Arlington’s Pentagon City Sector Plan has been overturned by a state court.
Reversing a trial court’s decision, the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled yesterday (Tuesday) that the Arlington County Board failed to provide sufficient public notice before adopting a vision for the next 30-plus years of growth in Pentagon City.
Notices prior to the Board’s February 2022 vote failed to specify that the sector plan included the RiverHouse property and would increase height and density limits within affected areas, the court ruled. The public advertisements, according to an opinion by Judge Dominique Callins, “were not descriptive enough to inform the public in any meaningful way about the nature of the proposed changes.”
“We therefore reverse the trial court’s judgment and declare the Board’s actions void ab initio,” the opinion says, stripping the sector plan of any legal weight.
County officials are currently considering whether to appeal the decision or re-advertise, Arlington County spokesperson Ryan Hudson said. Since the plan’s adoption, Virginia code has changed “to simplify advertising requirements,” he noted.
“In the meantime, the County will be evaluating what, if any, impacts the decision has on approved or proposed development projects in Pentagon City on a case-by-case basis,” Hudson added.
The ruling found no fault with the substance of the plan itself, which the County Board passed in a unanimous vote. It rejected legal arguments that the plan violated a uniformity requirement in Virginia zoning law.
However, the court’s decision casts some doubt over a proposal to construct almost 2,000 new residential units on the RiverHouse grounds.
Under the Pentagon City Sector Plan, developer JBG Smith has applied to build a total of 1,963 residential units and some 28,000 square feet of retail space on the expansive property that currently includes 1950s and 60s-era apartment buildings at 1111 Army Navy Drive, 1400 S. Joyce Street and 1600 S. Joyce Street.
Those plans were the subject of the lawsuit by 11 residents of two condo buildings on the ridge above the RiverHouse property.
The plaintiffs asserted that the development would decrease their property values and obstruct their views of D.C. More than 2,000 people signed a petition opposing the change, arguing it would cause “irreparable damage to the well-being of a long-established neighborhood.”
The petition accused the county of “rushing” a planning study and failing to fully incorporate community feedback about RiverHouse.
The County Board adopted the Pentagon City Sector Plan following a lengthy study of the 116-acre community and the county policies that governed its growth for 46 years. The previous plan for the neighborhood — finalized before the arrival of Metrorail service — described the area as “mostly vacant urban real estate” with some existing residential and industrial uses.
The new plan was meant to prepare the neighborhood for continued growth following the arrival of Amazon’s HQ2. The neighborhood also includes the Pentagon City mall and the Westpost and Pentagon Centre shopping centers, the latter of which is being redeveloped.
While the county determines its next steps for Pentagon City, a similar lawsuit pertaining to Missing Middle zoning changes continues to move forward. That case is scheduled to go to trial in July.