Just over 5,000 Dominion customers were without power Saturday afternoon, according to the power company’s website.
The large outage, centered around Columbia Pike but running from Douglas Park in the south to Lyon Park in the north, is the result of storm damage, Dominion said. A line of thunderstorms with gusty winds and heavy rain rolled through Arlington prior to the outage.
A total of 5,044 customers were affected as of 2:45 p.m.
Dominion reported nearly 20,000 outages throughout Northern Virginia following the storms. The good news is that an earlier Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been dropped for Northern Virginia locales, suggesting that the worst of the storms is over.
Update at 7:20 p.m. — Power has mostly been restored after an hours-long outage. Fewer than 250 homes and businesses in Arlington remain in the dark as night falls, according to Dominion.
Showers late. Overcast. Mild. High of 73 and low of 53. Sunrise at 6:22 am and sunset at 7:52 pm. See more from Weather.gov.
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Ocean waves crashing
Silent whispers in the night
Moonlit serenade
🌅 Tonight’s sunset
We hope you have a great weekend, Arlington! Feel free to discuss the most-read stories of the week, the upcoming weekend events or anything else of local interest in the comments. 👋
The first phase of Amazon’s HQ2, dubbed Metropolitan Park, in Pentagon City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Toby’s Ice Cream is moving into Amazon HQ2 (photo courtesy of Amazon)
Taqueria Xochi is coming to Amazon HQ2 (photo courtesy of Amazon)
Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington is opening an outpost at Amazon HQ2 (photo courtesy of Amazon HQ2)
Taqueria Xochi and Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream are among another group of local businesses that are set to move into Amazon’s HQ2.
Amazon announced today that four more businesses will be opening up in Pentagon City, in the forthcoming first phase of the company’s second headquarters dubbed Metropolitan Park.
All of the businesses are planning to open up this summer, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow, along with the rest of “Met Park.”
This new shop will be Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream’s third location. It originally just had a shop in Westover Village before expanding to Vienna a year ago.
“You know, we present ourselves as your friendly neighborhood ice cream shop. We are ingrained in the Arlington community,” co-owner Toby Bantug said in a press release. “When we heard that Met Park’s focus was going to be on giving local community businesses expansion opportunities, we knew it aligned with our philosophy. It goes hand in hand.”
MoCA Arlington, the county’s preeminent art museum, is opening an “Innovation Studio” at Amazon HQ2.
This will be “where the public can experience the artistic process directly by interacting with artists and making art themselves,” said Amazon’s press release. The space will offer artists talks, public programming, and a museum retail store.
“When the organization was established, one of MoCA Arlington’s founding principles was to connect the community to contemporary art and artists,” said MoCA Arlington Executive Director Catherine Anchin. “This continues to be the mission that guides us today. Next year, we’ll celebrate our 50th anniversary, and our new location in Met Park will help us reach more of the county’s residents and visitors, providing a venue to celebrate the energy and creativity of both artists and the community.”
The coffee shop and cafe Mae’s Market, which opened in Old Town Alexandria in 2021, is also expanding with a second location inside of the new office complex. It’s owned by Nicole Jones, who also runs Del Ray’s Stomping Ground but it will be shuttering this month and turned into a taqueria.
The Amazon HQ2 shop will be the same concept as its original Mae’s Market in Old Town, per the press release.
Finally, popular D.C. fast-casual taco eatery Taqueria Xochi is making its move across the river with its inaugural Arlington location at Amazon HQ2. Launched by two chefs who cooked at celebrity chef José Andrés’ restaurants, it earned rave reviews when it first opened on U Street NW in 2020.
“Our dream when we opened the first Taqueria Xochi location was to bring authentic Mexican food to the D.C. area,” said co-owner Teresa Padilla. “Our tacos, how they are served, the simple ingredients, and the bold flavors are the same you would find on a trip to Mexico. To launch this second location at Amazon’s HQ2 is an expansion of that dream.”
These four new businesses joins a number of others that have previously announced their moves into the complex along S. Eads Street.
A sign along Washington Blvd in Westover, in a neighborhood with duplexes (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
(Updated at 1:35 p.m. on 4/26/23) A group of residents has filed a lawsuit in Arlington Circuit Court alleging the zoning changes called Missing Middle are illegal.
The residents say Arlington County ran afoul of state law by rushing through the changes without considering impacts on infrastructure and community resources — a frequent criticism of the years-long policy discussion.
Last month, the Arlington County Board approved changes to the zoning code allowing up to six-unit dwellings on lots previously zoned only for single-family homes. The Board did approve a set of limitations intended to control the pace and impact of development, including parking minimums, permit caps and tree planting requirements.
According to “Arlington Neighbors for Neighborhoods,” a group that issued a press release on behalf of the plaintiffs, that was not enough.
“State law requires that zoning ordinances consider needs for transportation, schools, parks, recreation, and public spaces, as well as the conservation of natural resources,” the statement said. “The law also requires consideration of a locality’s comprehensive plan, which addresses stormwater, sanitary sewer, water distribution and more.”
The group said the lawsuit claims Missing Middle — also referred to by the county as “Expanded Housing Options” or EHO — is “arbitrary and capricious and bears no reasonable relationship to public health, safety, morals or the general welfare, as required by state law.”
(In addition to issuing a press release, Arlington Neighbors for Neighborhoods “has raised funds to support the litigation,” an attorney for the plaintiffs told ARLnow.)
Their lawsuit says the county also violated state law the following ways:
The zoning amendment process was not initiated by a proper Planning Commission motion or County Board resolution
The zoning amendment was not properly advertised
The EHO cap is a special exception to the zoning regulations and requires County Board review of applications
The County Board failed to share with the public documents that were furnished to it about EHO
The county violated the Dillon rule by knowingly requiring a number of shade trees that exceeds what Virginia allows localities to impose
Their petition asks the Circuit Court to declare that the zoning amendments violate state law and prevent the county from issuing EHO permits.
The allegations that the County Board violated Virginia Freedom of Information Act laws may require a hearing in the coming days, said another anti-Missing Middle group, Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future (ASF), in an email newsletter today.
“There will likely be other hearings in the coming months,” ASF said. “Then, of course, there may be appeals. Any complaint in a lawsuit consists of allegations which must be proven in court, and challenging zoning is surely an uphill battle.”
ASF noted that the FOIA allegation resembles a successful lawsuit against Fairfax County that led to the overturn of zoning changes it made two years ago. Last month, the Virginia Supreme Court declared the county’s 2021 zoning modifications void because the new code was adopted at a mostly virtual meeting.
One of the Fairfax County plaintiffs even advised Arlington residents in a post on Nextdoor to file a lawsuit.
“Sue them,” she said in response to a post musing about recalling the Arlington County Board. “We just won our lawsuit… it took two years, but it was worth it.”
In response, two residents pointed out that her victory was on procedural grounds due to how the meeting was conducted.
“It will likely pass again, with in-person public hearings and votes,” said one Donaldson Run resident. “Congratulations, you’ve succeeded in wasting taxpayer dollars and time.”
