Police car at night (file photo courtesy Kevin Wolf)
(Updated at 3:35 p.m.) A reported large teen party at a vacant house in Bluemont was broken up by police this past weekend.
Police were called to the 700 block of N. Abingdon Street, just west of Ballston, around 8:30 p.m. Friday. A caller reported a group of “50 to 100” teens running around outside, drinking, climbing on the roof of the house, blocking the street, and breaking things on an adjacent property.
“Upon arrival of officers, approximately 25 juveniles dispersed from in front of the home and no one was located inside,” said an Arlington County Police Department crime report. “The investigation determined the juvenile suspects made entry into the vacant residence, resulting in property damage. The investigation is ongoing.”
Scanner traffic at the time suggested that arriving officers saw teens drinking in the back of a car and a possible fight about to break out — but everyone scattered upon seeing the police vehicles. No one was found inside the house during a police search, an ACPD spokeswoman said.
Dashcam video shared anonymously with ARLnow, below, shows the party in progress.
A tipster told ARLnow that this fits “a pattern” of Washington-Liberty High School students of a certain grade level “having large parties.” The police spokeswoman this was the first such incident at this property this year, but was unable to say whether similar incidents have happened at other vacant houses.
Raindrops on flowers in Virginia Square (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Current Prosecutors Back Boss — “In the heated Democratic primary contest for commonwealth’s attorney for Arlington and Falls Church, former prosecutor Josh Katcher has accused incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti of mismanaging the office, leading to the departure of many attorneys and creating an environment where the office is falling short of implementing her criminal justice reform agenda. But top prosecutors who work in Dehghani-Tafti’s office contend she has assembled a strong group of attorneys who are turning Arlington into a model for what reform prosecution should look like.” [Patch]
Pickleball Meeting Next Week — “Next stop in the contentious battle over pickleball facilities in Arlington? A community meeting set for May 23. The event, to start at 7 p.m., will be held at ground zero of the pickleball wars: Walter Reed Community Center (2909 16th St. South).” [Gazette Leader]
Crash Leads to Wounding Charge — “The victims were inside their vehicle and stopped at a red light when the suspect pulled alongside them and attempted to engage them in conversation. When the light changed, the victims accelerated and the suspect allegedly struck their vehicle with his before fleeing the scene. No injuries were reported. During the course of the investigation, officers identified the suspect, located him and took him into custody. [The suspect], 65, of Arlington, Va. was arrested and charged with Attempted Malicious Wounding.” [ACPD]
School Board Mulls Scheduling Plan — “In what could be the most contentious issue, Durán plans to maintain a significant number of days to accommodate a wider array of religious holidays. While some have praised the effort, others – including teachers – have been critical, saying the extra days off dotted throughout the school year make it more difficult to gain the kind of academic traction that require five-day weeks.” [Gazette Leader]
It’s Tuesday — A chance of showers, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. Southwest wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Tonight: Showers likely, mainly before 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. West wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. [Weather.gov]
Two sisters, ages 16 and 13, are missing and police are asking for the public’s help in locating them.
The sisters were last seen near the intersection of 23rd Street S. and Route 1 in Crystal City, according to the Arlington County Police Department, which put their names and photos out on social media (below).
No other details about the circumstances surrounding the disappearance were made available.
ACPD first posted about the missing sisters early Sunday afternoon. They were still reported as missing as of 4 p.m. Monday, a police spokeswoman tells ARLnow.
Update on 5/18/23 — The sisters have been found, ACPD said. Scanner traffic suggests that they were spotted in the Ballston area.
Recycling bins in Arlington County (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Arlington’s recycling rate is trending up — but there is still a ways to go to reach the county’s goal of diverting nearly all trash from incinerators and landfills by 2038.
In 2021, the recycling rate, which now includes the county’s new food scrap collection program, was 52.4%, according to Solid Waste Bureau Chief Erik Grabowsky. Last year’s rate is projected to be 54%.
The county’s recycling rate has risen incrementally in the last six years, from 44.5% in 2015. But residents and the government will have to double down on food scrap collection and recycling, while reducing overall waste, over the next 15 years if the county is supposed to reach its goal of diverting 90% of trash from incineration and landfills by 2038.
Grabowsky says greater participation in the county’s food scraps collection program and improved recycling habits would get the county halfway there.
“If we do a much better job of recycling and a much better job of food scrap collection, we get into the mid-to-high 70th percentile,” he said in a February meeting. “Beyond 75%, it’s a real challenge.”
To close that 15% gap, county staff, a Solid Waste Committee and local environmentalists have several ideas, including promoting reusable dishware in Arlington Public Schools and starting collections for hard-to-recycle items.
These and other ideas could be incorporated into a forthcoming Solid Waste Management Plan to replace the current one approved in 2004. This road map, which could be ready for public engagement this summer, will guide the county’s approach to waste management and could include interim milestones to make a 90% diversion rate seem manageable: a 60% diversion rate by 2028 and 75% rate by 2033.
Solid Waste Committee Chair Carrie Thompson says she likes to think of this plan as a “Zero Waste Plan,” the most important objective of which is getting all Arlingtonians on board with producing less trash.
“We’re all in this together,” Thompson tells ARLnow. “We have to be conscientious because the county can only do so much… If we all do better about what hits the bins, then what they do is more effective.”
For instance, food scraps and compostable paper comprised 26-32% of what went into the trash last year, while recyclable paper products and glass comprised about 14-16% of trash, according to data provided to ARLnow. Since 2019, residents have been asked to recycle glass separately to improve recycling quality and save the county money.
Conversely, trash and glass make up about 14% of the recycling stream and have no value, according to an updated pamphlet from Arlington County about what should and should not be recycled.
A warm afternoon in Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Housing and Food Need Still High — “Nonprofits ‘are seeing really dire things,’ said Anne Vor der Bruegge, director of grants initiatives at the Arlington Community Foundation… ‘To Arlington’s credit, the county has put as much as it can find into rent relief, but it’s still a serious situation.’ With the fiscal 2024 budget providing $4.6 million for eviction prevention, Vor der Bruegge said ‘Arlington is the only local jurisdiction that stepped up significantly to help renters still in arrears.'” [Falls Church News-Press]
Board Approves Bridge Location — “The Arlington County Board in Virginia has approved a location and a preliminary budget for the pedestrian bridge coming to Crystal City… The bridge will connect the area to Reagan National Airport, making the downtown area only a short walk away to hop on a flight.” [WTOP, WJLA]
YHS Players to Play College Football — “The success the Yorktown Patriots enjoyed during the fall high-school football season helped multiple players earn the opportunity to join different college teams this coming fall… The six players headed to different schools include two-year Yorktown starting quarterback James Yoest. He will play at Stetson University in Florida.” [Gazette Leader]
NAACP Wants Arlington House Change — “The Arlington branch of the NAACP… on May 10 asked their supporters to sign a Change.org petition calling on Congress to remove the general’s name from the National Park Service site officially known the past half-century as ‘Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial.’ Supporters hoped to reach the 2,500-signature mark in order to draw more attention to the effort.” [Gazette Leader]
Vehicle Tamperers Arrested — “Upon arrival, an officer observed two male suspects allegedly rummaging through the inside of a vehicle. The officer gave the suspects commands to stop, which they refused to comply with and attempted to flee the scene on foot. The officer initiated a foot pursuit and the suspects were taken into custody with the assistance of additional officers. During the course of the investigation, officers located two additional victim vehicles which had been rummaged through.” [ACPD]
Group of Helicopters Flying Overhead — “Second day in a row for a group of choppers circulating part of Arlington. Not sure why exactly but there are Vietnam War commemorative events happening on the Mall this weekend.” [Twitter, Twitter]
Student Charged with Rape in F.C. — “On Thursday, May 11, 2023, at 4 p.m., City of Falls Church Police arrested a juvenile in connection with two sexual assault cases. Following a two-month investigation into the report of a serious incident occurring outside school hours on the Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS) Secondary Campus, charges were filed on Thursday, May 11, 2023, against a juvenile for aggravated sexual assault and rape.” [City of Falls Church]
It’s Monday — Mostly cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 75. North wind around 6 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 58. Southwest wind around 7 mph. [Weather.gov]
Chris Farley (center) of Pacers recording his Pace the Nation podcast (file photo)
Currently, in Arlington County, a podcasting studio would need to go through a county permitting process to inhabit an office building.
But that is likely changing.
A proposal to allow more “untraditional” uses in traditional office buildings is headed to the Arlington County Board this weekend.
On Saturday, the Board is set to consider revising the zoning ordinance to allow broadcasting studios and businesses in the audio-visual production field to occupy commercial space by right. It is also expanding what counts as research and development while allowing those uses by right, too.
Under the changes, entrepreneurs would no longer need a permit to outfit an office for podcasting and influencer studios — Instagram-ready backdrops for people to take photos and record content.
Arlington’s extensive roster of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence startups, meanwhile, would no longer need a permit to conduct research and development. Facilities doing technological, electronic, biological, scientific and engineering research would be able to lease a typical office building in the same way as any other office tenant.
These businesses could also engage in small-scale product design, development, prototyping and testing. The changes will not allow industrial scale production or manufacturing.
Arlington Economic Development says these are some emerging trends it is looking to pounce to tackle its office vacancy rate and remain competitive in a changing economic landscape. Otherwise, it may lose out to peer cities, such as Seattle and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“In the past, [AED] has had prospects come through looking for flexible research and development space to locate their semiconductor and microchip, cyber and quantum computing, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning companies,” according to a county report. “However, the AED team was not always readily able to accommodate those prospects due to zoning barriers.”
“The competition for attracting research and development investment is fierce, the market for these uses is strong, and technological advances have allowed these uses to fit seamlessly into existing business districts,” it continued.
This is the fourth zoning code update headed to the County Board in 13 months under the “Commercial Market Resiliency Strategy.”
Through this strategy, the county established a streamlined public engagement process that expedited the approval process for these changes. Some Planning Commissioners have balked at the shortened engagement period and the nuisances that may arise.
Despite these misgivings, the strategy has already been used to allow micro-fulfillment centers, urban agriculture, breweries and distilleries, and artisan workshops to operate in office buildings, without additional red tape.
Most recently, the County Board approved a broader definition of by-right indoor recreation use, meaning pickleball courts and ax-throwing could be coming to an office building near you.
(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) Arlington County is gearing up to raze a three-story office building on Columbia Pike this summer and turn it into a parking lot.
To get started, the Arlington County Board needs to kick off public hearings to consider the land-use changes needed for the new use. It is slated to do so on Saturday.
“These subject approvals will facilitate the final steps needed to demolish the existing building and construct the proposed interim surface parking improvements, including the review of construction plans and issuance of permits,” according to a county report.
Parking is a temporary use for the site, which the county bought last year for $7.55 million.
“Arlington County acquired the office building at 3108 Columbia Pike in March 2022, after it was identified as a potential site for a future Columbia Pike branch library and for potential co-location of County Board priorities, such as affordable housing,” the county report said.
The adopted 2023-32 Capital Improvement Plan, however, “anticipates completion of a new Columbia Pike branch library no sooner than 2028 at the earliest, thus presenting opportunities for a temporary use on the site in the interim,” it continued.
The county already determined it cannot save the office building and repurpose it.
“While the site is developed with a vacant, three-story office building, through due diligence completed prior to acquisition, the County determined the building is not fit for re-use and should be demolished,” the report said.
If the hearings are authorized on Saturday and the Board approves and the project, which could happen next month, the Dept. of Environmental Services will demolish the building this summer.
Doing so will expand the number of parking spaces from 63 to 92, per the report, fewer than originally anticipated. The county expected to add 58 spaces for a total of 121, according to a county document from last year.
For now, DES intends to lease the parking to Arlington Public Schools.
“The County has identified an expanded surface parking lot as a recommended interim use, which could support parking needs for the Career Center Campus during its redevelopment project, or accommodate other public parking needs before future redevelopment of the site,” the report said.
The Arlington School Board approved designs for the new, $182.42 million campus last October. Most of the funds were included in the 2022 School Bond referendum, according to an APS webpage.
“The project will now transition into the Use Permit phase and the new Arlington Career Center will be completed in December 2025,” the webpage says.
A letter included in the use permit APS filed for the Career Center in February said the site will accommodate 1,619 students. The site will also fit 775 Montessori Public School of Arlington students for a total of 2,394 students, per another document in the filings.
Students expected in the future Career Campus site (via Arlington County)
Ballston, seen past construction on the former Rouse estate site (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
APS Mulling Grading Policy Change — “Arlington Public Schools in Virginia is proposing a plan that would enable middle and high school students to retake or redo certain assignments and reduce the weight that homework has on a student’s overall grade… And, assignments turned in after the due date but before the end of a teaching unit would have to be accepted for credit, though a student may still be penalized up to 10% for the late submission.” [WTOP]
Garage is Hidden Art Gallery — “On a quiet residential street in Arlington, Va., one garage is not like the others… while its neighbors might house minivans and power tools, on a gray December afternoon the door to this one, which is not really a garage at all, opens to reveal a cross-shaped plywood table set, as if for a meal, with brightly colored wares.” [New York Times]
Unhealthy Air Warning — “…AIR QUALITY ALERT IS IN EFFECT FOR FRIDAY MAY 12 2023… The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued a Code ORANGE Air Quality Alert Friday for Northern Virginia. A Code Orange Air Quality Alert means that air pollution concentrations within the region may become unhealthy for sensitive groups.” [National Weather Service]
Cyclist Struck Last Night — “Scanner: Police and medics on scene of a cyclist struck at N. Moore Street and 19th Street in Rosslyn. Cyclist suffered a head injury and is being taken to a trauma center. Driver reportedly remained on scene.” [Twitter]
Nonprofit Celebrates College-Bound Students — “AHC Inc.’s College and Career Readiness (CCR) program hosted its college signing day on May 5 – where students announced their college plans and showcased new T-shirts for their chosen colleges. This year, the CCR program included 37 high school seniors and 32 juniors from lower-income homes. The students received acceptance from 156 out of the 257 schools they applied to and $13.3 million in gift aid and scholarships.” [Press Release]
Arlington Housing Remains Hot — “Home-buyer enthusiasm in Arlington remains highest in the metropolitan region even if many sellers are sitting out the market, according to new data, and continued to strengthen as the spring buying season rolled on.” [Gazette Leader]
Video of Wrong-way Driver — “Wrong way driver: A STATter911 reader spotted this yesterday at 8:45 pm on the ramp from Rt 110N to Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn, VA. Driver made left turn from N. Arlington Ridge Rd. down wrong side.” [Twitter]
Wakefield Lax Improves — “Whatever the reasons, the 2023 season has been the most successful ever for the Wakefield Warriors in boys lacrosse. The high-school team finished with a 7-8 overall record. The seven wins are the team’s most in a single season in program history, and six more than each of the last three seasons.” [Gazette Leader]
It’s Friday — Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. Tonight: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. Southwest wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. [Weather.gov]
“Effective May 11, 2023, consistent with the end of the National Public Health Emergency, employees (including contractors and volunteers) are no longer required to provide proof of vaccination status for employment,” Arlington County spokesman Ryan Hudson told ARLnow in a statement.
“Employees are still urged to engage in mitigation measures as appropriate and to stay up to date on vaccinations,” he continued.
Arlington County mandated vaccines for all government employees in August 2021, requiring those who were unvaccinated to submit to weekly testing. Unvaccinated employees were told to get the jab or an exemption before Feb. 1, 2022 or face job loss.
A group of people who decided not to get the vaccine, largely first responders, petitioned the county for “more reciprocal ideas,” such as continuing testing. The mandate seemed to work somewhat, with the number of unvaccinated workers dropping from 278 to 174 in about a month.
By March 1, 2022, some 125 people obtained exemptions. The county said everyone complied with county policy and no one was fired.
The CDC’s emergency declaration at the start of the pandemic empowered the federal government to track Covid cases and deaths with greater granularity, among other measures. Now, it says it is time to integrate its emergency response into programs it already has.
“As a nation, we now find ourselves at a different point in the pandemic — with more tools and resources than ever before to better protect ourselves and our communities,” it said in a statement, adding that these changes will make its Covid response more sustainable in the long term.
The CDC says vaccines, treatments and testing will remain available but the data it publishes and the sources it uses will be different.
“Case data has become increasingly unreliable as some states and jurisdictions may no longer collect case data, testing results are sometimes not reported, or some individuals skip testing all together,” the CDC notes.
Some of these factors, plus vaccines and three years of exposure, may explain lowering case rates in Arlington. The county is seeing about five cases per day, down from about 60 cases a day this past winter, per Virginia Dept. of Health data.
Covid cases in Arlington County reported to the Virginia Dept. of Health over the last 13 weeks (via VDH)
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said in a statement this morning that the ending of the public health emergency declaration should be followed by the implementation of laws and policies that will strengthen the health system, prepare us for the next such crisis, and address the end of the asylum policy known as Title 42.
When COVID-19 hit, Congress acted with force and urgency to save lives and livelihoods, taking actions that were made possible by the Public Health Emergency declaration, which opened the door to a wealth of additional tools and flexibilities. More than three years later, I’m proud to know that our nation has reached a point where we can move beyond the emergency stage of COVID-19 and the corresponding PHE declaration. Now, it’s up to Congress to adopt more permanent policies that reflect the valuable lessons we learned during this crisis, and that allow us to move forward rather than backwards. We must continue to strengthen our public health response capabilities, ensure that health care is affordable and easy to access through robust telehealth options, and improve the security of our southwest border while creating a better functioning asylum process and a reasonable path towards legal status for those who are undocumented. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress on these issues.
Road work signs on 19th Street N. in Rosslyn last month (Flickr pool photo by Alan Kotok)
High-Tech Health Monitors for Jail — “Sheriff Jose Quiroz announces the launch of a pilot program with Silicon Valley Company 4Sight Labs to track the vital signs of individuals in custody, becoming the first sheriff’s office in the area to use the technology as an additional tool, adding a layer of protection and safety in the Arlington County Detention Facility.” [ACSO]
Sheriff’s Office Swamped with Evictions — “This year, ASCO is also dealing with another lingering pandemic-era problem: A high number of eviction notices. According to the department, deputies served more than 300 eviction notices in 2022–after numbers fell during the pandemic but started to climb again in 2021. So far this year, deputies have served 227 eviction notices in just four months.” [WJLA]
Local Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony — “The Arlington County Police Department and the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday morning paid tribute to the memory of the seven law enforcement officers in the county who made the ultimate sacrifice. The solemn Peace Officers Memorial Day ceremony is held each year ahead of National Police Week.” [WJLA]
Police Week Motorcades Are Back — It’s National Police Week, which in Arlington often means numerous motorcades for the families of fallen officers crisscrossing the county for a few days. [National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund]
Still No GOP Candidates — “Another week and still no Republican candidates are emerging for any of the 13 local/legislative races on Arlington’s November ballot. And even as the days tick down to the June 20 filing deadline, the local GOP chairman is trying to rustle up contenders.” [Gazette Leader]
Senior Dems Meeting in Person Again — “For more than three years owing to COVID, the Arlington Senior Democrats group has held its monthly luncheons in an online setting. That is about to change. And to prove one is never too senior to try something new, the location will represent a departure from its typical pre-COVID spot.” [Gazette Leader]
Homelessness Up in D.C. Burbs — “The 2023 homeless census, part of the annual point-in-time (PIT) count, found 1,339 more people experiencing homelessness than in 2022. The increase has particularly evident in the counties surrounding the District, which saw a 26 percent rise in homelessness over the last year.” [Washington Post]
It’s Thursday — Sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the morning. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 60. South wind 3 to 5 mph. [Weather.gov]
Sunrise Senior Living at 2000 N. Glebe Road in Arlington’s Glebewood neighborhood (via Arlington County)
(Updated at 11:10 a.m. on 5/17/23) Two years after indicating interest in redeveloping its property in the Glebewood neighborhood, Sunrise Senior Living is almost done with early-stage procedural hurdles.
Meanwhile, the way the process has unfolded so far has confused and alarmed some neighbors.
Arlington County is mulling changes to the land-use plan governing the site to allow for greater density and to allow for elder care uses through a site plan process at 2000 N. Glebe Road. The Arlington County Board authorized public hearings on these changes on Saturday.
The designation changes, if approved by the Board, would tee up a rezoning request by Sunrise to facilitate the actual redevelopment down the road. Documents filed with the county indicate Sunrise is considering a rezoning request that could also allow “one-family detached, duplexes, semidetached, multiple-family, and
townhouses” to be built by-right.
County staff studied adding elder care as well as apartments to the site over the last year, which perturbed some neighbors who say there should be language ensuring any future development is geared toward elder care only.
Last week, during a Planning Commission meeting, county planner Margaret Rhodes said residents should not worry.
The result of the study, which the Arlington County Board is poised to adopt on Saturday, includes “a guiding principle stating the preference strongly for elder care use.”
“In terms of the conversation about the confusion over… a potential multi-family development, because this is a General Land Use Plan high level study, we need to evaluate all different land uses,” she said.
Beyond this confusion, however, neighbors had other concerns about the impact on quality of life. They predicted the building would dwarf nearby homes, contribute to tree canopy loss, flooding and traffic.
Catherine Ginther, who lives across the street, said in the meeting that she chose her home in part for the quiet street and is “frankly a little concerned about how the plans could change all that.”
“Since moving here, I have noticed there are some issues with Sunrise that will likely worsen if this plan would move forward,” she said. “Children and adults walk down [20th Street N.] throughout the day and the walkability of this neighborhood is at risk if Sunrise is allowed to grow in size and create a garage entrance on 20th Street N.”
Some Planning Commissioners acknowledged these concerns but said they are being raised at the wrong stage in the process.
“It’s very much inside baseball. It’s very frustrating to the neighborhoods,” Commissioner Jim Lantelme said. “I’ve walked that neighborhood — it’s a great neighborhood — but you’re right about the topography, the trees, where the loading needs to be, the sidewalks. All those things absolutely have to be addressed.”
Commissioner Nia Bagley said she has been through lots of planning processes as a former civic association leader.
“I recognize that this is not your expertise and many of you have busy lives and this becomes like a full time job on the side,” she said. “Don’t be discouraged tonight but please hang in there.”
Some speakers, however, supported the redevelopment project.
“This facility is toward the end of its operational life and needs additional renovation for its continued operation and this project would allow for a significant increase in the number of units available to seniors,” said Arlington Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Manager John Musso.
Cynthia Schneider, with the Commission on Aging, said this project addresses a shortage of elder care rooms in Arlington. The county and the region are predicted to see an increase in the number of seniors living in the area over the next two decades.
She advocated for more dedicated affordable beds on-site, which a representative of Sunrise said would not be possible.
The company has also put forward a redevelopment project in the Alcova Heights neighborhood, at 716 S. Glebe Road, which Arlington County is reviewing. The representative said affordable beds could be added there to meet requirements for both facilities.
