County Board members have promised more follow-up with residents who lived with the contentious placement of Arlington Transit buses on a N. Quincy Street government parcel.
“We need to do an after-action evaluation,” Board Chair Takis Karantonis said on Saturday after the matter was brought up during the Board’s public comment period.
Karantonis promised “an honest conversation.”
Discussion came during the same meeting where Board members formally rescinded the use permit that had allowed ART buses to be stored on the site.
The use permit was slated to expire July 31, but all the buses have been relocated to the new ART operations facility on Shirlington Road in the Green Valley neighborhood.
“As the use allowed by this use permit is no longer in operation, staff does not anticipate any adverse impact,” a report to Board members noted.
Use of the N. Quincy Street parcel for bus storage had caused friction and even legal wrangling between the county and residents living nearby, as well as between the county and the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association.
At Saturday’s Board meeting, Maurya Meiers, who lives nearby and is vice president of the civic association, pressed county leaders for an after-action report.
“It has been nothing short of a terrible experience,” she said of the bus-storage period.
Meiers did, however, say she appreciated a “shift in the Board’s tone” on the issue following the departure of several former members and the arrival of new ones.
County officials have not determined a future use for the parcel. The county purchased the six-acre site across from Washington-Liberty High School for $30 million.
Several months ago, Board member Susan Cunningham was tapped to serve as liaison between the elected body and residents living near the parcel. On Feb. 22, she said the after-action effort could be part of a broader discussion on future use of the parcel.
“We have committed toward master-planning that site,” Cunningham said. “We certainly are focused on that.”
At the meeting, Karantonis pushed back on suggestions by Meiers that the county had violated state law and its own ordinances in addressing the site.
But he nonetheless offered something of a mea culpa on the county government’s behalf.
“Just by following the law doesn’t mean you are doing everything right,” Karantonis said.
Among other matters taken up at the Feb. 22 meeting:
Low-Income Senior Housing: County Board members on Saturday approved $13.8 million in loans from the Affordable Housing Investment Fund to support affordable housing for seniors in Crystal City.
The loans will help support the construction of 80 units on the Crystal House campus, which will be available to those earning 30% to 50% of the area median income for at least 99 years.
True Ground Housing Partners, formerly known as the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, is developing the project at 1900 S. Eads Street. It is part of a larger effort to bring affordable housing to underutilized portions of the Crystal House parcel.
The Housing Commission supports moving forward on the senior housing project, despite concerns from some members about design elements and the mix of unit types, county staff said.
Construction is anticipated to start in mid-2026 but is dependent on other funding sources becoming available.
3033 Wilson Blvd Plan: County Board members on Saturday authorized legal advertising to consider amendments to zoning regulations and the General Land Use Plan for redevelopment of 3033 Wilson Blvd.
Carr Properties aims to demolish the existing, circa-1987 seven-story office building on the 1.45-acre site and construct an eight-story multifamily building with ground-floor retail.
To do so, it needs alterations in zoning rules, including an increase in the existing height limit of 75 feet to the 85 feet planned for the residential building.
No date was set for the future hearing, but it is expected to be held on the same day as the hearing for the property owner’s site-plan amendment. Approval of the changes would allow the project to proceed.
The county government’s Site Plan Review Committee is evaluating the project. Its most recent meeting was held Feb. 13.
While no date for the upcoming hearing was set, Karantonis said it likely would be held in the “next several months.”
Green Valley Housing: County Board members on Saturday authorized a future public hearing on a developer’s plan to raze two hotels in the Green Valley community and replace them with residential units.
The developer — CC Rock Arlington Owner LLC — needs changes to the General Land Use Plan and Master Transportation Plan to move forward for its project on the 5.52-acre site adjacent to Lomax AME Zion Church in the 2400 block of South Glebe Road.
The proposal calls for demolition of the Hotel Pentagon and Comfort Inn Pentagon City. They would be replaced by a nine-story multi-family building plus 37 townhouses, totaling 531 units.
No date was specified for the future public hearing, but Karantonis said it was expected “in the next months.”
Military Road Roundabout: Board members on Saturday approved a contract worth $3.59 million to construct a permanent traffic roundabout at Military Road and Nelly Custis Drive.
The project will also include stormwater system upgrades and improvements to support pedestrians and bicyclists.
Karantonis welcomed the vote to provide funding, most of which will come from dedicated transportation-tax revenue, not general-fund dollars.
“Roundabouts are not very common in Arlington, unfortunately — but they are very, very effective,” he said.
