County Board

County Board shelves request from naturalists to specify what counts as a weed in local ordinances

By Jo DeVoe
A yard in the Forest Glen neighborhood in October 2016 (file photo)

One person’s weed is another’s protected native species.

Arlington naturalists argue that local ordinances do not distinguish the two, leaving neighbors who have certain native species that can be mistaken for weeds in their gardens prone to visits from the county’s code enforcement division.

“We’re sending incredibly mixed messages,” Caroline Haynes, a member of the Arlington County Forestry and Natural Resources Commission, told the Arlington County Board last Tuesday.

She and two other citizen commissions representatives asked the County Board to adopt wording to protect people from complaints that their gardens are unruly. FRNC Chair Phil Klingelhofer says the current language, which focuses on the height of weeds, dates back to the 1950s.

“Those who wish to plant native plants and thereby bring the benefits we all know come from that planting structure are disadvantaged by this holdover from a different era,” Klingelhofer said.

This hit close to home for County Board member Takis Karantonis, who received a visit from code enforcement over a Virginia thistle he let grow to six feet tall.

“[The thistle] made a difference in the environment, but for some people, this was really offensive to their aesthetics,” he said.

This discussion arose during Board deliberations about approving technical changes to the ordinance intended to strengthen the county’s ability to enforce violations such as weeds on commercial properties. Rather than address the issue on Tuesday, the County Board decided to move defining weeds to an ongoing update to the Forestry and Natural Resources Master Plan.

But Haynes said Arlington has punted on defining what a weed is for long enough.

“I would just like to acknowledge that while we’ve been wringing our hands about this for the past 10-15 years, other jurisdictions have also adopted policies that promote native landscaping and conservation landscaping and have also managed to update their ordinance,” Haynes said. “Arlington hasn’t been able to do that. How difficult can this possibly be?”

Representatives from code enforcement said the division is out of its depth.

“We are a bunch of architects and engineers and public safety professionals. We don’t know anything about weeds, vegetation or what have you. What resources do I have to determine if it’s a [native] species?” said Inspection Services Director Shahriar Amiri during the meeting. “We are not horticulturalists.”

Ultimately, the County Board decided to approve the technical changes adding in wording about weeds. The newly adopted changes are aimed at holding commercial property owners accountable for cutting grass and weeds and maintaining lawns. County staff requested the changes to provide relief to the code enforcement division, which has recently struggled to get some landowners to maintain their properties.

County Board Vice-Chair Libby Garvey made assurances she will bring up the issue this summer if it is not addressed through the Forestry and Natural Resources Plan update. Arlington County projects a final draft, responding to public comments gathered late last summer, will be released and reviewed by citizens commissions and the County Board this spring.

“How many master plans do we need to adopt before this issue is addressed?” Klingelhofer asked.

Karantonis echoed their sense of urgency, predicting more people will choose natural landscaping for its benefits, including flood mitigation.

“The number of complaints… is a function of how many of these landscapes exist,” he said. “The moment they become prevalent — I have seen it with my own eyes — there is controversy in the community. Some people think their property values are affected by that, the general appearance of the street, the general appearance of their neighborhood — the character of the neighborhood, from a different point of view.

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Proposed $1.54 billion county budget would hold property tax rate steady amid rising values

By ARLnow.com
Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz presents his proposed budget on Feb. 18, 2023 (via Arlington County/YouTube)

(Updated at 4:20 p.m.) Arlington’s property tax rate will not be going up in the new county budget, but it looks unlikely to come down, either.

The County Board voted unanimously last night (Tuesday) to advertise a property tax rate of $1.013 per $100 in assessed value. That sets a cap on the real estate tax rate, locking in the county to a rate that’s flat or lower than last year.

But homeowners would still see their taxes go up significantly even with the rate unchanged, owing to a 4.5% rise in residential property assessments. Between taxes and fees, the average Arlington homeowner would be paying $454 more to the county compared to the previous year, a 4% increase.

That includes a $100 hike in the annual trash collection fee paid by homeowners — from $308 to $409 — which county officials attributed to a “significant increase to contractual costs due to driver shortages, current labor costs, and equipment pricing.”

FY 2024 proposed county budget slide (via Arlington County)

Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz’s budget proposes keeping the current $1.013 real estate tax rate, despite a better-than-expected revenue outlook.

“The facts have changed since November and December,” Schwartz said, referencing what was then predicted to be a $35 million budget gap. “We’ve seen higher than anticipated real estate assessment growth. I think a number of people saw that when they received their residential real estate assessments in January.”

“On the commercial side, we had anticipated a drop in overall assessments, and there was a very small drop in the commercial assessments, but when you factor in the new commercial buildings the numbers were actually up,” the County Manager continued. “And also, our other taxes… are doing quite well.”

The county is seeing a 10.7%, 15.4% and 33.3% rise in sales, meals and hotel tax revenue, respectively, according to Schwartz’s presentation to the Board on Saturday. After a brutal couple of years for Arlington’s hospitality industry, hotel taxes are now about back to pre-pandemic levels, he noted.

FY 2024 proposed county budget slide (via Arlington County)

Schwartz’s $1.54 billion budget — up 2.8% over last year’s adopted budget — also includes a number of proposed cuts,

Just over 20 vacant positions would be eliminated, including an auditor position in the County Board office, and other savings would be found from initiatives like paperless billing of property and business taxes. In all, the cuts would save $5.6 million.

While the county is no longer benefiting from the firehose of Covid relief funds from the federal government, it will save $2.6 million thanks to energy credits stemming from its 2020 solar power agreement with Amazon.

In the expense side of the budget, however, the picture is less rosy.

Schwartz said the county is still facing a “very competitive environment in terms of workforce,” making it hard to hire for certain positions and driving up wages. The budget proposal includes a $2,000 bonus for qualified county staffers and 4.5-10% salary increases, including:

  • General Employees — 4.5%
  • Uniformed Fire — 4.5%
  • Service/Labor/Trades — 4.5%
  • Uniformed Sheriff — 8.5%
  • Uniformed Police — 10%

“We are still having challenges in hiring vacancies,” Schwartz said.

FY 2024 proposed county budget slide (via Arlington County)

Other initiatives in the budget include purchasing 22 electric vehicles for the county fleet, part of an ongoing transition, and a community engagement effort focused on libraries. The latter will “review the operating model (locations, hours) considering where we’ve seen growth in the County and how that overlaps with service demands.”

However unlikely, there could be flexibility for a slight decrease in the property tax rate. Schwartz left $4.5 million in his budget unallocated, for consideration by the Board.

Starting next week the county will start a series of in-depth work sessions focused on individual departments and offices, followed by public hearings at the end of March and a County Board vote on the final Fiscal Year 2024 budget on April 22.

FY 2024 proposed county budget slide (via Arlington County)

More from an Arlington County press release, below.

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Arlington County Board approves redevelopment of Clarendon auto shop, small office building on the Pike

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

Over the weekend, the Arlington County Board approved two redevelopment proposals, one in Clarendon and one on Columbia Pike.

It greenlit an apartment complex for the Joyce Motors site at 3201 10th Street N. in Clarendon and one for the Bank of America office building at 3401 Columbia Pike.

The Clarendon proposal includes a site plan to construct an 11-story apartment building with ground-floor retail. It includes nine on-site committed affordable units, including five “family-sized units” as well as the relocation and preservation of the historic Joyce Motors façade and the full building preservation of the Clarendon Barbershop building several blocks away.

“For historic preservation purposes, the Board also approved transferring developmental rights from the Clarendon Barbershop Building to the Joyce Motors site, allowing unused density to be used toward the proposed 11-story [mixed-use] building,” per a County Board press release.

The developer committed to installing new sidewalk, building portions of 10th Road N. and a new alley, as well as LEED Gold certification and nearly $1 million in cash contributions for transportation and public spaces.

“It’s really a big win for staff, the community, the project development team, I’m really thrilled to see it manifest this way,” said Board Chair Christian Dorsey. “It’s a testament to the fact that, I know developers are often considered the enemies in society, they are also the conduit to the implementation of the plans that the community wants to create.”

“It’s not going to happen if we don’t have people who are willing to put together and take on all kinds of risks to get things done,” Dorsey continued. “The beauty of that is we can have win-wins, where you have a development team that hopefully has a successful project but the community, for generations, has something that reflects the plans they come up with.”

On the Pike, the Board approved the construction of a six-story, 250-unit apartment building and about 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and commercial space, at the busy corner of S. Glebe Road and the Pike.

Normally, these kinds of projects are supposed to receive administrative approvals via the Columbia Pike Form-Based Code. This project, however, required County Board approval in part because the developer, Marcus Partners, requested relief from height restrictions on a portion of the property.

“This is a strong project, I do… appreciate a little bit of architectural diversity coming forward, I think it will add a lot to the neighborhood,” said Board Member Katie Cristol. “I appreciate our staff’s efforts to make sure compliance with the code is a floor in terms of fulfilling the vision of the neighborhood as well as thorough, additional work to mitigate impacts that may be happening and maximizing the positives.”

County Board set to award contract for improvements to 11th Street Park in Clarendon

By Jo DeVoe
11th Street Park (via Google Maps)

A park in Clarendon is slated to get a series of improvements identified by neighbors almost four years ago.

11th Street Park, located on the corner of 11th Street N. and N. Danville Street at 2751 11th Street N., will receive paving and accessibility upgrades as well as new landscaping, lighting and furnishing.

“Existing gravel walkways will be replaced in approximately the same location and will be concrete” and accessible to people with disabilities, a county webpage says. “Other features include new site furnishings, renovation of the existing lawn areas, additional trees and new native pollinator plantings, signage, natural boulders and path lighting.”

The overall project budget for the park improvements in 11th Street Park totals $492,338, which includes “design, soft costs and construction,” the report says.

Construction is set to begin before spring and end before October, per the website.

A design plan for 11th Street Park’s renovation (via Arlington County)

The Clarendon-Courthouse Civic Association flagged the need for upgrades to the green space near The Crossing Clarendon retail center back in 2019, when it submitted requests to the Arlington Neighborhoods Program (formerly known as the Arlington Neighborhood Conservation Program).

This kicked off a community process that resulted in the Arlington County Board approving the scope of the project in April 2021.

“This plan received the support of the Clarendon-Courthouse Civic Association through a collaborative community process with staff from Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation,” a county report notes. “Several meetings were held to prepare a refined concept plan and develop the final design.”

Design meetings were also held in 2021 and, as part of the project, the open space was renamed 11th Street Park in 2022.

The park’s old name was a longer but equally literal descriptor: 11th Street North and North Danville Street Park. Community members considered other names, including one to honor Nguyen Ngoc Bich, a Vietnamese refugee and Arlington resident who advocated for immigrants and shared Vietnamese culture.

Bich, who died six years ago, could instead be remembered with a historical marker. It would also pay tribute to Clarendon’s historical monicker, Little Saigon, as many refugees settled and built businesses there. Many have since relocated due to rising rents.

How protecting ‘outstanding’ private trees figures into Arlington’s conservation goals

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

Four privately owned trees of “outstanding size” in Arlington could be protected from future removal or injury.

The owners, who live in the Williamsburg, Cherrydale and Glencarlyn neighborhoods, nominated these trees to be recognized as “specimens” worthy of protection, the county says in a report.

The trees meet criteria for this designation “by virtue of their outstanding size and quality for their particular species,” the report says. The Arlington County Board is set to grant this protection at its meeting this coming Saturday.

Over two decades ago, the Board approved a tree preservation ordinance that provides a four designations — “Heritage, Memorial, Specimen and Street Trees” — through which trees on public or private property can be protected from removal or injury. Some 17 trees are highlighted on the county’s website for their size, condition and heritage.

There are approximately 755,000 trees in Arlington, according to a draft of an update to the county Forestry and Natural Resources plan. The county controls about 120,000 trees, including those in parks and about 19,500 street trees. The remainder grow on private property or on public institutions that are not directly managed by Arlington County.

Protecting private trees is one strategy the county has for maintaining its canopy. For about as long as this ordinance has been in place, and despite redevelopment on private property, tree canopy has covered about 41% of land area in Arlington.

“This level of canopy has remained constant for the past 20 years, largely because significant losses on private property were offset by tree planting and preservation on parks and other public lands,” the plan says.

Arlington will have to rely more on designating and preserving trees, like the four going before the County Board this weekend, going forward, per the plan.

“With little ‘plantable space’ remaining on existing county-owned land, opportunities to offset future losses will be limited by the need to conserve natural areas,” it says.

Trees play an important role in reducing carbon, energy use and runoff.

Tree branches, roots and trunks remove and store about 9,360 tons a year of carbon in Arlington, but that represents “only a fraction of the County’s greenhouse gas emissions,” the plan says.

Tree canopy provides shade, reducing energy use in buildings and transportation and preventing the radiation of heat back into the environment. A recent study found leafier — and often wealthier — Arlington neighborhoods are cooler than its Metro corridors and lower-income areas, a disparity a local nonprofit is working to address.

Tree roots hold soil in place, reducing runoff during rain storms. Since a deluge in 2019 caused extreme flooding, there has been increasing focus on county stormwater infrastructure, as well as concern that trees are lost due to the redevelopment of older homes into larger homes that cover more of a given lot.

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County seeks federal funding for new trail around part of Arlington National Cemetery for third time

By Jo DeVoe
Scooting along near Arlington National Cemetery (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The third time could be the charm for Arlington County, which is applying for federal funding to improve cycling and walking connections around Arlington National Cemetery.

On Saturday, the Arlington County Board is scheduled to review the county’s third application for funding from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Program.

The money would partially fund the construction of a long-proposed Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) Wall Trail along Washington Blvd, which would connect Columbia Pike and the Pentagon City area with Memorial Avenue and the Arlington Memorial Bridge into D.C.

“Connectivity for bike-ped users across this part of the County is complicated by the combined barrier effects of secured federal facilities such as ANC, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, and the Pentagon Reservation” and “a high-volume roadway network” comprised of Arlington Boulevard, Washington Blvd, Route 1 as it runs through Pentagon City, I-395 and the GW Parkway, the county notes in a report.

The new trail would run along the western side of Washington Blvd. An existing trail on the opposite side gets dicey near Memorial Circle for pedestrians and cyclists looking to connect to the Mt. Vernon Trail or cross into D.C.

The Federal Highway Administration is designing this multi-use trail in conjunction with the realignment of Columbia Pike. This work is being done to accommodate the 50-acre southern expansion of the ANC, which will add about 80,000 burial sites, allowing burials through the 2050s.

Arlington County has unsuccessfully applied for RAISE funding in the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years. This fiscal year, the federal program has nearly $2.3 billion to dole out “for investments in surface transportation that will have a significant local or regional impact,” per the notice of funding opportunity.

“RAISE is a cost reimbursement program and not a lump sum grant award,” the county report notes. “Previous programs have been highly competitive.”

The Arlington Memorial Trail will run west along Washington Blvd and Richmond Hwy, starting at the eastern end of a realigned Columbia Pike to Memorial Avenue, immediately adjacent to the Arlington Cemetery Metro station.

It will link up to an existing trail along the west side of Richmond Hwy, which provides a connection to the Iwo Jima Memorial, to Rosslyn and to the larger network of bicycle and pedestrian trails along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.

Renderings of Arlington National Cemetery expansion and Columbia Pike reconfiguration project (via National Capital Planning Commission)

The estimated cost of the Arlington Memorial Trail in the approved 10-year capital improvement plan is $25 million. If the federal government green lights the full $15 million, the county would cover the remaining $10 million through a mix of the commercial and industrial tax and funding it receives from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority for local projects.

Projects can receive $5 million to $25 million. A single state cannot receive more than $225 million and awards must be split evenly between urban and rural areas.

Selected projects will be announced by the end of June.

County Board to consider hiking fees for weeds, overgrown lawns and vegetation

By Jo DeVoe
1/7

Arlington is poised to take a proverbial weed whacker to commercial properties with overgrown lawns and all properties with obstructive vegetation.

Last month, a proposal to change the ordinance pertaining to the condition of private properties was added to the Arlington County Board’s agenda but was subsequently removed because the proposal needed additional technical work, says Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development spokeswoman Erika Moore.

The changes would strengthen the county’s ability to enforce violations such as unmaintained lawns and vegetation, per the January report, which ARLnow reviewed before it was taken down.

The measure is set to appear on the Board’s February agenda, Moore said, confirming the substance of the proposal remains the same. The Board will meet on Saturday, Feb. 18 and again on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Commercial properties would be added to a provision that previously only held residential property owners accountable for cutting grass and weeds and maintaining lawns. County Manager Mark Schwartz would then be able to take “corrective actions” when a property owner fails to trim back “obstructing vegetation,” per the report.

The January draft also proposed increasing fines for property owners who fail to do more upkeep to resolve civil citations.

“These increases are sought to provide a stronger financial deterrent, particularly in cases where private property is held by commercial ownership awaiting development,” the report said.

For example, back in 2020, some residents complained about trash in and around the vacant Wendy’s lot at 2025 Clarendon Blvd in Courthouse. The fast food restaurant had been torn down in 2016 to make way for an office tower that never came and instead was used as a construction staging area for a nearby redevelopment. The property since changed hands and construction of an apartment building started last fall.

The report noted that the ability of the code enforcement division of CPHD “to abate persistent, longstanding violations has become less effective.”

“This is due to a variety of factors, including unwillingness to comply by some property owners, but also legal ambiguity concerning what specific powers and processes could be implemented in seeking corrective actions,” it said.

Moore previously told ARLnow the amendments are not related to any specific community complaints.

“The amendments… are being made because there are conflicts with other local and state ordinances, and clarity is needed,” she said last month. “Commercial properties are being added to the section on tall grass and weeds not because of conflicts but to clarify the County’s enforcement authority on these properties.”

There were 609 complaints from the community in 2022 via phone and email primarily, we’re told. Arlington’s current system that stores complaints does not categorize them, but the county is moving to a new complaint tracking system at the end of 2023 where some of these data points, like theme, will be available, she said. (more…)

Arlington seeks funding to increase bus service to Amazon HQ2 via Columbia Pike

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

Arlington County is applying for regional funding to run buses every six minutes between Fairfax County and Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City during peak hours.

The Arlington County Board on Saturday authorized staff to apply for up to $8 million in Northern Virginia Transportation Commission funding. Funding would offset the operating costs associated with running 10 buses per hour during peak times for two years along a new Metrobus route dubbed the 16M, connecting the Skyline complex in the Bailey’s Crossroads area of Fairfax County down Columbia Pike, to Pentagon City and Crystal City.

The report suggests that the county is preparing for an increase in ridership after the opening of the first phase of Amazon’s HQ2, despite work from home trends.

“The 16M service will provide a direct connection to Amazon HQ2 with its first phase of construction (2.1 million square feet of commercial space) coming on-line in Summer/Fall 2023,” per a county report. “This service will also take advantage of the recently built portions of Columbia Pike and [eight] new transit stations located on Columbia Pike.”

But recommendations to increase frequency along this route date back well beyond Amazon’s decision to move into Arlington, says Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Claudia Pors.

She says the request acts on a 2016 study, which “recommended creating a route connecting Skyline with Crystal City through Columbia Pike in anticipation of growth in Crystal City.” That followed the cancellation of the Columbia Pike streetcar project, which would have followed largely the same route.

“The study evaluated ridership forecasting, current service patterns, like bus and seat availability, and travel patterns, like trip lengths, ridership rates and traffic volume in the area to make the recommendation to increase frequency,” Pors said.

Sometime this spring, the new 16M route will begin revenue service with a base frequency of buses every 12 minutes during the service day.  The new route will replace existing 16G/H service.

Pors said the average weekday ridership for the last four-and-a-half years along the 16G/H line peaked at a little over 4,500 average weekday riders before Covid, and is now about 60% recovered compared to pre-pandemic levels.

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BREAKING: Arlington County Board gives green light to hearings on Missing Middle

By Jo DeVoe
The Arlington County Board on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023 (via Arlington County)

(Updated at 8:20 p.m.) The Arlington County Board has taken the next step toward potentially allowing Missing Middle housing.

This evening (Wednesday), during its third meeting on a request to advertise public hearings regarding the proposed zoning changes, the Board voted unanimously to kick off two months of public discussion on a proposed set of options and alternatives.

The Board will reconvene to consider adopting a final proposal in March.

Opponents and some proponents of Missing Middle housing expressed disappointment with the proposal, which does not include 7- or 8-unit buildings.

The advertised change would allow small-scale multifamily buildings, from duplexes to townhouses to 6-plexes, in areas that are currently only zoned for single-family detached homes. The Board’s vote took off the option to prohibit additional housing types on sites larger than one acre.

The Board must consider some type of parking minimum going forward, as the only option not to have any minimums was struck from the proposal.

Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said he is “deeply disappointed in the advertised ordinance.”

“I’m disappointed that the limited nature of what will be offered today doesn’t give us the ability over the next two months to do the best policy,” he said. “That’s a profound disappointment for me but not certainly not enough to vote against it.

“The most affordable units that could be made available are taken off the table for the biggest lots in Arlington that could accommodate them, limiting the opportunity to further provide attainability for people being able to achieve economies of scale and subsidize on a per-unit basis in a very cost efficient way,” Dorsey added.

Board member Matt de Ferranti was more supportive.

“My policy goals are the same as they were in December 2019 and in the scope that we wrote in September 2020: affordable homeownership, 3-unit type family dwellings and flexibility in housing types and residential uses in single-family neighborhoods,” he said. “The RTA moves us forward to that goal.”

“I think we need to move forward with what we’ve done,” de Ferranti continued. “We must move forward because my grandparents benefitted from single-family zoning in New Canaan, Connecticut and Pittsfield, Massachusetts and the grandparents and parents of many Arlingtonians of color did not. Move forward because there is never a wrong time to do the right thing. Move forward because if you can build a large home on a lot it is reasonable to build smaller dwellings in the same sized building unless there are outside costs or unreasonable burdens to doing so.”

Immediately following the vote, Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, an organization opposed to the plan, denounced what the Board approved.

“If County Board members vote to finally adopt this Missing Middle mess, it will permanently stain their legacies,” said ASF leader Peter Rousselot, in a statement. “The County Board has disregarded the testimony and findings of prominent realtors, architects, economists, land use attorneys, engineers, and other experts who all have explained why the Board’s Missing Middle plan won’t work in Arlington.”

In its statement likewise criticizing the decision, Arlingtonians for Upzoning Transparency said the process so far has not been transparent and the result won’t be more modest-sized homes attainable to moderate-income residents.  .

“The [Missing Middle housing] will incentivize developers to tear down modest, single-family homes and build $1.5 million townhouses and duplexes or small one-and-two-bedroom rental units,” said Julie Lee, a founding member of AfUT. “The County should not promote the false promise that the free market will produce lower cost housing. Developers will build the most profitable — and most expensive — [Missing Middle housing] possible, using every bit of allowable lot coverage to do it.”

Leaders of YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, which supported a more robust version than what is now on the table, told ARLnow they commend the Board for unanimously approving the hearings but are disappointed with the limitations.

“All five members of the County Board very clearly stated that they wanted to create a new legacy for Arlington, so now, they have a responsibility to make good on that promise,” the group said. “Most Arlingtonians rent. Most Arlingtonians live in multi-family buildings and most of them say ‘Yes’ to new housing and new neighbors. Making sure that the majority’s voice and interests are represented in the final package is extremely important.”

“The big issue we can’t lose sight of is Arlington’s affordability crisis and housing shortage,” the group continued. “The ultimate litmus test will be, ‘Will Missing Middle actually produce new housing?’ There is a risk — if the final proposal narrows down the [request to advertise] even further, that it won’t.”

Mike Hemminger, NAACP Arlington branch president, said the decision to remove the densest buildings from the proposal amounts to “de facto segregation.”

After more speakers and a disruption, County Board takes extra day to deliberate Missing Middle

By Jo DeVoe
Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey during the Tuesday, Jan. 24 discussion of Missing Middle housing (via Arlington County)

(Updated at 12:20 p.m.) Some 200 speakers and seven hours of public comment later, the Arlington County Board will decide whether to authorize hearings on a proposal to allow “Missing Middle” housing later today (Wednesday).

The request to authorize hearings on the zoning proposal was originally placed on the agenda for the Board’s Saturday meeting. After a marathon hearing on Saturday, public comment on the item carried over into the Board’s Tuesday meeting. Rather than make a decision last night, Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said members will take an extra day.

“The matter is with the Board but we’re not going to pick this up right away, colleagues, we are actually going to consider all the testimony we heard on this past Saturday and tonight — the nearly 200 registered speakers — and convene again once we are able to properly deliberate tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m.,” Dorsey said at the conclusion of the meeting.

Last night’s meeting had fewer speakers than Saturday’s but featured a contentious exchange between Dorsey and an opponent of the Missing Middle proposal.

Dorsey intervened twice during the meeting, as some people objected to Missing Middle supporter Jane Green standing behind other advocates of the proposal, holding a sign so it would be visible on camera.

“We had 180 people speak on Saturday and we didn’t have any of this. We’re not going to have it with 20, alright?” Dorsey said. “Let the people speak. You can’t dictate where people stand, so let’s just continue, thank you.”

When it was Green’s turn to speak, a man moved to stand behind her and next to Adam Theo, a former County Board candidate and the co-founder of YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, an organization that supports the zoning changes.

“Sit down, please,” Dorsey can be heard saying off-screen. “This is childish, this is childish. I will clear the room. Stop it, everybody. I know tensions are high. I know everybody’s excited but we can all be grown-ups, okay? You can either sit down or you can be removed. It’s your choice.”

A man can be heard saying “No, you grow up,” in response to Dorsey. Later, he adds that the Board should “put this to a referendum and let the county vote.” (The county can hold referenda on bond issuances but a referendum on a county ordinance or policy would require authorization from the state legislature, as Virginia is a Dillon Rule state.)

A total of 17 speakers took the podium last night, including many representing organizations, thus giving them three minutes to speak as opposed to the two minutes allotted individuals speaking on their own behalf Saturday.

First up was Jon Ware, speaking on behalf of Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, which opposes the measure.

Saturday embodied a lot of what frustrates folks about this process. In the week prior, the county put out 150 pages of dense materials with new zoning that goes far beyond the core specifics released only on Halloween. On Saturday, the county cut public speaking times, and talked at the people followed by the people often talking past each other.

He asserted that the people who will be able to afford the 2-3 bedroom Missing Middle housing units will mostly be white, and the county has no process or metrics to “track who gets displaced,” a mechanism that Portland, Oregon, which allows these types of dwellings, does have.

NAACP Arlington branch second vice president Bryan Coleman said the “elephant in the room” is the lack of diversity among Missing Middle opponents, especially those who are talking about gentrification and displacement.

Our residential neighborhoods have already gentrified. The average cost of a detached single-family home last year was $1.2 million. Housing in our residential neighborhoods is getting even more expensive, as 170 homes a year are replaced by McMansions. When we’re talking about displacement, we’re usually talking about lower-income residents being priced out or evicted by landlords. The claim here is different: Upzoning will somehow drive property values so high that some homeowners won’t be able to afford the increased property taxes. Neither part of that claim holds up to scrutiny.

He said it’s implausible a few dozen developments per year will cause property values to spike across the county and those who are burdened by taxes can get relief from the county’s property tax relief program.

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Zoning changes give urban farms, breweries and colleges a quick process for taking over office spaces

By Jo DeVoe
Area 2 Farms, an indoor vertical farm, is opening in Green Valley (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

Urban farms and breweries could be coming to a vacant office near you.

Over the weekend, the Arlington County Board approved a series of zoning changes aimed at tackling the stubborn office vacancy rate. They would allow the following tenants to move into offices by right:

  • animal boarding facilities, provided animals are under 24-hour supervision
  • urban farms
  • urban colleges and universities
  • breweries, distilleries and facilities making other craft beverages, such as kombucha and seltzer
  • artisan workshops for small-scale makers working in media such as wood or metal, laser cutters, 3D printers, electronics and sewing machines

Colleges and universities or urban farms previously needed to seek out a site plan amendment, which requires Arlington County Board approval, to operate in spaces previously approved for office or retail use.

The code requires all animal boarding, farming and artisan product-making activities to occur inside the building.

A county report describes this existing process as “overly cumbersome” for entrepreneurs trying to prove their business concept as well as for landlords, “who may be averse to take a risk on a new type of use that may require significant building improvements.”

The changes require farms, craft beverage facilities and artisan workshops to maintain a storefront where they can sell goods made on-site to walk-in customers, which the report says could reinvigorate dead commercial zones.

“Artisan beverage uses can bring new life to vacant buildings, boost leasing demand and, when located in a walkable neighborhood, can attract both existing and potential residents, while creating active third places for the community to gather,” the report said. “By fostering space for small-scale makers, artisans, and the like, a creative economy can grow, and people who may not have the space for such activities in their urban apartments may see this as an attractive neighborhood amenity.”

Some of these uses were allowed along Columbia Pike in the fall of 2021 to encourage greater economic revitalization. At the same time, D.C.-based animal boarding company District Dogs was appealing zoning ordinances curtailing the number of dogs it could board overnight in Clarendon, prompting discussions about expanding the uses approved for the Pike throughout the county.

The next spring, County Manager Mark Schwartz developed a “commercial market resilience strategy” aimed at bringing down the county’s high office vacancy rate, fueled by persistent remote work trends catalyzed by the pandemic. The tool, which includes an expedited public review process, was first used last fall to allow micro-fulfillment centers to operate by-right in vacant office spaces.

In a letter to the County Board, Arlington Chamber of Commerce CEO Kate Bates said the rapid approval of these commercial activities is critical for attracting new and emerging businesses.

“The Chamber believes that the Zoning Ordinance needs reform, and that unnecessary restrictions on commercial use should be removed to help the economy of the County grow,” Bates wrote. “In the wake of record high commercial vacancy, timely change is needed. It is imperative that the County focuses on long-term solutions for new business models, both through increased adaptability for new uses and expedited timeframes for approval of these new uses.” (more…)

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