News

The Board spent hours discussing and hearing testimony about the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (PPTA) before ultimately adopting the guidelines in a 4-1 vote. Board member Libby Garvey was the lone dissenter, raising numerous questions about the PPTA and its safeguards. She reiterated previous statements she made about wishing for more time to examine the implications of adopting the guidelines.

“This is an incredibly complex legal document here and I don’t know that we should be doing it on the fly,” Garvey said.


News

Around 11:00 a.m. a teller at the BB&T Bank on the 2900 block of S. Glebe Road spotted two men dressed all in black approaching the bank, police say. The teller reported that the men both had their faces covered and one had a gun, although police cannot yet confirm there was a weapon. The teller told police that just after the men walked into the first set of glass doors for the bank, they turned around and returned to a vehicle where another man was apparently waiting.

Police are currently on the lookout for the vehicle, which is described only as a silver sedan, so they can speak to the individuals. Should police catch up with the individuals and arrest them, the primary charge would be brandishing a firearm, we’re told. The individuals likely could not be charged with attempted bank robbery unless police found hard evidence of a robbery plan.


News

Old Post Office Property Vote Tonight — This evening the County Board is scheduled to vote on the property at 1720 S. Eads Street in Crystal City, which used to be a post office. The proposal before the board is to re-zone the property and build a nearly 211,000 square foot residential building. County staff members recommend the Board approves the measures.

Food Stamp Use Doubles in Arlington — The number of people receiving food stamps in Arlington doubled over the past decade. That’s lower than the number of people in Fairfax County (triple) and the city of Alexandria (quadruple). The spike isn’t just due to the recession, it’s because more people are now eligible for food assistance. With expanded eligibility it’s estimated that half of the food stamp recipients now live above the federal poverty level. [The Arlington Connection]


News

Since April, a single-family house at 3704 2nd Street S. has been operating as a low-barrier group home for four (4) adults with mental illnesses transitioning from homelessness. New Hope Housing, the Alexandria-based nonprofit that operates the dormitory, has been seeking a use permit to increase the maximum number of adults housed at the dormitory to six (6).

The use permit request drew criticism from neighbors at Saturday’s Arlington County Board meeting.


Traffic

VDOT will close the lane as soon as tomorrow as part of the ongoing Washington Boulevard bridge and interchange project. Drivers should expect new traffic patterns on eastbound Columbia Pike as a result.

“Motorists in the right lane must take the exit ramp to Washington Boulevard,” VDOT said in a press release. “Motorists on eastbound Columbia Pike can use the left lane to continue east or to access the ramp to Washington Boulevard.”


News

It’s not clear what started the brawl, but it quickly grew in size and prompted a large police response. Six people were arrested and several people were taken to Virginia Hospital Center for injuries. At least one police officer suffered minor injuries but did not require hospitalization, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

“A huge melee broke out and spread into the mall,” Sternbeck said of the early Wednesday morning incident. “Nobody wanted to cooperate with police.”


News

Last month, the Planning Commission voted against the project, which includes a 10-story apartment building and a retail and residential complex that will include a MOM’s Organic Market grocery store. The development will replace the aging Bergmann’s dry cleaning plant, at the corner of Lee Highway and N. Vietch Street, less than half a mile from the Courthouse Metro station. The Planning Commission voted ‘no’ due to concerns about building height and the precedent the project might set for development on Lee Highway.

The Lyon Village Civic Association, which represents residents across Lee Highway from the proposed development, agreed with the Planning Commission. Civic Association President James Lantelme told the Board that the association supports redevelopment of the Bergmann’s site in theory, but couldn’t support a building higher than 6-8 stories.


Around Town

FroZenYo was originally expected to open at 1735 N. Lynn Street, in the former “News and Necessities” space, this past summer. The froyo chain opened a location in Ballston in August, but the Rosslyn location has yet to materialize.

In a tweet this morning, the Rosslyn Business Improvement announced that FroZenYo is now expected to open at some point this spring.


View More Stories