A recent change to Virginia state code could delay proposed redevelopment of Crystal City’s Melwood parcel by more than a year.
That’s how much time county staff say they will need to evaluate the site’s 102-year-old Nelly Custis School building for any potential historic relevance.
Members of the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board over the summer directed staff to conduct an evaluation of the building’s historic provenance, to help determine whether the site should be designated a local historic district.
Because of limited staffing and two other reviews ahead in the queue, a study of the parcel is unlikely to get started until later in the year, then take about six months to complete, HALRB members were told earlier this month.
And that could put the development of new housing and office space in limbo, based on changes to state historic-preservation law enacted in 2024.
Previously, local governing bodies simply could have ignored in-process studies of a site’s historic status.
That’s what Arlington leaders effectively did during a dispute about the Febrey-Lothrop estate on Wilson Blvd. County leaders let the property owner raze the mansion to the ground before acting on the local historic district request.
The amended state law would seem to preclude such an end-around. It appears to mandate a final determination by the governing body on a site’s historic status, then a 30-day cooling-off period to allow for appeals, before a site could be demolished.
The specific wording in state law:
“The filing of the building permit or demolition application shall stay the locality from issuing any permit to raze or demolish the historic landmark, building or structure until 30 days after the rendering of the final decision of the governing body of the locality.”
The Melwood parcel ultimately could prove a test case to see how the county and, potentially, state courts interpret that sentence.
At the HALRB meeting, several members voiced concern about the uneven balance of power in redevelopment cases when a property may hold historic provenance.
“It’s amazing the resources the planning department and Planning Commission have for the site-plan process compared to the resources that are devoted to [the historic study],” HALRB member Richard Woodruff said.
Stacy Meyer of the Aurora Highlands Civic Association, which opposes the Melwood proposal as too big for its surroundings, said the site-plan process “should have paused” while the question of the parcel’s historic status is evaluated.
“It appears the county is attempting to bypass HALRB,” she said.
Ultimate authority to designate a site as a local historic district rests with the County Board. In recent years, Board members have been reluctant to impose such a designation on a privately owned site when the property owner was opposed.
The Melwood property is located at 750 23rd Street S. It currently is home to a training center for adults with disabilities.
The zoning changes necessary to permit its redevelopment are likely to be heard by the Board on either Feb. 22 or 25.
