signage

Murray Asks for Sign Retrieval Help

By ARLnow.com

Patrick Murray, who lost his bid to unseat Rep. Jim Moran earlier this month, is asking his supporters for one last act of honor and courage: to clear remaining campaign signs from median strips.

Murray estimated that the campaign has collected about 95 percent of signs. That would mean that 5 percent of the campaign’s signs — about 550 signs out of a total of 11,000 — are still scattered about the Eighth District.

In an email, Murray asked supporters to help with the retrieval effort before the Tuesday deadline for removing campaign signs.

Most of our local jurisdictions require signs to be removed within two weeks after the election. With that deadline looming on Tuesday, we need some help. If as you move about the district during the next day or two and see a sign still in place, I ask that if you have the time that you stop and pick it up for us.

If you see a sign or two and are not in a position to pick it up, or if you have some you need to get to us please send an email to [email protected], and note the location so we can attempt to have another volunteer recover it as soon as possible.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Happy Veteran’s Day — A wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at 11:00 a.m. Most Arlington County government offices are closed today.

W-L High Teacher Heading to South Pole — An 11th-grade physics teacher at Washington-Lee is heading to the South Pole next month. Katey Shirey, 29, was invited to participate in a multi-million dollar Antarctic research project called Ice Cube. She’s only the fifth high school teacher to participate in the project. More from the Washington Post.

Restaurant Permits Up for Renewal — Restaurants in Shirlington and Clarendon will go before the County Board on Saturday. The Shirlington restaurants have their outdoor seating permit up for renewal, while the Clarendon restaurants have their live entertainment permits up for renewal. The requests will likely be granted, but new restrictions may be imposed on the Clarendon restaurants. More from the Sun Gazette.

Civ Fed Rejects Sign Vigilante Proposal — Buckingham resident Bernie Berne, who says he’s fed up with the proliferation of illegal signs in Arlington County, has suffered another setback in his quest to make it legal for citizens to remove unlawful signs from public property. The Arlington County Civic Federation rejected a resolution that would have supported Berne’s brand of sign vigilantism, which is currently frowned upon by local officials. More from TBD.

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Virginia Dems Seek to Clarify Lobbyist Rule — The Democratic Party of Virginia is seeking an independent legal opinion on whether state law bans federal lobbyists from serving as party chairman. The move comes after Brian Moran, brother of Rep. Jim Moran and a top lobbyist for for-profit colleges, decided to seek the state Democratic chairmanship. Former Arlington County Democratic Committee chair Peter Rousselot is also running for the position. More from the Washington Post.

Giant Wall Projections in Rosslyn — From 6:00 to 11:00 p.m., every night through this coming Saturday, large images will be projected onto the side of an office building in Rosslyn.  The photo and video projections are part of FotoWeek DC. More from the Ode Street Tribune.

Shirlington’s New Irish Bar Asks for Sign Change — Shirlington Village Blog has an image of the bright orange flyers posted around Shirlington, advertising a proposed site plan change for the future Samuel Beckett’s Gastro Irish Pub. The change would allow Beckett’s to have more signs identifying itself to the outside world. The issue will be heard by the county board this weekend; county staff is recommending that the requested change be granted.

Flickr pool photo by Team Rank

Panel Begins Process of Rewriting County’s Zoning Ordinance

By ARLnow.com

Over the past several months, business owner have complained loudly about the county’s confusing and inconsistent zoning code. From stringent sign enforcement to outdoor seating debates to extended delays in getting permits, business owners — particularly new business owners — have expressed frustration with the level of expense and effort required to avoid running afoul of county regulators.

But that may be changing.

Tomorrow night, the county’s zoning committee will meet to plan a comprehensive rewrite of the zoning ordinance. The meeting, which will run from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in Room A of 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, is open to the public, although the discussion will be confined to the committee.

In a draft proposal, county staff noted that the zoning ordinance was last rewritten in 1950. Because the ordinance has been amended many times on a piecemeal basis, it “contains many inconsistencies” and “includes many sections and regulations that are difficult to understand.”

“There are many administrative practices that are not codified within the Ordinance,” staff also concluded.

See the staff report here.

Controversy Erupts Over Dog Murals, But Help May Be On The Way

By ARLnow.com

Painted on the side of a cinder block warehouse and facing the popular Shirlington dog park, a large mural of happy dogs, bones and paw prints seems like a nice addition. And it would be fine with county regulators — if it wasn’t for the fact that a dog-related business commissioned it. But since the mural belongs to a small doggy daycare it’s considered advertising under county zoning code — and may eventually have to be painted over. For now, a blue tarp covers the $4,000 mural.

Across the street, a self-service dog wash is covered in graffiti, the result of the owner allowing talented local taggers to use his store as a canvas. As long as the graffiti artists don’t depict any dogs or the word “dog,” the owner has been told, the graffiti is considered art and is not subject to regulations.

Thus is the paradox of county regulations intended to protect Arlington from commercial eyesores but permit public artwork — even if the “advertisement” is actually beautifying a monolithic wall in a run-down neighborhood, it is considered a violation. Yet if the doggie daycare were to paint airplanes or fire trucks or elephants on the side of the wall — which is in plain sight of a steady procession of defecating dogs — it would be perfectly fine.

“For me, the issue is the lack of common sense,” said Kim Houghton, who has sunk her life savings into Wag More Dogs, the daycare in question, which she has been trying to open since July 2009. “I understand the law… but [the mural] adds to the park. Can’t an exception be made?”

No, says county zoning administrator Melinda Artman, who’s in charge of enforcing zoning laws in Arlington.

“Unfortunately, as attractive as that mural is… it meets our definition of a sign,” Artman said. She noted that Houghton did not apply for a comprehensive sign plan, which would have to be approved by the county board but which could have allowed the mural to exist legally.

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