News

County Board gives green light to new outdoor dining regulations for restaurants

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

Starting next month, restaurants can apply to keep their Covid-era temporary outdoor seating areas, or TOSAs, for good.

On Saturday, the Arlington County Board approved a framework for restaurant operators to follow if they want to make their outdoor dining areas permanent. Some restaurant operators viewed these as a lifeline when indoor dining was restricted and, later, they became an attractive feature and source of extra revenue.

The changes are nearly two years in the making but are right in the nick of time for restaurants, as their TOSAs — approved via a streamlined Covid-era process — expire next month. Now, they have from when applications open on Sept. 1 until Oct. 16 to apply for new permits.

“I think the pandemic has been an eye-opening moment for Arlington,” Board member Takis Karantonis said. “We now have a new relationship to our outside space. We see our urbanism with different eyes.”

The new ordinances create an administrative review process for restaurant operators looking to expand on private property and public sidewalks, provided they leave six feet for pedestrians. County Board permission is needed for using privately owned public spaces. The County Board can modify parking requirements so private spots can be repurposed.

Over the next month, the county says it will be communicating the changes to restaurant operators and publishing guides for applying.

Outdoor café design guidelines (via Arlington County)

The Board approved the new ordinances despite concerns from some residents, plus the Transportation Commission and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, which both said the Board should defer its vote.

These groups and individuals said they generally support outdoor dining but predicted these amendments will take up sidewalks and leave enforcement up to individuals who complain.

Pedestrian Advisory Committee member Pamela Van Hine told the Board that TOSAs overtook the sidewalk in a neighborhood she and a friend used to frequent for lunch and forced them to walk in the gutter.

“My friend is disabled. She typically uses a walker or wheelchair. Do you know how hard it is to walk in the street?” she said on Saturday, choking back tears. “We realized that we can’t go back there until the TOSAs are gone.”

In a letter to the county, Transportation Commission Chair Chris Slatt noted that some staff were unable to answer questions about the plan and that the county should take time to improve it:

We understand that a deadline is approaching that makes implementation of final rules for sidewalk cafes feel urgent, but careful questioning of staff at the Commission made it clear that staff will already be unable to process these new sidewalk café applications before the deadline arrives and will simply not pursue enforcement action against the old “TOSA” cafes until they can be handled. As such the deadline seems largely symbolic and taking another month or two to get these implementation details correct would be wise.

(more…)

Around Town

An Arlington teen has been rowing for over 50 hours in an attempt to beat a world record

By Hallie LeTendre
1/3

As Derek Cushman rowed for the ninth hour of the day, he responded to ARLnow’s questions between heavy breaths from exhaustion via a Twitch chat box.

The recent Wakefield High School graduate has been rowing on a machine in his living room for six days now, in an attempt to beat the current men’s world record for 1 million meters rowed by someone under 19 years old. The record for the age category, set in 2020, stands at 10 days, 13 hours and four minutes.

Cushman has been rowing from roughly 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. since last Friday, July 14, reaching a minimum of 110,000 meters each day in order to stay on track to beat the record.

“I am feeling good. A lot better than I was expecting. I am unbelievably confident that I will beat the current record. I am hoping to beat it by more than a day,” Cushman said.

His attempt to take the world record title is also his way of raising money for the Wakefield High School crew team. Every day, a live stream of Cushman is available to watch on Twitch where viewers can comment, watch him row and scan a QR code to donate.

Cushman said he feels like he owes it to the team to raise the money, as his four years on the roster helped land him a spot on La Salle University’s Division I crew team.

“Wakefield Crew does not have a lot of money. I want this money to be used to pay for kids who do not have the funds to be on the team, but do have the talent,” Cushman said. “I hope I can also raise enough money to help buy the team some new boats or equipment.”

Members of the teen’s family and his friends can often be seen sitting in the living room with Cushman, supporting and distracting him from the pain he said his body is in.

Cushman’s mother told ARLnow that she is very proud of her son and thinks it is impressive that he is dedicated to doing something so intensive.

For his part, Cushman says he is determined to complete his goal, despite how mentally taxing it has been to row every day for 10 hours, with only some momentary breaks.

“This is not something that I have been training for. I was the fastest guy on the team last year so I figured I could beat this record,” Cushman said. “Getting my name in the record book would prove to myself and others that I am an athlete to not forget about. I have the mental toughness to row for days on end and the determination to succeed.”

Sponsored

Halls Hill native recalls making history with Civil Rights-era lawsuit over voting in Arlington

By Scott McCaffrey

As a 23-year-old voter in still-segregated 1960s Virginia, Portia Haskins was convinced she had followed all the rules in order to cast a ballot in Arlington.

Election officials disagreed, saying she had failed to pay the appropriate poll tax still required in the Old Dominion, maintained in part to disenfranchise Black voters.

Haskins took the county, and state, to court. She won, with her case ultimately being folded into the landmark 1966 Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Haskins was an unusual legal combatant, committed to seeking unity.

“I’m the type of person who wants to bring everyone together,” the Halls Hill native said at a weekend presentation sponsored by the county library system and hosted by the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.

After her efforts to vote were rejected at the local level, Haskins enlisted support from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to challenge the ruling. She traveled several times to the U.S. District Court in Richmond, then watched as the case and others like it moved to the Supreme Court.

Her reaction at the final outcome? “I was so happy,” she said.

The 6-3 ruling in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections effectively outlawed requiring poll taxes for state elections in those few states, like Virginia, that retained them. The poll-tax requirement for federal elections had been eliminated with ratification of the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1964.

Lessons from the struggle are still valuable today, said Haskins, now 83.

“Everybody has to come together and fight” when they see injustice, she said. “You have to get together.”

Historical photo of Portia Haskins (via Black Heritage Museum of Arlington)

Haskins is among the Arlingtonians profiled in the “From Barriers to Ballots,” an exhibition marking the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Several versions of the exhibition are on display across Northern Virginia, with one at Central Library running through Nov. 4.

The Arlington Historical Society partnered on the exhibition, and was excited about the Haskins presentation, former president David Pearson said.

“She is someone we really wanted to learn about,” he said, pointing to a renewed effort to “really get out the stories of the complete history of Arlington.”

Haskins has been a member of Mount Salvation Baptist Church near the Glebewood neighborhood since 1951, and in the community she has promoted “the spirit of community and empowerment,” said Scott Taylor, president of the Black Heritage Museum.

Haskins lamented that much of the history of the civil-rights movement is being lost in the public consciousness.

“We went through a lot, but people today don’t know,” she said. Young people in particular, she said, “don’t care because they don’t know.”

Her request to today’s youth? “Let everybody know how you feel” and use the ballot box to create change.

“Voting is important. That’s what everybody really needs to do,” Haskins said.

News

Arlington reigns supreme as nation’s fittest ‘city’ for sixth year in a row

By Hallie LeTendre
1/4

Arlington secured the number one spot as the “fittest city” in the nation — for the sixth year in a row.

The new 2023 rankings were released yesterday (Tuesday) by the American College of Sports Medicine and Elevance Health Foundation.

The rankings found that Arlingtonians not only tend to make health-conscious decisions — eating vegetables, not smoking and biking to work — but also have access to an abundance of parks, trails and wide sidewalks to stay active.

“I am very impressed with Arlington for getting this spot for the sixth year in a row, however, I won’t say I am surprised. The county has done well with creating the assets needed to have a healthy community,” chair of the American Fitness Index Advisory Board Dr. Stella Volpe told ARLnow yesterday. “Arlington has resources for making the healthy choice the easy choice for its residents.”

Arlington County and 99 other cities and municipalities were evaluated based on 34 evidence-based health indicators, such as recreational facilities and how often residents work out. It ranked in the top 10 cities for 16 of these criteria.

The county topped both the “personal health” category, which measures individual fitness choices and health outcomes, and the “community-environment” category, which measures indicators such as access to recreational facilities, a press release said.

“Getting a title like this is a great honor for Arlington,” Volpe said. “The city is on a great roll and is certainly doing things right. It is something to be happy about.”

Arlington scored the highest in the nation for the percentage of residents who had exercised in the last month, landing at 89.9%, and had the lowest score in the nation for the percentage of residents with diabetes, at 5.8%.

The report noted that Arlington had not had any pedestrian deaths in the most recent federal data available, from 2020, but there have been some fatalities since then.

D.C. and Seattle fell just behind Arlington, ranking in second and third place overall.

“Residents are almost forced to be active in Arlington which is part of the reason why the city keeps winning,” Volpe said.

2023 Fitness Ranking infographic (courtesy American College of Sports Medicine)

The press release about the rankings release is below.

(more…)

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
The Capitol as seen from the US Marine Corps War Memorial on a hazy summer day (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Talento Sworn In As Interim Board Member — “Tannia Talento was unanimously appointed to the Arlington County Board on Saturday, July 15, 2023, during the Board’s regular meeting. She was sworn in at Tuesday’s Recessed meeting and will serve out the term remainder of former Board member Katie Cristol, who stepped down July 4, 2023.” [Arlington County, Twitter]

DCA Proposal Down to Seven Add’l Flights — “A bipartisan group of lawmakers revised downward its plan to add more long-distance flights at Reagan National Airport in hopes of finding more support, offering a measure that would add seven round trips instead of the 28 the group originally sought.” [Washington Post]

Bad Day for Local Hondas — “2400 block of Army Navy Drive/S. Vance Court at 27th Street S./2600 block of S. Vance Court. At approximately 8:57 a.m. on July 17, police were dispatched to the late report of a larceny. Upon arrival, it was determined between approximately 5:00 p.m. on July 16 and 8:52 a.m. on July 17, the unknown suspect(s) removed the tires and rims from three vehicles, smashed the passenger’s side window of one vehicle and tampered with a fourth vehicle. All involved vehicles are Honda models.” [ACPD]

ACFD Helping Out in Vermont — “A team from the Arlington County Fire Department has headed to Vermont to support recovery efforts after significant flooding impacted the state. The fire departments of Arlington and the city of Fairfax teamed up to deploy eight swift-water-rescue personnel to aid in recovery efforts.” [Gazette Leader]

Arlington Tops ‘Digital’ List Again — “Arlington County is proud to be recognized as the No. 1 Digital County for 2023 by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties. This year’s award marks the sixth time that Arlington has received the top spot in the nation for the 150,000-249,999-population category.” [Arlington County]

Synetic Nixes Some Performances — “Unexpected problems with its performance space have caused Synetic Theatre to cancel this week’s performances of its summer production, ‘Cyrano de Bergerac.’ Shows set for July 20-23 have been nixed… ‘Earlier this month, acoustic ceiling tiles within the facility failed, falling into the theater,’ they said.” [Gazette Leader]

More on New Crystal City Metro Entrance — “The lone existing Crystal City Metrorail entrance, at South Bell Street and 18th Street South on the west side of a lengthy block, was frequently at capacity during peak ridership times pre-pandemic, and usage is expected to grow with development in the area. A typical Metro rider living or working on Crystal Drive will save about three to five minutes walking or using a mobility device to access the new Crystal City Metrorail Station entrance. Construction on the $146.1 million project could begin next summer and is expected to be completed in 2027.” [Arlington County]

Commercial Vacancy Blues — “Arlington had the highest year-end-2022 office-vacancy rate of any jurisdiction across Northern Virginia and the second highest among all localities in the region, according to new Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments data. The vacancy rate on the roughly 64 million square feet of office space in the county stood at 19.5 percent at year-end… Across the metro area, that’s second only to Greenbelt, Md., whose estimated office-vacancy rate was 21.5 percent.” [Gazette Leader]

New DCA Parking Garage? — “The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority appears to have a plan to address parking shortages at the increasingly busy Reagan National Airport, where the space inventory often fills to 100% capacity, or very near it, during peak periods. The authority is readying a solicitation for a 1,500-space, three-story modular parking garage, which would be built on the existing economy lot at National. Modular is the key: The garage would be ‘relocatable,’ according to a staff presentation released ahead of the MWAA board’s Wednesday meeting.” [Washington Business Journal]

TV News Producer’s Plea Deal — “A former national security journalist for ABC News who was indicted on child pornography charges this year has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors, a court docket indicates… The FBI said agents searched [James Gordon] Meek’s apartment in Arlington last year and found explicit images and videos of minors on his electronic devices, after receiving a tip that began with the online file storage company Dropbox.” [Washington Post]

It’s Wednesday — Expect isolated showers followed by possible thunderstorms after 11am, partly sunny weather with a high near 88, and a light northeast wind of about 5 mph. The chance of rain is 40%. For Wednesday night, there’s a chance of showers and thunderstorms primarily before 2am. Otherwise, expect partly cloudy skies with a low around 71. [Weather.gov]

View More Stories