Around Town

County plans to buy dog-boarding facility in Green Valley for park expansion, boxing out brewery

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

Arlington is poised to buy two warehouses used by a dog-boarding facility in order to expand Jennie Dean Park.

On Saturday, the Arlington County Board is set to approve an agreement to buy the properties housing The Board Hound, at 3520 and 3522 S. Four Mile Run Drive in the Green Valley neighborhood, for $2 million.

The decision leaves New District Brewery to lick its wounds.

Co-owner Mike Katrivanos told ARLnow the brewery bid on the property as a “last shot” to staying open after its nearby 2709 S. Oakland Street location closes at the end of this month, due to a rent hike and lease disagreement. An indoor dog park and bar is set to take the brewery’s place.

Arlington County says it has been eyeing the Board Hound property since it adopted a master plan for Green Valley and Shirlington, dubbed Four Mile Run Valley, in 2018. The plan “identified for inclusion in the full buildout of Jennie Dean Park,” per a county report.

So when a real estate agent for The Board Hound, which operated in the area for some 10 years, asked the county if it was interested, the county pounced on the opportunity.

“The current owner has… has decided to close this location to consolidate its business at the main location in Alexandria on South Peyton Street,” the county says.

Arlington County says buying these properties helps to meet the goals of the 2019 Public Spaces Master Plan.

The plan calls for the addition of at least 30 acres of new public space over the next 10 years “to help address the challenge of meeting public spaces needs for a growing community.”

For park users, it may have a side benefit of reducing dog barking, which some have found to be a nuisance.

One Planning Commissioner at the start of this year referenced his experience at Jennie Dean Park in a conversation about how Arlington County should use zoning to regulate nuisances, such as dog barking, rather than entire businesses.

“I thought of Jennie Dean Park as I enjoyed it the other day with my children and the incessant barking that was continual and constant, and thought, those poor general neighbors across the street are enduring the constant barking of dogs but it’s next to an industrial zone,” said Stephen Hughes.

Industry is part of the area’s identity, as evidenced by several auto body shops, warehouses and Inner Ear Studios, which moved out of the neighborhood last year after the county bought the building it called home for decades.

Industrial use is also central to planning documents envisioning Green Valley as an “arts and industry district.”

Exactly what that will look like, however, depends on who is asked. The Green Valley Civic Association has previously said it takes a broader view of arts and industry than the county.

“From furniture-making to metal-working, from technological innovation to maker-spaces, from recording studios to culinary arts, in Green Valley we view the arts broadly,” civic association Vice-Chair Robin Stombler previously said.

As those uses materialize, the county continues its work to expand Jennie Dean Park.

In 2018, the County purchased the warehouse property located at 3514 S. Four Mile Run Drive and later demolished the building. WETA uses the property for parking.

On January 13, 2021, the County purchased 3620 27th St. S., which WETA is leasing for up to five years, or until January 2026. The public radio station will be able to move out of the building once new studios open at its renovated headquarters in Shirlington.

The county says it “could later vacate a significant portion of South 27th Street between the warehouse properties and the WETA property for incorporation into Jennie Dean Park.”

Traffic

Pair of races to close streets in Arlington this weekend

By ARLnow.com
Street closed by police with cones (file photo)

Two races, each taking place Saturday morning, will close streets in parts of Arlington this weekend.

Runners will be lining up for the 2023 Arlington Science Focus School 5K (and fun run) in Virginia Square and the 2023 Police Week 5K in Pentagon City. The latter is part of the ongoing Police Week events in the D.C. area.

More on the closures, below, from ACPD.

The Arlington County Police Department will conduct road closures in order to accommodate two upcoming events taking place on Saturday, May 13.

2023 Arlington Science Focus School 5k & 1 Mile Fun Run

The 2023 Arlington Science Focus School 5k & 1 Mile Fun Run will take place on Saturday, May 13. The following roadway will be closed from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.:

  • N. Lincoln Street, from 14th Street N. to 17th Street N.

The entrance to the parking lot for Hayes Park (1500 block of N. Lincoln Street) will be temporarily closed for the duration of the event.

2023 Police Week 5k

The 2023 National Police Week 5k will take place on Saturday, May 13, and will begin at approximately 9:00 a.m. The following roadways will be closed in order to accommodate the event:

From approximately 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

  • Army Navy Drive, from 12th Street S. to S. Eads Street
  • Southbound Route 110 ramp to Army Navy Drive

From approximately 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

  • Army Navy Drive, from S. Eads Street to S. Joyce Street
  • S. Joyce Street, from Army Navy Drive to Columbia Pike
  • Southgate Road, from S. Nash Street to Columbia Pike
  • S. Hayes Street, from Army Navy Drive to 12th Street S.
  • Northbound I-395 ramp to Army Navy Drive (Exit 8C)

From approximately 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

  • S. Eads Street, from Army Navy Drive to 12th Street S.
  • 11th Street S., from S. Eads Street to Army Navy Drive
  • Columbia Pike, from S. Joyce Street to the Washington Boulevard Ramp
  • Southbound Washington Boulevard, from Memorial Circle to Columbia Pike
  • Southbound Route 110, from I-66 East and Wilson Boulevard to Army Navy Drive / I-395 North ramp
  • Ramp to Army Navy Drive from exit 8A / Arlington Ridge Road/ Washington Boulevard

Additional Information

Community members should expect to see an increased police presence in these areas, and motorists are urged to follow law enforcement direction, be mindful of closures, and remain alert for increased pedestrian traffic. Additional closures not mentioned above may be implemented at police discretion in the interest of public safety.

Motorists should be on the lookout for temporary “No parking” signs, as street parking in the area will be limited. Illegally parked vehicles may be ticketed or towed. If your vehicle is towed from a public street, call the Emergency Communications Center 703-558-2222.

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 County lifts vax mandate for employees as public health emergency ends

By Jo DeVoe
A vaccine shot (via Arlington County/YouTube)

Arlington County is lifting its vaccine mandate for anyone who works or volunteers for county government.

The change today (Thursday) coincides with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ending the national public health emergency.

“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.

Around Town

Fmr. Capitals head coach’s Ballston home goes on market today

By Jo DeVoe
1/11

It may not be regulation hockey rink size, but off-ice hockey drills could easily take place inside the rec room of a Ballston home that is now up for sale, with a notable seller.

After working up a sweat, you could grab a drink from the wet bar in the room or make a post-workout snack in the kitchen, outfitted with high-end appliances.

Such uses would be a fitting tribute to former Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette, the soon-to-be former owner. He agreed to part ways with the team this summer and is selling his 7-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom home in walking distance of the Ballston Metro station.

The home at 608 N. Vermont Street hit the market today (Thursday) with a price tag of nearly $2.7 million. The listing on Redfin says the house is already “popular,” garnering north of 1,100 views this morning.

Realtor Danielle Johnson tells ARLnow she has a public open house scheduled for Saturday from 1-3 p.m.

“Obviously, the property in general is so special,” she says. “When they moved in, everything was almost complete. It was a custom built home and then, they came in and they added some amazing features.”

The Laviolettes extended out their paved driveway and added an interior and exterior security system, with an electric security gate, she said. They added custom closets, electric blinds and updated the landscaping, among other changes.

“So even though the house was unbelievable when they bought it, they put a lot of their own money into it with upgrades,” she said. “The Laviolettes left before they were really ready or hoping to, but that’s hockey.”

Laviolette and his wife, Kristen, bought the custom house in the fall of 2020, when it was almost complete and added those finishing touches. Johnson says it was their first “empty-nester” home, with few signs of wear and tear that come with kids.

“It is the first home they lived in while coaching with all the kids out of the house,”  she said. “They were excited to live closer to the city and out of the suburbs. They wanted to be able to walk to restaurants and shops.”

And, a year in, they told NBC Sports it felt like they were finally settling into the 28th home the family had lived in throughout Peter’s career. Before the Capitals, he coached the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators and Philadelphia Flyers.

The real estate adage “location, location, location” was never more true than for the couple. From their Ballston digs, the head coach walked or took a bike to work every day, says Johnson.

“It’s steps away from Ballston Quarter,” she said. “It’s such an awesome location because you still get the feel of a neighborhood with all the beautiful homes around you but then you are literally a one-minute walk to Ballston Quarter and then to the Metro.”

(more…)

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