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Good morning, Arlington. Jo here. It’s Tuesday, August 10: National Lazy Day and Kylie Jenner’s 24th birthday.
Morning Status
- Weather: Today there will be a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Otherwise, the day will be sunny, with a high near 93. There will also be chance of showers and storms tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise Wednesday will be a mostly sunny day, with a high of 95.
- Sunrise/sunset: 6:16 a.m. 8:01 p.m.
The following are preview of stories we’re planning to cover later today.
Morning Notes:
- Langston Blvd Plan Meets Resistance
- New Clarendon Apartment Building Sold
- Online Fundraiser for Fallen Officer
- Local BBQ Joint Competing in ‘World Championship’
- Va. AG Continues to Fight Robocalls
- Pentagon to Require Vaccinations
Poll: Extra Itchy Bites? Suspected oak mite bites are giving local residents some very itchy bumps, which last up to two weeks. And there’s some bad news: the mites might be sticking around through the fall. Today we’re asking readers whether they’ve gotten the mite bites so far this summer.
Possible Abduction Attempt: Arlington County police are investigating a possible abduction attempt in Cherrydale. Police say a man tried to engage a boy in conversation and then followed him around the neighborhood.
How Car Shortages Are Affecting Local Dealers: A nationwide shortage of computer chips have adversely affected car dealerships around the nation, and Arlington dealerships are no exception. Local sellers tell ARLnow of rising prices and low supply, though they say consumer demand for cars has stayed about the same.
Craigslist Car Sale Gone Bad: The sale of a car on Craigslist along S. Glebe Road turned into an armed carjacking Monday afternoon.
Why A Duplex Project Needs County Board Approval: A man looking to redevelop his two-family home in South Arlington has to go through the Site Plan Review process — a long winding road that eventually gets approval from two commissions and the County Board — because of how his property is zoned. He is also out $100,000 in legal fees, and the costs of hiring architects, arborists and more to help design his project. The story is a second look at what it takes for individuals go up against certain provisions within 50-year-old county zoning ordinances.
Note that some stories may be pushed back, depending on the day’s news. Want the past day’s Arlington news read to you? Subscribe to our members-only podcast.
Reporter’s Notepad
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a woman who wanted to rebuild the structurally unsound patio attached to her townhouse. Her project needed to go through the convoluted Site Plan Review process — which requires layers of county feedback and culminates in a County Board approval — to do so. The process could cost her $4,000 in permitting fees.
At the time, commenters had lots of questions about why I spent my time writing about that issue. Since we’ll be publishing a similar story this afternoon following a different resident and his plans to expand his two-family home, I wanted to explain our thought process behind writing about this topic.
The county administratively approved roughly 30 to 50 permits allowing homeowners and developers to tear down and re-build single-family homes per quarter in 2020. Meanwhile, in a similar time frame this year, three middle-density projects were elevated to an arduous Site Plan Review process. ARLnow is interested in why these redevelopment processes look so different.
We think covering the hurdles these homeowners face is important because the county has identified duplexes and townhouses as some examples of “Missing Middle Housing.” The county is studying these housing forms and whether they can be zoned for in traditionally single-family home areas to add density while providing greater variety in housing.
In the meantime, however, a duplex is often treated very differently under county code compared to a single-family home across the street. We’ll be incorporating the perspectives of some land use attorneys, members of the Planning Commission and advocates, who are saying existing zoning laws make pursuing such projects more daunting to homeowners and more burdensome to staff and advisory commissions.
This afternoon, unless something breaking happens, keep your eyes peeled for my second story on this issue. This time, you’ll met Les Garrison, who wants to redo his two-family home in South Arlington. He says the supplemental income that comes from the renters upstairs is the only way his son, an Arlington Sheriff’s Office employee, can afford to live in this area. He’s already out $100,000 in fees for lawyers, architects and arborists, and is starting to worry whether he’ll be able to afford some parts of his project.
