News

In Arlington’s ‘townhouse districts,’ only single-family homes can be built by-right

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

(Updated at 12 p.m.) A lone, aging single-family detached home surrounded by townhouses and apartments and close to the Ballston Metro station could be redeveloped to house two families.

If the home at 1129 N. Utah Street were in any of Arlington County’s lowest-density zoning districts, the project could be done by-right — in other words, without seeking special permission beyond standard construction-related permits — starting this summer as part of the “Missing Middle” zoning changes.

Last month, the Arlington County Board unanimously approved the changes allowing the by-right construction of 2-6 unit dwellings, also dubbed “Expanded Housing Options,” in Arlington’s neighborhoods previously zoned only for single-family homes.

But D.C. area developer BeaconCrest Homes is not building in one of these residential zones, and the project instead has to go through the more time-consuming and expensive site plan review process. It’s somewhat ironic given that the zoning of the transit-accessible Utah Street property was intended to be more permissive than the lower-density residential zones now approved for Missing Middle.

“It’s kind of a funny thing: After all the effort put into Missing Middle — that only impacts R zones,” project representative Robby Malm tells ARLnow, musing that the county could have could have incorporated the by-right flexibility afforded by the changes in townhouse districts.

The home is located in a “Townhouse Dwelling District” (R15-30T). This district encourages townhouses as a transition between tall apartment and commercial buildings within Metro areas and neighborhoods with single-family detached housing. Anything beyond a single-family detached home, however, requires a county-approved special exception site plan.

“This aspect of the R15-30T district isn’t really a quirk; rather it’s the express permissions of the district, which was intended to allow townhouse developments in Metro Transit Corridors and on properties with ‘low’ residential and ‘low-medium’ residential General Land Use Plan designations,” Dept. of Community, Planning, Housing and Development spokeswoman Elise Cleva tells ARLnow.

Since districts such as this one already allow Missing Middle housing forms (albeit not by-right) and regulate their height, setbacks and other characteristics, they were not studied as part of the zoning code updates, says Cleva.

Malm says he met with county staff and they have been helpful during the process but he feels he did not get a clear reason why townhouses and semi-detached duplexes cannot be built by-right in townhouse districts.

“They politely shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘That’s the way the code is written,'” he said. “They couldn’t give us a rationale as to why the code was written that way.”

Typically, Cleva says, R15-30T properties were rezoned from a lower-density zoning district and then associated with a site plan to allow for the townhouses to form a transition.

“As County planners analyze the site plan application for 1129 N. Utah St., they’ll learn more about the history of that parcel,” she wrote.

Malm said his firm deliberated building a single-family detached home but decided the additional time, cost and uncertainty involved in a site plan process to build a side-by-side duplex is “what the property deserves, given where it is located and its proximity to everything Ballston has to offer.”

He says he hopes for a speedy process.

“Because of where it’s located and the feedback we’ve received, we don’t foresee a lot of pushback,” he said.

Former Rosslyn coffee shop owner sentenced to prison in credit card fraud scheme

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

A co-owner of the former Caffe Aficionado in Rosslyn and two accomplices have been sentenced in connection with a multi-year credit card fraud scheme.

On March 15, co-owner Adiam Berhane, 50, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a press release yesterday (Wednesday). Berhane faced a minimum of two and a maximum of 196 years in prison, per federal sentencing guidelines.

Two people she recruited in the scheme, Tiffany Younger, 51, and Keith Lemons, 56, received less severe penalties. Younger, of D.C., was sentenced Wednesday to 2 years of probation while Lemons, of Clinton, Maryland, was sentenced to time served and six months of home confinement on March 15.

Berhane conspired to carry out a scheme involving stolen credit card information, federal prosecutors said. The fraud lasted until Oct. 2016, when the well-regarded cafe was shut down following a police raid.

Berhane created fraudulent credit cards using stolen identities of D.C. area residents. She recruited Younger and Lemons to purchase gift cards, expensive luxury goods, and other items from local retail stores using these fake credit cards.

“The fraud caused over hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses to area retailers and financial institutions,” according to a press release from the Dept. of Justice.

This included four banks and a handful of stores, such as REI and TJ Maxx, according to information the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney provided to ARLnow six years ago.

“As part of the scheme, items purchased with victims’ credit card information would sometimes be returned for refunds to bank accounts that Berhane controlled,” federal prosecutors said.

Berhane used the fraudulent cards to buy gift cards that she redeemed at Caffe Aficionado.

“More than a third of Caffe Aficionado’s income from June 2013 to July 2016 came from a pattern of highly unusual redemptions of American Express gift cards, with the pattern beginning several months before Caffe Aficionado opened in approximately October 2013,” per the press release.

In December, Berhane was convicted on a litany of charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, trafficking in unauthorized access devices, aggravated identity theft, unlawful possession of 15 or more access devices and possession of access device-making equipment with intent to defraud.

Berhane was initially charged in Arlington County. Her case dragged on for a few years and the charges were ultimately dropped amid accusations that defense attorneys had to process thousands of pages of documents by hand — a rule set by then-Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos. Federal prosecutors subsequently took up the case.

Berhane was previously convicted of a credit card fraud scheme in New York City in the early 2000s.

Her business partner, Clark Donat, was not charged in the federal case. He pleaded guilty to multiple financial crimes in 2017, including credit card fraud, money laundering and racketeering. Court records show he received a 25 year prison sentence with 11 years suspended.

Federal prosecutors, FBI officials and Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn made yesterday’s announcement after U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga sentenced the final defendant.

The case was prosecuted with help from the Montgomery County Police Department, the FBI Cyber Task Force, the U.S. Postal Office of the Inspector General, the Secret Service and Capitol Police, per the press release.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Stormy clouds and a plane over the Potomac, as seen from Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Fundraiser for Murdered Woman — “A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help Bautista’s family with funeral expenses. As of midday Wednesday it has raised nearly $10,000.” [ARLnow, GoFundMe]

More Missing Middle Coverage — “This overall cap, and particularly the distribution of the cap amongst different zoning districts, could prevent a lot of development, says Emily Hamilton, an economist and housing researcher at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. ‘The place where I think missing middle will make the most sense in a market perspective and a planning perspective is in Arlington’s neighborhoods that are zoned for single-family but are nonetheless really close to Metro or other transit corridors,’ she says.” [Reason]

Overhaul for Local GOP — “The Arlington County Republican Committee’s new chairman says breathing new life into the local GOP’s advisory-panel structure is among his key goals for coming months. ‘I want them to be action-oriented committees, not just deliberative bodies where ideas are discussed but nothing is done,’ Matthew Hurtt said.” [GazetteLeader]

Fmr. Rep. Moran Starts Lobbying Firm — “Nine years after retiring from public office, former Virginia Congressman Jim Moran is hanging out his own shingle. Moran, a Democrat who represented Northern Virginia in Washington for 24 years, is launching a new government relations firm, Moran Global Strategies, this week.” [Washington Business Journal]

USS Arlington Turning Ten — “Time flies: April 6 marks the 10th anniversary of the commissioning of the U.S. Navy’s USS Arlington. The ship – a 685-foot-long landing platform dock designed to speed supplies and U.S. Marines on humanitarian missions and to world trouble spots – was named to honor the community’s response the 2001 terrorist attacks. It was the third U.S. Navy ship in modern times to bear the name ‘Arlington.'” [GazetteLeader]

Passover Starts — From Rep. Don Beyer: “Wishing you and yours a happy Passover celebration. Chag Sameach!” [Twitter]

Temperature Records Set — “The record-high temperature for [Wednesday] was breached. All three major climate sites in the region set records, including D.C. with a high of 87 and Dulles International Airport, with a reading of 88. Afternoon temperatures were more like average highs in June, and there was some humidity to go along with it.” [Capital Weather Gang]

It’s Thursday — Tstorms late. Overcast. Pleasantly warm. High of 85 and low of 58. Sunrise at 6:45 am and sunset at 7:36 pm. [Weather.gov]

NEW: Man arrested for Columbia Pike bank robbery

By ARLnow.com
File photo

A 27-year-old Maryland man has been arrested and charged with yesterday’s robbery of the Bank of America on Columbia Pike.

Police say Jaquan Royal passed the teller a note and implied that he had a weapon, then fled with cash. No one was physically hurt.

From an Arlington County police press release:

The Arlington County Police Department has charged a suspect for his involvement in a bank robbery in the 3400 block of Columbia Pike. Jaquan Deandre Malik Royal, 27, of Prince George’s County, Md., was taken into custody in Fairfax County. Charges in Arlington County are for Bank Robbery and Armed Robbery.

At approximately 10:29 a.m. on April 4, police were dispatched to the report of an armed robbery in the 3400 block of Columbia Pike. Upon arrival, it was determined the suspect entered the bank and allegedly passed a note to the teller demanding money and implying he had a weapon. He then fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash. No weapon was seen or displayed, and no injuries were reported.

This incident remains an active criminal investigation and anyone with information is asked to contact police at 703-228-4180 or [email protected]. Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS.

Royal has a past arrest record in Arlington and Fairfax counties.

In the summer of 2022 he was arrested and charged with robbing a Wells Fargo Bank on Richmond Highway. The ultimate disposition of that case is not immediately clear, as ARLnow does not subscribe to Fairfax County’s paid circuit court records service.

In 2020, Royal was arrested and later convicted of petty larceny in Fairfax County, according to Fairfax County General District Court records.

Royal was arrested twice in Arlington last year and accused of a Nov. 26, 2020 armed carjacking in Crystal City and a Dec. 23, 2022 shooting. In both instances, charges were later dropped.

In February of this year he was arrested on grand larceny and other charges in Fairfax County, stemming from a December incident. He was released on his own recognizance in early March 2023, ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for May.

Arlington County, nonprofits nab $3M to fund homelessness prevention efforts

By Jo DeVoe
A sleeping bag and roll of toilet paper in an alcove of the elevated walkway in Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Local nonprofits and the Arlington County government have received $3 million in federal funding to address homelessness.

Nearly $200,000 will go to two new programs from the organizations Doorways and PathForward, formerly A-SPAN. The rest — save for about $81,000 for the county — will support existing programs provided by Bridges to Independence, Doorways, New Hope Housing and PathForward.

“This HUD funding helps ensure survivors of intimate partner violence have access to housing and additional pathways out of shelter, so that they can find healing, harbor, and hope for a brighter future,” Doorways President and CEO Diana Ortiz told ARLnow in a statement.

To date this year, Arlington has received $4.2 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to combat homelessness.

“HUD funding is a vital part of Arlington’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness,” said Arlington County’s Department of Human Services Director Anita Friedman in a statement.

“This announcement confirms that our strategic planning, policy development, and service delivery are effective and that we are changing lives for individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless,” she continued.

The county delivers these services in a partnership with local nonprofits called the Arlington County Continuum of Care (CoC). For more than a decade, the CoC has worked to improve the county’s response to homelessness by focusing on providing permanent housing, working with 1,070 people in 2022, per the county.

Nonprofits receiving this money will use it in one of two ways. The first, called “rapid rehousing,” places people living on the street or in an emergency shelter in existing, empty affordable apartment units. The second, called “permanent supportive housing,” combines housing with services such as health care and employment help.

The funding breaks down as follows:

  • Doorways: $127,398 for a new rapid rehousing program
  • PathForward: $1.85 million for four existing programs and $68,116 for a new permanent supportive housing program
  • New Hope Housing: $586,269 for three existing programs
  • Bridges to Independence: $289,419 for an existing rapid rehousing program

“HUD grant funding supports a broad array of interventions designed to assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness, particularly those living in places not meant for habitation, located in sheltering programs, or at imminent risk of becoming homeless,” per a county press release. “Because grants are competitive, localities must demonstrate need as well as an ability to address those needs.”

Arlington has demonstrated that ability in the past, when, in 2015, it functionally ended homelessness for veterans, according to a presentation on the county’s efforts.

That does not mean Arlington literally eradicated homelessness for former service members, however.

Rather, it means that the number of actively homeless veterans is less than or equal to the average monthly rate at which individuals and families find and move into stable housing, per the presentation. This is known as “functional zero.”

Arlington aims to reach functional zero for all populations experiencing homelessness by 2026, which would mean seven or fewer single adults and three or fewer youth and families with children actively experiencing homelessness at one time.

To reach this goal, Arlington is partnering with Community Solutions, which is a nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness, and updating its strategic plan. As part of that process, the county held listening sessions earlier this year to discuss how homelessness affects specific population groups and hear solutions from the community.

In the presentation, Community Solutions representative Elise Topazian said Arlington is on the right track. Over the last 12 years, the Continuum of Care reduced overall homelessness by 66%, including a 52% reduction in sheltered and 90% reduction in unsheltered homelessness.

“Arlington is on the brink [of] ending chronic homelessness,” Topazian said.

Brookfield signals renewed intent to redevelop vacant TSA offices in Pentagon City

By Jo DeVoe
1/2

Developer Brookfield has signaled its plans to redevelop the vacant Transportation Security Administration office buildings in Pentagon City.

Last month, Brookfield filed preliminary plans outlining how it will redevelop the site. The filed documents are not site plans that illustrate the buildings it intends to construct, but rather, a high-level overview of what it intends to do with the property.

The real estate company has long had plans to redevelop the TSA buildings, located at 601 and 701 12th Street S., near the Pentagon City Metro entrance and between the Pentagon City mall and the second phase of Amazon’s HQ2. Those plans are currently paused and the buildings have been empty since the TSA left in March 2021 for Springfield, abandoning its original plans to move to Alexandria.

Brookfield put its redevelopment plans on hold in 2020 at the request of Arlington County planners, who were working on a new sector plan to guide future development in Pentagon City, per the Washington Business Journal.

More than a year after the passage of the Pentagon City Sector Plan, Brookfield is taking its first steps toward redeveloping the property, which it is calling “12th Street Landing.”

Brookfield is dividing the property into three land bays, which it will redevelop one at a time, according to land use attorney Kedrick Whitmore. It will apply for site plans for these land bays “in the future,” he adds.

“The proposed development will result in significant improvements to the Property and benefit the Pentagon City community,” per a letter to the county from Whitmore. “Indeed, to enable the requested density increase, the proposed development will provide community benefits on-site, consistent with the recommendations of the Sector Plan.”

The three land bays comprising the proposed 12th Street Landing redevelopment by Brookfield (via Arlington County)

The number of buildings within each land bay and their uses will be finalized at the site plan stage, wrote Whitmore. Brookfield will provide on-site affordable housing but other community benefits will be worked out during the site plan process.

In the application, Brookfield asks the county to approve the maximum allowable density in for the site, as outlined in the Pentagon City Sector Plan. It also asks for permission to allocate that density among “various buildings and uses” once it files site plans for the site.

(more…)

Arlington County delays permit parking applications to fix buggy software

By Jo DeVoe
Permit parking sign on N. Highland Street (file photo)

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) Arlington County is delaying the Residential Permit Parking online application process until next week due to “unexpected technical issues.”

“Despite testing in advance, our vendor’s Residential Permit Parking online application system is currently down to resolve these technical issues to our satisfaction,” Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Katie O’Brien said this morning (Wednesday).

She added that the website is expected to relaunch the week of April 10, which is next Monday.

Annually, people who live in residential areas near commercial corridors pay for permits for street parking in Residential Permit Parking zones. The process typically begins in April and by July, the county begins issuing tickets to people parked in these zones without the new fiscal year’s permit.

The county changed its permitting system last year and had to delay the application window one month to finish making tweaks to the new software. Then, many residents experienced issues obtaining permits in time for enforcement in July, so, to account for late-summer travel, the county delayed ticketing until September.

In a March letter to RPP zone residents, alerting them to the forthcoming application window, the county thanked residents for their patience last year “as we worked through a tricky software transition.”

“We expect this season’s process to be smoother and look forward to serving you again,” said the letter, a copy of which was shared with ARLnow.

But resident David Remus immediately encountered problems when he accessed the system on Monday, the software’s launch day.

The system would not let him add any short-term visitor passes to the order, he told ARLnow. He noticed the system went down that afternoon, perhaps for attempted bug fixes. After it went back online, he said he could not apply for the number of permits he selected.

“When I tried to isolate one type of permit at a time, the system timed out after a few minutes, with an error message stating that the system is not online,” he said. “This is nothing but gross incompetence on the part of the county government.”

Resident Carol Burnett, meanwhile, logged on for the first time while the system was down Monday afternoon.

“Last year the Arlington County residential parking permit program was a mess with lost applications, late arrival of permits and general confusion. They had all sorts of excuses,” she said. “Looks like we’re in for another messy year this year.”

An anonymous tipster opined “It is SUCH a cluster. SUCH a cluster.”

The county processed more than 100 RPP applications on Monday before encountering problems and deciding to take the system offline, O’Brien said.

Residents can either wait for the online system to be re-opened or apply for a permit in-person at the county headquarters at 2100 Clarendon Blvd in Suite 214. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2-5 p.m., O’Brien said.

Residents who need support in the interim can email [email protected] or calling 703-228-3344.

“The seasonal application process will continue for the next several months and we will make sure everyone receives their permits and passes in a timely manner and with no issues involving FY 2024 enforcement, which begins in July,” O’Brien said.

Arlington County made several changes to the program two years ago, reducing available permits for households with driveways, raising fees for additional vehicles and visitor permits, while lowering prices for low-income residents. It also allowed residents in some multifamily buildings to join the program.

Large power outage reported in Falls Church and parts of Arlington

By ARLnow.com
Power outage map 4/5/23 (via Dominion)

(Updated at 10:40 a.m.) A power outage left much of Falls Church, big parts of western Arlington, and a small portion of Fairfax County in the dark this morning.

More than 5,500 Dominion customers are without power, the utility company reported on its website. As of 9:15 a.m., 2,165 customers in Arlington — including parts of the East Falls Church, Leeway Overlee and Madison Manor neighborhoods — were affected. That includes nearly all of the Langston Blvd corridor west of N. Harrison Street.

More than 3,000 customers in Falls Church were also without power.

On its website, Dominion listed “circuit out” as the cause of the outage.

Shortly after 9:30 a.m., the power company’s outage map was updated to show that the outage was down to just over 1,200 customers, with a few hundred in Arlington and the rest in Falls Church.

The outage may be linked to a reported electrical line fire and transformer explosion in the City of Falls Church. A tipster sent the following photo showing the line on fire.

Electrical line on fire in Falls Church (photo courtesy anonymous)

Hat tip to @tweedyBard

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
A man walks a dog in Shirlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Yellow Line Reopening Date Set — “[Metro] announced today that the Yellow Line will open again on Sunday, May 7… The line has been out of service since September to allow work on the Potomac River tunnel and bridge.” [ALXnow]

Arlington Man Dies in Austin — “Authorities retrieved a body from Lady Bird Lake on Saturday for the second time in six weeks amid growing concerns about the safety of revelers in the popular Rainey Street entertainment district. Council Member Zohaib “Zo” Qadri… said the man was from the Washington, D.C., region. Austin police spokesman Brandon Jones said police received a call at 2:41 p.m. Friday reporting that a man, identified as Jonathan Honey, 33, was missing.” [Austin American-Statesman, Fox News]

Jan. 6 Arrest in Arlington — “A Navy sailor charged with storming the U.S. Capitol was stationed on an aircraft carrier in Virginia when he joined a mob’s attack on the building, according to a court filing Monday. The FBI arrested David Elizalde on Sunday in Arlington, Virginia, on misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, according to a court filing.” [Associated Press]

Airline Partnering with Local Startup — “Shift5 Inc., an Arlington tech startup whose software protects transportation and military systems from cyberattacks, has struck up a partnership with JetBlue Airways Corp. to help it develop new systems that can be used by commercial airlines. As part of the agreement, JetBlue’s venture capital arm, JetBlue Technology Ventures, has made an investment in Shift5 in a funding round led by New York-based Insight Partners and with additional participation from The Boeing Co.’s venture capital arm.” [Washington Business Journal]

YHS Lax Team Rolling — “Through the early season, the Yorktown Patriots have done what they have accomplished the past few campaigns – established themselves as one of the top boys high-school lacrosse teams in the region and state. Entering spring break, Yorktown had a 5-1 overall record with five straight wins and was yet to play a Liberty District match.” [GazetteLeader]

GW Parkway Lane Change — “Drivers will soon have to get accustomed to a brand-new traffic pattern on the McLean section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Starting Saturday, April 15, the existing southbound lanes will close between the Capital Beltway (I-495) and Route 123 (Dolley Madison Blvd and Chain Bridge Road) so crews can begin rehabilitating that portion of the roadway. All traffic will shift to the northbound lanes, which have been expanded with the addition of a third, temporary lane in the median.” [FFXnow]

It’s Wednesday — Cloudy. Warm. High of 86 and low of 61. Sunrise at 6:47 am and sunset at 7:35 pm. [Weather.gov]

D.C. murder victim was a Yorktown High School alum and Arlington native

By Matt Blitz
Christy Bautista in the 2010 Yorktown High School yearbook (photo courtesy of Arlington Public Library’s Center for Local History)

(Updated at 12:25 p.m.) The woman murdered in a D.C. hotel room this past weekend was an Arlington native who attended Yorktown High School.

Christy Bautista was a student at Yorktown High School from 2007 to 2010, per high school yearbook photos, and was in orchestra her freshman year. She previously attended Swanson Middle School, confirmed by other former students and address records.

Bautista was a graduate of James Madison University in Harrisonburg.

Bautista, 31, was in the city to attend a concert, her family told NBC4, and had checked into the Ivy City Hotel on New York Avenue in Northeast D.C at around 6 p.m. Friday night.

Less than an hour after arriving, a man brutally attacked her with a knife inside her hotel room. Security cameras showed the man entering the room, followed by an audible struggle, court records note.

Thirteen minutes later, District police entered the room and arrested a 43-year-old man. Bautista was pronounced dead at the hotel at 7:10 p.m.

The suspect is being charged with first-degree murder, per court documents. It’s believed that he and Bautista did not know each other.

A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help Bautista’s family with funeral expenses. As of midday Wednesday it has raised nearly $10,000.

NEW: Police investigating bank robbery on Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com
1/8

Arlington County police are on scene of a bank robbery along Columbia Pike.

The Bank of America near the corner of the Pike and S. Glebe Road was robbed around 10:30 a.m. by a man who displayed or implied a gun and passed a note demanding cash, according to initial reports.

No injuries were reported. The suspect, described as a heavyset black male, possibly with tattoos on his arms, ran off with the cash.

“Expect continued police activity in the area,” ACPD said on social media.

Update on 4/5/23 — The police department has released the following on the robbery in its daily crime report.

BANK ROBBERY, 2023-04040102, 3400 block of Columbia Pike. At approximately 10:29 a.m. on April 4, police were dispatched to the report of an armed robbery. Upon arrival, it was determined the unknown male suspect entered the bank, slipped the teller a note, implied he had a weapon and demanded money. The suspect then entered a blue sedan and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. No weapon was seen or displayed, and no injuries were reported. The suspect is described as a Black male wearing a black jacket and a white mask. The investigation is ongoing.

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