is never a wrong time to do the right thing. Move forward because if you can build a large home on a lot it is reasonable to build smaller dwellings in the same sized building unless there are outside costs or unreasonable burdens to doing so.”

Immediately following the vote, Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, an organization opposed to the plan, denounced what the Board approved.

“If County Board members vote to finally adopt this Missing Middle mess, it will permanently stain their legacies,” said ASF leader Peter Rousselot, in a statement. “The County Board has disregarded the testimony and findings of prominent realtors, architects, economists, land use attorneys, engineers, and other experts who all have explained why the Board’s Missing Middle plan won’t work in Arlington.”

In its statement likewise criticizing the decision, Arlingtonians for Upzoning Transparency said the process so far has not been transparent and the result won’t be more modest-sized homes attainable to moderate-income residents.  .

“The [Missing Middle housing] will incentivize developers to tear down modest, single-family homes and build $1.5 million townhouses and duplexes or small one-and-two-bedroom rental units,” said Julie Lee, a founding member of AfUT. “The County should not promote the false promise that the free market will produce lower cost housing. Developers will build the most profitable — and most expensive — [Missing Middle housing] possible, using every bit of allowable lot coverage to do it.”

Leaders of YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, which supported a more robust version than what is now on the table, told ARLnow they commend the Board for unanimously approving the hearings but are disappointed with the limitations.

“All five members of the County Board very clearly stated that they wanted to create a new legacy for Arlington, so now, they have a responsibility to make good on that promise,” the group said. “Most Arlingtonians rent. Most Arlingtonians live in multi-family buildings and most of them say ‘Yes’ to new housing and new neighbors. Making sure that the majority’s voice and interests are represented in the final package is extremely important.”

“The big issue we can’t lose sight of is Arlington’s affordability crisis and housing shortage,” the group continued. “The ultimate litmus test will be, ‘Will Missing Middle actually produce new housing?’ There is a risk — if the final proposal narrows down the [request to advertise] even further, that it won’t.”

Mike Hemminger, NAACP Arlington branch president, said the decision to remove the densest buildings from the proposal amounts to “de facto segregation.”

Shortage of mental health beds pushes Arlington toward community-based care

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

The following was funded, in part, by the ARLnow Press Club. Become a member today and support in-depth local reporting.

In Arlington and across the state, hospital emergency rooms are filling up with people in mental health crises, often handcuffed to gurneys and attended by law enforcement officers.

People in these situations can’t walk around, save to go to the bathroom, and they can’t see their families. They may be calm or exhibiting aggressive behaviors; they might be hearing voices or may not have eaten in days because they believe their food is poisoned.

Whatever the case, they are in the emergency room because local clinicians determined they are a danger to themselves or others or unable to care for themselves, and need to be treated by specialized staff in a hospital.

Magistrates placed them under the civil custody of law enforcement officers, who have to stay with them until ER nurses can conduct a basic physical exam and clear them to go to that hospital’s behavioral health ward, where they will receive additional treatment.

That is how it should work.

But a statewide shortage of adult psychiatric beds means people in crisis — and under either an eight-hour emergency custody orders (ECOs) or 72-hour temporary detention orders (TDOs) — could wait hours under the eye of law enforcement for medical clearance while local social workers call every hospital in the state searching for beds. Once beds are located, police will drive their charges there — sometimes up to five hours away.

The shortage is straining Virginia’s mental health care system, which is held up by dwindling ranks of under-resourced clinicians, nurses and law enforcement working overtime.

“You do wonder, how much is this helping this person as opposed to hurting someone?” said police officer James Herring, who is running for Arlington County Sheriff. “This ‘help’ feels very, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.’ That’s not what any of us wants, but it’s the way the system has evolved.”

The current crisis is a result of the state’s decision in 2021 to close most state psychiatric hospitals, which were understaffed due to low wages, hazardous working conditions and Covid. This took some 260 psychiatric beds offline, resulting in people across the state being diverted to remaining state facilities, including Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute, where many Arlington patients go.

The bed shortage has prompted Arlington County law enforcement agencies, the Dept. of Human Services and Community Services Board and VHC Health — the new name of Virginia Hospital Center — to work together to move away from a system that they say causes trauma and pulls officers away from important duties and toward a community-based continuum of care.

Just yesterday (Tuesday), VHC announced it will be building a facility dedicated to behavioral health at its former urgent care facility at 601 S. Carlin Springs Road.

“The crisis with the state hospital beds has forced us, locally and regionally, to bust our butt to come up with [ways to] help people who are in crisis,” says Deborah Warren, the executive director of the Arlington Community Services Board and the DHS Deputy Director.

Other events threw these systemic issues into relief, too, Warren says. The Richmond police shooting of Marcus-David Peters, who was having a psychotic episode, demonstrated the risk of police responding to a behavioral health problem while pandemic-era isolation has made mental illnesses more acute.

“It’s true for every population and age band,” Warren said. “People aren’t doing well, post-pandemic… Anybody can go into a behavioral health crisis… It’s neurotypical people who are overwhelmed and overrun with feelings of anxiety and depression… People are more self-destructive. It’s gut-wrenching.”

Last year, the Virginia legislature directed the state Dept. of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to discuss alternatives to police transportation, with stakeholders that included Arlington police, says ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage. The workgroup came up with the idea for the Prompt Placement Task Force, which brings together government agencies, public and private hospitals, law enforcement and community partners to address the crisis.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the creation of this task force, of which Warren is a member, in December 2022. The goal is to come up with solutions that could be enacted this legislative session.

But the problem won’t get better until every locality has more services upstream, said state Sen. Barbara Favola, who noted Arlington has “more community-based care than most parts of the state.”

“Virginia has more people in psych beds than need to be there because we don’t have a community-based network to release them into care,” she said.

A whiteboard at Arlington County’s Crisis Intervention Center (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Getting by 

Historically, Virginia mostly funded state facilities and wealthy jurisdictions in Northern Virginia, like Arlington County, applied local tax dollars to their community services boards, explains Warren. But as evidenced by the current crisis, even Arlington has room to improve.

“We have a long way to go, and the state has a long way to go,” she said.

(more…)

Police investigating after student attacked by group outside of Kenmore Middle School

By ARLnow.com
Police at Kenmore Middle School in May 2022 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 2:05 p.m.) A group of Kenmore Middle School students allegedly attacked a student from another school after a basketball game yesterday.

Police were flagged down around 4:55 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of S. Carlin Springs Road and 2nd Street S. for a report of a fight. They found a student bleeding from the nose, according to scanner traffic, and were told by witnesses that he was assaulted by a group of Kenmore students.

“The officer located the juvenile male victim and determined he was walking in the area with a group of witnesses when they were approached by the five known juvenile male suspects,” the Arlington County Police Department said today in a crime report. “The suspects allegedly followed the group and threw items towards them before assaulting the male victim. The suspects fled the scene prior to the arrival of police and a canvass of the area yielded negative results. The victim was treated on scene by medics for injuries considered non-life threatening. The investigation is ongoing.”

The victim was a Dorothy Hamm Middle School basketball player, two tipsters told ARLnow and an Arlington Public Schools spokesman confirmed. The team played at Kenmore Tuesday afternoon, according to a game schedule. The suspects had just attended the game, we’re told.

Both tipsters separately told ARLnow that the victim later went to the hospital for treatment of a broken nose and other injuries.

Kenmore’s principal sent the following letter to families this afternoon.

Dear Kenmore Families,

I wanted to alert you to an incident that happened outside of Kenmore near the public bus stop after yesterday’s basketball game.

Several students were involved in a verbal and physical altercation with a student from another middle school. The incident started after a verbal altercation near the bus stop and continued up the street.

These actions do not reflect our core values and beliefs at Kenmore and under no circumstances do we condone this type of behavior. We take these incidents very seriously and disciplinary action will be taken. We have contacted the parents of those students directly involved. We ask for your continued partnership in talking with your children about the serious nature of these incidents.

Thank you to community members who stepped up to help the school address this incident. We are committed to being a No Place For Hate School and will continue to promote a positive environment for all.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

David McBride
Principal
Kenmore Middle School

NEW: Police seeking additional victims of teen groping suspect

By ARLnow.com
File photo

Arlington County police are seeking more victims of a teen identified as a suspect after a string of groping incidents.

The incidents happened in and around the Courthouse area this past fall and involved women being grabbed from behind in a sexual manner by an unknown suspect. One involved a woman walking her dog in Courthouse on Nov. 28 and another involved a woman walking or running on the Arlington Blvd Trail on Dec. 7.

So far, police say they have only charged the teen with an incident on Nov. 29 when a female jogger was grabbed from behind. They’re now trying to determine a link to the other incidents and putting out a call for more potential victims to come forward.

More, below, from a just-issued ACPD press release.

The Arlington County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is investigating an Arlington teen after he was charged with assaulting a woman running along the Arlington Boulevard trail.

At approximately 3:05 p.m. on November 29, the female victim was running in the 2000 block of Arlington Boulevard when the male suspect approached from behind, grabbed her buttocks and continued running. In January 2023, detectives identified the 17-year-old male suspect and obtained a petition for Assault and Battery. In accordance with Virginia Code, the identity of the juvenile suspect is not releasable.

Similar incidents were reported in the Clarendon-Courthouse and Radnor/Ft. Myer Heights neighborhoods in November and December 2022 and detectives continue to investigate the suspect’s possible involvement in these incidents. Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives believe there may be additional incidents that have not been reported to police. Anyone who may have experienced a similar incident is asked to contact Detective C. Mulrain at 703-228-4194 or [email protected]. Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

After more speakers and a disruption, County Board takes extra day to deliberate Missing Middle

By Jo DeVoe
Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey during the Tuesday, Jan. 24 discussion of Missing Middle housing (via Arlington County)

(Updated at 12:20 p.m.) Some 200 speakers and seven hours of public comment later, the Arlington County Board will decide whether to authorize hearings on a proposal to allow “Missing Middle” housing later today (Wednesday).

The request to authorize hearings on the zoning proposal was originally placed on the agenda for the Board’s Saturday meeting. After a marathon hearing on Saturday, public comment on the item carried over into the Board’s Tuesday meeting. Rather than make a decision last night, Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said members will take an extra day.

“The matter is with the Board but we’re not going to pick this up right away, colleagues, we are actually going to consider all the testimony we heard on this past Saturday and tonight — the nearly 200 registered speakers — and convene again once we are able to properly deliberate tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m.,” Dorsey said at the conclusion of the meeting.

Last night’s meeting had fewer speakers than Saturday’s but featured a contentious exchange between Dorsey and an opponent of the Missing Middle proposal.

Dorsey intervened twice during the meeting, as some people objected to Missing Middle supporter Jane Green standing behind other advocates of the proposal, holding a sign so it would be visible on camera.

“We had 180 people speak on Saturday and we didn’t have any of this. We’re not going to have it with 20, alright?” Dorsey said. “Let the people speak. You can’t dictate where people stand, so let’s just continue, thank you.”

When it was Green’s turn to speak, a man moved to stand behind her and next to Adam Theo, a former County Board candidate and the co-founder of YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, an organization that supports the zoning changes.

“Sit down, please,” Dorsey can be heard saying off-screen. “This is childish, this is childish. I will clear the room. Stop it, everybody. I know tensions are high. I know everybody’s excited but we can all be grown-ups, okay? You can either sit down or you can be removed. It’s your choice.”

A man can be heard saying “No, you grow up,” in response to Dorsey. Later, he adds that the Board should “put this to a referendum and let the county vote.” (The county can hold referenda on bond issuances but a referendum on a county ordinance or policy would require authorization from the state legislature, as Virginia is a Dillon Rule state.)

A total of 17 speakers took the podium last night, including many representing organizations, thus giving them three minutes to speak as opposed to the two minutes allotted individuals speaking on their own behalf Saturday.

First up was Jon Ware, speaking on behalf of Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, which opposes the measure.

Saturday embodied a lot of what frustrates folks about this process. In the week prior, the county put out 150 pages of dense materials with new zoning that goes far beyond the core specifics released only on Halloween. On Saturday, the county cut public speaking times, and talked at the people followed by the people often talking past each other.

He asserted that the people who will be able to afford the 2-3 bedroom Missing Middle housing units will mostly be white, and the county has no process or metrics to “track who gets displaced,” a mechanism that Portland, Oregon, which allows these types of dwellings, does have.

NAACP Arlington branch second vice president Bryan Coleman said the “elephant in the room” is the lack of diversity among Missing Middle opponents, especially those who are talking about gentrification and displacement.

Our residential neighborhoods have already gentrified. The average cost of a detached single-family home last year was $1.2 million. Housing in our residential neighborhoods is getting even more expensive, as 170 homes a year are replaced by McMansions. When we’re talking about displacement, we’re usually talking about lower-income residents being priced out or evicted by landlords. The claim here is different: Upzoning will somehow drive property values so high that some homeowners won’t be able to afford the increased property taxes. Neither part of that claim holds up to scrutiny.

He said it’s implausible a few dozen developments per year will cause property values to spike across the county and those who are burdened by taxes can get relief from the county’s property tax relief program.

(more…)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
The pedestrian overpass in Shirlington on a cold and rainy winter day (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Scholarships in Braylon Meade’s Memory — “With such a wide-reaching legacy, Braylon’s parents wanted the fund to be just as dynamic. So instead of creating one scholarship in Braylon’s name, they created three. ‘By establishing three scholarships, we hope to touch several different aspects of Braylon’s life,’ Kris explains.” [Press Release]

Missing Middle Roils Nextdoor — “The debates on Nextdoor in Arlington have been particularly intense over the past year, both Harrell and Bodine say, because the missing middle rezoning proposal came out in April and has been going through the county review process. For his part, Harrell suspects he’s posted hundreds of comments in the last year on the missing middle issue alone. Bodine accused the moderators of her neighborhood forum of being biased in favor of missing middle and inappropriately suspending some of the people who agree with her.” [Vice]

More Guns Confiscated at DCA — “Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) prevented two travelers from bringing their handguns onto flights within a four-day span, bringing the total number of guns detected at the airport checkpoints to five so far this month.” [Press Release]

More on GW Parkway Work — “The northern portion of the George Washington Parkway is undergoing a major repair project that will cause headaches for drivers — and restore several lost views of the Potomac Gorge… Selective tree removal will allow motorists to see original views of the Potomac and downtown that have been blocked for years.” [Axios]

Pedestrians Struck on the Pike — “Scanner: Two people struck by driver around the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Adams Street, near Penrose Square. Both victims conscious and alert. Driver and striking vehicle reportedly left scene.” [Twitter]

Chase on I-395 — “Afternoon drama on I-395… Virginia State Police chased a red sedan through Arlington to the 14th Street Bridge before terminating the pursuit.” [Twitter, Twitter]

Rosslyn’s Raytheon Restructuring — “Arlington’s Raytheon Technologies Corp. said Tuesday it is restructuring its four subsidiary companies into three business segments, citing a need to better align with customer needs. The move comes nearly three years after the blockbuster merger of Raytheon and United Technologies Corp. and seven months after the combined company said it was moving its headquarters from Waltham, Massachusetts, to Arlington.” [Washington Business Journal]

It’s Wednesday — Rain throughout the day. High of 53 and low of 36. Sunrise at 7:21 am and sunset at 5:22 pm. [Weather.gov]

JUST IN: VHC to build mental health and rehab facility at former urgent care site

By Jo DeVoe
1/2

VHC Health could break ground on a new mental health and rehabilitation facility at its old urgent care facility on S. Carlin Springs Road as soon as this year.

Arlington County and VHC Health — the new name of Virginia Hospital Center — announced a joint agreement this afternoon to expand behavioral health and rehab services through the proposed project at 601 S. Carlin Springs Road.

The new facility would have 72 beds dedicated to mental health and substance use recovery. This consists of a 24-bed adult unit, a 24-bed youth unit, a 24-bed “recovery and wellness unit” and five outpatient programs, according to a county announcement.

It will have 40 beds set aside for people with brain and spinal cord injuries, those recovering from strokes and those with neurological and other conditions. Currently, the main VHC campus has 20 beds for patients with these needs.

“We are grateful for our continued partnership with VHC Health in developing facilities to meet the healthcare needs of the Arlington community,” County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said in a statement. “With the growing demand, mental health services continue to be a priority. We remain committed to expanding capacity and offering services and support for individuals experiencing behavioral health challenges and their families.”

The chair of the VHC Health Board of Directors, Dr. Russell E. McWey, said this expansion of mental health services “has been a long-time priority for the Board and for VHC Health.”

“The Board is pleased to continue serving our community and to champion this facility and advocate for those who are in need in and around Arlington County,” he said in his statement.

The new S. Carlin Springs Road facility will house five programs: intensive outpatient programs for adults and children, a recovery and wellness intensive outpatient program, an adult partial hospitalization program and an outpatient behavioral health clinic.

VHC had originally intended to add a behavioral health unit to its main campus expansion, Deborah Warren, the executive director of the Arlington Community Services Board and the DHS Deputy Director, told ARLnow. Now, per the announcement, the hospital will instead build a 14-bed geriatric behavioral health unit.

The expansion comes as Arlington, Northern Virginia and Commonwealth as a whole are seeing two trends: deepening mental health needs and greater competition for limited healthcare resources.

Advocates have called the current state of mental health care in Virginia a crisis, one prompted by the state’s decision in 2021 to close most state psychiatric hospitals, which were understaffed due to low wages, hazardous working conditions and Covid.

The closures created a bottleneck at remaining facilities and forced private hospitals, including Virginia Hospital Center, to take in more patients. Sometimes, patients are brought to the hospital by law enforcement, and until they are able to be treated, are left to wait in the emergency room — handcuffed to a gurney under the watch of a law enforcement officer. This situation has contributed to burnout for county social workers and police officers.

In response, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced late last year the formation of a task force to come up with ways to remove law enforcement from this process and ensure people get the help they need. VHC Health CEO and President Chris Lane lauded this move in today’s statement.

“VHC Health applauds the Governor and the General Assembly for their commitment to addressing Virginia’s behavioral health crisis and this joint venture will contribute to the Commonwealth’s objective of treating behavioral wellness,” Lane said. (more…)

Zoning changes give urban farms, breweries and colleges a quick process for taking over office spaces

By Jo DeVoe
Area 2 Farms, an indoor vertical farm, is opening in Green Valley (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

Urban farms and breweries could be coming to a vacant office near you.

Over the weekend, the Arlington County Board approved a series of zoning changes aimed at tackling the stubborn office vacancy rate. They would allow the following tenants to move into offices by right:

  • animal boarding facilities, provided animals are under 24-hour supervision
  • urban farms
  • urban colleges and universities
  • breweries, distilleries and facilities making other craft beverages, such as kombucha and seltzer
  • artisan workshops for small-scale makers working in media such as wood or metal, laser cutters, 3D printers, electronics and sewing machines

Colleges and universities or urban farms previously needed to seek out a site plan amendment, which requires Arlington County Board approval, to operate in spaces previously approved for office or retail use.

The code requires all animal boarding, farming and artisan product-making activities to occur inside the building.

A county report describes this existing process as “overly cumbersome” for entrepreneurs trying to prove their business concept as well as for landlords, “who may be averse to take a risk on a new type of use that may require significant building improvements.”

The changes require farms, craft beverage facilities and artisan workshops to maintain a storefront where they can sell goods made on-site to walk-in customers, which the report says could reinvigorate dead commercial zones.

“Artisan beverage uses can bring new life to vacant buildings, boost leasing demand and, when located in a walkable neighborhood, can attract both existing and potential residents, while creating active third places for the community to gather,” the report said. “By fostering space for small-scale makers, artisans, and the like, a creative economy can grow, and people who may not have the space for such activities in their urban apartments may see this as an attractive neighborhood amenity.”

Some of these uses were allowed along Columbia Pike in the fall of 2021 to encourage greater economic revitalization. At the same time, D.C.-based animal boarding company District Dogs was appealing zoning ordinances curtailing the number of dogs it could board overnight in Clarendon, prompting discussions about expanding the uses approved for the Pike throughout the county.

The next spring, County Manager Mark Schwartz developed a “commercial market resilience strategy” aimed at bringing down the county’s high office vacancy rate, fueled by persistent remote work trends catalyzed by the pandemic. The tool, which includes an expedited public review process, was first used last fall to allow micro-fulfillment centers to operate by-right in vacant office spaces.

In a letter to the County Board, Arlington Chamber of Commerce CEO Kate Bates said the rapid approval of these commercial activities is critical for attracting new and emerging businesses.

“The Chamber believes that the Zoning Ordinance needs reform, and that unnecessary restrictions on commercial use should be removed to help the economy of the County grow,” Bates wrote. “In the wake of record high commercial vacancy, timely change is needed. It is imperative that the County focuses on long-term solutions for new business models, both through increased adaptability for new uses and expedited timeframes for approval of these new uses.” (more…)

County to widen some sidewalks and place utility lines underground in Virginia Square

By Jo DeVoe
Joe’s Kwik Mart and an above-ground utility pole (via Google Maps)

Arlington County is preparing to make street improvements at the busy intersection of Wilson Blvd and 10th Street N.

The project will widen public sidewalks on both sides of Wilson Blvd and 10th Street N., between the Clarendon and Virginia Square Metro stations, and put existing utilities underground so that the sidewalks can be more accessible for people with disabilities.

“The newly constructed, wider public sidewalks will enhance the outdoor ambiance for pedestrians and establishments within the Project alignment,” according to a county report. “The Project limits will also serve to connect previously enhanced sections of Wilson Boulevard.”

The project spans Wilson Blvd from N. Kenmore Street to 10th Street N. and 10th Street N. between N. Jackson Street and N. Ivy Street.

To construct new sidewalks, the county needs an easement from Joe’s Kwik Mart, a convenience store attached to the Exxon gas station at 3299 Wilson Blvd. On Saturday, the Arlington County Board approved the easements.

The county says affected property owners “are supportive of the project’s scope and goals.”

According to the report, the convenience store will receive $11,300 in exchange for the easements, though the owner was fine with granting them without compensation.

“The agreed-to monetary compensation of $11,300.00 for [the] acquisition of the perpetual easement is based upon the appraisal of the fair market value of the property interest by an independent fee appraiser,” per the report. “The owner agreed to convey the aforementioned temporary easement areas to the County without any monetary payment or valuable consideration.”

This project is the last phase of a series of street treatments along Wilson Blvd that began in 2009. Between then and 2019, the county completed work between N. Monroe and N. Kenmore streets.

As part of the project, the county added new curbs, gutters and streetlights, made traffic signal and storm sewer improvements, planted street trees and repaved and repainted the street.

Wilson Blvd improvements map (via Arlington County)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Rosslyn at twilight (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Local Restaurant Group Gets Juiced — “The Arlington hospitality group behind Copperwood Tavern and The Pinemoor is getting into the juice business… An affiliate of Wooden Nickel Bar Co. recently acquired Greenheart Juice Shop for an undisclosed price, Wooden Nickel plans to focus first on the company’s home delivery business, and to make Greenheart products available at its various restaurants. With the aid of Asadoorian Retail Solutions, it’s also planning to open new physical Greenheart locations, including one in the works in Ballston.” [Washington Business Journal]

Pedestrian Struck Last Night — “Police and medics on scene of a pedestrian struck at or near the intersection of Route 1 and 23rd Street S. in Crystal City. The pedestrian is reportedly being evaluated for a head injury.” [Twitter]

Lopez Newspaper Bill Stalls — “With newspapers facing staffing cuts and closures, due to buyouts, technology, and lack of funding, [Del. Alfonso] Lopez has introduced House Bill 2061, which would create a nonrefundable income tax credit for eligible local newspaper publishers, for compensation paid to local news journalists.” The bill, however, failed a subcommittee vote yesterday. [WTOP]

APAH Co-Founder Dies — “Dolores Regina Conklin Leckey, born on April 12, 1933, in the borough of Queens, New York City, New York, to Joseph and Florence (Kelly) Conklin, died peacefully of natural causes on January 17, 2023, in her home in Arlington, Virginia. [She] authored eight books, and was one of the founders of the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing.” [Legacy]

It’s Tuesday — Partly cloudy throughout much of the day. High of 47 and low of 30. Sunrise at 7:22 am and sunset at 5:21 pm. [Weather.gov]

UPDATED: Metro service restored after power issue at Ballston station

By ARLnow.com
A bus parked at a new bus bay outside of the Ballston Metro station (file photo)

Update at 5:25 p.m. — Metrorail service has been restored on the Orange and Silver lines after a power outage in Ballston that lasted around half an hour. Riders should expect residual delays, Metro said.

Earlier: Metrorail service on the Orange and Silver lines has been suspended due to a power outage.

WMATA said shortly before 5 p.m. that “a power outage at Ballston” has prompted a suspension of train service between Clarendon and West Falls Church/McLean.

So far there is no word on when service might resume. Shuttle buses have been requested to the affected stations, the transit agency said.

Dominion’s website currently lists an outage in Ballston with an estimated restoration time of 8-11 p.m.

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