County Board

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.”

As early voting kicks off, Democratic hopefuls are picking up a variety of endorsements

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

With early and caucus voting underway, some candidates for local office are getting boosts from prominent Arlington Democrats.

Arlington is a Democratic stronghold for state and national politics. On the local level, that ethos has fueled intense focus on who will get the official support of the local party — even for non-partisan positions on the Arlington School Board.

Among sitting County Board members, there is strong support for Acting Sheriff Jose Quiroz, who has received endorsements from outgoing Chair Christian Dorsey, Vice-Chair Libby Garvey and member Matt de Ferranti. Quiroz also has support from State Sen. Barbara Favola and Dels. Alfonso Lopez and Patrick Hope, as well as his predecessor, former sheriff Beth Arthur.

His opponents, retired Deputy Sheriff Wanda Younger and Arlington police officer James Herring, have not published endorsements on their websites.

No other candidate websites list endorsements from Dorsey or outgoing member Katie Cristol, both of whom are stepping down this year. Of the remaining County Board members, they diverged on their support for a Commonwealth’s Attorney. De Ferranti and Karantonis support incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti while Garvey supports challenger Josh Katcher, who worked for Dehghani-Tafti and her predecessor, Theo Stamos.

Dehghani-Tafti’s website lists a slew of endorsements from elected Democrats, including Reps. Don Beyer and Jennifer McClellan, State Sen. Barbara Favola, Dels. Hope and Lopez as well as endorsements from the Washington Post and the Falls Church News-Press. Campaign financing records show she has received donations from political groups that support progressive prosecutors.

Katcher’s supporters including former Arlington School Board member Barbara Kanninen, education activist Symone Walker and the local firefighters union. Campaign materials shared with ARLnow show that Stamos has promoted meet-and-greet opportunities with Katcher, one of which former independent County Board member John Vihstadt hosted.

Campaign financing records show some of Katcher’s biggest recent contributors of $1,000 or more include himself, former School Board member Abby Raphael, retired Deputy Chief of Police Daniel Murray, a former candidate for Stafford County’s treasurer, and longtime local GOP civic figure John Antonelli, who previously donated to Vihstadt and Stamos.

For County Board, stances on housing and development seem to have informed which sitting Board members support them.

De Ferranti endorsed two candidates to join him on the Board: Julius “J.D.” Spain, Sr. and Maureen Coffey, who also picked up an endorsement from Takis Karantonis and $5,000 contributions from a labor union. The stances of the two candidates on housing and the environment have also earned them the support of YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, Greater Greater Washington and the Sierra Club.

Vice-Chair Libby Garvey has diverged from her colleagues, endorsing Natalie Roy and Susan Cunningham, who previously ran for County Board as an independent.

Cunningham, who has led affordable housing and social safety net nonprofits, and Roy, who also considers environmental action a top priority, staked out positions opposed to the zoning changes known as Missing Middle for being short-sighted. Garvey helped usher in the new ordinance, allowing by-right development of 2-6 unit buildings on single-family lots, but later elaborated on her misgivings.

Supporters for Roy and Cunningham include some previously elected Democrats as well as community and civic association leaders and, for Cunningham, advocates for affordable housing and more robust social safety net initiatives. Roy picked up the support of former School Board members Nancy Van Doren and James Lander.

Roy’s largest contributor donated $7,000 in this race, including $4,000 to her, $1,000 to Cunningham and $2,000 to Katcher. Cunningham’s largest supporter donated $2,000 to her this race and in her 2020 bid as an independent.

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Park next to Amazon HQ2 set to get a new farmers market

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

When Amazon opens the first phase of its second headquarters in June, it is preparing to debut a new farmers market, too.

This farmers market is set to pop up four Saturdays a month starting June 24. It will be located inside the $14 million public park Amazon renovated as part of the Metropolitan Park or “Met Park” first phase of HQ2, at the corner of 13th Street S. and S. Eads Street.

Loudoun County-based EatLoco is set to operate the market within the park, which features meandering paths and public art.

The organization’s founder and CEO Dan Hine says it will be its first outside of Loudoun County and his “rock star” location, with at least 80 vendors and possibly live entertainment.

“When Amazon approached us back in August 2022 with this idea, we stepped up to the challenge by promising only the Best-of-the-Best Farmers, Food producers and Crafters for this one-of-a-kind, spacious venue,” Hine said in a statement on the EatLoco website. “This game-changer location has a neighboring dog park, children’s park and plenty of table seating for eating and relaxing provided by our Sponsors.”

Hine says he is working on plans for on-site entertainment “to keep customers coming and staying longer.”

“As always, we will do this the ‘EatLoco’ way,” he said. “Well marketed, professionally managed, and of course extremely well attended.”

This weekend, the Arlington County Board is set to consider a use permit allowing EatLoco to operate four Saturdays a month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., March through November. It will be located at a green space to the east of a meandering path users can access from 13th and 14th Street S. and S. Fair Street.

Aerial view of the location for the proposed farmers market in Metropolitan Park (via Arlington County)

EatLoco’s website says the market will run through Nov. 18.

As part of the agreement, the county is requiring EatLoco to work with the Aurora Highlands Civic Association and the county regarding signage, parking locations and noise restrictions.

Meanwhile, work on Met Park is almost complete, according to Clark Construction, which has overseen the project for the last three-and-a-half years.

Last week, it published the following construction update on its website:

After years of planning, and 40 months of construction, we’ve reached the final chapter in Metropolitan Park’s delivery. As our team puts the finishing touches on our work on site, we wanted to thank you — our neighbors and community partners — for your inquiries, engagement, and, most importantly, your patience and support over the last three years.

Soon the children’s park, edible garden and forest walk will be open and accessible to all. Soon, local businesses will activate new retail spaces, serving up new amenities and flavors that will further enhance this community. Soon, Metropolitan Park’s two 22-stories towers will be filled with new people and ideas.

While the physical structures our team will leave behind fill us with a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment, we are equally proud of the significant economic impact this project has created. From contracting opportunities for local, small, and diverse companies, to apprenticeships, to unique learning experiences for our craft workforce and project management team, Metropolitan Park’s construction has served as a platform for growth. We are honored to deliver this important asset that has and will continue to invigorate the Arlington community for decades to come.

Several local businesses will be moving into the 65,000 square feet of street-level retail, including a daycare and a spa, Arlington’s second Conte’s Bike Shop, District Dogs and an outpost of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) Arlington.

There will also be a slew of restaurants and cafés, including Westover-based Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream and D.C.-based Taqueria Xochi, which were announced last month.

Plans to build a bridge between Crystal City and DCA poised to take two steps forward

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

A plan for a pedestrian bridge between Crystal City and Reagan National Airport is headed to the Arlington County Board for endorsement this weekend.

Specifically, the Board is set to bless a girder-style bridge that will connect a future southern entrance to the Virginia Railway Express station at 2011 Crystal Drive to the airport’s Terminal 2. It is also slated to approve more funding for an engineering firm to further develop designs for the bridge, dubbed the CC2DCA multimodal connection.

“The goal of the project is to create an intermodal connection designed to meet the needs of a broad range of pedestrians, bicyclists, and micro-mobility users of all ages and abilities between the core of Crystal City, the Mount Vernon Trail, and DCA,” per a county report.

Currently, getting from Crystal City to DCA on foot or bike involves navigating a series of trails and crossings the county has previously described as “circuitous.”

“Once completed, the journey from the foot of the bridge to the newly constructed security checkpoint at DCA would be about 1,300 feet,” the National Landing Business Improvement District said in a pamphlet published last winter. “Once completed, the new CC2DCA Multimodal Connector would make National Landing the only downtown in the country with its main street within a comfortable 5-minute walk from a major airport.”

After endorsing the project on Saturday, the Board is set to approve a new $4.2 million contract with Boston-based civil engineering firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) so it can begin drafting preliminary designs. This includes nearly $386,000 in contingency.

CC2DCA preferred alternative and limits of land disturbance (via Arlington County)

Although it may seem incremental, the county says these signs of progress are important milestones in the years-long project, which the county projects could be completed in 2028.

First, this step forward means that a conceptual design phase and environmental review process led by the civil engineering firm VHB are wrapping up.

The County Board approved its first contract with the engineering firm in the spring of 2021 for design work.

Since then, the county, VHB and state and federal agencies winnowed down 16 initial bridge and tunnel connections to a “preferred alternative” and a runner-up bridge proposal, both unveiled last October.

The county says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Parks Service signed off on the “preferred alternative” this February.

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Democratic County Board hopefuls say it is time to heal from Missing Middle divisions

By Jo DeVoe
County Board hopefuls at Arlington County Democratic Committee forum (via Arlington Democrats/YouTube)

The specter of Missing Middle haunts the slate of candidates for Arlington County Board.

Two months ago, the County Board allowed the by-right construction of 2-6 unit buildings on lots previously zoned for single-family homes.

Prior to voting for the changes, Board Chair Christian Dorsey and member Katie Cristol announced that they would not be seeking reelection. Those vying to replace them vary widely in their stances on Missing Middle, though a forum last week hosted by Arlington County Democratic Committee revealed areas of common ground.

Some Democrat hopefuls opined about how the process leading up to the zoning changes divided the community and revealed how renters are underrepresented in civic life. Mostly, the candidates suggested that they are focused on life after Missing Middle and supporting other policies to help people afford to live in Arlington.

“We don’t get a do-over. There is no do-over, there is only a do-next,” said policy analyst Maureen Coffey. “We need to learn from this process, what went wrong — never repeat that ever again — and move forward, bringing everyone to the table to talk about how this is going to play out and what we need to solve our housing and larger issues.”

All of the candidates agreed the county will need to analyze data before deciding on next steps.

“Monitoring closely is going to be really important — especially monitoring on elements of diversity and affordability,” said Susan Cunningham, who has run for County Board before as an independent and criticized the zoning changes.

Cunningham suggested modifying rules for accessory dwelling units and for lot coverage, which could curb the development of large homes oft-derided as “McMansions.”

“My biggest problem with Missing Middle was not just the process but the fact that we did not do a comprehensive look at housing,” Cunningham said. “Housing is complicated and housing this whole community in its diversity and amazingness is also complicated, and we oversimplified that in my opinion.”

To that end, another candidate opposed to the changes, real estate agent Natalie Roy, detailed her views on housing in a three-part plan. It includes implementing a proposal from the Arlington branch of the NAACP to prevent the displacement of low-income residents.

Roy said the county should provide a public dashboard showing where and what kind of permits are issued, as well as the selling price for completed units. Arlington County has already committed to publishing this data once it becomes available.

Missing Middle supporter Jonathan Dromgoole said he too is watching where the units are built. Next, he said, the county should focus on shoring up the dwindling supply of relatively inexpensive, market-rate units. This is something Arlington County is already looking at as these units are continuously lost to redevelopment and rehabilitation.

Former NAACP Arlington Branch president Julius “J.D.” Spain, Sr. said he is thinking farther outside the box.

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BREAKING: Katie Cristol stepping down from Arlington County Board to lead Tysons booster org

By ARLnow.com
County Board Chair Katie Cristol in 2022 (via Arlington County)

Arlington County Board member Katie Cristol is stepping down early to take a new job.

Cristol has been selected as the first permanent CEO of the Tysons Community Alliance (TCA), the organization announced this morning. TCA is the successor to the former Tysons Partnership, intended to spur the continued residential and economic growth of the Fairfax County community.

Cristol, who had previously announced that she would not be seeking reelection this year, will be stepping down on July 4 in order to take the new job, the county just announced. A new Board member will be appointed after she leaves.

Though she’ll be working to boost one of Arlington’s primary economic development competitors, Cristol says she’ll remain an Arlington resident.

From a county press release:

Board member Katie Cristol has announced that she will be stepping down from her role on the Arlington County Board, effective July 4, 2023.

“Though arriving a little sooner than anticipated, this transition is every bit the same opportunity to share my deep gratitude to the Arlington community: For the privilege to represent you and for the partnership in achieving new policies, directions, and plans for our shared future,” Cristol said. “In my nearly seven and a half years in office, I have developed an immense appreciation for the dedication of Arlington’s appointed and elected officials and its civic, neighborhood, philanthropic, and private sector leaders. Though I will miss our collaborative partnerships, I feel great optimism about the County’s future under their stewardship.”

Board member Cristol was elected to the County Board in November 2015 and served as the Board’s chair in 2018 and 2022. During that time, she led in advancing human services and sustainable regional public transit networks through partnerships such as Arlington’s Project PEACE, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, the Virginia Railway Express Operations Board, and the Virginia Municipal League. Cristol is ending her tenure early to become the Chief Executive Officer of Tysons Community Alliance, a new non-profit public-private partnership promoting equitable economic growth and community development in the Tysons area.

“My colleagues join me in thanking Katie Cristol for her tireless service and expert leadership as a Member of the County Board.” Chair Christian Dorsey said. “She has been a trusted colleague and a distinguished leader on regional bodies representing Arlington. Her contributions to our collective efforts to increase opportunities for all Arlingtonians to thrive, while dismantling and reforming systems that cause them harm, have been profound and will have a lasting impact on our community. We will miss her over the last half of this year, yet we wish her well in her upcoming leadership opportunity and are grateful for her service on behalf of us all.”

Cristol adds that, as she transitions from the County Board, “I am looking forward to continuing to serve our dynamic Northern Virginia region in my new role and to maintaining the title most important to me: Arlington resident.”

Pursuant to Virginia Code 15.2-705, the Arlington County Board must fill Board member Cristol’s vacancy by appointment within 30 days of her departure date of July 4. The Board will hold a public hearing to appoint a new member who will serve the remainder of Cristol’s term, which ends on December 31, 2023.

Cristol is in her second term on the Board, after first being elected in 2015. She previously worked as an education consultant.

In a statement released on social media, Cristol called her early departure from the Board “more than a little bittersweet.”

The Tysons Community Alliance press release is below.

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After extensive training, Arlington’s Community Oversight Board is ready to hear complaints about police

By Jo DeVoe
Independent Policing Auditor Mummi Ibrahim during an Arlington County Board meeting on Tuesday, April 25 (via Arlington County)

Arlington County’s Community Oversight Board and Independent Policing Auditor can now, officially, begin investigating community complaints about police officers.

The incremental step took place on Tuesday after the Arlington County Board approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the oversight board, or COB, and the Arlington County Police Department.

Now, it will begin doing community outreach so people know the oversight board exists and they can reach out if they have a complaint.

County Board members indicated reaching this point required a lot of hard work.

During the meeting, Board Member Katie Cristol thanked ACPD and the oversight board for finalizing their agreement, “which I know was not always the easiest project.”

The MOU outlines what the oversight board can do and how ACPD shares records and data. The board can review public complaints, incidents where police used force and internal investigations. It can then produce reports and make policy recommendations based on this work.

“We have a lot of work to do but what we set out in the Memorandum of Understanding and the work we’ve done so far gives us good marching orders to get started with this very important work,” Independent Policing Auditor Mummi Ibrahim said.

The milestone comes nearly two years after the Arlington County Board approved the creation of the oversight board with subpoena power — a hotly contested authority. Arlington’s Police Practices Work Group, convened after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police, recommended an oversight board with this power.

This COB has seven voting members and two non-voting seats, of which one is currently vacant. Over 100 residents applied to fill a seat and inaugural members were appointed in March 2022.

“We are very, very lucky to have a cross-section of people with different personal, professional, social, family and economic backgrounds supporting us,” said COB Chair Julie Evans. “It has made for valuable dialogue amongst ourselves about how to organize for this body and how to best serve the Arlington community in the interest of the ordinance vision.”

Ibrahim was hired shortly after, though a veto from Gov. Glenn Youngkin — upheld in a party-line legislative vote — kept her from reporting directly to the County Board. That was intended to give her more independence to issue her own reports. Instead, she and the police department both report to County Manager Mark Schwartz.

When they were not hammering out the MOU, the volunteer board members were training.

Ibrahim said the Arlington oversight board is “probably the most highly trained COB in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and I think it’s fair to say, in the nation.”

Collectively, members completed 450 hours of training, including eight hours of ACPD tactical training at the Northern Virginia Training Academy and nine ACPD training courses.

“That was the bulk of our time last year,” Evans said. “While it was very demanding, it was very valuable and will serve us well in sort of creating a root of this work in understanding how ACPD is set up to operate now.”

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County Board mulls putting pickleball courts in empty offices and private clubs

By Jo DeVoe
1/9

One person’s vacant building is another’s future pickleball facility.

Not to be topped by a County Board candidate’s suggestion to put pickleball facilities at the condemned Key Bridge Marriott, Board Vice-Chair Libbey Garvey mulled whether vacant office buildings could be retrofitted for courts.

“We’ve got these office buildings that are kind of empty, and we’re trying to figure out what to do with them,” she asked at the Board’s Tuesday meeting. “Is that a possibility?”

Already recognized in some rankings as a great place to play pickleball, Arlington County is looking to add more courts in response to the sport’s booming popularity. But it has found itself in a pickle, balancing pressure to add courts with pressure to address pickleball-related noise and land use concerns from some neighbors.

During the Arlington County Board conversation with the Dept. of Parks and Recreation, members took a diplomatic approach, in contrast to the threats of legal action, accusations of bullying and public urination, and late night TV lampooning that have characterized the ongoing local pickleball battle.

In addition to Garvey’s vision for pickleball taking over vacant office buildings, others floated nudging private clubs to get in on the fun. They said private courts could ease the burden on the local government to add facilities, mute the “pop” the paddles emit and help address the stubborn office vacancy rate.

Such possibilities would require working with Arlington Economic Development, said Dept. of Parks and Recreation Director Jane Rudolph.

“There’d have to be an evaluation with others who understand layouts of office building and warehouses and things and with [Arlington Economic Development] colleagues about what we could be doing in existing private spaces and if they could be built out,” she said.

Arlington Economic Development’s Director of Real Estate Development Marc McCauley told ARLnow that zoning changes the Arlington County Board approved on Saturday do open up opportunities for private pickleball facilities in vacant retail and commercial spaces.

“These private facilities, such as national operator Chicken N Pickle” — a sport, restaurant and event space — “are emerging concepts that could theoretically relieve some demand pressure on use of pickleball courts in public facilities,” McCauley said. “Challenges may include ceiling height, floor plate size and noise attenuation, but those issues would need to be studied by a property owner and potential tenant on a case by case basis.”

Another example is Kraken Kourts, with two locations in D.C. that offer pickleball, axe throwing, roller skating and a rage room — a place to break things to let off steam.

Board Chair Christian Dorsey asked whether DPR has considered how the the county could “encourage some operators to set up some pickleball facilities so that this doesn’t become solely a government responsibility.”

In communities known for their pickleball amenities, Dorsey observed there are major, private indoor-outdoor facilities which sometimes have “really substantial membership costs or drop-in fee costs.”

This includes, Board member Takis Karantonis noted, “some very private places with a lot of tennis courts — a lot of new tennis courts, actually.”

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Feds change helicopter flight paths in response to local noise complaints

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

The federal government says it will direct helicopters to fly higher and on new paths to spare residents of Arlington and neighboring locales from excessive noise.

These changes respond to years of noise complaints about helicopters buzzing overhead, many of which are going to and from the Pentagon.

The new measures were announced yesterday (Tuesday) morning at a press conference at the Fairlington Community Center. The event featured remarks from elected officials, federal agency representatives and the helicopter industry, which were later included in a press release from U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).

“Since I took office over eight years ago, helicopter noise has been a constant source of complaints from constituents across Northern Virginia,” Beyer said in a statement. “Here in the nation’s capital with military, medical, commercial and other aviation, aircraft noise will always be with us — but there are things we can do to help reduce the impact on residents.”

He said the actions taken yesterday directly respond to community input.

“I thank the many people whose efforts helped inform the actions we are announcing today, as well as our partners across levels of government who are acting to reduce helicopter noise in Northern Virginia,” he said.

Meanwhile, a system for logging complaints — developed last year from recommendations in a 2021 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report — will be sticking around so residents can continue filing complaints.

Arlington County and neighboring jurisdictions will jointly pay to keep the complaint system operating.

Local elected officials in attendance included Arlington County Board members Katie Cristol, Matt de Ferranti and Takis Karantonis and Vice-Chair Libby Garvey, who gave a speech.

“We are especially pleased that our residents could participate meaningfully in this process, and now will continue to,” she said. “In a democracy it is crucial that people have a voice in how their government affects them.”

Arlington County Board Vice-Chair Libby Garvey speaks at a press conference announcing new flight patterns to mitigate noise on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 (courtesy photo)

Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said the system is “far more than a nicety to assuage frustrated residents.”

“This tool gathered data that was used by the [Federal Aviation Association] to make important changes that will mitigate helicopter noise across our region,” he said. “Our residents weren’t just listened to — they were heard.”

The FAA reviewed data the system collected last year as well as studied by the GAO, Arlington and Montgomery counties, and the Dept. of Defense, which suggested helicopters could fly higher.

After studying this body of work, the FAA and the Helicopter Association International decided to draft new, higher flight patterns.

“It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we’re all in the same room with the same access to information and working toward the same goal,” Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Policy, International Affairs and Environment Peter Hearding said in a statement.

Jeff Smith, Chair of the Helicopter Association International Board of Directors, agreed.

“Best practices from this program, along with the data collected from this new initiative, can and will make a noticeable difference in this community,” he said. “This pilot program is a perfect case study for how government and industry can work together to address issues and deliver tangible results.”

In his remarks, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Real Property, Ronald Tickle, said the Pentagon is committed to being a good neighbor.

“The Department looks forward to further collaboration to mitigate helicopter noise in the National Capital Region, while continuing to meet mission requirements,” Tickle said.

Local taxi companies request higher fares to offset increased costs

By Jo DeVoe
A Red Top cab in 2013 (file photo)

All six taxi companies authorized to operate in Arlington County are asking for rate increases.

The companies say this would help offset rising business costs — including fuel and insurance expenses — and keep them competitive with rideshare operators. Arlington, which regulates taxis (while rideshare drivers are regulated by the state) last raised rates in 2016, per a county report.

The Arlington County Board voted over the weekend to a hold a public hearing on whether to increase the rates on Saturday, May 13. If approved next month, the higher rates would go into effect on July 1.

Riders could see increases of $1.70 to $6.50 per trip, the county report said. Specifically, the county proposes increasing the initial trip cost by 50 cents to $3.50. The current rate for every 1/6th of a mile and for every minute drivers are kept waiting, $.36, would increase to $.40.

“The increase is lower than the overall rise in inflation, but the taxicab industry feels that keeping prices competitive is very important,” per a county report.

Arlington’s Transportation Commission agrees.

“Given the significant increases in costs for drivers since the last fare increase, the support of the industry, and the report from the companies that they have done what they can to support their drivers by significantly lowering stand dues, the Commission is supportive of the fare increase,” Chair Chris Slatt wrote to the County Board.

“The Commission believes that the taxi industry in Arlington plays a valuable role as a reliable mobility operator with transparent pricing and a lower technological barrier to entry than Transportation Network Companies,” he continued.

Six authorized operators owned a total of 477 taxis in 2022, of which 8% were wheelchair-accessible, per the most recent available data. Friendly, Red Top, Arlington Yellow and Blue Top, which provide dispatch service, own 405 taxicabs or 85% of the entire fleet. Hess and Crown operate mainly at airports and taxi stands.

Number of taxicabs operated in Arlington per company (via Arlington County)

The number of cabs operating in Arlington has declined from a peak of 847 in 2017 to 477 vehicles in 2022, per a county memo. Wheelchair-accessible vehicles decreased from 97 in 2017 to 39 in 2022.

Taxi operations — already facing stiff competition from app-based ride options like Uber — were hit hard by the pandemic, with the number of dispatches and airport trips plummeting more than 60% between 2019 and 2021.

Calls for taxi dispatch in Arlington from 2019 to 2021 (via Arlington County)

Rides from Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport recovered slightly from 2020 to 2021 after a precipitous decline, according to county stats.

Rides from the airport in taxis (via Arlington County)

Data from 2022 and 2023 will be collected next year, according to the county.

“We track ridership data for the Certificate Determination Report analysis on a biennial basis,” says Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Katie O’Brien.

If the rate changes go through, Arlington’s initial charge for a trip would become on-par with neighboring jurisdictions, but the cost for a trip — particularly a 10 or 25-mile one — would be higher, according to an analysis conducted by staff.

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Board approves $1.55 billion budget, holds property tax rate steady and boosts member pay

By ARLnow.com
Arlington County Board meeting on April 22, 2023 (via Arlington County/YouTube)

The Arlington County Board has approved a budget that hikes the salaries of county employees — as well as Board members themselves.

The $1.55 billion budget is a 3.3% increase over the current fiscal year’s $1.5 billion budget, funded in large part thanks to rising residential property assessments. The property tax rate was held steady at $1.013 per $100 of assessed value, but the average Arlington homeowner will pay around $450 more per year due to higher assessments and higher fees, including a $98 increase in the trash collection fee and $26 for higher water rates.

As proposed by County Manager Mark Schwartz, the budget will raise the pay of county employees between 4.5 and 10%.

Uniformed police and sheriff’s employees will see raises on the upper end of that scale, amid continued recruiting and staffing challenges among law enforcement agencies. The Board additionally directed Schwartz to consider “any potential enhancements to the newly revised step and grade wage structures that would address compensation, recruitment, retention and pay compression challenges facing police and fire staff.”

Another addition to the budget made by the Board, as voted on during a recent work session, was to hike its own pay.

Following a $20,000 raise of Board salaries last year, the new budget adds just over $62,000 to bring Board salaries to the maximum rate set by the Board in a 2019 vote: $89,851 for members, $95,734 for the Board Chair (a position that rotates among members annually).

The Board pay increase was proposed by Libby Garvey, who said it will provide “close to a living wage for people doing this job, commensurate with the time and the skills needed.”

“There is never a good time to raise Board salaries, they’ve always been low,” she said at the work session. “So I would like to do it now.”

Takis Karantonis concurred, noting the cost of living in Arlington.

“We cannot have it so that those that bring a lot of means… are able to afford to run” for office, he said. “That is not in the long-term… interest [of the county].”

Board Chair Christian Dorsey abstained from the vote and Katie Cristol voted against it. Both are not seeking reelection this year.

Two significant focuses of the budget and Board directives were aimed at affordable housing and the opioid crisis.

The budget adds four behavioral health therapists to address substance abuse among students, while providing $95,000 to the Dept. of Parks and Recreation for improved out-of-school youth programming.

The latter was hailed by the Arlington County Council of PTAs.

“Our existing programming was well-intentioned but difficult to access by the students who might need it the most,” CCPTA President Claire Noakes said in a statement. “Not all families are fortunate enough to have an adult tackle the multiple organizational tasks needed to pre-register a child for a class, organize a family calendar, arrange for transportation at a set time each week, and find a way to pay for it. Additionally, students who are dealing with anxiety or depression may not be able to participate in programs that involve physical competition, such as sports.”

“Other students may just need a safe place to decompress when household stress becomes overwhelming,” Noakes added. “We realized that there was an unmet need for accessible, supervised, drop-in space for youth to simply hang out and connect with peers, mentors, and caring adults.”

The budget, as adopted by the Board, includes $83 million for various housing programs. On the heels of the Board’s approval of “Missing Middle” zoning changes — also dubbed Expanded Housing Options — the budget directs the County Manager to design an “Affordable EHO Homeownership Pilot Program” that could be implemented by the end of 2024.

More on the new budget and its approval is below, from a county press release.

The Arlington County Board voted unanimously Saturday, April 22, 2023, to adopt a $1.55 billion balanced Budget for Fiscal Year 2024. The adopted budget focuses on community needs as the County continues to emerge from the pandemic, including affordable housing, while also providing foundational services, such as public safety, environmental services, transportation, and schools.

The base real estate tax rate remains unchanged at $1.013 per $100 of assessed value.

“As we return to normalcy after years of prioritizing critical operations and making difficult budget decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Arlington is finally in a position to build much-needed capacity within its departments and in its efforts to address community priorities and needs,” said Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey. “The past few years impacted everyone, especially our lower-income neighbors. Adding funding to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund, for example, ensures that we maintain our vital role in financing affordable housing development within Arlington. Moreover, the County Board is eager to capitalize on opportunities that may arise from the Homeownership Study, helping us further understand how to better support existing and aspiring homeowners.”

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