Metro 29 Diner says it is reopening today (Friday) following a closure that lasted several weeks due to plumbing issues.
Earlier this week, ARLnow reported the restaurant could remain shuttered for up to a month, as it awaited a permit to repair a clogged sewer line located along N. Albemarle Street, adjacent to the restaurant.
The local staple at 4711 Langston Blvd was forced to close after the plumbing issue caused grease and other liquids to flood the parking lot from the restaurant’s grease trap, creating a health hazard.
Arlington’s planning department granted the necessary permit on Tuesday, within hours of ARLnow’s initial story publishing, Metro 29 Diner owner Peter Bota told us.
Construction started Thursday morning and concluded by 1 p.m. Bota said the restaurant has been “given the green light to reopen by the health department.”
“I want to thank the county for their prompt attention and I’d like to thank our loyal patrons and staff for their patience, understanding and well wishes while we were closed,” Bota said.
N. Albermarle Street adjacent to Metro 29 Diner (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Metro 29 Diner will remain closed for at least another week, and possibly upwards of a month, due to a serious plumbing problem.
Peter Bota, the owner of the nostalgic New York-style diner, says it all started a few weeks ago after the restaurant’s grease trap — a plumbing device that separates grease, oil and excess food from wastewater — started malfunctioning.
“The stuff that was in the grease trap, the liquid and the grease started flowing into our parking lot. Fortunately, as nasty as it was, it didn’t come back into the building,” Bota told ARLnow.
Since that incident, Bota says the diner’s been stuck in “a holding pattern,” waiting on the green light from Arlington’s planning department to replace the sewer line along N. Albemarle Street adjacent to the restaurant.
“We are just waiting for our permits to be approved so we can do the [construction],” he said. “There will be a road closure on the side street Albemarle, and then there’s excavation to get to the sewer line and replace it.”
Permits filed with Arlington County indicate the work is slated to take place over the course of three days and cost about $15,000. The construction zone is expected to stretch about 20 feet, resulting in partial closures of the roadway and sidewalk along N. Albemarle Street.
Until the sewer line is fixed, Bota emphasized he can’t reopen.
“There’s nothing that we can do… We’re not allowed to operate since everything that goes out of the business in terms of liquid… is going to come back towards the building,” he said.
As for when the county might approve his permit, Bota remains hopeful but uncertain.
“Everything’s been submitted and is in the review process,” Bota said. “So, hopefully, [the county will] fast-track us since we’re an existing business and allow us to get reopened as soon as possible.”
In addition to being a North Arlington dining staple, Metro 29 Diner has had some famous visitors over the years, including then-Vice President Biden in 2012 and Guy Fieri for a Diners, Drive-ins and Dives taping in 2010.
The Gulf Branch stream in 2019 (courtesy Arlington County)
Armed with some federal funding, Arlington County plans to stem stormwater runoff with native plantings and fix leaky sewer pipes that serve thousands of people.
On Saturday, the Arlington County Board accepted a $2.25 million federal grant to be split evenly among three planned projects. These projects, expected to cost some $6 million in total, are intended to reduce runoff into streets and streams, filter pollutants from local streams, and rehabilitate sewer pipes needing serious repairs.
The upgrades, a county report says, will “mitigate the impacts of existing impervious coverage and protect local waterways, and prevent sanitary sewer structural failure, infiltration and inflow.”
(Sewer pipes experience infiltration and inflow when excess water flows in from sources such as stormwater drains and leaky pipes.)
A $750,000 portion of the grant will fund plans to add more native plantings along part of the Gulf Branch stream, near Gulf Branch Nature Center, and to build rain gardens where S. Walter Reed Drive intersects with 6th and 9th Streets S. The projects, aimed at reducing runoff and filtering pollutants from streams and streets, are expected to cost $1 million overall.
The rain gardens on S. Walter Reed Drive will be planted when Arlington makes transportation upgrades on the major road, including upgraded bike lanes and pedestrian crossings.
Another $1.5 million will be split between two sewer rehabilitation projects, expected to cost $5 million overall.
First up is a $2.8 million project to rehabilitate a 5,876-foot section of a 30-inch sanitary sewer between Arlington Blvd and Columbia Pike, serving all of East Falls Church and parts of Falls Church and Fairfax County.
Three years ago, inspectors found many leaking joints in the now-48-year-old sewer, which runs through the Four Mile Run stream valley. These leaks cause groundwater and stormwater to seep into the pipe, contributing to high bacteria levels in Four Mile Run, according to the report.
That also generates wastewater and increases chemical and energy costs at the Arlington County Water Pollution Control Plant downstream, the report said.
The county also proposes to rehabilitate a 2,906-foot section of a large pipe in Rosslyn that the report says “zig-zag[s] between high-rise buildings and through underground parking garages” between N. Lynn Street and the interchange at Arlington Blvd and Richmond Hwy.
“The sewer was inspected in 2016 and many sections were deemed to require immediate rehabilitation due to structural deficiencies which allow for significant infiltration and inflow and could lead to structural failure,” it says, noting this would also generate more wastewater and higher chemical and energy costs at the wastewater facility.
For both sewers, the county first proposes cleaning the pipes. Then, to prevent leaks, a resin liner would be forced against the walls of the pipes, effectively creating a “new pipe encased within the old sanitary sewer,” per the report.
“Impacts such as travel lane closures, trail and sidewalk detours, bus stop relocations, etc. will be communicated in advance to the public following award of the construction contract, as equipment staging and sewer bypass layouts won’t be determined until then,” it continues.
The grants come from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development at the request of Rep. Don Beyer, as part of a 2023 spending bill Congress approved last December. The funding applies to expenses through Aug. 31, 2031 and no local match is required.
A water main on N. Glebe Road set to be replaced (via Arlington County)
A 96-year-old water main along N. Glebe Road near Ballston is set to be replaced, starting later this year.
The pipe segment runs about a third of a mile from N. Randolph Street to N. Pershing Drive, between the Buckingham and Ashton Heights neighborhoods.
Arlington County says that this work is needed to improve the flow of water to area fire hydrants, dubbed “fire flow,” and support demand in the neighborhood. Over the weekend, the Arlington County Board approved a contract for $2.1 million with A&M Construction Corporation to execute the project.
The county included some $424,400 in contingency funding in case the contractor finds “unsuitable soils or unknown existing underground utilities,” among other risks, according to a county report.
This project is “part of [the] county’seffort to replace old unlined cast iron pipes which are subjected to internal and external corrosions that reduce the fire flow capacity,” the document said. “In the past few years, the main had an excessive number of breaks that prompted the need for replacement.”
Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services spokesman Peter Golkin tells ARLnow that there is currently no construction schedule, “as it takes some time for [the purchasing department] to execute such a contract.”
“But based on previous comparable projects, this one won’t begin until this summer and more likely in the fall,” he said.
Golkin says the county expects the work will take 1.5 years to complete and will affect 26 properties: 19 residential and seven commercial.
“Water interruptions will be coordinated in advance with those impacted,” he said.
The replacement work will require single-lane closures on Glebe from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday.
Crews will likely work overnight once they reach an intersection. More information on these traffic impacts will be relayed to residents via the project website, which will launch closer to the start of construction, and through the Buckingham and Ashton Heights civic associations, per the county.
(Updated at 1 p.m. on 03/21/23) Arlington County is looking to buy its first home for flood prevention.
The county has entered an agreement to buy the home at 4437 18th Street N. in the Waverly Hills neighborhood for $969,200, according to a staff report to the Arlington County Board.
The Board is set to review and approve the agreement during its meeting on Saturday.
The single-family home and detached garage is located in the Spout Run watershed, which has been hit hard by recent flooding events, such as the floods seen in July 2019. It will be torn down and the property will be replanted to serve as “overland relief,” at a cost of around $350,000.
Overland relief is a safe flowpath for flood waters to the nearest stream or storm drain during a large storm event. (An earlier version of this story incorrectly explained overland relief.)
Arlington County is looking to step up its mitigation efforts in response to severe weather events. While the 2019 flood has been described as a “100-year flood” — or a flood that has a 1% chance of happening each year — some research suggests these may occur more frequently due to rising sea levels and more frequent and severe storms, which are linked to climate change.
As part of this effort, last year county staff sent letters of interest to 38 properties in parts of the Waverly Hills and Cherrydale neighborhoods where overland relief is “an essential element” to manage extreme flooding, the report says. Funding for this voluntary property acquisition program was included in the adopted one-year 2022 capital improvement plan.
“The County will pursue acquisitions of properties whose owners are willing to sell to the County, and whose properties would allow for greater access to existing stormwater infrastructure for potential future upgrades, provide overland relief during periods of intense rainfall,and other future engineering solutions,” it says.
“Several” owners have indicated interest in selling to the county, the report added.
ARLnow last reported that there is some interest among residents in selling, while a number of others say that uprooting their families would come at too high a cost.
We were also told several had unanswered questions about the process and how these properties will be managed. One concern is that a piecemeal acquisition process would result in a “checkerboard” of homes and blighted-looking properties.
That “checkerboard” could result in “community fragmentation, difficulty with providing municipal services, and inability to restore full floodplain functionality,” and is one reason local governments may have a hard time getting enough community support for buyouts, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
Other reasons include the potential impacts on property values and housing stock and fears of displacement, it says.
Still, people are more likely to be interested in selling after a major flooding event.
“Buyouts are often a politically unpopular option unless there is a particularly catastrophic event that changes people’s willingness to move and creates unified state and local support for relocation,” the report noted.
A still from a video showing flooding in the Waverly Hills neighborhood on May 22, 2018 (via YouTube)
Other research shows that property buyouts are one of the most effective tools at the disposal of local governments to combat frequent flooding.
“At their best, they provide a permanent solution,” according to Pew Research. “Effective buyouts prevent future damage, make people safer, and ideally protect entire neighborhoods or communities. Moreover, once bought-out properties become natural open space, they can provide an added benefit of absorbing additional stormwater, further reducing flooding and helping to conserve habitats.”
A still from a video showing flooding in the Waverly Hills neighborhood on May 22, 2018 (via YouTube)
Arlington County is looking to buy homes within the Spout Run watershed for flood mitigation.
Since last fall, the county has notified some three dozen property owners in the Cherrydale and Waverly Hills civic associations by letter of its interest in buying their properties for stormwater management. The letters targeted areas that were hit hard by recent flooding events, like the floods seen in July 2019.
Should they agree to sell, the county would tear down the homes, remove infrastructure such as driveways, and then regrade and replant the land to minimize erosion. Properties would be preserved for open space.
“Phased property acquisition is a necessary component of a resilient stormwater improvement program to provide overland relief and reduce flood risk to the community,” Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Katie O’Brien said. “Voluntary property acquisitions will be targeted to areas in the five critical watersheds at higher risk of flooding due to existing topography.”
Five critical watersheds in Arlington County (via Arlington County)
The county’s first priority is to create “overland relief,” or a safe path for stormwater to flow during large rain events, per presentation materials on the county’s website. It contends that there is not enough public space to provide those paths or make infrastructure upgrades, and, crucially, that existing stormwater systems were built assuming sufficient overland relief to handle anything stronger than a 10-year storm (which has a 10% chance of happening annually).
“There is not sufficient available space within existing rights-of-way to maintain the infrastructure, make resilient system upgrades, or to provide overland relief,” the presentation says. “There is no long-term solution to reduce flood risk in Spout Run without adding overland relief.”
The solution is a long time in coming for some in the Waverly Hills Civic Association, which — along with the Cherrydale Citizens Association — has met with Arlington County about stormwater management solutions since 2018.
WHCA President Paul Holland says he has heard several residents express frustrations related “to the extended timeline to identify a solution” to the flooding that occured in recent years.
“For the Waverly Hills Civic Association, stormwater issues are our top priority. Our neighbors were dramatically impacted by major flooding events in 2018 and 2019,” he said.
Both Holland and Cherrydale Citizens Association President Jim Todd said several questions remain unanswered, however.
“There was a lot of concern that the county was really, really vague and didn’t seem to know or be willing to share what they intend to do with any of the properties they intend to acquire,” Todd said, adding that he heard from constituents who felt they didn’t get much clarity after calling the county’s real estate office.
Although WHCA members worked with the county to develop an FAQ page addressing many of the questions, they too have outstanding concerns.
“Our primary concern is that the acquired lots will be well designed and taken care of by the County to become usable park land and/or attractive open space as neighborhood amenities,” said Holland.
Todd, however, said he is unsure how the county will be able to create any meaningful overland relief if only a smattering of people sell.
There is an unassuming pump station near Fort Ethan Allen Park in North Arlington that the county says is “a vital component” of its drinking water distribution system.
The Ethan Allen Pump Station, when needed, ensures proper water pressure for customers, says a spokesman for the Dept. of Environmental Services. But for several years, the Ethan Allen station has had a portable generator outside because the one inside is inoperable, according to a county report.
This weekend, the Arlington County Board is set to review a contract that would see the installation of a new permanent generator inside, which a staff report says will be less of an eye- and ear-sore for the neighborhood.
The Ethan Allen Pump Station is just one part of the complex system that cycles water from the Potomac River to your faucets and then to a wastewater treatment plant in South Arlington, near the county line. The $779,000 maintenance project, meanwhile, is part of a 10-year, $245 million maintenance schedule for the county’s water-sewer infrastructure, which in turn is based on a 2014 master plan aimed at ensuring the system meets current and projected water demands through 2040.
“These programs construct and maintain the infrastructure, facilities and equipment that provide safe, reliable and compliant drinking water, sanitary sewer collection and wastewater treatment for the county’s residents, businesses and visitors,” according to the county.
Arlington, D.C. and Fairfax County get their water from the Army Corps of Engineers’ Dalecarlia Treatment Plant in northwest D.C., which is fed Potomac River water via the Washington Aqueduct. The same treatment plant is responsible for the annual disinfectant change, taking place next week, which will add a slight chlorine taste to the water for hundreds of thousands of residents.
Some 7.5 billion gallons of water annually traverse about 500 miles of pipelines to enter Arlington’s apartments and businesses and single-family homes. Wastewater then goes to the Arlington Water Pollution Control Plant, which treats it before it flows into the Chesapeake Bay.
Where your water comes from (via Arlington County)
This system is built on all these parts — including a pump station in North Arlington — functioning. Sometimes, however, that infrastructure fails to deliver clean, colorless water, which is another issue the county is addressing.
While DES says this happens rarely, ARLnow has heard from readers, from time to time, who report discoloration issues with their water.
“In our case, the fouled and rust colored water is likely due to aging pipes,” Bluemont resident PJ Dermer recently told us. “At least this is what Arlington is telling us.”
Relief from discolored water, however, requires upgrading aging infrastructure.
“Replacement of water mains requires much resources and environmental disturbances like digging; lining an older main can solve an issue of water quality and requires far fewer resources and disturbances,” says DES spokesman Peter Golkin.
In the meantime, there are stop gap solutions, like county service workers flushing out the water mains.
Dermer said this week that he believes his complaints have gained traction, as the county is now working on replacing the water main and pipes along his street.
“Arlington’s drinking water is safe and meets all federal and state standards,” Golkin says. “When customers have specific concerns about their water service, we work diligently to address those areas of the system to their satisfaction.”
Discolored water in a home in Bluemont (courtesy PJ Dermer)
Water and water systems aren’t the splashiest area for spending on major infrastructure, at least according to one county-conducted poll of residents that asked about capital investment priorities.
Arlington and its neighbors are getting an early start on an annual tap water change.
The Washington Aqueduct, which serves Arlington, D.C. and part of Fairfax County, is preparing for a reservoir rehabilitation project. As a result, the yearly “spring cleaning” practice of switching water disinfectants is kicking off a month early.
Starting this coming Monday, Feb. 20, locals may notice a slight chlorine taste and smell from their tap water. It’s perfectly safe, the county says, and will last through May 15.
More, below, from a county press release.
Arlington County, along with the District of Columbia and northeastern Fairfax County, will modify the water treatment process beginning Feb. 20, 2023, in an annual practice lasting through May 15. The safeguard involves the industry-standard practice of temporarily swapping the system disinfectant from chloramine, used most of the year, to chlorine. This practice ensures that the water mains remain clean and clear.
Although traditionally begun in March, this year’s early start will allow the Washington Aqueduct to complete a reservoir rehabilitation project. The Aqueduct, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, supplies the three jurisdictions with drinking water and initiates the cleaning process for pipes down the line. The Arlington network is made up of some 500 miles of pipes linked to homes, businesses and schools.
Purification systems and constant monitoring by Arlington staff ensures the County’s water is safe and essentially unchanged, although users may notice a slight difference in smell and taste. The switchover will not involve any interruption in service to customers.
Concurrent with the disinfection switch, Arlington will conduct a system-wide flushing to enhance year-round water quality. Residents may see some of the County’s 3,700 fire hydrants flowing at the curb as part of the procedure.
What to expect Feb. 20 through May 15:
Customers who experience a chlorine smell or taste from the tap can run the cold-water line for about two minutes before using water from the tap; employ a filter system; or let the water sit in a container for an hour or two as the chlorine smell and taste dissipate.
Customers who take special precautions to remove chloramine from tap water during the rest of the year should continue such methods during the temporary switch to chlorine. As always, those with special concerns should consult their health care provider.
Arlington’s drinking water continues to meet or exceed all safety standards established by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Virginia Department of Health.
The County uses approximately 8 billion gallons of tap water each year, around 1 trillion 8-ounce glasses of water, all originating from the Potomac River.
Raging rapids and minor flooding along Gulf Branch in North Arlington after heavy rain, August 2020 (file photo)
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) has secured $2.25 million in federal funding for stormwater infrastructure projects in Arlington.
The funding was part of a bipartisan omnibus government funding bill that passed the House of Representatives and the Senate last Thursday, three days before Christmas.
“I am proud to announce that bipartisan legislation which will soon pass into law includes funding I secured for worthy projects in Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax County,” Beyer said in a statement.
The omnibus appropriations bill helps pay for each of Beyer’s fifteen community project funding requests. Four requests were partially funded in Arlington.
It awards $750,000 for stormwater projects in the Gulf Branch watershed downstream of Military Road and in the Lower Long Branch Watershed along S. Walter Reed Drive. These will include a mix of “gray” infrastructure, such as culverts and storage tanks, and “green infrastructure,” or nature-based solutions.
“The Project will treat and store polluted stormwater runoff, reduce impervious coverage, and mitigate climate vulnerability,” the county said in its request, reprinted on Beyer’s website.
Another $1.5 million will fund rehabilitations of segments of two sanitary sewer interceptor pipes. Interceptor pipes “intercept” the flow from smaller pipes and funnel stormwater and sewage to a treatment plant.
The county requested $2 million to rehabilitate 5,876 linear feet of a 30-inch pipe that runs from Arlington Blvd to Sparrow Pond. The pond is slated to be rehabilitated next year. The pipe, constructed through the Four Mile Run stream valley in 1975, serves the East Falls Church neighborhood as well as parts of the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County.
The county also requested $1.68 million to rehabilitate a 2,906-foot section of a large but decrepit pipe in order to “support continued growth in the Rosslyn area.”
“The subject sewer was originally constructed in the 1930s,” the county said in its request. “It was most recently inspected in 2017 and many sections were deemed to require immediate rehabilitation due to structural deficiencies which allow for significant infiltration and inflow and could lead to structural failure.”
In his statement, Beyer thanked his fellow representatives for enacting the legislation and the local leaders who identified and developed the requests.
“This project funding will make our community healthier, support clean energy, boost our transportation infrastructure, support affordable housing, feed the hungry, and help improve law enforcement transparency,” he said.
Additionally, the omnibus appropriations bill included language to officially rename North Arlington Post Office after letter carrier Jesus Collazos, who emigrated from Colombia in 1978 and served 25 years as a USPS postal carrier in Arlington before losing his life to COVID-19 in June 2020.
A planter in an Arlington home (courtesy of Andrew Moore)
A planter at an Arlington home (courtesy of Roger Bohr)
A year into new stormwater requirements for single-family home projects, homebuilders and remodelers say even the improved process is laborious and expensive, costing homeowners extra money.
On the other hand, Arlington County says that permit review times have shortened and that the program will be evaluated for possible improvements.
Before September 2021, builders had to demonstrate that a given property had ways to reduce pollution in stormwater runoff to comply with state regulations aimed at cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.
Last year, the county began requiring projects that disturb at least 2,500 square feet of land to demonstrate the redeveloped property can retain at least 3 inches of stormwater during flash flooding events through features such as tanks, planters and permeable paver driveways. Builders must also refurbish the soil with soils that increase water retention.
Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services spokesman Peter Golkin says improvements like these “are vital as we continue the work toward a flood resilient Arlington,” especially as “the pace of single family home construction in Arlington remains strong.”
But the regulations are fairly new and could change, Golkin said.
“The first projects in LDA 2.0 are now coming to construction, and the County is entering the phase of evaluation to identify potential adjustments and improvements,” he said. ”The County expects to have more information about any LDA 2.0 updates by mid-2023.”
The updates were intended to address increasing infill development and rainfall intensity, and the downstream effects of runoff and impacts to the county’s aging storm drains and local streams.
Builders and remodelers say the changes have caused new headaches and resulted in projects shrinking in size.
“It only gets more complicated, costs more, and takes longer,” says architect Trip DeFalco.
Andrew Moore, president of Arlington Designer Homes, said he’s avoided this process in many projects after telling the clients about the potential costs and permitting time.
“People are motivated to think, do I need that bump-out to be 14 feet? I can live with 12 feet,” he said. “It saves you $50,000 and 3 months.”
Despite the hassle, permit applications are still coming in at a clip of, on average, 20 per month.
Responding to redevelopment
In the wake of the destructive July 2019 flash flood, residents has discussed and voted on ways to address stormwater mitigation in Arlington, while the county has put more funding toward stormwater improvement projects.
The issue of runoff has figured into debates about how to protect streams and the impacts of allowing the construction of two- to eight-unit “Missing Middle” houses in Arlington, though such projects could only occupy the footprint currently allowed for single-family homes on a given property.
In the wake of the flash flooding, the county introduced new regulations for what it says is one of the biggest runoff contributors: new single-family homes.
“Ensuring more robust control of runoff from new single family homes, which create the majority of new impervious area from regulated development activity, remains a top County priority as part of the comprehensive Flood Resilient Arlington initiative,” Golkin said.
An average of 167 single-family homes have been built and an average of 155 torn down annually over the last 11 years, according to Arlington’s development tracker tool. Demolitions peaked in 2015 and completed projects in 2016.
Single-family detached demolitions and completed projects (via Arlington County)
A past of pollution
DeFalco, who spent a few years as a builder, too, says the “county’s hands are a little bit tied” on this issue because they have to meet state requirements aimed at curbing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.
Runoff brought fertilizer into the bay, causing algae and plants to grow quickly and then die, sink to the bottom, where they decayed and used up oxygen, says civil engineer Roger Bohr.
“The state is pushing on the county and the federal government is pushing on the state,” DeFalco said. “But the implementation on the homeowner level is pretty onerous… I don’t think the residents have any idea what’s going in their side yards.”
Golkin compared the transition period right now to when new state stormwater management requirements took effect in 2014.
“Staff and the building and engineering community ultimately came up to speed,” he said.
Dominion Towers Apartments near Columbia Pike (via Google Maps)
The Brittany Condominiums (via Google Maps)
Residents of an apartment complex off Columbia Pike were without water and air conditioning over Memorial Day weekend — and are still waiting on the AC to return.
The air conditioning and hot water stopped functioning on Friday at Dominion Towers Apartments, at 1201 S. Courthouse Road. On Sunday evening, water to the building was shut off completely, residents told ARLnow.
“The main water shut-off valve that is controlled by Arlington County has broken, which is why there’s no water to the building,” an email sent from owner Capital Investment Advisors to residents on Sunday read. “In order to resolve this issue, we will need Arlington County and a plumber. Considering it’s a holiday weekend, Maintenance is doing everything they can to contact emergency personnel to assist.”
Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services said management’s description of the issue was not exactly what happened, however.
The broken valve was inside the building’s boiler room and was not owned by the county, DES spokesman Peter Golkin said, but after the valve failed and the complex was unable to find a replacement during the holiday weekend the county offered one it had.
“The Water, Sewer, Streets Bureau actually had a replacement in its inventory and offered it up as a courtesy with the building agreeing to reimburse for a new valve,” Golkin told ARLnow. “The Bureau shut off the main to the building on Sunday to allow for the repair and restored that service from the public main yesterday.”
Running water was restored Monday evening but hot water and air conditioning were still not functioning as of Tuesday afternoon. An email from management said the AC has not been restored due to low water pressure.
“County staff was only involved in going above and beyond to help the residents of the apartment building get their water service back as soon as possible during a long, hot holiday weekend,” Golkin noted.
In an email to ARLnow on Monday, one resident said the property manager “has not been on site all weekend and there has been no timetable for when water and a/c will be restored.”
Another resident told us that management has told its tenants that it hopes to restore both the air conditioning and the hot water by the end of the day today.
To add a bit of extra drama to the situation, the fire department was called to the building earlier this afternoon for a report of a fire, though in the end they only found burnt food on a stove in an eighth floor apartment.
Dominion Towers previously made headlines in May 2018 after the air conditioning malfunctioned and left residents sweltering during a several day stretch of particularly hot weather.
Meanwhile, another large Arlington residential building suffered a multi-day utility outage last week.
Hundreds of residents in The Brittany condominium complex at 4500 S. Four Mile Run Drive found themselves in a similar situation heading into the weekend, without running water for 2+ days last week. For them, it was resolved by Friday afternoon.
